I would like to say thank you again for your support for the Hayakawa project.
Our driller is still working, but, it will complete at the end of this month.

I think our clients are satisfied with your directional drilling.

Best regards,
Osamu
Nikko Exploration Japan.

Hello all

I would just like to congratulate all participants (devico and drillcon) for your work. This hole showed the difference between complete failure or complete success. As everybody probably knows we missed the ore horizon due to hat the structural geology was'nt behaving as expected. At that point he hole was basically doomed.

Then, by doing devidrilling we got ourselves back in the game. Devico forced it down in inclination, through the ore horizon (which was the best hit so far) and the hole switched from failure to success. I think its just fantastic having the ability to do this. From the beginning people were talking about production gain and cost gain with devico but this aspect of being able to chase the ore horizon when the geology decides to disobey, gives me as a geologist a much easier job and better health.

Since the hit was much further away than planned we can count that as an extra hole and we now do a second try on the first target, so it has been a win-win situation for everybody.

Of course, drillcon must not be forgotten. Its much hard work pulling the drill rods up and down and always have to adjust to new circumstances.

So, thanks everybody for a JOB WELL DONE.

Best regards,
Glenn Patriksson
Geologist Zinkgruvan

Janne Sorvari, OYKatiAb Finland.
About the DeviFlex non magnetic surveytool.

The Deviflex is simple and quite easy to use. Comparing to its competitiors Deviflex is faster to build, measure and unpack. Speed produces money...In addition to this it is really reliable. Accuracy is also same kind of like competitiors.

Devisoft has developed all the time and its operational reliability is now good! Its clarity makes the software easy to use and that way it is easy for new clients to start using DeviSoft


Best regards!
Janne Sorvari
Measuring works
OyKatiAb
mob. +358407704808
www.oykatiab.com

John Robbins P.Eng.
Senior Project Geologist
AREVA Resources Canada Inc.
Tel: 306-343-4513
Fax: 306-343-4632
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
AREVA group


About the Devico directional core drilling system

I was discussing with some colleagues that we may have set a record in the mining industry. We were able to discovery and delineate a mineral deposit with only three drill collar set-ups. The secret was the 43 directional holes started between 400-550 metres below the surface. I have expressed the cost advantages of directional drilling at many different venues and one can do their own math but very simply the avoidance of 400 to 550 metres for 43 diamond drill holes at today’s meterage costs is a significant savings. The bonus now is that the permitting agencies for exploration have visited our operations and seen the minimal impact we have on the environment and congratulated us!

We have surpassed 1 200 metres of actual Devico directional drilling since the change in directional drilling equipment in 2005. The change occurred after completing almost 3 000 metres of experience and proven mud motor operations. We will not return to the mud motor operations because of the numerous technological advances of the Devico system.

There can be a sense of hesitancy to try new technology and embrace research and development in the diamond drilling industry. But, with the increasing cost of core meterage that coincides with escalating exploration budgets now is the time to allocate funds to new methods and technology to maximize budgets for the future.


John Robbins P.Eng.
Senior Project Geologist
Areva Resources Canada

Don Moore, Chairman and CEO of Rupert Resources - Vancouver,

About the Devico directional core drilling system

Devico drilling technology allows the drillers to keep their hole straight to great depths and be able to put branches off what you might call the mother hole and choose the azimuth and dip of those branches. Rob McEwen has used it at Goldcorp very successfully in helping define the High Grade Zone. In fact there are five of these Devico units being used up in the Red Lake Camp as we speak.

Another advantage afforded by Devico is that the mother hole can go to great depth and branches can be made every150 ft up the drill stem. Rob McEwen refers to these holes as his Christmas tree holes. In that case let's hope there's a few presents under the tree.

Five years ago we couldn't have even had this conversation because the previous operators who tried to drill these holes couldn't get them down to the required depth. The drilling technology was just too difficult. With the Devico technology that becomes a lot easier. Make no mistake it's still a technical challenge to drill these deep holes and it takes a lot of skill and expertise to do it but that is now available. Goldcorp's experience has given us a better understanding about how to drill these deep holes. "

Jason Paterson, Major Drilling/Ace Surton, Perth Australia
About the Devico directional core drilling system
In Jundee I had a major advantage in that the machine we were using allowed for complete control on all the dynamics required to run the Devico tool.T

This along with some extremely experienced and receptive drillers we were able to control all aspects of drilling with the tool. We drilled around 100m with the tool and the results were extremely encouraging.

I stripped the front end of the tool to show the guys the wear points, (Front housing, Eccentric bush), and was pleasantly surprised to find no wear at all. At the time of finishing the 100m cut, the tool was running great and required no work at all. Drilling with the tool was great. We had both good and broken ground which varied in hardness and it drilled all without a problem. I was amazed how well the tool performs when controlled the way it was meant to be.

I am asked by allot of people about the Devico tool and there is allot of interest in it where ever I go and I can now confidently spread the word of its great performance.
I will not go into detail about the software although when this side of things is sorted out I feel you will really have something to take on the drilling world.

There are a few issues that could be addressed with lengths, compression strengths of springs and the poor quality of tube wrenches supplied with the tool, but over all I now have more confidence in the tool and intend to help spread the positive word about the tool.

Jason Patterson

Axel B. Olsen, Mika Norway
About the Devico PeeWee surveytool and DeviSoft.
MIKA have used devico’s software and surveytool for control of borehole deviation of the grout curtains for the Skaugum railway tunnel (3.6 km) på Askerbanen.

The survey have given us information about the natural deviation caused by rock structure and formation. On basis of this information we have corrected the start angle of the holes to achieve beter coverage of the curtain.
The survey have also dicovered unregular deviation so additional holes could have been drilled.

We have used the equipment since the start of the project in February 2002. The equipment have been working satisfactorly so far. Devicos software DeviSoft and surveytool DeviTool is well suited equipment for controlling borehole deviation.

Blair Million, Major directional drilling group Red Lake Ontario Canada,
about the Devdrill:
Drilling 3 meter (10 feet) with a motor in this formation takes the whole shift, while Devidrill makes it in 45 minutes. It's much quicker, gives better kick it gives core and there is no waste of water other than the normal amount used for core drilling

Peter Johanson Senior Exploration Geologist at Jundee Western Australia.

About the Devico directional core drilling system

The Devico directional core barrel was used for 2 shifts on the 15th and 16th of February 2001. Unfortunately this was all the time left, as the Devico operators had other engagements to keep. Although time was short, it was enough to test the tool, and compare it with the NAVI Tool currently used at Jundee.
To date there are not many negatives for the Devico system. Outside of general time wasting due to all personnel being new to the system, and the breaking of a small o-ring, the testing of the tool was very positive, and certainly would, at this point in time, appear to save considerable amounts of time and money for future directional programs at Jundee. Outlined below are the advantages I see from utilising this system, and some 'best guess' comparisons with the NAVI Tool. There is no doubt that if this system was to come to site is would be in the 'testing' phase, but I believe it is in our best interests to do this to properly assess the tool.
Geology
The most obvious advantage of the Devico System over the NAVI Tool is the fact that we get continuous core through the directional portion of the hole. A number of lithological units were logged over the 20m that the Devico System drilled. It commenced in Dacite, then into Basalt and a narrow Sediment was also observed. Previous directional runs on this hole did not pick up any of these units, as the NAVI Tool grinds its way trough the rock, destroying all the lithological information.
Penetration Rates
This is where we can really save time and money. The Devico System operates similar to the standard core drilling technique, and the penetration rates were also similar during the test work. During the test work the Devico System was drilling a 3m run in under 40 minutes, quite comparable to the penetration rates of standard NQ core rates. If we assume that the time to retrieve the core and take a single shot survey at the end of each 3m run is about one hour, then this would equate to up to 36m in a shift. That is three times the average of the NAVI Tool.
Reaming
As the Devico System is the same size as the standard NQ core barrel, no reaming of the directional work is required. The short (1.5m) barrel work will still be required, but timesavings of 1-2 shifts can be expected due to the fact that no reaming is required.
Safety
The Devico System reduces the number of rod pulls, thus reducing the exposure of Offsiders to manual handling.
Outstanding Issues
During the week commencing 19/02/01 we will find out the exact costs and conditions to be placed on the Devico System. I do not expect any surprises, with the main issue being the cost for consumables. Also, Drillcorp will have to determine how they will charge for directional drilling time, but I would assume that it would be the same as it is now. I recommend that we use the Devico System for our next directional program. Initially it would be on a trial basis, so as to give us time to properly assess the tool and to ensure that it will sustain a rigorous workload. If it fails, then we would revert back to the NAVI Tool."

John Kaplin Boston USA
About the Devico directional core drilling system DEviDrill:

MWRA concluded that " Directional drilling proved to be a valuable tool in exploring in an area of complex geological conditions. A better representation of the rock at the tunnel elevation has been obtained, offering designers and contractors a better chance of estimating the true cost of the tunnel."

John Kaplin at MWR reports after the incomming bids :

«We took bids on the tunnel segment where we did the Devico core.The three bids were very tight - $57 to $58 million, or only 2.5% spread among the bidders. this is very unusual for a tunnel contract and may be attributed to having done the horizontal core - in other words bidders felt more sure about the cost of tunneling in the bad ground and reduced the risk factor. We have seen bid spreads more typcially 20 to 40% on our other tunnels, so this is one positive aspect.»

Jan Rømo, senior surveyor about the accuracy of DeviTool PeeWee:

Jan Rømo senior surveyor said that there was no difference in measurement made with the Devico PeeWee multishot and the theodolite used at the brakethrough point at 370m.

Jan Rømo have been in the surveying business for many years and have used a varity of survey tools, but never seen anything as accurate as the Devico PeeWee. He said: "It was absolute BANG ON, no difference between the data given from the teodolite and the data from the PeeWee multishot, unbelieveable"

Michael Munroe, Geology Superintendent, Minera Hecla Venezolana C.A. Mina La Camorra

About the Devico directional core drilling system, DeviDrill:

We have been using Major drilling of Canada for more than the past year on Devico drilling. The Devico we are using in Venezuela has proven to be a great piece of technology.

Kindest Regards,

Michael Munroe

Carretera Nacional, Via Tumeremo-El Dorado, Diviso a La Izquierda, Via La Camorra, KM 9 Estado Bolivar, Venezuela.

Victor Kakebeke Project Geologist Rio Tinto Iron Ore, African Projects

About the DeviFlex non magnetic surveytool.:


The Devi Flex is working very well and it is very user friendly, certainly impressed.



Contact Mr. Kakebeke:


Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Mob: 0224 (0)13 35 29 80 (Republic of Guinea)
Office:0044 (0)1224 296 116 (Republic of Guinea)
Office:0044 (0)117 927 6408 (Bristol, UK)

About the Devico directional core drilling system

"I am somewhat familiar with the Devico system, having used one supplied by International Directional Services on a property in British Columbia in 2004 and was quite impressed by the ability to get holes to go where you want."

The Devico directional drilling system added considerable value to cost saving measures and should be considered for use in future projects to reduce construction risks and as a dispute avoidance tool for similar complex geologic zones.

Certainly, wherever I go, Devico can count on me to give a good opinion of the Devico directional corebarrel that I have been using for the past 5 years as I feel it is an excellent tool that is coming of age in the drilling industry.


Thanks again,
George Small