References

For the past three years, Agnico-Eagle has been running an extensive ore prospecting project at its Kittilä mine with KATI Oy as one of its main contractors. KATI Oy has deployed several drill rigs at the Kittilä Mine. More KATI Oy rigs have been deployed at Agnico-Eagle’s other regional ore prospecting sites.

Kittilä Mine has drilling targets for ore exploration in two different depth ranges: 400–600 metres and below 600 metres. The targets in the 400–600-metre ranges have been drilled using BQTK and WL-56 equipment, with the length of individual boreholes varying between 500 and 900 metres. The total drilling distance covered at these sites is 24,000 metres.

The majority of drilling carried out by KATI Oy so far – approximately 29,500 metres – has been conducted using core drilling units and NQ2 equipment. The core drilling targets have varied between 600 and 1,500 metres, and the deepest hole bored by KATI Oy lies at a depth of 1,918 metres.

All core drilling has been done using the Devico technique, and most holes have been drilled by branching at a depth of 400–700 metres. This has resulted in high precision and very significant cost savings.

The quality of KATI Oy’s drilling work has been proven to be outstanding throughout the project. KATI Oy’s employees are motivated and competent to work even in challenging conditions, no matter what the season. The excellent technical condition of equipment and devices and the ISO-certified environmental management system ensures they provide customers a reliable service.

Jukka Välimaa
Senior Geologist
Agnico-Eagle

Avalon is an Australian listed company that concentrates on gold, copper and lithium sites located in the Nordic region. In 2016 KATI completed a drilling contract for Avalon that comprised approximately 3,000 metres in the Municipality of Somero in southern Finland. Drilling was performed with drill rigs compatible with the terrain that leave little traces in nature.

The services of KATI’s partner, Palsatech, were also well-suited for Avalon’s requirements. Palsatech transported core samples to Palsa Centre in Kemi, where geologists and geotechnicians logged the samples. Avalon employees also used the facility for inspecting rocks. After processing the samples were left in the same place for storage.

“We were very pleased with the operation of KATI’s drilling machinery in the terrain and the work performance of its employees. Our drilling project went very fluently: we issued a drill hole programme for KATI and everything was completed like a breeze. It is quite clear KATI knows how to operate in the wilds, as the tasks were conducted without any real damage to the environment. We have witnessed how KATI is competent at operating in the forests of southern Finland and the fell highlands of northern Sweden, places where we have also conducted exploratory drilling. We will gladly use KATI’s services for future projects.”

Ray Robinson
General Manager
Avalon Minerals

Boliden have a long standing relationship with Oy KATI AB in the Aitik area. Boliden have been using KATI as it’s drill contractor in and around Aitik since 2004. Drilling has been carried out around the year under difficult conditions out in the field and in the Aitik mine, often next to areas that are being actively mined.

Boliden value the long standing relation that we have developed with KATI over the years as well as KATI’s professional attitude, it’s systematically high productivity, and the customer oriented approach that KATI has towards drilling.

We are really pleased with our long standing relationship with KATI, who is a really high performing professional drilling company. We value the mutual understanding of each others needs, that have developed over the nine consecutive drill seasons that we have been working together.

Roger Nordin
Senior District Geologist

A significant milestone for ST1’s geothermal pilot project was the successful completion of the probe drilling stage. Using its diamond drilling method, KATI Oy drilled a hole of 2,015 metres, which reached completion on 10 July 2015. This was the deepest hole ever drilled by KATI.

During the probe drilling stage, the necessary data about the soil was obtained for the purpose of the actual geothermal wells. With a diameter of seven centimetres, drilling took around ten weeks, after which the rock samples were analysed in great detail. These measures provided extra information about the feasibility of the site for drilling the actual seven-kilometre production wells.

The probe drilling went without a hitch, as the rock was solid and very hard for the entire distance. Despite the drill hole reaching record depths, it was completed ahead of schedule. The drill rig developed and built by KATI worked perfectly in this demanding project. The closed circuit equipment, which was used for the cleaning and recycling of drilling water, operated well in line with the demands set by the urban surroundings.

The probe drill hole serves the interests of a number of different bodies. Scientific study is also being created around the project: The soil and water, tens of millions of years old, extracted from the geothermal wells provide unique material for scientific research.

Tero Saarno
Production Manager
St1 Deep Heat Oy