Disruptive drill technology offers potential for miners

A new means of exploiting previously overlooked zones of gold mineralization may prove to be the type of disruptive technology needed once the global COVID-19 pandemic is over. Called sustainable mining by drilling (SMD), it uses a unique, surface-based drilling system to get at narrow vein deposits that have been considered uneconomic using existing mining techniques. SMD’s creators believe the technology offers a cost-effective means of accessing known deposits while doing so with a smaller environmental footprint, reduced labour costs and increased safety for the system’s onsite operators. The technology was developed by Toronto-based Anaconda Mining (TSX: ANX; US-OTC: ANXGF), which operates the Pine Cove open-pit gold mine and mill in the Baie Verte region of north-central Newfoundland.