Atlas Copco drilling platforms and compressed-utility skids are scoped by duty rather than by sales vertical. Every industry below ships with its own documentation pack, certification route, and engineering boundary.
Underground long-hole and production drilling for copper, gold, zinc, and nickel operations, including IECEx-certified rigs for gassy seams.
Rotary blast-hole drilling platforms rated for 152 – 270 mm hole diameters with onboard 24 bar compression and Tier 4 Final engines.
API Spec Q1 rig workovers, nitrogen inerting skids, and containerised power generation for drilling campaigns and early production facilities.
Mid-tier rotary rigs and screw compressor packages supporting 24/7 quarry operations with heavy dust-load filtration and fast mobilisation kit.
Low-profile drilling jumbos and underground power packs for tunnelling, subway alignment, and large-scale hydro-civil projects.
High-temperature drill-string packages and nitrogen generation skids used in deep geothermal wellbore construction and stimulation.
Exploration and production drilling fleets supplying the battery minerals supply chain, with formation-specific drill bit and bit-stabiliser programmes.
Containerised diesel power packs, paralleling switchgear, and hybrid battery buffers for mine camps and off-grid processing plants.
| Parameter | Hard-rock Metal Mining | Surface Coal & Overburden | Oil & Gas Upstream | Deep Geothermal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classified-area rating | Zone 1 IIA T4 | Zone 2 IIB T3 | API Spec Q1 / PED | Zone 2 IIB T4 |
| Typical hole diameter | 76 – 115 mm | 152 – 270 mm | 215 – 311 mm | 200 – 250 mm |
| Onboard compression | 12 m³/min at 20 bar | 35 m³/min at 24 bar | Skid compressor | 28 m³/min at 28 bar |
| Prime mover | 242 kW diesel or 200 kW electric | 596 kW EPA Tier 4 Final | 634 kW API 7B-11C | 710 kW high-ambient rated |
| Documentation package | IECEx CoC + MSHA letter | FAT + ISO 8178 record | API Spec Q1 dossier | PED modules B+F |
| Training commitment | MSHA Part 48 aligned | OSHA surface mining | IADC WellCAP integrated | Bespoke geothermal module |
Because specification choices rarely sit with a single owner, we document the selection envelope so procurement, operations, and reliability teams can align on duty classification, compliance route, and service strategy before any package is committed.
Electric drive removes underground diesel particulate exposure, reduces ventilation duty by roughly 30–50%, and aligns with 2030 decarbonisation targets adopted by most tier-one operators since 2021. Typical constraints: charging infrastructure capital (USD 2–5 million per shaft), cable-handling discipline, and limited availability at ambient temperatures above 45 °C.
Diesel power remains the proven choice where charging infrastructure is absent or where mine life is under seven years. Tier 4 Final engines in the 250–1,500 kW range keep availability above 90% on most fleets, at the cost of ventilation load, carbon reporting exposure, and a total cost of ownership penalty over a 10-year horizon.
Full autonomy delivers 24/7 duty cycles without fatigue-related derating and produces consistent production records — Rio Tinto's Pilbara iron ore network, commissioned in 2018, is the most frequently cited benchmark. Realistic preconditions: mine plan stability, high-quality survey data, and a 3G/LTE or private 5G coverage layer.
Operator-assisted fleets stay better suited to variable geology, mid-life mines, and jurisdictions where workforce retention is part of the social licence to operate. Teleoperation and assisted-drill retrofits can capture much of the safety uplift without the full autonomy capital profile.
OEM-only keeps warranty coverage and engineered tolerances intact, and is usually the right call for safety-critical interfaces (brake systems, pressure vessels certified to ASME VIII, IECEx-rated enclosures). Qualified aftermarket parts can reclaim 30–60% of spend on wear liners, grinding media, and screen mesh where the metallurgy is independently certified. Our selection rule: OEM for regulated interfaces, aftermarket for wear consumables with documented metallurgy and MSHA/CE acceptance.
Dry processing (HPGR plus air classification or dry magnetic separation) can cut water consumption by more than 90% and eliminate the tailings-dam liability that has driven regulatory tightening since the 2019 Brumadinho failure. Limitations: lower recovery for fine oxide ores (typically 3–8% below wet baseline) and higher dust-management capital. Wet processing remains the default where recovery dominates economics and where flotation chemistry is mature. Hybrid circuits — dry pre-concentration feeding a smaller wet flotation stage — are increasingly used to bridge the trade-off.
| Parameter | Typical operating range | Out-of-envelope condition |
|---|---|---|
| Throughput capacity | 500 – 2,000 t/h (crushing & screening circuits) | Above 2,500 t/h requires staged crushing; below 300 t/h favours modular skids |
| Flow rate (slurry pumps) | 50 – 5,000 m³/h | High-solids duties above 65% by weight require dedicated tailings-grade hydraulics |
| Head pressure | 20 – 200 m (single-stage centrifugal) | Multi-stage or booster train required above 200 m; NPSH-critical below 20 m |
| Engine / prime mover | 250 – 1,500 kW (Tier 4 Final, Stage V) | Not suitable for ambient > 50 °C without derate; electric drive not recommended on mines with fleet life < 5 years |
| Drilling depth | 30 – 500 m | Deep geothermal above 500 m requires high-temperature drill string and specialised mud program |
| Generator output | 500 – 5,000 kVA | Parallel sets above 5,000 kVA demand dedicated switchgear and protection coordination studies |
Values reflect typical mining and energy duty envelopes. Actual package sizing depends on classified-area rating (ATEX, IECEx, MSHA, API Spec Q1), altitude, ambient, and owner-specific compliance routes.