Mincon keeps digging deep to come up with new products

ONGOING PRODUCT development is vital to compete against Asian and eastern European start-ups, according to the head of Irish drill manufacturer Mincon, whose equipment was recently used to reach the trapped miners in Chile.

Paddy Purcell, managing director of the Clare-based firm, said the reverse circulation drill, which carries a piston that hammers the rock 2,000 times a minute, is one of only three in the world capable of doing the job.

“A very large part of our strategy is continuing product development in the area,” said Mr Purcell. “Our whole focus in the long term is to ensure we can compete with anyone coming along from Asia, the Middle East or eastern Europe who are trying to get business at the lower level of the market.”

Mr Purcell said the industry tended to work in cycles with companies having a technological edge for a few years before a competitor developed a better piece of equipment.

Mincon had been involved in the industry since the 1970s, however, which he said had helped it stay at the fore all the time.

“We’ve had various patents on various drills at various times over the years,” he said. “The people we’ve had working on our design have been there from the first days which helps us a lot.

“With other manufacturers – they came in later or are not as focused in the area of development.”

The drill used to drill the 700m deep hole in Chile uses compressed air to hammer through the ground.

Seven other types of drill were used at the mine before Mincon’s equipment was trialled – all of which proved unsuccessful in accessing the miners who were trapped beneath the rock.

According to Mr Purcell, the drill can get through reasonably hard granite at a rate of 1m per minute. Mincon had previously moved away from exploration drilling, but re-entered the market in 2006. It also produces machinery for production, geo-thermal, water-well and foundation drilling.

“The exploration industry in general tends to be up or down and it’s up at present,” said Mr Purcell. “Luckily for our company it’s one of the many things we have in our little bag of products, so we’re not dependent on any one section.”

Founded in 1977, Mincon employs 50 people at its Shannon base in Co Clare and a further 50 around the world, including at its operations in Australia and the US.