Barrick partners with Sandvik for Porgera surface fleet replacement
Barrick Gold Corporation, the leading gold and copper producer, has selected Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions to supply seven surface drill rigs to replace an ageing non-Sandvik fleet at its Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea.
The order, which was placed in Q1 2025, includes four Sandvik DR410i rotary blasthole drill rigs and three Leopard DI650i down-the-hole (DTH) drill rigs, as well as associated services. Drill deliveries are expected to begin in June and continue through November 2025.
“Sandvik DTH and rotary drill rigs have proven to be both productive and reliable at our other operations across the globe,” said Glenn Heard, Mining Executive at Barrick. “We look forward to continuing our cooperation and deploying these value-adding surface drilling technologies from Sandvik.”
New Porgera Ltd (NPL) is 51% owned by PNG stakeholders, with Barrick and Zijin owning the remaining 49%. NPL has appointed Barrick Niugini as the operator of the Porgera gold mine. Located at an altitude of 2,300 m, Porgera initially began production in 1990 under Placer Dome, which Barrick acquired in 2006. Porgera was placed on care and maintenance in April 2020 and resumed operations in December 2023.
The operation includes both an underground mine and open pit and hosts an orebody with measured and indicated resources of 13.3 million gold ounces and inferred resources of 5.56 million gold ounces.
Sandvik DR410i is a compact, powerful and technologically advanced drill rig, designed for rotary and DTH holes from 152 to 254 mm (6 to 10 in). Leopard
DI650i is a self-contained, crawler-mounted, intelligent DTH drill rig for demanding high-capacity production drilling, covering hole diameters from 115 to 203 mm (4.5 to 8 in).
Two of the Leopard DI650i drills at Porgera will be equipped with the reverse circulation (RC) sampling option Sandvik introduced for its flagship DTH rig in 2021. The RC drilling system, which is fully integrated into the Leopard DI650i platform, provides a reliable and accurate method for ore body identification and grade control.
All seven surface drills at Porgera will be connected under Sandvik’s Remote Monitoring Service (RMS), which Barrick rolled out to its entire global underground fleet of more than 200 connected Sandvik trucks, loaders and drills during 2023. RMS has already reduced maintenance costs while increasing uptime across Barrick’s Sandvik fleet.
The surface drilling investment comes just months after Barrick partnered with Sandvik to supply trucks, loaders and drills for Porgera’s underground operations. The first underground units were delivered in 2024 and deliveries are expected to continue through 2028.
“We are excited to grow our partnership with Barrick from underground to the surface operation, where we will provide our latest technologies and collaborate to optimise productivity and cost efficiencies,” said Mats Eriksson, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions.
Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions and Barrick extended a global framework agreement in late 2023, enhancing the long-term partnership between the OEM and mining major.
Sandvik’s existing entity in Papua New Guinea will further expand local capabilities and the workforce to support the growing Porgera fleet. Recent in-country developments include moving into a more permanent commercial complex and ongoing development of in-country parts supply, component repair and return and in-field service capabilities. The development of specific capabilities to support Porgera includes site-based technical services to aid customer knowledge transfer, in-country parts and rock tools supply and a modular component program. The project will be supported by a collaborative change management program to ensure successful delivery and implementation of the fleet.
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