Agnico-Eagle senior geologist Jukka Välimaa recently commented on KATI’s involvement with the company’s exploration works, saying:
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 and further rigs at Agnico-Eagle’s other regional ore prospecting sites.
The Kittilä mine has drilling targets in two different depth ranges: in 400m – 600m and below 600m.
Targets in the 400m – 600m ranges have been drilled using BQTK and WL-56 equipment. The length of individual boreholes has varied between 500m and 900m, adding up to a total of 24,000m drilled.
The majority of drilling carried out by KATI Oy so far, approximately 29,500m, has been conducted using core drilling units and NQ2 equipment. The core drilling targets have varied between 600m and 1,500m, and the deepest hole bored by KATI Oy is at a depth of 1,918m.
All core drilling has been done using the Devico technique, and most holes have been drilled by branching at a depth of 400m – 700m. This has resulted in high precision and significant cost savings.
The quality of KATI Oy’s drilling work has been outstanding throughout the project.
KATI Oy’s crews are motivated and competent to work even in challenging conditions, in any season. The company’s equipment and devices are in excellent technical condition, and they also have an ISO-certified environmental management system. We have always received reliable service from KATI Oy.