ANDThe driller is the person responsible for carrying out and supervising the activities that occur on the work platforms, as well as the management of drilling equipment, its maintenance and care according to established internal procedures.
“I am a driller and for several years I have worked in different companies in the mining branch, always seeking one’s well-being; I have visited many projects in Argentina, I was in Santa Cruz, Neuquén, Jujuy and Salta, where I worked with lithium in the Salares Grandes, a land of pure sand,” he declared for the Malargüe Diario site.
According to Franco, handling the drilling machine is complicated since everything is based on the difficulties that the terrain can present, “it can be difficult if it is fractured or compact, you have to pass clay faults where the tool can get trapped if you are not conditioning the well well with the additives; There are drilling machines that are newer from the factory and reach much further; “The one we set the record with is an older machine.”
According to Franco, work is done in the mines 24 hours a day, divided into two shifts of 12, day and night, “we explore by taking three-meter cores, where the geology personnel see the minerals that come out. Different stages of veins are drilled, depending on the depth of the meters that are drilled and, depending on the terrain, you will find some clay fractures that are worked with water and additives.”
When he first started in this profession, Franco had a 30 x 14 diagram, then he made 20 x 10 and now he is with the 14 x 14 one, “you live more outside than at home, this is another family apart. “Mining offers many sources of work, it is another world, you see people from all provinces.”
For Franco this record means a lot on a personal level, “it is something big since I always dreamed of being a great driller, I know that one day I will surpass that record with another machine, I have operated different drilling rigs in my life and it always went well, it is a unique experience, a challenge with myself; This is a record together with my countershift and assistants, we are all a team that strives harder every day to give our best.”
