DD Grout Plugs
Simple.
What's New
January 2023 - Data Sheets and Instructions now online
Data Sheets and Instructions for all of our plugs are now available on our Diamond Drilling Plugs page here.
December 2022 - colour coding on the Grouter Mk4R
R is for Remote opening. The NQ Grouter Mk4R is now available with the red colour coding for the retention spring. This plug has the addtional internal components to allow remote opening of the check valve.
December 2021 - Sneak peek - the new NQ Grouter Mk4
The Grouter has been redesigned with a stronger check valve and more effective return spring for extreme conditions.
Introduced in early 2022, and with a long list of users this plug is making waves.
January 2020 - more from Bleeding Bit
December 2019 - A new business
We now have a sister business developing virtual reality in the mining industry, offering a unique service of replicating mining operations in VR. Head over to Bleeding Bit to have a look !
November 2019 - Expanding our client base
Our international client base is growing...
August 2019 - Update
Our vacation student, Michael, is nearing the completion of his Masters in Mechanical Engineering. He continues to assist with the business one day per week during the year. With exposure to 3D printing, injection moulding, product design and testing, assembly, packing, and shipping, Michael's had a broad exposure to how our business works. He has accepted a placement with a national quarrying and precast concrete company for early next year, and we wish him well and look forward to the remaining few months left here.
We continue to develop and refine products for the underground hard rock mining market. Much of the design focus this year has been with our sister business Underground Stemming, which relates to percussion drilled blast holes as against diamond drill holes for DD Grout Plugs.
Much of what we do - for both businesses - is not yet on the website, so if you have a need please let us know and we will see what we have or what we can do.
July 2019 - Metric sizes for the European market
We've been supplying WL56 sized plugs into the Scandinavian market for a couple of years now, but recently had a requirement come in for WL66 in Finland. This has now been added to our size range.
November 2018 - Vacation Student role
We are currently seeking a vacation student to assist with shipping goods over the Christmas and New Year period.
There will be some exposure to the product lifecycle during this time, including Intellectual Property, product design, prototyping, and production options for an SME.
Preference will be given to those studying Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design, or Mining Engineering and based in Perth.
November 2017 - Our most exciting product yet !
The new generation Grouter adds a heap of additional functionality;
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Install and grout with a diamond drill rig
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Grout through the rods, OR
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Grout at a later date with a 1" steel pipe with no corrosion over time
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Install with a development jumbo
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Install by hand (dry holes only)
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Use the plug as a standpipe with a 1" steel pipe to drain the water table
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All at an unmatched 1000 psi rating and 100 degrees C.
We are commencing manufacture in NQ with HQ and LTK60 to follow. Please let us know if this functionality is of interest to your operation.
We are also prototyping plugs for percussion drilled holes using our simple and reliable system. More to follow.
April 2017
We are now finding that our plugs are being copied internationally, and for a London listed mining operating in Tanzania company that has Corporate Governance policies which should prevent this. This is counter productive, not just by threatening our business, but by taking away the incentive to carry out further R&D to the benefit of the industry.
We need the support of the global mining community, not cost cutting to the extent of breaching patent filings. And after all, in the scheme of things our costs are relatively small especially in comparison to the cost of a flooding event.
We are a small business, and while we may still pursue legal action this is costly and distracts us from what we should be doing;
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A 4" RC plug for underground drilling, which may also work for surface drilling
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A hand installed Grouter for those instances where legacy upholes need grouting and the rig has moved on
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A simple standpipe to drain groundwater through underground diamond drill holes
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Uphole stemming plugs through our separate business division, see below.
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness." - Oscar Wilde.
February 2017
We've been busy developing a new business... Still based on blocking drill holes, but this time stemming blast holes.
There's never been much around for stemming uphole blast holes underground. We've used some of the knowledge we developed for the diamond drill hole plugs, and carried out substantial in house testing on various concepts. The result of all of this is our sister business, www.underground-stemming.com and the Pineapple stemming plug. If you get a chance take a look, even better, send your Drill and Blast Engineers over to take a look. This really is new technology in underground drilling and blasting.
August 2016 - R&D Projects are continuing
We continue working feverishly on a number of new products;
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an update to the Terra-Barb to provide greater forward resistance
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a HQ Grouter plug that will push through casing then into the hole against 1000 psi water pressure
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an acid resistant plug for an underground ore leaching trial in Europe
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a simple medium pressure standpipe solution for draining or blocking water in NQ holes at another operation in the Philippines
April 2016 - WL 56 size now available
The Grouter, Hydra-Barb and Terra-Barb are now available in the Sandvik WL56 size.
March 2016 - surface Isolator plug
December 2015 - 1000 psi for our Hydra-Barb and Grouter plugs !
We've developed, in conjunction with a South African diamond drilling supplier, a novel plug for surface drilling operations. The Isolator plug can be used to support a substantial grout column above (behind) the plug.
We are now able to rate all of our water control plugs to 1000 psi at a Factor of Safety 2:1.
These plugs have all been tested to over 2000 psi and come out looking like new;
AQTK Grouter
AQ/LTK48 Hydra-Barb
BQ Grouter
LTK60 Grouter
BQ/LTK60 Hydra-Barb
NQ/NQ2 Grouter
NQ/NQ2 Hydra-Barb
HQ Grouter
HQ Hydra-Barb
November 2015 - Export update
We are now exporting to the following countries.
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the Philippines
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USA
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South Africa
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Tanzania
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New Zealand
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Ghana
We also have trials occurring at numerous other locations worldwide including some European operations and a couple of very large underground operations in SE Asia.
When will we take water pressure seriously ?
As an industry we continue to make mistakes underestimating the power of water.
The Mexican Industrias Peñoles Naica Mine was suspended due to flooding on January 5 2015. For those that don't know, that's the mine in which the crystal cave was discovered in 2000, later explored by National Geographic and even features on the Discovery channel.
Six months later the mine remains suspended due to flooding. Reportedly this is costing the company almost USD $1M in revenue every day and the mine is still not back in production.
Only two months prior Australia's Sandfire Resources had a flooding event at the DeGrussa Conductor 4/5 decline, suspending all of the underground operations for a couple of weeks.
These events cost the mining industry a lot of money.
There are preventative solutions. DD Grout Plugs can assist with plugs rated up to 1000psi for diamond drill holes to immediately block the water or even allow high pressure grouting of the water courses.
August 2015 - AQTK size Grouter protoype 48mm
The AQTK Grouter prototype has been manufactured and is currently undergoing testing to 2000psi.
Commercial sales have commenced for the sizes LTK60 and NQ/NQ2. The HQ Grouter is currently being trialled at a high profile underground gold mine in Indonesia.
July 2015 - DURACon Agency Agreement
DD Grout Plugs is pleased to announce the execution of our first Agency agreement for Sales and Marketing. Mr Haren Subra of DURACon Singapore will be promoting the DD Grout Plugs’ Hydra-Barb Technology products throughout SE Asia and Africa.
The Hydra-Barb, Grouter, and Terra-Barb provide high pressure water control, high pressure grouting capability, and rifling protection in underground diamond drill holes. These plugs lead the industry with unmatched pressure, load and temperature ratings and are the product of choice at a number of leading blue chip underground mines and diamond drilling contractors in the Australian domestic market. This agreement commences with trial products going out to an underground gold mine in Tanzania and also to a large underground gold and silver mining complex in Indonesia.
Following our first export order in April to the Philippines, this formally commences our global marketing strategy for our products and confirms our market leading technology. We welcome Haren Subra on board and look forward to a long and productive association.
May 2015 - DD Grout Plugs becomes an exporter of its Australian technology
DD Grout Plugs commenced exporting following trials early in 2015 at the Medusa Mining Philsaga subsidiary Co-O Mine in the Philippines. Hydra-Barbs are used to control high pressure water and prevent it from forcing its way out through resource definition diamond drill holes into mine workings at around 500psi.
We look forward to a continuing working relationship with Philsaga Mining, assisting in reducing costs and increasing productivity.
March 2015 - DD Grout Plugs achieves Australian Made accreditation
The DD Grout Plugs Hydra-Barb TechnologyTM has now achieved Australian Made accreditation. The Hydra-Barb Technology is a patented system of blocking off underground diamond drill holes to prevent high pressure water inflow, prevent rifling from nearby blasting, and allow high pressure grouting. This technology was invented by DD Grout Plugs Founder and Director Mr Jeff Phillips.
Hydra-Barb Technology plugs are designed and manufactured locally in Perth, Western Australia.