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    First Quantum drill autonomy at Sentinel: design and safety notes for mine engineers

    December 17, 2025|

    Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

    First Quantum drill autonomy at Sentinel: design and safety notes for mine engineers

    First reported on International Mining – News

    30 Second Briefing

    First Quantum is deploying FLANDERS autonomous blasthole drilling technology at the Sentinel copper mine in Kalumbila, the first such drill automation rollout in Zambia and a step towards the country’s 3 Mt/y copper production target. The system automates key drill functions normally handled by operators, enabling more consistent hole placement and depth control, which should improve fragmentation and downstream mill performance. Remote operation and higher automation levels are also intended to reduce operator exposure at the bench while shifting roles towards higher-skilled control and maintenance tasks.

    Technical Brief

    • Automation enables tighter control of bench access, with fewer light vehicles and personnel near operating rigs.

    Our Take

    Sentinel’s copper output in Zambia’s Kalumbila region makes it one of the few large-scale operations in our database that could materially influence progress towards the country’s 3 Mt per year national copper production goal, so drill autonomy gains there have outsized national impact.

    Among the 91 copper-tagged pieces in our coverage, automation and digital control upgrades are concentrated at tier-one assets, suggesting First Quantum’s adoption of FLANDERS tech at Sentinel is consistent with a pattern where top-quartile producers move first on autonomous drilling to lock in cost and safety advantages.

    For Zambia-based copper mines in our database, safety-tagged items are still relatively sparse compared with similar coverage for Chile and Australia, so this drill autonomy deployment at Sentinel signals that higher-end safety and productivity technologies are beginning to diffuse into the Zambian copper belt rather than remaining confined to traditional automation hubs.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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