By Neville Judd
Mining companies face mounting pressure to improve productivity, address workforce shortages, and operate more sustainably, all while maintaining safety and controlling costs. Drilling sits at the centre of many of these challenges, where variability in operator experience, changing ground conditions, and equipment performance can directly affect downstream results.
For Hexagon’s Curtis Stacy, Sr. Product Manager, Autonomous Drills, these challenges are deeply personal. After spending thousands of hours on drill pads observing operators and workflows firsthand, he saw an opportunity to rethink how drilling technology could better support people and improve outcomes across the mining value chain.
That vision ultimately led to Drill Assist, a technology designed not to replace operators, but to help them perform at their best through intelligent, operator-centric automation.
Drill Assist helps bridge the talent gap between rookie operator and master driller.
Building smarter drilling through experience
The idea behind Drill Assist began with a simple question: how can mining technology make drilling smarter, more consistent, and more sustainable?
Before joining Hexagon, Stacy co-founded Phoenix Drill Control in Arizona, where the team focused on developing automation that could capture and replicate the instincts of experienced drill operators. Rather than creating a closed system tied to a single manufacturer, the goal was to build an open, flexible platform that could integrate across mixed fleets and existing mine infrastructure.
Drill Assist is being integrated into a broader ecosystem that connects drilling, blasting, fragmentation analysis, and downstream processes.
The challenge was significant. Experienced drillers often make split-second adjustments based on machine feedback, changing ground conditions, and years of intuition developed in the field. Translating that expertise into a digital system required years of testing, refinement, and collaboration with operators.
The first prototype took roughly a year to train. Early results quickly demonstrated the technology’s potential, with Drill Assist consistently replicating high-performing drilling techniques across shifts and operators.
Turning automation into a practical mining solution
Innovation alone does not drive adoption in mining. Technology must prove itself in real-world conditions and fit naturally into operational workflows.
Following several years of testing and development, Phoenix Drill Control began collaborating with Hexagon in 2022. The partnership combined Drill Assist’s automation capabilities with Hexagon’s broader vision for connected, autonomous mining operations.
Early deployments delivered measurable operational improvements, including:
- Approximately 42% more holes drilled per shift
- Reduced cost per foot drilled
- Higher consistency across operators and shifts
- Strong operator adoption, with voluntary utilisation rates reaching the 90% range at some sites
These results reinforced an important point: when designed thoughtfully, automation can support operators rather than replace them.
Addressing mining’s growing skills gap
One of the mining industry’s biggest challenges is workforce capability and retention. Developing highly skilled drill operators traditionally takes years of hands-on experience, yet many operations are struggling to attract and retain experienced personnel.
Drill Assist helps bridge this gap by simplifying operation and reducing the learning curve for less experienced workers.
The system was intentionally designed with usability in mind. Operators interact with a straightforward interface that minimises complexity while allowing the automation to manage drilling optimisation in real time.
In some cases, mines have rapidly trained workers with little prior drilling experience to achieve strong results in a short period of time. This ability to standardise performance and reduce dependency on highly specialised expertise has become increasingly valuable for operations facing labour constraints.
Importantly, the technology also helps experienced operators maintain consistency during long shifts and changing conditions, improving overall fleet performance.
“The best technology feels natural; it works for people, not against them,” says Curtis Stacy.
Connecting drilling to the digital mine
The future of mining automation extends beyond individual machines. Increasingly, mining companies are focused on creating connected workflows where operational data flows seamlessly across the value chain.
At Hexagon, Drill Assist is being integrated into a broader ecosystem that connects drilling, blasting, fragmentation analysis, and downstream processes.
As drilling occurs, the system can assess ground hardness and generate data that feeds directly into blast design and optimisation workflows. Combined with Hexagon’s fragmentation analysis technologies, this creates a closed-loop process that continuously improves blasting outcomes and downstream efficiency.
The benefits extend well beyond drilling productivity alone, including:
- Improved blast consistency
- Reduced energy consumption
- Better downstream fragmentation
- More efficient material movement and processing
- Greater operational visibility through connected data
This integrated approach supports the broader goals of the digital mine, where automation, analytics, and operational intelligence work together to improve safety, productivity, and sustainability.
Building trust in mining automation
Successful mining technology adoption ultimately depends on trust. Operators and site teams need to see measurable value, understand how systems support their work, and feel confident using new tools in demanding environments.
For Stacy, that human element remains central to Drill Assist’s success. “The best technology feels natural; it works for people, not against them,” he says.
By focusing on simplicity, operator empowerment, and measurable operational improvements, Drill Assist is helping reshape perceptions around mining automation. Rather than viewing automation as a replacement for human expertise, many operations are beginning to see it as a way to scale knowledge, improve consistency, and create safer, more efficient workflows.
As mining companies continue their digital transformation journeys, technologies like Drill Assist demonstrate how intelligent automation can deliver practical value while keeping people at the centre of innovation.
“We’re not just automating drills. We’re helping shape the future of mining, one smart hole at a time,” says Stacy.
To read Curtis Stacy’s first-person perspective on how intelligent automation is helping reshape drilling performance, workforce capability, and operational efficiency in mining, subscribe to Shift for exclusive thought leadership from across Hexagon and its customer community.