PORT WASHINGTON, WI — In a recent interview, Tim Bremner, President and CEO of Foraco International, shared insights into his company’s experience using Ultra Tech 600 pipe in demanding borehole applications across the mining industry. Foraco International SA is the third-largest global mineral driller, providing innovative solutions for mining across five continents. With over four decades in drilling and nearly 100 rigs operating across Canada, Bremner knows what it takes to deliver precision and reliability underground—and he says Ultra Tech delivers both.
Technical expertise and reliability have driven Foraco’s growth, according to Bremner: “One of the things that we developed a particular niche for was directional drilling; being able to take the hole exactly where our customers want in a straight line, which doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is.”
Foraco’s involvement with Ultra Tech began in 2019 on a project to install two paste fill holes, extensive underground definition, and core drilling for a remote Canadian mining operation. Ultra Tech pipe was included in the project specifications, so Bremner needed to be confident that Ultra Tech 600 would succeed in the application: “I got on a plane and came down to your Port Washington facility and learned everything that we could about your product: how it is made, the quality control process, and everything. We went into your lab, and we saw the destructive testing that you do on the product.”
Foraco worked closely with the Ultra Tech sales and engineering team to design centralizers on the outer pipe wall to ensure the line would remain centered in the hole. Welding procedures were tested at Ultra Tech before shipping the pipe by boat to the mine site. “It was going to the end of the world…and it had to be right,” recalled Bremner. “When we installed it in the hole, everything went perfectly. We knew with certainty that it was right up to spec. The holes were straight, and it all went like clockwork… because once you start this operation, you can’t stop, you’re committed. And then we cemented the product in place afterwards.”
Foraco quickly earned a reputation in the industry for its technical expertise in paste fill drilling and casing. Bremner noted, “…each one is unique. It depends on the ground conditions. It depends on the angle. It depends on the diameter of the hole and the schedule thickness of your product, and it depends on how they suspend it. If it’s a breakthrough hole, groundwater comes into play, and it’s a whole other discussion.”
At the time, Ultra Tech was designing a key innovation that would dramatically improve the installation and performance of paste fill pipelines: threaded pipe for borehole and vertical applications. Prior systems relied on welded connections that required many man-hours to install while the pipe was suspended in hazardous situations. After extensive engineering and testing, Ultra Tech’s threaded pipe was ready for its first installation. Bremner recalled, “We saw this threaded product as a game changer. We’ve used it almost exclusively when we work on paste fill holes. In fact, we haven’t used anything else and every single customer that we talk to, we recommend that product.”
When asked about the install benefits of Ultra Tech’s threaded pipe in comparison to the traditional welded methods, Bremner stated, “It’s way faster. Let’s put it this way, with the threaded joint, you make the joint up literally in minutes. You dress the tool joint, you make the connection, you thread it, you torque it, and you’re done. When we weld it, you need to consider the impact on the induction hardening and this requires a certified welder and up to 90 minutes to prepare the joint. You can do the math if you’ve got 100 tool joints. It’s a no-brainer. It saves you days/weeks installing. We were doing a 400-meter install in 30 hours, where otherwise it would have taken us a week, so I would say seven to ten times faster. It’s huge and it’s safer. It’s way safer.”
Bremner also praised Ultra Tech’s commitment to engineering collaboration and problem-solving: “It’s the deep understanding of the whole process that your company has…and the solutions that your company provides to give us flexibility to overcome the unknown. Like the threaded product, it makes a huge difference, and being able to customize the exterior of the product without compromising the induction hardening on the inside to accommodate unique borehole conditions. That’s huge. The other guys, you know, it’s on the shelf: ‘Here it is. Have a nice day. Hope it works out for you’.”
Reflecting on the durability of Ultra Tech’s pipe, Bremner emphasized the importance of consistent raw materials and strict manufacturing standards. “Where you guys get credit is, and this is from an outsider, and it may or may not be the case, but I think you guys have got a very, very high spec on your raw material. It’s very high quality, and you’ve got very rigid processes that you adhere to make a good, consistent product, and you don’t waver from it.”
