Raising Australia bought 2 Robbins 56R machines second hand from the USA in September 2009.

These are the only 2 56R series machines The Robbins Company manufactured and were originally built in 1996 specifically for small diameter raiseboring in low profile areas.

They are especially suited to escapeways as the wide footprint allows a 1.5m reamer to be bored to breakthrough. RB17 was decommissioned in 2014 and destined for spare parts and scrap metal. Due to an increase in work and requirements for raisedrills, RB17 was completely rebuilt and resurrected in the new Epiroc colour scheme.

RB17 is now on site at Capricorn Copper developing a series of escapeways and will take up permanent residence on the east coast of Australia. This brings Raising Australia’s fleet up to a total of 5 machines covering all raiseboring options.