New geological tool excites blade supplier

Dave Pykari, president of DP Diamond Blades, is known as Diamond Dave in the mining industry. He began selling premium diamond blades for core cutting, drilling, and mining exploration.

In 2010 and today, his business has expanded and diversified into different products and different services, including the start of his own geographic tool prototype.

As lithium continues to grow in the North, more mining companies have been lighting up Pykari’s phone with requests for these renowned blades.

“Once we confirm the rock environment where they’re working and cutting, we match our blades to their rock types,” he said. “Blades are based on the Mohs hardness scale, which helps us to supply them with the blade that’s going to perform the best for their cutters.”

The Mohs scale of hardness rough measures the resistance of a smooth surface to scratching or abrasion.

Pykari was one of the many exhibitors at the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association Mining Day at Marina Park in June where spectators had a chance to actually see the sparkling diamond fragments on a blade. The event provided an opportunity for him to unveil a prototype of a specialized tool that he designed.

“We recently designed our own geological tool, which is a specialized hammer that we anticipated launching this summer,” Pykari said.

“But due to a few design changes, we won’t be launching it until the spring of next year. There are seven competitive advantages to our tool compared to anything else on the market right now. We’ve gained market traction just on a prototype and we have close to 1,500 units sold strictly just on that prototype, so we’re pretty excited about that.”

Pykari says the hammer will be called the DP Striker, named by his 12-year-old and eight-year-old children. With anticipation growing around the unveiling of the tool, he noted that there was “a bit of trial and error” with determining the forging and manufacturing facility where it will be produced.

The company is “very proud” that the manufacturing process will be done in Thunder Bay at a new facility they hope to be building next year.

He says it will be ready for the spring and the next field season.

“We’re an innovative company that we feel is a bit ahead of the curve here,” he said. “We’re excited about the future of Thunder Bay, especially lithium exploration. A lot of companies are exploring in our area and we foresee that the services we’re providing right now will help these companies get to the mining process quicker and easier.”

Pykari’s team has several other ideas in various stages of development that they will begin in stages.