Until recently, the main way to combat the loss of flushing fluid, well wall collapses in rocky rocks broken by tectonic fractures, was casing. But, as it is known, the use of casing pipes is associated with loss of diameters, so under difficult geological conditions, multi-column well designs are obtained and initial diameters are increased. This leads to additional complications, as the basic rule of drilling is violated: the smaller the diameter of wells, the less wall collapses and the more productive the work is, all other things being equal. Currently, this provision is generally accepted, in connection with which in all countries are moving in the exploration of solid minerals to drilling with drill bits d 46-59 mm in one-stage design of wells, ie, fix the upper unstable rocks pipes, and then drilling is carried out without casing.

In recent years, when drilling wells for water as a production string is increasingly used pipes are not steel, but from other, cheaper materials. At opening of mineralized waters refusal from application of steel pipes is a necessary condition for normal operation of wells. In this case asbestos-cement, plywood glued and plastic pipes are used for fixing well walls. At present the electrochemical method of well wall fixing is being mastered.

At electrochemical consolidation of unstable rocks in boreholes, tubular and sliding electrode designs are usually used. Tubular electrodes are the most widely used.

When exploring mineral deposits, drilling with a solid bottom hole, i.e. without coring, is being used more and more widely. Coreless drilling makes it possible to increase productivity by increasing the mechanical speed of drilling, reducing the time for downhole operations, eliminating the time spent on coring, simplifying drilling technology and, accordingly, reduces the cost per linear meter of drilling.