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By Mike Boissonneault

It was three years ago when the “storm of the century” had taken a firm grip over the Pacific West Coast and inland areas. At the Big Sky ski resort in Montana on Christmas morning two ski patrollers set out to perform an explosives “hand charge” avalanche control mission that would see only one return. It has been difficult to determine exactly what happened. Investigators do know that there were three separate and consecutive attempts to light a safety fuse, when it had apparently been burning since the first attempt. Time ran out after the third attempt. Although this accident has had a profound impact on North American avalanche control programs, I am sure it pales in contrast to the shock and grief experienced by family members who lost a loved one.

Jan 1, 2001

By Cam Thomas

The initial application for reflectorless laser technology was for profiling rock faces to determine front row burden and improve flyrock control and airblast. Over the past fifteen years a number of laser systems have been developed for general ground modeling purposes and GPS offsets, but these advances have yet to gain common acceptance in construction, mining and quarry blasting. This paper will outline a number of applications for reflectorless laser technology, including the latest method for rock face profiling, mapping, and 3-D modeling to calculate available and excavated rock volumes. Drilling deviation measurements will be presented in conjunction with rock face profiling to demonstrate how this information can be used to improve blast results. In complicated excavations, the actual quantity of rock excavated for payment purposes and the amount of overbreak can be very controversial. Procedures to calculate these volumes using laser technology will be outlined and comparisons will be made between these results and traditional techniques.

Jan 1, 2003

By William Wilkinson, Vladisla Kecojevic

Current three-dimensional (3D) computer design technology leveraged into drill and blast planning and operations is changing the way engineers and operations approach drill and blast design. Additionally, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology that is now readily available to the civilian population is being implemented into the mining sector with a variety of new products specifically designed for drill and blast operations. The objective of this article is to discuss the steps involved with 3D Computer-Aided Design (CAD) of drilling and blasting, and the benefits such a design can provide in conjunction with GPS and drill monitoring systems.

Jan 1, 2004

By Charles O'Connor, Ben Tisa

International Training Resources is a company consisting of personnel with extensive law enforcement and military special operations experience, The staff members are qualified to train and certify, assist and advise law enforcement officers and agencies, at any level, in critical incident policy, procedures and tactical resolutions. Successful critical incident resolution is comprised of many elements of professional skills and personnel. (Command staff, negotiators, snipers, tactical teams, uniform patrol, K-9, bomb squad, etc.) Recently, tactical teams have been developing the capability for the use of explosive methods for rapid entry into crisis locations. This document ‘will briefly describe the environment, operational issues and courses of action associated with developing a complete tactical breaching program for utilization by SWAT teams in response to operational conditions in critical incident situations. This topic is being presented to the I.S.E.E. evaluators under “Interesting Blasting Projects” and “Public Relations” categories. Tactical operations differ significantly from traditional industry practices and we appreciate the opportunity to show the industry other professional applications of explosive materials and techniques. Presently, of the few schools from which law enforcement officers can receive training with explosive breaching methods, International Training Resources is the only company currently teaching and certifying officers which has received total endorsement by the California Peace Officer’s Standards and Training Commission (P.O.S.T.) and the state blaster’s licensing commission. We have pioneered the combining of law enforcement needs and blasting industry technology to train tactical officers, nationwide, in the mission essential skills necessary for explosive breaching.

Jan 1, 2000

By John A. Franklin, Norbert B. Maerz, D Linn Coursen

Accurate measurement of blast fragmentation is important in mining and quarrying operations, to monitor blasting and optimize blast design. A new digital photoanalytical method to measure the block size is presented here. Photographs of the broken rock are digitized, apparent size distributions measured, and corrections made for overlapping blocks, by means of an empirically derived correction function. The method was tested during recent full-scale blasting tests in Virginia, USA. It shows great potential as a practical aid to predicting, monitoring, and controlling the quality of the fragmented rock.

Jan 1, 1987

By Jonathan Peck, Doug Pollitt, Malcolm Scoble

Over the past 5 years the Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, McGill University, has been involved in the performance monitoring of both percussive and rotary drills. Studies conducted in open pit coal and iron ore mines using microprocessor-based research and commercially available instrumentation resulted in the monitoring of at least 6 performance parameters while drilling vertical production blastholes.

Jan 1, 1991

By Mike McGill, Stephen Chung, Dale S. Preece

Cast blasting can be designed to utilize explosive energy effectively and economically for coal mining operations to remove overburden material. The more overburden removed by explosives, the less blasted material there is left to be transported with mechanical equipment, such as draglines and trucks. In order to optimize the percentage of rock that is cast, a higher powder factor than normal is required plus an initiation technique designed to produce a much greater degree of horizontal muck movement. This is a significant change from normal blasting practice where fine fragmentation and sufficient muck movement were the prime requirements to permit efficient excavation.

Jan 1, 1994

By Jena Moshen

Underground Bulk Systems (UBS) technology has gained widespread application in tunneling and underground mining owing to its safety, reliability, increased Velocity of Detonation (VOD) and excellent results. However, its application in perimeter blasting is still limited and researchers are looking at ways of harnessing this technology for perimeter control. This simplifies the charging process by using one cost efficient product for charging both the perimeter and grid holes. This paper presents a case study on the application of underground bulk emulsion explosives for perimeter control blasting in underground room and pillar platinum mines. In order to achieve the required coupling ratios in the perimeter holes, the emulsion is loaded into specially formulated smaller diameter polyethylene (poly) pipes. The effectiveness of this method was evaluated using information obtained during routine blast audits and data supplied by the mines on half cast factors, over break and under break as well as analysis of data from Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Scans over a period of four years. This method of perimeter control, has given the platinum miners in Zimbabwe a competitive edge in cost effective perimeter charging and blasting by simplifying the previously costly deployment of traditional barrels and other decoupled cartridges. The method has been adopted by all the platinum mines in Zimbabwe as it has proven to be a cost effective alternative of controlling the perimeter walls, along with other key benefits that relate to safety, productivity and effectiveness.

Jan 1, 2018

By Ed Coulter

Nevada has a population of 1.2 million people of which only 21% or 312,rIXl are native born Nevadans. he population between 1980-1990 grew a record of 389%. and ls the fastest growing state in the union. While only 2.5% of the total population are direct employees of the mining industry, excluding Reno and Las Vegas, one out of every three people living in Nevada work for a mining related industry.

Jan 1, 1991

By Sami Kara, Yunseok Park, Seung-Joong Lee, Namsun Hwang, Michael Laing

This study conducts a comparative analysis of construction efficiency. In the first part we compared electronic and non-electric initiation systems, focusing on tunnel contour holes. Field blasting operations were executed across a variety of delays to identify the optimal delay time. This delay for the in-situ rock mass was determined through regression analysis of blasting vibration in contour holes and for overbreak/underbreak. The blasting results with the electronic initiation system using the obtained optimal delay, applied to contour holes, were compared with the results of the non-electric initiation system. The overbreak and underbreak decreased by an average of 2.7 cm and 5.8 cm respectively, by using the electronic initiation system. Moreover, the vibration reduction rate in contour holes region was reduced by 11.9% based on the blasting vibration estimation equation proposed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT). Underground construction projects have become increasing popular as cities grow in both size and density. This growth severely limits the amount of useable space for new project on the surface, resulting in the decision to build them underground. This new policy however brings into focus the challenge of managing and reducing blasting related vibration due to the proximity of these projects to sensitive structures, utilities and foundations often present in urban environments. For this purpose, we have been required to manage the vibration by reducing the quantity of explosives used per round. Inspired by surface blasting techniques, we applied a decking mode to address and work around this challenge. We present in this paper the first attempt to blast a tunnel face using a decking method and reduce the charging per hole from 6 kg to 3 kg per hole and keep the same advance rate for this tunnel. The results are presented in the third part of this paper. In the second part we present the results of the decking mode in shaft. The use of the electronic initiation system in tunnel construction provides the users an effective tool to improve the overbreak/underbreak and keep the vibration at a low level with a large gain on the overall project schedule and budget. This what we want to demonstrate in this paper.

Jan 21, 2025

By Daniel Hauer

Blocking. (5) The “blocking” of boulders is a much cheaper way of breaking them up than “mud capping.” It should always be used in preference to that method except when too much time will be consumed by a crew of men waiting for the drilling to be done, as shown in example of cost No. 1, as given under “mud capping.” Under such circumstances the time consumed would be a greater cost to the contractor than the extra amount of dynamite. Then, too, on large thin boulders to drill one hole would result only in breaking the stone into such pieces as would again have to be broken; and the many holes might equal the cost of extra dynamite. Under such circumstances if method (6) cannot be used, “mud capping” will have to be resorted to, to do the work economically.

Jan 1, 2006

By Alan R. Cameron, William Forsyth, Tom H. Kleinel

Because good and bad blasting must be defined in terms of overall mining costs, blast optimization requires combined blasting and costing models. Furthermore, the models must be both accurate and comprehensive. A combined fragmentation and preliminary costing model was developed to investigate alternative blasting strategies.

Jan 1, 1995

By Greg Wyartt

In the Pilbara region of Western Australia, an iron ore mine is undertaking a high wall cut-back to improve stability and allow access to deeper ore deposits. Several sections of the wall have been classified geologically sensitive due to unstable localised geology, and therefore an engineered approach to vibration critical blasting was required. The use of electronic detonators allowed multiple signature (seed) holes to be incorporated into a production blast adjacent to the geologically sensitive area, therefore providing baseline vibration data to be used for future modelling with the added advantage of eliminating unnecessary pit closure downtime typically associated with a signature hole program. All subsequent blast patterns also incorporated multiple signature holes to provide additional data and allow continual updating – and therefore improved accuracy - of the blast prediction model.

Jan 1, 2018

By Adam Gray, Emery Gray

State-of-the-art seismographs can be employed to assist the blasting engineer in understanding the propagation of vibration waves generated by blasting. Wave traces and frequency plots are used to adjust shot loading and timing, especially around close or near- field structures. Successful close-in blasting vibration monitoring requires careful consideration of the following: Geophone locations Mounting of geophone both on structures and in the ground Differences between ground motion and structural response This presentation will discuss methods used to control and monitor blast-induced ground and structure motions. Case histories are presented to illustrate seismic monitoring used as a tool to control vibrations and guide the blaster in the design process.

Jan 1, 2005

By AN Gupta, N V. Srinivasa Rao

Initiating devices like detonators use sensitive primary explosives. Successful detonation of secondary explosive is achieved by suitable source of energy from primaries. The most widely used primaries contain toxic lead azide and lead styphnate, dinitrodiphenol or tetracine. All these primaries are very sensitive to friction, impact and heat. The handling of these chemicals is very hazardous and many accidents reported in detonator manufacturing were from these primaries only. In addition to this high sensitivity, lead azide and lead styphnate contain lead which is toxic.

Jan 1, 2014

By Yoshikazu Hirosaki

How big or small is the Japanese explosive market? Who are the major explosive customers? Is there any big construction project in which a large amount of explosives is expected? What is the future of the explosives industry in Japan? Is it true that there are no ANFO trucks? What is the licensing system for blasters? Is there any education system for blasters?

Jan 1, 2001

By B Mohanty, M P. Roy, P K. Singh

"The measured response of residential structures is a critical indicator of troublesomeor potentially damaging ground vibrations. A study was conducted to evaluate theresponse of structures situated in the periphery of four open-pit coal mines in India. Although, most of the structures were at far-off distances from the present blasting sites, an attempt was made to document the response of structures to blast vibration for future applications to optimize the blast designs for the safety of the structures. The study involved a total 215 blasts, employing one-, two- and three-hole calibration study, and production blasts. The bench height varied from 7.5 m to 42 m, and boreholes loaded with emulsion and slurry explosives were 250, 260, 270 and 310 mm in diameter. The explosive detonated in a blast were between 300-198400 kg whereas in a delay it was 33-24800 kg. Up to 12 tri-axial vibration sensors were located in overburden along a linear array from 25 m to 6.5 km distance from the blasts. Altogether, 1512 blast vibration signatures were recorded. Production and specially fi red single-charge blasts allowed the determination of natural ground frequency. The fundamental frequency of the structures ranged between 3.13 to 10.6 Hz, the same as those of the ground vibrations. The amplifi cation of vibration in the structures was in the range of 1.6 to 5.6. The study details the interaction between ground vibrations and selected structures, and the means to reduce amplifi cation of vibrations in the structures and persistence of vibrations through improved blast design."

Jan 1, 2008

By Roberto Folchi, Hans Wallin

Lake Mead, the largest man-made reservoir in the United States, is located about 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. For the construction of Lake Mead third water intake, which is entirely placed underground, an underwater excavation was needed at a depth of 100 m (330 ft): a large surface had to be deepened by 20 m (66 ft) in basalt.

Jan 1, 2012

By Y. Idrogo

Electronic delay detonators have been used in most types of blasting application with great success, with the accuracy and precision being used effectively to control negative environmental impacts like vibration. They have also provided consistent repeatable fragmentation and heave results. With the very wide choice in delay period and powerful timing design software, the choice of firing times to optimise blast results is not always clear to the designer. So the improved results achievable from the use of electronic delay detonators are often not optimally achieved.

Jan 1, 2018

By Alex Jankovich, Darren Thornton, Sarrna Kanchibotla, Cam Grundstrom

The Porgera joint venture and Dyno Noble have commissioned a joint project to optimise the drill and blast operations to increase the overall profitability of the mine. One of the aims of this project is to increase the throughput of semi autogenous (sag) mill by optimising the blast fragmentation, The work done so far clearly indicates that significant improvements in sag mill throughput can be achieved by optimizing the blast fragmentation. This paper discusses the planning, implementation and results achieved so far in this project.

Jan 1, 2001