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By Peter P. Harvey

The Nonel Primadet is a non-electric delay blasting cap initiation system. The most recent field application of the system in the Southwest has been at the Magma Superior Mine, Superior, Arizona.

Jan 1, 1978

By Isaac E. "Chip" Harris

A general understanding is given to how and where blast hole drills are used and what recent developments have taken place with small and large diameter drill hole machines. Indications are that new developments with high penetration rates and large diameter holes are not necessarily the answer to increased production in the field.

Jan 1, 1979

By Larry R. Fletcher

Excessive flyrock, which is blasted rock that travels beyond the secured blast area, is responsible for 25 pct of the blasting injuries that occur in surface mining. Excessive flyrock is also a frequent cause of damage to mine equipment and facilities.

Jan 1, 1986

By Steve Dillingham

In recent years, there has been a trend toward increasingly demanding blasting standards being enacted by local and regional regulatory authorities. The objective of this paper is to alert blasters of the difficulties that are created for blasting projects as a result of these restrictions, as well as the steps that can be taken to minimize future conflicts.

Jan 1, 1995

By Peter Bellairs

It is generally expected that drilling and blasting be a routine part of a mining process where the blastholes are drilled, left for a period of time and then primed, loaded with explosive, stemmed and then detonated via an appropriate surface initiation system. The occurrence of a premature detonation(s) therefore results in a great deal of consternation and disruption to the mining operation.

Jan 1, 1997

By Sheila Luchansky, F M. Babcock, Daniel M. Sanders

A cooperative effort between a blasting vibration consultant, a blasting contractor, and personnel from the City of Las Vegas has dramatically reduced complaints from residential areas near developmental blasting projects. The principal methods used involved the preparation of an informative video recording which presents various aspects of the blasting operations, the design of a distinctive flyer which is attached to residential doors, and pre-blast meetings for information dissemination.

Jan 1, 1993

By Wiliam Reisz

As we approach the peak season for thunderstorm activity it’s important to keep in mind that lightning still poses a serious threat to drilling and blasting operations. Lightning remains the number one cause of accidental detonation of explosives.

Jan 1, 2008

By D D. Garg, D A. Wasson

Open pit blasting in India uses two types of explosives. First there are bulk explosives for wet and dry holes, and there are packaged explosives. The Indian open pit coal mining is projected to use 190 thousand metric tons of explosives in 1995. This volume is projected to grow for the next ten years, whereas the underground coal mining will hold fairly constant.

Jan 1, 1995

By Jon Andrews

Purpose: To show how in managing risk in avalanche control blasting has changed throughout the years, and try to define the term “Acceptable Risk”. History: The history and the way we manage risk in avalanche control blasting to the avalanche control crews and public has change over the years dramatically. From the mid 1800s to about 1920 was the Risk vs. Rewards era, the Industrial Revolution. Now it is a Risk vs. Liability, the age of Liability.

Jan 1, 2009

By Jin Jingzhi, Wang Xuguang, Guan Li, Li Jianjin

Emulsion explosives are gaining a wider and wider commercial market and are displacing other composite slurry technologies. However, the grease-like state and essential thermodynamic instability of emulsion explosives cause inconvenience in production, transportation, storage and use and lead to gradual changes in performance. Emulsion powder explosives are designed to avoid these disadvantages. The formulation, process and properties of emulsion powder explosives made through a spin flash technology are described in this paper.

Jan 1, 1997

By K D. Sexton, T J. Tope

Manufacturers and users of energetic material (e.g., propellants, explosives, pyrotechnics (PEP)) generate unserviceable, obsolete, off-specification, damaged, and contaminated items that are characterized as "reactive wastes" by definition, and therefore regulated under RCRA, Subtitle C, as hazardous waste. Energetic wastes, to include waste ordnance and munitions items, have historically been disposed of by open burning/open detonation (OB/OD), particularly by the Department of Defense (DoD). However, increasing regulatory constraints have led to the recent reduction and limited use of OB/OD treatment.

Jan 1, 1996

By D J. P Jordan, C V. B Cuningham, A J. Rorke, C G. Ladds, O L. Davey

"During the early stages of the boxcut mining at the Arthur Taylor Colliery, Open Cast Mine(ATCOM), problems were experienced with blasting results. Very large boulders andportions of completely unfragmented rock were commonly encountered. A full blastmonitoring programme was instigated by the mine and the explosive supplier to solve theproblems and to optimise future blasting operations at the mine."

Jan 1, 1993

By Michael Swisdak, John Tatom

In a quantitative risk assessment (QRA), the ability to accurately model real-world situations is obviously critical. In the end, the model must be able to represent the effects produced by the detonation of the donor and the consequences on the target. The science that goes into such a model must be carefully thought-out and based on as much data as possible.

Jan 1, 2007

By Ken C. Pruss

Seismic studies have proven that the frequency with which shock or vibration waves are reacting on a structure, in correlation with the amplitude of those waves, has a definite affect of structural damage. Different structures will react to different frequencies. In the past few years, some major coal producers in the midwest United States have shown that with the use of highly accurate detonators and exotic timing patterns they have effectively been able to adjust frequencies and this has enabled the operators to continue their excavation of overburden in environmentally sensitive areas.

Jan 1, 1989

By Reynold N. Hoover, Davis S. Shatzer

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) is responsible for the regulation and enforcement of the explosives laws codified in the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Title XI. To meet its responsibilities ATF has special agents, inspectors and specialists who regularly interact with the explosives industry. However, with just over 2,000 special agents and 800 inspectors and specialists, it is difficult to visit the almost 10,000 explosives licensees and permittees in the United States.

Jan 1, 1995

By G Alan Foster

Because of the marked human response to blast effects and inherent defects present in many modern structures the real possibility of being named as a defendant in a law suit faces most blasters. Until recently even frivolous law suits involved a great deal of expense since legal costs were inevitably incurred whilst waiting for your day in court, which typically occurred some 2-4 years after the alleged damage took place.

Jan 1, 1989

By Wang Xuguang Shen Yingfeng

Structure is the main aspect affecting the performance of emulsion explosive. Calculation of such structure parameters as osmosis pressure, interface area per unit volume etc. must be helpful to the understanding of the structure of emulsion explosive. This paper has solved the Laplace-Young Equation for simplified monodisperse emulsion system by Galerkin method, and gained the relationship between mean curvature, contact angle, volume fraction, fractional film area and interface area per unit volume. The paper also presents a new expression of osmosis pressure at non zero contact angle.

Jan 1, 1998

This is the story of a blast - not a large blast by todays standards as it only involved a total of approximately 50 cubic yards of rock. Nor did this blast involve any new or revolutionary blasting technique or require involved analysis or the applications of rock mechanics theories. Instead, it was a blast that involved the tried-and-true principles of good blasting: precise alignment of blastholes; selection of explosives and detonators designed for the conditions encountered; extreme care in loading and hooking up and the use of several ingenious devices and techniques to achieve the proper loading and firing of the blast

Jan 1, 1976

By Kenneth K. Eltschlager, Richard R. Brochu

At the International Society of Explosives Engineers Annual Conference held in Nashville, Tennessee in February 1995, a Seismograph Standards Committee was established. The purpose of this committee was to develop objective performance specifications for vibration measurement instrumentation and field use practices. It was also understood that due to geology, temperature, and moisture in the soils, it is not possible to design and build an instrument to give results which are absolutely comparable for ground vibration. It was, however, considered essential to standardize instrumentation by which vibration can be measured under closely defined conditions so that results obtained by users of seismographs are always the same within stated tolerances.

Jan 1, 1999

By Kenneth Medearis

There is considerable evidence that more rational damage criteria need to be generated with regard to low-rise structures subjected to blasting vibrations. There is not sufficient basis for specifying a maximum ground particle velocity damage criterion such as 2 inches/second. A peak ground velocity guideline does not currently take into account a number of significant parameters, including the predominant frequencies of the ground motion excitation and the structure being excited. Although a number of states have adopted, or are adopting, maximum particle velocity criteria, such criteria have been ruled inadequate in certain legal decisions affecting blasting operations. The development of more rational damage criteria is thus of significant importance.

Jan 1, 1978