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By Willard Pierce

Very few people will consciously decide to do an unsafe act. With that said, how many of us unconsciously put ourselves in harms way, sometimes even on a daily basis? Complacency on the job may have very little to do with not caring or a poor attitude. It may be just as simple as failing to continue to recognize the hazards surrounding us throughout the day. At the very worst, it is both.

Jan 1, 2006

By Richard N. Snyder

In this system for connecting blasting caps to the initiation source, the need for a redundant design structure provides more reliable method of explosive initiation. This is accomplished by using a complete system starting at the blasting control, through the initiation line structure through the initiation line and connecting blocks to the blasting cap. The connecting structure between the initiation device and the blasting caps may be connecting blocks or other means.

Jan 1, 1995

By Shulin Nie

The dead-pressing phenomenon in emulsion explosives is wellknown. Research work on this subject has been carried out at the Swedish Detonic Research Foundation for the last few years. Several experiments with emulsion explosives under dynamic pressure condition have been carried out both in iron pipes and in blast holes in rock. The main object was to study the critical amplitude and duration of the pressure causing the explosive to be dead-pressed.

Jan 1, 1993

By Cameron McKenzie, John Heilig, Patrick Andrieux, Andree Drolet

It is widely accepted that both underground and surface blasting operations can de-stabilise excavations to the point where it can threaten the feasibility of mining through personnel safety or OK dilution. Research has been undertaken to outline a practical method in which the impact of blasting will be accounted for during the early excavation design stage by modelling, and during the following production stages by monitoring rock response to blasting operations.

Jan 1, 1994

By Paul Downing

A major component of an effective blasting company safety program is the self-audit. A self-audit can help reveal hazardous conditions that should be corrected and training needs that should be addressed before accidents occur, insurance claims are filed, and/or fines are levied. Such audits, when they lead to appropriate corrective action, can provide significant economic benefits for employers by reducing the costs associated with insurance claims, accidents, and injuries.

Jan 1, 2001

By R Keller, R Law

In the rush to beat the clock before the handover of Hong Kong back to China in June of 1997, an unprecedented amount of infrastructure work is being undertaken at a breakneck pace. In the middle of this construction explosion, on this island of barren granite , stands some of the most concerning and restrictive slope stability measures. So conservative, these measures impact blasting and vibration control to an extent unmatched anywhere in the world.

Jan 1, 1996

By Karl Ingmarsson

A model for drilling productivity and total drilling cost is presented. It specifically addresses down-thehole drilling, but also covers other drilling methods. The important factors are: 1, productivity in tons drilled; and 2, total cost per drill ton. For non-blasthole applications these factors are measured in drill feet and cost per foot. The model focuses on the entire system and allows the operator to optimize the system based on individual drilling conditions.

Jan 1, 1998

By James W. Reil, Douglas A. Anderson

Common wisdom has it that a blast which breaks rock efficiently should-generate less ground vibration. In practice, however, this idea has not been-rigorously tested. In a previous paper presented at an SEE meeting[1] we described a method for-controlling vibration using delays. The method is very effective in controlling-annoying low-frequency ground vibration. We noted that observed ground-vibration differs in some respects from that predicted by adding single-charge-waveforms.

Jan 1, 1988

By William Yutmeyer, Meredith Hardwick

Since 1996 there have been at least two teams formed within the U.S. Government to develop a consistent set of risk-based standards to be used to govern safety. The first of these was the Risk and Lethality Commonality Team which developed risk criteria associated with protecting personnel during launches at the national test ranges. The second team titled the Risk-Based Explosives Safety Criteria Team (RBESCT) is the subject of this paper.

Jan 1, 2007

By D. Scott Scovira, Rick Webber

The Iron Ore Company of Canada [IOC] is a global leader in Arctic mining applications, and the blasting crew have something to be very proud of. On Wednesday 21 Dec 2005 at 3:28 PM the largest single bench blast in the company history was detonated. The successful firing of this 5.0 million tonne [5.5 million ton] blast surpassed the previous company record of 3.8 million tonnes [4.18 million ton].

Jan 1, 2008

By Salah A. Taqieddin

The blast casting technique of removing overburden is an innovative technique which was successfully used in the mining of certain surface coal and quarries. This method was found to be efficient in minimizing the labor and equipment cost while accelerating mining operation with safety. This method was successfully applied to horizontal as well as to dipping coal seams. Also it was practically applied to single as well as to multiple ore bodies

Jan 1, 1992

By Jerry Bennett

A recant Bureau of Mines analysis has shown that failure of blast area security systems is the mayor cause of mine blasting accidents. Accidents occur during scheduled blasting because of failure to clear the blast zone, inadequate guarding, and failure of personnel to follow instructions, retreat to a safe location and/or take adequate cover. The high incidence of blastslte security-related accidents could be considerably reduced by increased attention to improving minesite blast-guarding practices.

Jan 1, 1984

By Todd B. Harrington, Dennis M. Lydon, Walter B. Sudweeks

Heavy ANFO products made by mixing ANFO (or AN prills) with a relatively small amount of emulsion (typically 15-30 percent) have become very popular in recent years. They are less expensive than straight, sensitized emulsion and maintain the good shooting characteristics of ANFO but have higher bulk strengths. Their use, however, is generally limited to larger diameter, dry boreholes. Smaller diameter, wet-hole quarries have not been able to widely utilize this low cost bulk product.

Jan 1, 1989

By R C. Berglund

Since the Republic Mine began production in the mid 1950's, drilling and blasting practices have continually changed. In recent years, progress has been achieved through the development of more precise blast engineering methods, in greatly increasing the use of non-water resistant ammonium nitrate explosives, and in changing to a non-electric in-hole delay initiation system. Also, recent experience indicates that ammonium nitrate fueled with nitropropane and methanol is a viable substitute for aluminized AN-FO.

Jan 1, 1980

By Gimtong Teowee

SDI has launched the Electronic Detonator Blasting System containing a set of robust serial protocol and hardware exhibiting great ease in field usability and deployment. Programmable delay time with increments of 1 ms up to 10s is possible with excellent timing accuracy. Bus length of up to 2 km containing 1600 EIMs can be employed. A key feature of the SDI Electronic Blasting System has been its high tolerance towards current leakage in the bus line.

Jan 1, 2007

Drilling through unconsolidated material I need to drill blastholes through a mix of consolidated and unconsolidated material. This material is hung up in an underground ore pass. The total length of the holes would be approximately 200 feet. We have attempted to drill through the material with conventional ITH drilling, but were unsuccessful. Does anyone have a suggestion? I am more than willing to bring in a contractor to do the job, if they have solid experience with this type of problem.

Jan 1, 2011

By K Ramachandra Rao

This paper explains the methodology for assessing the efficiency of rockmass fragmentation by explosive blasting, from ground vibration frequency spectrum analysis of the blast event. Explosives are used in the mining, quarrying and construction industries for fragmenting rockmass to a suitable size. When an explosive charge is detonated, in addition to fragmenting the rockmass, it will also generate ground vibration and air vibrations. Efficiency of a blast depend upon percentage of blast energy wasted in generating ground vibrations and air vibrations.

Jan 1, 1994

By Lawrence C. Schneider

In the past decade regulations governing the manufacture, distribution, storage, and use of explosives have proliferated. These laws have been developed by a host of federal agencies with no coordination. The result has been contradictory and impractical standards, which once adopted, are resistant to change or repeal. The current OSHA standards are one example which is examined in detail. The Commonwealth of Kentucky has made progress in modifying these standards, and still providing protection to the blaster and the public.

Jan 1, 1981

By C Hunter, K Fedak, J P. Todoeschuck

"Perimeter wall control has a direct effect on the overall grade of any underground miningoperation. Mine management at INCO's Birchtree Mine in Thompson, Manitoba requiresmaximum perimeter wall control to meet high safety standards and to maximize nickel orerecovery. If footwall or hanging wall contacts are damaged by over_blasting, the ore maybe greatly diluted, mine productivity may be reduced and safety problems can arise.Excessive or poorly distributed explosive energy is a major cause of damage to the hostwall rock."

Jan 1, 1993

By Michael D. Duffy, Martin W. Chenoweth

"Tenn Luttrell Company (TLC) is a major lime and limestone producer in the eastTennessee area. The property, which isreferred to as the Chesney Mine, has been mined from the surface and underground overthe past 20 years. The ore body consists of three major zones of chemical grade limestonewhich lay at a dip of 30 _ 65 degrees. In July of 1989, Tenn Luttrell Company made thedecision to reopen the underground operations which had been suspended during a time ofincreased surface mining."

Jan 1, 1993