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By John W. Brown

"Adequate dust control in and around rock drills is a problem that must be solvedfor the health and safety of workers running the drill as well as those working around thedrilling operation This paper will discuss the designs available from most drill manufacturers todayand the effort ‘nvolved in keeping them effective on a productive basis."

Jan 1, 1999

By Matheson and Miller

Does anyone have any definitive information on vibration limits for damage to well casings near blasting? Also, are people using self-imposed limits when approaching cased wells? I can only tell you what I have personally done with success. Often in new construction in hard rock, the well is drilled before the foundation is excavated and before the ditch for the water line is excavated. These both require drilling and blasting. Under these circumstances when blasting for the ditch for the waterline we will drill right up to within 10 inches (not feet) of the well casing. We drill line holes the width of the ditch, then about a foot from this, another row of trim holes then as we move away from the casing holes for 1 1/4 inch stick powder for about three rows then as we get further still, we can load with ANFO. I do not have vibration data for this but my experience has been that as long as you are not displacing the material into the casing that no damage is done. These typically are steel casings for residential water service.

Jan 1, 2010

By César Ugaz Castañeda, Paulo Fernández Alvarado, Richard Sotomayor Oblitas, Rocke Enríquez

Mina El toro has been making substantial changes in its operation to improve its social impact and productivity. Because of the use of gasified emulsions and electronic initiation system, it was possible to mitigate vibrations and carry out massive blasting, increasing its production by 4.2% and minimizing complaints from communities.

Feb 1, 2020

By G. Geremia, M. I. Serrano, L. Costa, Strohaecker

The advances in electronics and the development of more efficient algorithms, allow for the designing of more complex and sophisticated automated systems. The new devices include lighter, faster, reliable, and stronger robot manipulators. One available technology, with relatively low cost, is a simple robot manipulator controlled by remote control. The device has been designed to be used in both mining and law enforcement, where it can be useful for inspection, rescue, gas analysis, and even to manipulate dangerous objects, such as explosives. The applications may even include the rescue of trapped miners in risky environments. The major advantage is the fact that the robot can be controlled with a remote and monitored through a video camera, minimizing human exposure to hazardous areas, where robots can perform tasks in an aggressive atmosphere and confined spaces. This article presents a mining robot manipulator controlled by remote control, using video cameras for positioning and sensors for movements, which are located on the operator's arm. With this system, it is possible to create a sensation of virtual reality, allowing easy operation for anyone trained in dealing with explosives, rescues, or other dangerous tasks. Blasting and mining are becoming perfect applications for robots, and its use should increase very soon. The results are discussed and presented for the brand new Xiru 01 robot manipulator.

Jan 1, 2010

By Rob Lederer, Chris Batten

Traditionally coal model digital terrain models (DTM) are created from lithological information obtained from broad scale exploration holes. The grid layout and distance between holes means that models do not commonly display local variations of seam dip, faulting and shearing. Due to this, issues can often arise when designing the loading of blast patterns based on potential variances between model and actual coal seam locations. Many sites will often attempt to create more accurate models through the collection of data from coal edge pickups on highwalls and in blast faces, along with information recorded by drillers (touch coal holes) from both production and presplit holes for both the current and previous blasts.

Jan 1, 2012

By Raden Haris Handayana, Jihan Farhan Lubis, Milia Putri, Tengku Deli Hamonangan Hasibuan, Sani Salahudin

An environmental issue that must be controlled from coal overburden blasting near the structure is ground vibration. Damaging ground vibration is the effect exerted from residual energy from blasting that does not work to fracture the rocks. Sebuku Tanjung Coal is a coal mining that operates T3 Pit adjacent to the High Voltage Tower. This structure is included in the Class 5 building with a maximum Peak Particle Velocity (PPV) of 40 mm/s. The shortest distance from the blasting location to the structure is 105 m. The initiation system used is electronic detonators combinate with emulsion as an explosives type. In Indonesia, the government regulated vibration limitation on SNI 7571:2010. The blast outcomes targeted are PPV below 40 mm/s, fragmentation size <80 cm for Excavator Komatsu PC-2000, and digging time <12 seconds. In this paper, the blast design was engineered by conducting Signature Hole Analysis for optimizing delay timing configuration and Scale Distance regression analysis to determine optimum charge weight per delay at the blast site. PPV results from 30 blastings achieved 100% below 40 mm/s with the range of about 1.773-30.250 mm/s. The deviation between PPV prediction to PPV actual is less than ±18% which provides the blasting with electronic detonator resulting in good PPV prediction for controlling vibration. The average fragmentation size (D80) is 55.81 cm in the 1st layer and 54.81 cm in the 2nd layer. The average digging time is 10.30 seconds in the 1st layer and 10.12 seconds in the 2nd layer.

Feb 6, 2023

By Tom Watts

The practice of pumping bulk blasting agents is regulated by many agencies around the world. The explosives manufacturers have done an excellent job of hazard and operability studies allowing criteria to be established for the safe pumping of water based blasting agents. The challenge of a Bulk Trucks or Mobile Manufacturing Units (MMUs) manufacturer is to take the objectives of the regulatory agencies and the explosives manufacturers and responsibly design and build MMUs that are safe, compliant, and cost effective without compromising serviceability.

Jan 1, 2011

By Piotr Mertuszka

Many years of research on more effective and safer explosives have led to the development of emulsion explosives. They are the second most commonly used group of explosives worldwide, primarily because they are good alternatives to ANFO or dynamites. Their key advantage in underground applications is the lower content of toxic fumes in the detonation products. Emulsions are also characterized by high detonation velocity, high water resistance, low critical diameter, and mechanical loading capacity. Several factors affect the behavior of emulsion explosives. These factors are related to both manufacturing and applied mining methods. The most important factors include the charge diameter, type of sensitizer, density, hydrostatic pressure, ambient and charge temperatures, as well as the time elapsed between the charging of the explosive into the blast hole and its detonation. The selection of the type of explosive is based on the analysis of a number of parameters, including the density, critical diameter, volume of the post-blast fumes, detonation pressure, velocity of detonation, and sensitivity to external energy sources. In most cases, the conditions under which explosives are used differ significantly from those defined in standards. Such conditions cover, among others, the temperature of the rock mass and surroundings, humidity, rock strength parameters and the diameter of the blast holes. Consequently, the parameters of the explosives provided by the manufacturers may not correlate with those specified in-situ. Thus, within the framework of this study, the effects of the selected technological parameters on the detonation velocity of bulk emulsion explosives are presented. The analysis focused primarily on the factors directly influenced by the mine blasting services. The detonation velocity measured using the continuous wire resistance technique was used as the evaluation criterion. For this purpose, several underground in-situ tests were conducted, including the impact of the blast hole diameter, density, initiation method, sleeping time, and temperature on the detonation velocity. The results of in-situ tests have shown that the detonation velocity of bulk emulsion explosives depends strongly on the above factors, which may directly affect the effectiveness of blasting operations.

Jan 26, 2026

By Stewart A. Silling, D. Lynn Gordon, C. Mick Lownds, Dale S. Preece, Ali Bhuiyan, Patrick R. Bowden

Blast heave modeling and prediction utilizing the new discrete element model, GEM, that treats rock as elements with alternating arcs and line. Explosive loading of GEM elements is accomplished by utilizing the Noble-Abel equation of state to track the gas pressure from detonation through expansion to atmospheric pressure.

Feb 1, 2020

By Kia Riihioja, Mike Higgins

A major difference between electronic and pyrotechnic detonators is that, in almost all but the simplest of blast layouts, computer software is required to plan a blast using electronic detonators. While it may be possible to program delay times without software, using only the manufacturer’s control hardware, the full potential of electronic detonators can only be realized through software. Until recently, the only software available has been provided by the suppliers of the electronic detonators. These usually have just enough features to create a hole layout and to assign times to the detonators in the holes. The software is also able to communicate only with the manufacturer’s detonators. This means that the client may be compelled to change several parts of the blasting process when a different delay system is adopted, from design through to implementation and reporting, even though these may be sub-optimal at the client’s mine. While many authors have demonstrated improvements in blasting outcomes using electronic detonators, very few have discussed how the delay times were calculated. Where the calculations are discussed, it is also obvious that the delay times must be monitored and re-evaluated as conditions in the mine change. For example, the principles of superposition and scaled distance, burden relief and energy cooperation between holes should be checked constantly for different locations within the mine, changes in rock properties, or even for differences between design and actual hole positions. The most common methods in blast design software to calculate delay times are inter-hole interval, relief contour and direct editing. Although they are simple in concept, they can result in fundamental errors if they are not applied correctly. The software for electronic blast designs should be capable of not just a timing calculation, but also of showing, to some degree, the impact and interaction of the calculated times.

Jan 1, 2004

By M. Ganster

Austria’s biggest supplier of oil and gas, transports gas through the West Austria Gasline for domestic consumption. In addition, the OMV also works as gas carrier and ensures the transit into neighbouring countries.

Jan 1, 2010

By Brandon Fryman, Josh Hoffman, Rhys Baker

A post-detonation debris collection project was led in conjunction with a large ammonium nitrate (AN) railcar detonation conducted by the Department of Homeland Security-Transportation Security Administration, Department of Defense-Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, Sandia National Laboratories, and the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Grounds. This important work will aid in underpinning algorithms used in a Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) tool.

Feb 1, 2020

By Vitor Barcelos, Eduardo Elói, Gabriella Vaz, Davi Oliveira, Leandro Silveira

Following a routine production blast at Vale S.A.'s Itabira Mine in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero region of Minas Gerais, Brazil, nearby residents registered complaints about blast-induced vibrations. Analysis of the blast footage revealed that multiple blastholes were detonated simultaneously, resulting in a higher-than-expected charge per delay, ground vibration and cratering even though the electronic delay timing was configured correctly. Subsequent blasts within the mine's soft schist region confirmed the occurrence of sympathetic detonation. Mitigating or eliminating this phenomenon is critical for the mine's operation. Two dynamic pressure tests were conducted using carbon resistors together with typical VOD monitor maintaining the standard booster, electronic detonator, and a blend of 70% emulsion with 30% ammonium nitrate explosive. The tests involved increasing the distance between the central hole (detonated first) and the four surrounding holes in a five-hole sequence. Unfortunately, sympathetic detonation occurred in all these tests. To address this issue, a new explosive with a lower density and detonation velocity was tested. This approach proved promising, as no sympathetic detonation occurred. By leveraging the data obtained from this study, engineers can now identify situations at risk of sympathetic detonation and implement preventive measures, such as selecting the appropriate explosive and recommending safe minimum burden and spacing settings as well as confinement level for each blast while maintaining the desired level of rock fragmentation.

Jan 21, 2025

By William Gates, Gabe McClain, Thomas Pallua, Joe Schrank

The Tennessee Capitol Corridor connects the Cordell Hull Building (CHB) to the State Capitol, which isa 232-foot-by-124-foot (71 x 38 m) structure in Nashville that includes porticoes built from local massive limestone. This connection was affected by the Capitol Connector Pedestrian Tunnel (CCPT) project, which is part of the overall Cordell Hull State Office Building and Central Services Demolition, New Construction and Renovation Project (Cordell Hull Renovation Project). To construct this connection, the two existing elevator shafts and a new emergency stairwell in the State Capitol were extended down to anew lobby area—the elevators by about 50 feet (15.2 m) and the stairwell by about 60 feet (18.3 m). This lobby was connected to the CHB by a 435-foot-long (133 m) pedestrian tunnel. It was predicted that most of the tunnel would be excavated in a relatively strong limestone; therefore, considering the project features and constraints, drill-and-blast techniques were selected as the primary excavation method. Because of restrictions on blasting in urban areas and, more importantly, the proximity of this construction to national historic landmarks, blasting operations were extensively monitored to measure and correlate ground vibrations as peak particle velocity (PPV), frequency, and strain—these being the major factors that would impact the surrounding buildings. As a result, copious amounts of data were gathered and interpreted within a short time to estimate blasting parameters and optimize the subsequent blast rounds. To calculate the ground response factor, the scaled distance of each shot was compared to the ground vibration as PPV, generating a subsequent regression curve with an R2value of about 0.7. Using the best fit curve equation, the estimated ground response factor was about 150 for the best fit line. Other than some cases with relatively high (> 2 in./sec [51 mm/sec]) recorded PPV values, the blasting operation was successfully conducted as planned and the observed strain on the monitored buildings was very low, mainly within ±2 με (0.0002% elongation). (In general, the recorded PPV was lower than 2 in./sec at frequencies of more than 50 Hz.). The strain gauges at key locations (cold joints and old fractures) in the Capitol and on other critical structures demonstrated strain was insignificant in relationship to ground vibrations from the blasting operations. The apparently small vibration-induced strains were related to the massive limestone construction of the Capitol and ancillary buildings, as the induced strain plus the existing strain did not exceed the critical strain of the massive structures.

By Dale S. Preece, Ruilin Yang

Shock wave physics is an important part of air-deck behavior since the bulk explosives in the column impart a shock into the air-deck where the air shock then passes through the air-deck at a rapidly attenuating velocity. Through both high-fidelity modeling and shock physics theory it is shown that the resulting pressure in the air-deck is two orders of magnitude less than the detonation pressure of the explosive. The induced air blast reflects from the bottom of the borehole and this reflected pressure, even though doubled, is still approximately two orders of magnitude less than the detonation pressure. Air-shocks will ring back and forth in the air-deck for a few tens of milliseconds while the adjacent explosive column(s) are detonating. Transmission of the initial shock through the air along with reflections is an intensive energy consuming process. Energy balance results in shock heating of the air and a temperature increase. However, the increased temperature of the air is also orders of magnitude less than that of the explosive detonation products immediately behind the detonation front. Replacing high energy explosives with zero energy air-decks in a blasthole will always have a negative impact on the adjacent rock fragmentation and movement.

Jan 1, 2016

By Ian Bell, Saman Nouranian, Shahram Tafazoli, Bahram Sameti, Mahdi Ramezani

"Image-based rock fragmentation sensing in mining and quarry applications includes an important rock boundary delineation step, which is commonly referred to as rock segmentation. This paper presents a novel approach to solve this problem, using artificial intelligence. In the proposed technique, priorknowledge of previously analyzed images is encoded into mathematical/statistical models. A set of human labeled images are used as training inputs. These images are used to train neural networksthrough an optimization process. The networks can then be used in real time for rock delineation. "

Jan 1, 2017

By Steven Richardson, E A. Cameron, Reza "Ray" Jambakhsh

This paper outlines the design and implementation of a method to use Long hole Carbide drilling to blast an "Upper Blind Slot Raise" in the range of 12m (40 ft).

Jan 1, 1992

By Paulo C. Fernández A, Sergio Matamala V, Claudio C. Gajardo, Christian A. Rees P

In fragmentation processes in open-pit mining, it has been observed that there are many opportunities for improvement if greater control of ore displacement in blasting is achieved, reducing the percentage of mixing between ore and waste material (dilution) through the integration of new technologies that allow its quantification and optimization of extraction polygons. This work investigates the relevance of the initiation sequence and direction of displacement in blasting in relation to ore dilution and the potential benefits of process optimization. A three-dimensional modeling tool was used to evaluate movement control optimizing the extraction zone based on the maximization of ore recovery. The study was made by iterating different scenarios, by varying only the initiation sequence and inter-hole delays. To validate the displacement simulation, a total of 10 blasts were carried out for calibration, obtaining a level of agreement between the simulation surface and the actual topographic survey of 80% or higher. The analysis included horizontal and vertical displacement, quantification of swell and dilution within extraction polygons for different scenarios, and informed decision-making based on ore control. The results clearly indicate that by modifying the blast initiation sequence, greater control over dilution in ore/waste transition areas is achieved, thus optimizing the recovery of the planned material and maximizing the ore grade. The use of this type of simulation tools allows for the generation of extraction strategies based on the value of the polygon, unnecessary displacements in the free face, optimal loading fronts, etc., maximizing the recovery of ore and stockpile material, complying with the planned tonnage and ore grade for each extraction polygon, delivering added value to the chain and emphasizing the importance of adding new technologies to the mining industry that allow for the optimization of processes to maximize profits.

Jan 26, 2026

By Robert Hopler

A detonator is a copper tube about a quarter of an inch in diameter and an inch and a half long, closed at one end and containing in the closed end a small charge of fulminate of mercury, which has been found to be the best explosive for detonating dynamite. The fulminate charge is a very powerful explosive very sensitive to friction, lows or heat and very poisonous. When exploded it has an intense local action, shattering things in its immediate vicinity, but not extending very far away from the explosion. This kind of detonator is intended to be exploded by a spark from burning fuse.

Jan 1, 2014

By Chanhwi Shin, Hyeongmin Kang

Mine optimization is a key strategy in the mining industry that focuses on improving the efficiency, productivity, and sustainability of mining operations. To achieve mine optimization, digitalization is essential for modernizing mining operations and attaining optimal performance. Due to the importance of mine digitalization, various software and platforms have been released to support this effort. Furthermore, by integrating these advanced technologies, mines can enhance processes, leading to significant economic and operational benefits. However, integrating data from various sources and collaborating across different platforms remains a significant challenge in the mining industry. Generally, data for mine optimization, such as mapping, smart drilling, FMS (Fleet Management Systems), fragmentation analysis, or vibration analysis, are collected and analyzed separately on different platforms. This separation makes it difficult to aggregate and utilize data comprehensively for overall mining process optimization. During the digitalization process, obstacles arise due to these complexity, variability, and sharing issues of data across different maker, sources, and methods. These challenges highlight the need for seamless integration to achieve optimal mining operations. Thus, this study applied a total solution that can cover the entire Drilling and Blasting (D&B) processes. The blast design was performed using actual terrain mapping data, and drilling and charging were conducted following a guide based on the blast design plan. After blasting, loading and hauling distances and fuel consumption were measured, and fragmentation for each blast was evaluated. All measurement tasks were automated to minimize human error. By collecting all data in one server, it became possible to perform an overall evaluation for each blast, allowing the identification of optimal values. In conclusion, to evaluate the optimization effects for each mining process, one month of integrated data collected on a single server was used. Compared to the period before the Total solution was implemented, there were notable improvements: a 25% enhancement in hole spacing, a 60% improvement in floor flatness, a 23% reduction in average fragment size, and a 19% improvement in fragment uniformity. Regarding cost savings per blasting volume, the improvements were 11.7% in drilling, 9.3% in explosives, 7.6% in loading, and 17.5% in hauling.

Jan 21, 2025