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Blastserve, ISEE’s Listserve is being replaced by our new Blasters Forum-online, an exclusive member benefit. Our goal is to provide an ISEE forum for you to network with your peers and exchange technical information and get answers to your technical questions. This forum is unique in the fact that only ISEE members are permitted to review or post on the site. Over time you will be able review the discussion history and use the archived discussion as a valuable resource for trends in the industry. The following are a sample of the discussions that too place recently on Blastserve

Jan 1, 2013

By Paulo Cesar Pavan

T&T or Traceability, is a concept of generating, storing and on demand providing information about all traceable items in the supply chain

Jan 1, 2019

By Heins Walter Wild

Detailed investigations on various configuration kinds of cut with respect to drilling-technological and blasting-technological properties as well as with respect to cost effectiveness have been carried out in Germany.

Jan 1, 1995

By S R. "Bob" Pilshaw

Productivity is the popular "buzz" word that catches the attention of most managers when it is featured in the more popular mining and construction magazines. Engineering Task Forces and teams are formed to take advantage of productivity opportunities in almost all phases of an operation except the drilling and blasting area.

Jan 1, 1988

By Robert Hopler

In part four, the instrumentation used to detect the vibrations from the 1876 Hell Gate (East River, New York) reef-clearing blast was discussed. The apparatus consisted of cups of mercury and microscopes or other magnifying instruments to detect ripples or waves on the surface of the liquid metal.

Jan 1, 2007

By C Deacon, M Jones, P Duniam

Electronic blast timing has been in use around the world since the mid-eighties, and, whilst it has yet to be used commercially by large operations on an ongoing basis, significant inroads have been made in niche areas where tighter control of blasting is required.

Jan 1, 1997

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 Dave Howerton, Marshall Williams, Dave Finnerty

This paper will be presented jointly by El Dorado Chemical Co. and Arch of Illinois. It will deal with the simultaneous blasting of multiple overburden seams in surface coal mining. With the development of a new pit in Southern Illinois, production personnel with Arch were faced with serious equipment cycling problems. The solution to the problem was the development of a procedure that reduced drill movements on the highwall.

Jan 1, 1992

"In order to increase control over blasting, it is important to identify the imperative mechanismsand to quantify their participation during the rock fracturing process. The useful energyreleased by the detonation of an explosive is split into shock and gas energies. The relativeimportance of these two energies in the rock fracturing process is still an area of active debate."

Jan 1, 1999

By John F. Mitchell

Large production blasts involving many series in parallel have long been a source of complication. When speed and accuracy are most necessary in blast preparation an efficient and precise method of wiring is required. After loading a large number of holes and being pressured for time, due to lack of daylight, equipment shutdown, etc., an effective hook-up plan can eliminate many last minute problems. It is the intention of this paper to offer a simplified wiring proceedure which when employed can save precious time and encourage efficient and economical utilization of blasting personnel and material.

Jan 1, 1976

By Christoper J. Hunter, Tony Mansel, Carl Kolada

With a current trend toward Bulk Mining methods utilizing both large diameter uphole and downhole drilling, corresponding loading equipment and technology is required to safely and efficiently load these blastholes. Such is the case at Inco Limited Thompson Mine.

Jan 1, 1990

By Mark Odell, Bruce Northrup

In the hill country of Austin, Texas, Tom Kite has designed a golf course to be built in conjunction with a housing development entitled "Riverplace". The topography in this area is almost solid limestone, which made it necessary to use several types of surface blasting: Pre-splitting, ditch-line, sump shots, not to mention "fairway" cuts and even a sand trap or two.

Jan 1, 1985

By William B. Lee, James J. Jurmu

The Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company operates three open pit iron mines on the Marquette Iron Range of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Open pit iron ore mining began in the area in the 1840's. Underground mining was predominant from 1860 through 1960. Large scale low grade-open pit iron ore mining began in the early 1950's with the establishment of the Humboldt Mine, concentrator and pelletizing plant. This pit operated until 1970, when the reserves were exhausted.

Jan 1, 1986

By John Eloranta

This paper is a case study showing the assembly of available rock property parameters for the purpose of blast design. Blast optimization now includes subsequent milling and requires a full knowledge of the rock mass. Individual blast holes should be designed using all available data. The parameters include: geologic layer from diamond drilling, shovel performance, crushing plant experience from that area, drill monitoring, magnetic susceptibility from a downhole probe, size analysis history from digital image analysis, compressive strength tests of problem areas and cross hole sonic testing. Bedding thickness observed from drill core appear to have a strong influence on fragmentation.

Jan 1, 1996

By Robert J. Nothnagle, Kristen Franz Begor, Rodney W. Sutch

Recovery of contaminated groundwater in a fractured bedrock system presents some unique problems. Typically, the most common problem occurs from the inability to adequately characterize the discrete fractures through which contaminants may be migrating. Without adequate characterization, difficulties arise in properly positioning recovery wells and verifying the performance of the system. To overcome these difficulties at a site in Upstate New York, an innovative approach was developed involving the creation of an artificial fracture zone through controlled blasting to intercept contaminated groundwater flow.

Jan 1, 1988

By M Dandeneau, P I. Rajic, K D. Murphy, M B. Johnson, T J. Tope

"Manufacturers and users of energetic material [i.e., propellants, explosives, pyrotechnics (PEP)] generate unserviceable, obsolete, off-specification, and damaged items that are characterized as reactive waste. These items must be safely treated and disposed of or reclaimed/recycled, thereby controlling existing waste inventories at manageable levels. The most commonly used disposal and treatment method, particularly at U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) installations, is open burning/open detonation (OB/OD). However, regulatory constraints and the inability of operators toobtain permits required for treating these waste has led to the recent reductions and limited use of OB/OD treatment at many installations."

Jan 1, 1995

By R W. Givens

Comparison tests were performed on 6 emulsion concentrates, 3 microballoon sensitized emulsion concentrates, and 2 water gel concentrates from 8 different sources with ANFO used as a control standard. Variables measured include density, detonation, velocity, detonation pressure, calculated borehole pressure, viscosity, and lead cylinder deformation for blends of 15%, 30%, and 45% concentrate and AN/ANFO blends. Comparative results are presented for detonation velocity vs. deformation, and percentage of inherent air vs. deformation for these blends. It was hoped that these tests would serve as a tool to facilitate the comparison of different manufacturer's concentrates in AN/ANFO blends for equivalent performance characteristics and to help evaluate these products on an equal basis for bid solicitation purposes.

Jan 1, 1990

By Thomas C. Jones

The purpose of this paper is to disseminate new information for nonelectric blasting in trenching and construction work. The presentation is not designed or intended to discredit conventional electric detonators or use of MS connectors and cord. Its sole purpose is to inform the S.E.E. of new and exciting benefits realized by the use of the Hercudet non-electric system in the construction industry.

Jan 1, 1984

By Henry P. Van Ormer

This paper is written to outline the capabilities and flexibility of the electric motor driven oil cooled rotary screw air compressor in construction and mining applications. With the changing economics between fuel and electric power all over the world, the viability of the electric motor is a choice all construction and mining people should be aware of. The advent of large efficient electric motor driven rotary screw compressors have given a great deal of flexibility to the use of these units on many applications not considered before. Examples are given for rotary and percussion drilling, fennels, and underground, sandblasting and "uniting, general uses - shows wheel mounted and skid mounted units.

Jan 1, 1976

By Tom Burleson

High-speed photography has proven to be an extremely valuable tool for the evaluation of blasting practices in the Warrior Coal Basin. A research project, coordinated by Nelson Brothers Inc. and The University of Alabama's Mineral Engineering Department, has centered on the use of high-speed photography to study and analyze blast performance. A large number of production shots in this region has been filmed and studied. The data obtained from the films have been used to establish graphical relationships between certain blast parameters and overall shot performance. These relationships will be used to develop a computer model that will estimate cast results from a given burden explosive energy combination. This paper describes the methods and procedures used to develop these relationships. The results of the research are discussed along with plans for continuing the research project.

Jan 1, 1988