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By Jonathan Zimmerling, Rob Alkins

The model of waves emanating from a blast hole proposed by Heelan, and further developed by Blair and Minchinton, provides an approximation of particle motion in an isotropic, continuous and homogenous medium caused by a cylindrical pressure source. Previous work in the literature shows that the shapes of the peak strain and peak particle velocity contours generated by this model are influenced by priming location. This paper presents the results of experimental investigations into the effects of priming position in an explosive column and the resulting shape of the surrounding stress and particle velocity fields. Fifteen emulsion charges were detonated in a limestone quarry, of which eight were bottom primed and seven top primed. The charges were fully confined, with no breakout to any surface. Particle velocity was monitored using tri-axial sensors coupled to the rock using cement, and pressure sensors were placed in water filled boreholes for fourteen of the experiments. Statistically significant differences in peak pressure for bottom and top primed shots were observed. Blair and Minchinton developed two pressure source functions, one of which is scaled using the charge weight scaling law. New models of the explosive pressure source are developed and compared to those found in the literature. These models are directly calibrated by predicting the peak velocities achieved at the known locations of the velocity sensors, then minimizing the residual sum of squares between the predicted and observed peak vibration values. Due to the complexity of the model the residual sum of squares cannot be minimized using standard non-linear optimization techniques, so a stochastic, agent based global optimization method is employed. Models are then cross validated by comparing the relative predicted differences in stress between bottom and top priming position to the observed differences.

Jan 1, 2013

By D. K. Ingram, G. L. Mowrey, T. R. Rehak

This paper summarizes flyrock and blast area security fatalities from 1989 to 1999 and examines the causative factors. Coal and nonmetal mining used about 43 billion pounds of explosives and blasting agents between1989 to 1999. A majority of this consumption was used at surface mines. Accident data indicates that flyrock and lack of blast area security were the primary causes of blasting related injuries in surface mining. Fatal injuries due to lack of blast area security were attributed to: failure to clear blast area; failure to follow instructions; inadequate guarding; inadequate blasting shelter; and unsafe location.

Jan 1, 2002

By TH Kleine, AR Cameron

Size assessment of fragmentation is all about estimating the population of fragment sizes in the rock pile. A knowledge of the size distribution of particles can be used in applications from evaluating the stability of a waste dump, to optimizing a blast design to achieve a required fragmentation, to on-line control of a crushing and sieving operation.

Jan 1, 1997

By D T. Froedge, Michael J. Nutting

A system consisting of an unlimited number of biaxial geophones that measure peak particle velocity and frequency has been developed and utilized at surface mines, quarries and construction sites. An ability to accurately measure ground vibrations completely surrounding a blast and to construct a vibration topograph has facilitated the study of blast design parameters and geologic factors on the resulting generation and propagation of the vibrations.

Jan 1, 1990

By Bin Feng, Xiang Fang, Tao Guo, Fandong Lu

Abstract: Rough set theory (RS) can find useful information from a large number of data and generate decision rules without prior knowledge. Support vector machines (SVM) have good classification performances and good capabilities of fault-tolerance and generalization. To effectively control blasting vibration effect, prediction model of blasting vibration parameters based on rough sets and support vector machines are established. Particle swarm algorithm (PS) is used to dynamically discretize attributes. Then, according to the optimal particle calculated by the PS algorithm, the decision table is established. After eliminating less importance attributes and data, then SVM is trained and established for prediction. The model can deal with both quantitative and qualitative factors such as aperture and cast direction, and analyze their importance to peak vibration acceleration value. The improvement of prediction accuracy is verified by testing data.

Jan 1, 2014

By Michael Karmis, Syed Muhammad Tariq, Zeshan Hyder

This paper analyzes the blast design for lime stone quarries of two major cement plants in Pakistan. The production blast of these quarries was resulting in excessive boulders production. At some instances, the rate of boulders production was approximately 10%-15% of the main production blast i.e. if a round of main blast gave around 4000 tons of material; almost 400 to 500 tons of that material was in the shape of massive boulders. This gave rise to increased operating costs requiring boulders collection, drilling and secondary blast.

Jan 1, 2012

By Calvin Konya, Theodore R. Myers, Robert Lundquist

The design of a single, large mass blast using ring drilling may take two to three months. This time requirement inhibits the evaluation of multiple designs. It also reduces the flexibility to redesign a blast when a parameter affecting the blast changes. Manual preparation exposes the design of a ring blast to a greater probability of human error. The use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) can help to overcome the shortcomings of manual design preparation. High speed electronic calculation, as well as programming, allow for many designs to be considered before blasting. Parametric programming allows single or multiple parameter changes to be introduced into an existing design, such as changes in drilling equipment, variations in ore density or changes in explosive. Exposure to human error is reduced by programming that performs calculations and produces graphical displays for review by the designing engineer. The goal of achieving desirable fragmentation for the minimum cost, when using ring blasting, is obtainable using blasting design techniques and CAD. Multiple designs can quickly be generated and costed, producing cost curves that indicate an optimum design with respect to cost.

Jan 1, 1990

By Pat McLaughlin, J R. (Dick) Daniels

Current practice in establishing quarries in remote areas with hilly or mountainous terrain tends to the use of airtracs (or similar pioneering units) drilling horizontal holes to establish a face, followed by bench development with light excavating equipment. The authors propose the use of a hybrid coyote blast design that incorporates long-round tunneling techniques. This method would, in effect, use down-the-hole (DTH) drills to advance the drift cut to the final depth, allowing longer and more rapid drift advances, and replace the cross-cut drifts with clusters of DTH holes to achieve the same explosives distribution.

Jan 1, 1995

By Roger L. Keller

This paper examines the aspects of differing types of blasting cuts in underground headings with consideration to the reduction of number of holes and costs. At least one comparison study is related where costs per advance meter were significantly improved. The technical aspect of the paper covers a study of the effects of various blasthole delay intervals on resulting crater volume, ground vibration, and fragmentation for six hole V-cuts.

Jan 1, 1989

By John J. Ridgeway

Habits take us where we were yesterday and attitudes tend to keep us there. Until recently, little had been accomplished to improve conventional explosive energy for use offshore. But with the special requirements of the Offshore Oil Industry, and particularly in the North Sea, most equipment, products and services must be specialized as well. Previous attempts to excavate a trench for a sealine in surf areas had been impossible to accomplish. But with the application of safe, controlled explosive energy, an impossible task to accomplish yesterday has now become a reality. Explosive energy, often overlooked as a convenient and economical offshore tool, excavated a clean trench underwater for a 40" sealine at Djeno in the African Congo recently.

Jan 1, 1977

By A. Cobbii, M. Kasliki, W. Birchi

The Department of Mining and Mineral Engineering at the University of Leeds has a long history of research into the environmental impacts of blasting from quarries and opencast mines. This paper gives an outline of a detailed case study into the structural damaged induced in a rock walled tunnel with a brick lined crown due to close proximity quarry blasting. The test site Taffs Well Quarry is located in South Wales in The United Kingdom and has a disused railway tunnel situated within the south eastern comer of the quarry site. Quarry development plans included the working of this area and therefore the deliberate destruction of the central section of the tunnel.

Jan 1, 2001

BLASPA is the name for a computer code which can assist in the rapid optimisation of blasting procedures in an open-pit mine. BLASPA is based on a mathematical model of the blasting process, a model which has been developing since 1963 as a result of blasting research carried out at the College Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean under sponsorship of the Defence Research Board, and in co-operation with the mining and explosives industry. The model presently includes the following aspects: (1) Geometry, i.e. spacing, burden, bench height, collar, sub-grade drilling; (2) Explosives, i.e. types and grades of explosives, distribution into bottom and top load or decking, size of hole and coupling; (3) Hookup, i.e. parallel or angled firing, delays, location of primers. Computer costs are very small, by comparison with purely spherical AEC codes, so that any number of simulations can be carried out very efficiently. The system has already been used to carry out thousands of simulations for over 40 mines in Canada and abroad. It will be explained how such simulations become a useful guide for a mine's blasting engineer who wishes to optimize his blasting and drilling costs.

Jan 1, 1980

By Jack C. Leader

The success of a blast using ANFO in wet boreholes is dependent on the quality of the bag the ANFO is packaged in. When a shot fails the dragline may stop and expensive redrilling may be necessary. The total loss to the mining operation can be hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars.

Jan 1, 1981

By John T. Watson, Jim Bailey

Increasing public awareness is probably the single most important challenge faced by any blasting contractor today. This increased awareness usually results in an outcry for tighter regulations and restrictions on those in the blasting industry. Those affected do not often understand the dynamics of blasting and are simply fearful of the unknown. This reaction very often results in more regulations and restrictions which frequently fail to address the real problems.

Jan 1, 1990

By David Siskind, Mark Stagg

Vibrations from Dade County (Miami area) quarry blasting and structure responses were measured at 11 locations between February and April, 2000, and 10 homes were inspected to analyze the characteristics of their cracking and other damages. These results were combined with information collected by the County and other studies done in south Florida for a blasting impact assessment specific to this area. In addition over 40 quarry blasts in the nine-week monitoring period, about 800 measurements were available from previous monitoring in Dade and neighboring Broward counties. An overall worst-case analyses based on the highest individual amplitudes suggested that vibrations in some areas could have been as high as 0.35 in/s. While amplitudes in the study period were below this value, they were found to be relatively high for the distances and charge sizes. Attenuation with distance is less in Dade County than found elsewhere with quarries having to use scaled distances several times higher than similar sites in the north. Consequently, the vibrations are perceptible at very large distances.

Jan 1, 2001

By Rob Farnfield

The control of vibration from surface mine blasting by the application of detonator (cap) delay techniques has been universally accepted for many years. For almost as long it has been known that, for delay techniques to be effective, a minimum of 8 milliseconds delay must exist between blast holes.

Jan 1, 1999

By Joe Sr Strobbe

In 1933 the Cobre Mining Company re-opened the 32-year-old UV Industry Mine, which is located in a scenic canyon near Silver City, New Mexico. The site location is shown in Figure 1. Current mineral extractions are copper and magnetite; both extractions similar to those mined many years ago. Copper is extracted from chalcopyrite imbedded in the host rock of massive limestone deposits and magnetite, an iron ore, is a by-product of the same extraction process.

Jan 1, 1998

By P D. Katsabanis, W Roberts

Commercial explosives exhibit non ideal behaviour which is very difficult to model. The fume spectrum produced by commercial explosives apart from its practical significance for underground mining is of great theoretical importance since it reveals information about the chemistry of the detonation process. Emulsions, watergels and dynamites were tested under various degrees of confinement in an one cubic metre closed chamber. Sand, concrete, steel and copper pipes were used to alter confinement. The degree of confinement was found to significantly influence the quantity (litres/kg of explosive) and the relative proportions of toxic and non-toxic fumes (percent of total fume measured). These results lead to further confinement testing using various rock materials. Fume results, and thus detonation performance were found to be dependent on the type of rock material used for confinement. Materials such as dolomite, limestone, and granite were found to result in a relatively high detonation efficiency of the subject explosive as shown by the distribution of detonation fume products. Conversely materials such as sandstone, talc and massive sulphide resulted in fumes suggesting low relative detonation efficiency. Fumes appear to be a sensitive indicator of the completeness of reactions occurring within the expansion zone of the composite emulsion explosive, while the detonation velocity is relatively insensitive to small variations in confinement. Estimates of sonic velocities of the confining rock materials were found to show no correlation with VOD results. However good correlation between fume results and sonic velocity suggests that the performance of an explosive as indicated by the resulting fume spectrum is affected by the degree of confinement.

Jan 1, 1992

By Dennis G. Wright

The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans for Canada is responsible, under the Fisheries Act, for the protection of all marine organisms and their habitats. The detonation of explosives in or adjacent to fish habitat has been demonstrated to cause disturbance, injury and/or death to aquatic organisms, and/or disturbance, destruction or alteration of their habitats. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans recognizes that the use of explosives may be the most practical or cost effective method by which to complete a project and has undertaken the development of a set of guidelines that will prevent or minimize the destruction of or disturbance to aquatic organisms and their habitats while at the same time allowing scientific and industrial users of explosives to proceed with their projects.

Jan 1, 1997

By Ricardo Dr. Chavez, Mathieu Lachamp, Rob Dr. Farnfield

Pueblo Viejo is an open pit gold mine in the Dominican Republic which is always looking forward to implement the newest technology in the industry to improve all processes. Focusing on one of the pillars of the department and our company, digitalization, we’ve been looking for the technologies that allow us the automation of data generation, supervision and process innovation. That’s where a new Drill and Blast software takes place, helping to integrate the process from the beginning to end, right after the pattern is designed until it’s blasted, allowing us to track results like vibration, fragmentation, performance, cost and inventory of each blast in a single platform. The software helps engineers to generate back analysis by blast, bench, pit, month and many other ways, in a timely friendly manner. Therefore, we can catch business opportunities and improvement for the drilling and blasting process.

Jan 1, 2019