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By Kenneth Eltschlager, Steven V. Crum, David E. Siskind

The Bureau of Mines was funded by the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) to determine how blast vibrations from a local surface coal mine were affecting homes in the towns of Daylight and McCutchanville, located in southwestern Indiana near Evansville. Although Daylight was about two miles from the blasting and McCutchanville four to five miles away, many residents claimed that blast vibrations were damaging their homes. At least one citizen felt that the vibrations worsened at the time the mine began cast blasting.

Jan 1, 1992

By Bill Bauet, John Anderson

There are always security concerns when explosives are transported and stored, and these concerns are intensified in peacekeeping operations where explosives could fall into the wrong hands. MREL Specialty Explosive Products Limited has developed FIXORTM, a new approach to neutralizing landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). The product consists of two precursors: a flammable liquid in one plastic container and a totally inert powder in another; neither of these precursors is classified as explosives. Both precursors are approved for transport by land, sea and commercial passenger airfreight. The precursors are mixed to form an explosive immediately prior to placement next to the UXO or landmine. Initiation is by blasting cap or detonating cord.

Jan 1, 2001

By RR Vandebeek, A W. Bauer

The Canadian Explosives Research Laboratory regularly evaluates the properties of commercial explosives for authorization under the Canada Explosives Act. Propagation sensitivity is normally measured using small scale tests. Relating the results in actual mining practice is difficult. In the mining industry, the propagation sensitivity is a measure of the ability of one cartridge to propagate to an adjacent cartridge in a borehole. They may be separated by a gap of in-filling material. As well the propagation sensitivity will be affected by the explosive type, temperature, degree of coupling, cartridge diameter and other factors.

Jan 1, 1987

By Gordon Revey

In construction and mining work, situations occasionally occur where hard rock or concrete must be excavated at locations near critical structures or utilities. Fearing damage from blasting, contractors and engineers often explore the viability of using mechanical methods or expansive concrete to facilitate the excavation work. However, for moderate to large excavations, the prolonged duration and high cost of using these methods is often impractical. In these situations, under the right conditions, controlled blasting and blast-management methods can be used to speed up the work and lessen costs. The process of determining whether or not blasting is practical is ofien complex, particularly when risks are high.

Jan 1, 2001

By Chantale Doucet, Yves Lizotte, Alan Cameron

A joint Federal Government-Industry research project on the effect of geology on the fragmentation of rock excavated by blasting in underground developments was conducted at the CANMET Experimental Mine, near Val d'Or, Québec. A total of thirteen (13) blasts were studied from November 1994 to February 1995. The analysis of each blast was divided into three stages: pre-blast characterization, including structural mapping, assessment of Rock Mass Ratings (RMR), Tunneling Quality Indices (Q), blast design documentation; blast characterization comprising blast vibration monitoring and analysis; and post-blast assessment comprising fragmentation assessment by digital photoanalysis, calculation of half cast factors and measurements of bootlegs.

Jan 1, 1996

By Janos Foldesi, Calvin J. Konya

The determination of the number of primers necessary to efficiently initiate an explosive column charge is essential to good blasting. If the number of primer is insufficient, the total energy stored in the main charge will not be released. On the other hand, the use of too many primers will be counterproductive and raise the blasting cost. Tests were conducted by the authors to determine the correct priming procedure for a basalt quarry. This paper describes the results of those tests.

Jan 1, 1976

By Paul Worsey, Delbert Da, Eric Achelpohl

The University of Missouri-Rolla is currently researching the concept of using glass microspheres in explosives as taggants as part of a 3-year technical project funded by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. These taggants are intended to provide two functions, first explosive detection and second post explosive event identification. The key priority is being able to detect explosives used in terrorist acts prior to detonation. The research on the use of microspheres includes the development of indicator taggants for the purpose of revealing the presence of hidden explosives, by either emitting radiation when bombarded with neutrons or emitting selective vapors, such as DMNB which may be readily “sniffed”. Of secondary importance, after an illegal explosion, the tags serve to identify the lot number, etc of the explosive. This information is to aid in the tracking, arrest, conviction and imprisonment of the perpetrators.

Jan 1, 2001

By R Mancini, G Borla

This paper analyses the first results of a part of an EEC research project ("Blasting control for underground mining"). This research that involves three universities (Paris, Torino and Leoben) has been carried out at the Eisenerz test mine in Austria. In the experimental campaign here reviewed, parallel holes rounds have been fired "decomposed", which means with enough delay between the explosions of the successive blastholes groups to allow for a separate evaluation of their effects on the rock. The seismic effects have been recorded by geophones placed at small distance from the blast, the aim being to find out correlations between the features of the seismogram and the good or poor performance of the single blastholes, or of the groups pertaining to the same delay. Indeed, the seismogram is the only safe and cheaply obtainable description of what happens during the blast. The seismogram should be transformed in a diagnostic tool in the round 'calibration' stage, and in a routine control device during excavation.

Jan 1, 1995

By John M. Bolger, Keith E. McMaster

Excessive salt fines are undesirable in underground salt mining as they are considered a costly waste by-product. This paper describes an extensive explosive application program conducted at The Canadian Salt Company Ltd, located in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada. The prime objective of the program was to reduce the quantity of fines generated from this company's underground production blasts. The program was known as the "The Fines Reduction Program".

Jan 1, 1996

By Richard Scales, Giles Hellyer, Ian Travers, Dean French, Peter Bellairs

"The Mt Whaleback iron ore mine is located in the Hamersley Province situated about 1OOOkm to thenorth of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. A small but significant portion of the waste in Mt Whaleback presents problems due to its ability to react with normal commercial bulk explosives resulting in premature detonations, two of which occurred at the mine in 1983 causing great consternation as well as disruption to the mining operation. The techniques and procedures developed to overcome this problem were based on the use of tough durable, acid and heat resistant liners to provide a physical barrier separating the explosive from the rock togetherwith the development of an accurate down the hole remote temperature logging technology. The liner technology was developed due to the inability to produce a reliable inhibited ANFO despite exhaustive mine based testwork."

Jan 1, 1999

By Donald D. Eilers, Pharis E. Williams, Thomas O. McKnown

The Continuous Reflectometry for Radius vs. Time Experiment (CORRTEX) system was developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory for determining the energy released in a nuclear explosion by measuring the position of its shock front as a function of time. The CORRTEX system, fielding techniques, and the methods and software for data reduction and analysis were developed over a 15 year period with hundreds of measurements made on nuclear tests and high explosive experiments. CORRTEX is a compact, portable, fast-sampling, microprocessor-controlled system, based on time domain reflectometry, requiring only a 24 volt power source and a sensing element. Only the sensing element (a length of 50 ohm coaxial cable) is expended during the detonation.

Jan 1, 1995

By Geoff Baldwin, Alastair C. Torrance

The use of monitors to assess equipment performance is carried out on a routine basis in many industries. The benefits gained through process control in knowing exactly how the equipment is working far outweigh the initial capital costs of the monitor. In the mining industry several dragline monitors have been developed and installed on equipment through out the world, but to date none has been fully accepted by the industry. This paper describes the use of a sophisticated monitoring system which incorporates an onboard processor to assess both dragline and blast performance. The use of a radio telemetry link for data transfer has removed the need for manual data collection and transfer, leading to a more efficient and powerful system. Significant effort has been put into the development and verification of a dig index to allow blast performance to be objectively assessed.

Jan 1, 1990

By G. R. Adhikari

A major part of mineral production comes from surface mining and there has been a rapid growth in this sector with the deployment of high capacity equipment. The importance of blast design combining appropriately both theoretical methods and practical approach has been well recognized in the field of surface mining. It is known that blast design has a direct consequence on productivity, safety and economic viability of these mines. Blasting is the most common method of breaking rocks in mining, but it has to be cost-effective. In coal production, for instance, drilling and blasting account for 25 percent of the total procution cost. In hard rock mining, the cost of drilling and blasting is about 40 percent. Due to ever increasing concern for cost-effectiveness together with environmental consciousness, designing blasts for each application has now become a stringent requirement and indeed a challenging task as well.

Jan 1, 2002

By Q Liu, P D. Katsabanis

Dust explosions in underground sulphide and oil shale mines result from the detonation of explosives in the blasting operations. Explosive composition, oxygen balance, priming and ideality of detonation were examined theoretically and experimentally in the presence of reactive sulphide dust. It was found that the temperature as well as the chemical composition of the gaseous products of detonation are the controlling parameters related to the explosive. Non aluminized, oxygen balanced emulsion explosives were proven to be relatively safe, while explosives creating combustible products were proven to be extremely dangerous due to the secondary flame they generate. Since a large number of dusty orebodies are often very friable, low density emulsion explosives are also examined for application in production blasting.

Jan 1, 1991

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 Robert E. Miller

Mass blasting of open stopes and pillars is a normal operating practice at Isa Mine. Three main parameters are used to classify the types of mass blasts. These are type of explosive used, blasthole diameter and system of initiation. Both electric and non-electric initiating systems are currently employed. The advantages gained by large firings are many. More efficient utilization of manpower, due to the concentrated and continuous charging, is achieved. There is no requirement for men to re-enter areas where localised ground conditions may have deteriorated and exposure of ringfirers to stope voids is reduced.

Jan 1, 1980

This paper presents a brief discussion of three case histories to illustrate several aspects of the question of blasting in or immediately adjacent to concrete. The results demonstrate a need to make dramatic upward revisions in previous criteria, whether it be the standard particle velocity criteria or damage response spectra bounds, - especially those which include conservative upper limits of constant acceleration for the high-frequency portion of the spectrum. It is demonstrated, also, that conventional off-the-shelf blast-monitoring instruments are not capable of monitoring small blasts at close range. Both the frequencies and the levels of effect are beyond the range of such instruments. These case histories suggest further that there is a need to review the applicability of certain wellknown equations of elasticity.

Jan 1, 1980

By Richard W. Watson, Julius Roth

The Bureau of Mines has recently completed a contract study of the hazards associated with surface mining.! Part of this effort involved an analysis of surface mining accidents associated with blasting activities. For this purpose, 71 reports of accidents investigated by the Bureau of Mines or the Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration (MESA), covering the period from 1962 to 1976, were collected and analyzed. In addition, blasting accident frequencies for the period 1973-1976 were extracted from the central computer files maintained by the Health and Safety Analysis Center (HSAC) in Denver, Colorado. This paper presents a preview of the findings, which are treated in more detail in the final report.

Jan 1, 1978

By P. Katsabanis

Numerical modelling was used to examine damage in wall control operations. Decoupled charges appear to create larger damage zones than fully coupled low density charges with similar charge distributions: Air was shown to be a very efficient coupling medium, while water coupling resulted in significant damage. However, Mach stems are formed when air is used as a decoupling medium, leading to compression of the charge ahead of the detonation wave. Air decked charges generate two damage zones, one close to the charge and another close to the air-deck/stemming interface, where pressure pulses are reflected. The extent of the latter depends on the length of the air-deck.

Jan 1, 2001

By Jim Daley

SEE is a dynamic organization composed of people from all facets of the explosives industry who are truly interested in the advancement of that industry. I had been a miner at the Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, SD for 12 years when I decided to obtain a mining engineering degree. The mental and economic consequences of that decision were more severe than we had imagined. The joint scholarship program of the Northern Plains and Black Hills Chapters of SEE provides assistance to several college students each year. I was fortunate enough to receive scholarships from this program twice and this assistance helped me and my family with both monetary and psychological support during times of need so that we could stay focused on the goal of obtaining a degree.

Jan 1, 1995