EXPLOSIVES & BLASTING
Beyond blasting
Dan Gleeson looks at innovations in the explosives and
blasting sector, with one eye on automation and wireless
detonation procedures
“The downstream impact of variable and poorly
controlled blast outcomes today can impact as
much as 80% of total mine processing costs,”
Rajkumar Mathiravedu, Vice President of Digital
Solutions for Orica, says.
This opinion, on top of the safety and
environmental benefits that come with
optimising and automating blasting processes,
has got miners looking upstream of the plants
and mills they have already squeezed dollars
and tonnes out of to improve their per tonne
cost base.
By investing in the appropriate explosives,
the way these explosives are positioned and
stabilised, the accuracy of the blastholes drilled
and the detonation procedure – pre- and post-
blast – companies can make a material
difference to their bottom line.
There is no one-size-fits all approach to this;
every blasting pattern at every mine site is
different and the choice of explosive is often
dictated by logistics and availability as opposed
to what may be optimal for the application.
It is for this reason that those supplying
services, equipment and materials to this segment
of the market are being asked more of from the
mining community, with miners often looking to
these companies’ in-house engineers for advice
on how best to set up and carry out blasts.
Optimal blasting
As with all parts of the mining process, the
concept of automation is being readily
discussed in blasting and explosives circles –
whether that be using robots to load blastholes
32 International Mining | AUGUST 2019
or automating the detonation procedure.
Unlike other parts of the mining process,
however, blasting remains today a largely
manual exercise, according to Mathiravedu.
Orica is leading the sector’s transition, he
says, working in partnership with customers
and the industry to develop new technology to
automate and, therefore, improve the blasting
process.
For starters, however, Mathiravedu believes
companies need to look upstream of blasting to
achieve the holistic process improvements
miners are after.
“Achieving dynamic blast optimisation
requires a better understanding of the
resource,” he said. “By understanding the
resource at the start of the blast process, we
can deliver targeted outcomes against our
customers’ exact needs.”
One example of this early-stage analysis is a
METS Ignited funded partnership Orica is
involved in with IMDEX, Anglo American, Teck
Resources and the CRC-ORE on a material
characterisation project for optimised blasting
and material tracking.
“The project involves the co-development of
an autonomous system for logging material
characteristics of blastholes, which allows
automated spatial domaining of physical
properties and fracturing,” Mathiravedu said.
This is focused on the development of multi-
parameter logging tools for blastholes in open-
pit mining, together with automated near real-
time analytics for input into fragmentation
modelling, blast execution tools and material
FRAGTrack is designed to improve productivity
and optimise drill and blast through the
integration of fragmentation data into the drill
and blast planning and design processes
tracking workflows, he explained.
The company has also invested and worked
with Silicon Valley start-up, DataCloud and its
RHINO™ Seismic While Drilling system.
Mathiravedu explained: “DataCloud’s
revolutionary new…system is a real-time
subsurface measurement technology that
provides high-resolution rock mass data
through vibration measurement on internet of
things (IoT) sensors. This enables accurate
detection of faults, fractures, and joint spacing,
in addition to many grade indicators and blast-
critical measurements.”
These collaborations are integrating vast
amounts of complex geotechnical data into
Orica’s blast design processes, “influencing the
overall blast design and ensuring the right
explosives are delivered into the right holes and
given the right timing to achieve the desired
outcomes,” Mathiravedu said.
MAXAM, too, says it is aware of the
productivity improvements seen across the
entire operation when drilling and blasting is
optimised.
“Mines are recognising that, while drilling
and blasting constitute a tiny portion of the
mining costs, they have a significant influence
on the performance of all downstream
operations, and to the impact on the
environment,” Vicente Huélamo, Technical
Services Director, told IM .
“As a result, we work with our partners on
customising the drill and blast solutions for
each specific requirement.
“This can range from using explosives with a
broad range of energies and densities, to
controlling how and when the rock is produced,
and control how that rock affects the
performance of excavation, hauling, crushing
and milling,” he said.