EXPLOSIVES AND BLASTING
up to 980 m depth with an intermediate tap off,
and the next step was to install systems to depths
of around 1,500 m.
“With an on-tap source of emulsion
underground, the risk of losing blasts decreases,
while additional blasting can be carried out at
short notice,” Joubert said.
Accelerating automation
A partnership of another kind involving Orica is
looking to end manual activities at development
headings in underground mines.
This time it involves mining equipment major
Epiroc, WebGen 200, the next generation of Orica’s
wireless initiation system, and a plan to develop a
semi-automated explosives delivery and charging
system.
Mooney explained the project rationale: “We’ve
listened to our customers and the broader
industry, and are developing this solution in
response to customer requests to move operators
away from the face where some sites have a safety
issue with rock bursts or slabs falling from the
walls and face.
“WebGen 200 is just one of the enabling
technologies in the solution, whereby the WebGen
system has been designed for mechanical
assembly and handling, enabling automated
encoding and charging at the development face.”
A prototype of the system, which will enable the
mechanisation of wireless explosives charging at
the development tunnel face, is currently being
developed for the underground mining segment,
with the partners hoping it sees the light of day by
the end of the year.
As for WebGen 200, the new generation
wireless initiating system is due to be released in
early 2021.
This system will harness digital technology to
allow advanced reprogramming and digital
inventory management, offering mine operations
an integrated user interface with improved quality
assurance, according to Orica.
“The reliability of each blast is further improved
with the new generation WebGen 200 system
designed to endure even greater shock
resistance,” Mooney said. “These significant
product improvements and new features will
support innovative and complex mining
operations, opening new market applications and
opportunities.”
It will come in four product variants, with an
opportunity to enable the first stages of blasting
automation in the large volume surface market,
according to Mooney.
Enaex has also been responding to customer
requests in its own pursuit of removing personnel
from the explosives and blasting process.
The company’s automation developments
started all the way back in 2014 when, after
receiving reports from customers about the
inability to operate in
certain areas of the mines
due to safety reasons, it
established the Enaex
Robotics department.
It entered partnerships
with Stanford Research
Institute (SRI), a leader in
robotics with dexterity
capabilities, and, later,
Autonomous Solutions Inc
(ASI), a key player in ground
vehicle automation, to
speed developments along.
Enaex Robotics also
worked closely with
Godelius, an engineering
company that is part of the Sigdo Koppers Group,
the majority shareholder of Enaex.
After some years of research, development and
testing, Enaex Robotics performed its first
teleoperated blast at the end of last year in a mine
in the north of Chile.
The tele-operated fleet included the
RoboMiner ® , a cutting-edge robot developed with
SRI that manipulated boosters and detonators,
Epiroc and Orica hope to have a
semi-automated explosives delivery
and charging system prototype
ready by the end of the year
thereby assuring the priming phase. This teleoperated
unit also stayed on the bench to support
the Mine-iTruck, a 20 ton (18 t) teleoperated
mobile manufacturing truck, to pump or auger
explosive into the bore hole.
On top of this, a tele-operated Stemming iTruck
was used alongside a tele-operated gauge robot
to measure bore hole conditions.
The trial appears to have gone well, with
Bachelet saying the company is already operating
a similar solution at one of its customer’s
operations as part of a commercial contract.
“In the short term, the next steps for Enaex
Robotics is to improve the speed of execution in
the open pit and to bring tele-operated solutions
into the underground, particularly to solve
secondary breaking challenges,” he said.
“In the mid- to long-term, Enaex Robotics aims
to go from tele-operated to fully autonomous
functions, associated with artificial intelligence
technologies.”
In South Africa, AECI Mining is also readying an
autonomous program alongside digital twin
developments in surface mining.
According to Joubert, the company is taking an
advanced process control-type approach to this
work focusing on continuous improvement with
the result being full integration of the blast plan,
drilling, charging and blasting.
This will leverage wireless detonator
integration, with detonator GPS positioning/
tracking and detonator “intelligence”, Joubert
said. Deployment will involve autonomous bulk
explosives charging and an autonomous initiating
system.
“The approach is to have sub phases to build
up to a fully autonomous solution,” he said.
These sub phases include the development of a
mobile manufacturing unit (MMU) able to record
what is delivered and send information through
electronic means. This capability is already in
place, according to Joubert.
The next sub phase would see the MMU receive
information regarding the holes drilled and the
quantity of explosives required per hole (desired
type and quantity). “The MMU delivers as per plan
with capability to make changes on the bench,”
Joubert said, explaining that this ability has been
in place at AECI Mining for some time, with a proof
of concept already completed. “Recent client
requests have resulted in an update of technology
and a roll out is now in progress to clients,” he
said.
The next sub phase would see such information
linked with GPS coordinates on site (planned and
verified). “The capability is in place, but
centimetre-hole accuracy technology is still
relatively expensive,” Joubert explained.
An integration into various third-party software
would be needed as the fourth sub-phase,
according to Joubert. “Front-end software with
capability to integrate has been developed and
deployment is anticipated in the near future,” he
said.
A robotic arm deployment of the initiating
systems is currently being developed by AECI
Mining, as is an MMU that can be remotely
controlled, Joubert added. This will be followed
by automated control of the MMU, with
positioning and charging based on set
coordinates, blasting plan and confirmed hole
positions. Such control will be developed in
concert with automated route planning,
according to Joubert.
An autonomous supply chain including
“intelligence” on-site silos, automated route
planning for explosives distribution and
automated ordering request is also being explored
by AECI Mining.
22 International Mining | JULY/AUGUST 2020