TECHNOLOGY
“Traditional blasting
would break rock into
chunks often too big
to go on the conveyor
into the crusher,
resulting in massive
waste.”
operations team control of the process.
Client research has revealed that drilling
and blasting accounts for 30% to 40% of
operational costs.
“The solution requires a five-step
approach to achieving the operational
data output: Pre-blast safety inspection is
a primary safety element. The assessment
of the blast radius and aerial view of the
sequence of the explosives allows the blast
and drilling engineer to rectify any error
before the blast. Live video feed of the
actual blast in high resolution for analysis
is available in slow motion. This allows for
detailed visual analysis and accountability
of the blast. Post blast safety inspection is
conducted to confirm that the process was
executed according to the plan and the area
is clear to resume work. Fragmentation
analysis is provided of the muck pile, which
allows for better planning. Reports on the
fragmentation are provided on an ongoing
basis to ensure consistency and historical
trend analysis,” says Mnisi.
least be warned that a misfire occurred
during the blast and therefore prompt
the team to take extra precaution during
loading,” says Tose.
Technology has changed
drill-and-blast
Drone data solutions company Rocketmine
effectively uses drone technology in the
mining sector. Nomthi Mnisi, Rocketmine
marketing, communications and training
manager, says: “The Rocketmine blast
monitoring and fragmentation analysis
solution removes operational pains for
mines, and shifts the focus to improving
efficiency. Enhancing efficiencies and
maximising outputs entail lowering
operating costs and providing real-time
visual access of the blasts to allow the
Artificial intelligence
BME technical director, Tony Rorke, says:
“Much of the technological advance in
blasting has been based on the evolution
of electronic delay detonators (EDDs) and
that these devices allow such flexible and
reliable detonation sequences. This is being
further enhanced by our ability to capture,
store, and analyse large amounts of data
from each blast — opening the door for
artificial intelligence tools to start predicting
results and proposing alternative designs.”
An indication of the pace of
technological advance is that the blasting
software and related systems are
increasingly user-friendly, and the powerful
results attainable are becoming almost
expected at site level. Among the benefits of
applying EDDs are controlling vibration,
reducing the blast damage to the pit wall,
and preventing blasted material from being
thrown onto ramp roadways.
“A key reason that makes these results
so predictable and repeatable is that the use
of EDDs removes the old problem in
traditional blasting of signal lines being cut
during the blast and stopping certain holes
from detonating,” he says. “This was always
the risk if the blaster wanted to extend the
duration of a blast sequence for better
results; instead, today’s digital detonators
function independently once the ‘fire’
command has been given.”
This means that all the detonators in a
blast begin their respective countdowns
simultaneously at the point of initiation —
and so will continue to progress normally
towards their firing times even if the signal
lines are cut by rock movements — usually
resulting from earlier explosions in
the sequence.
The digital nature of the EDD
technology, Rorke says, allows a vast
amount of data about the activity
parameters of each detonator to be
recorded and stored.
“We will soon be able to upload all this
data into a centralised database, linked
to our XPLOLOG™ system, which allows
on-site personnel on a blast block to
enter key parameters electronically using
a rugged mobile handheld device,” he
says. “While the user can upload their
survey and blast designs to the central
XPLOLOG™ database, the data can also
be downloaded onto mobile devices for
instant management reporting.”
He emphasised that big data is vital
for the analysis of trends and to be able to
recognise what blasters should be doing
to improve blasting results; it is therefore
becoming an important contributor to
advancing efficiency levels in mining.
“We are now also exploring the power
of artificial intelligence to help us predict
the results of any particular blast design,”
he says. “Using the historical results of
hundreds if not thousands of previous blasts,
these systems could deploy sophisticated
algorithms to predict blast outcomes in terms
of movement, fragmentation, back damage
and throw, for instance.”
Neither are these options and
possibilities just theoretical; he highlighted
QUARRY SA | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 _ 21