TECHNOLOGY
Increasingly, the danger is being taken out of modern blasting.
that the technology is proven, and the
advances are real and can be readily
developed for various applications.
“Quarries are already significant
beneficiaries of these better blasting
technologies, as they generally must crush
all the material they blast,” says Rorke.
“Fragmentation is therefore even more
critical in a quarry, as over-sized material
holds up the crushing process and
diverts resources unnecessarily into
secondary breaking.”
Drilling trends
“For a very long time, people in the quarry
and mining industry drilled and blasted
in the traditional manner — and doing
so, it came with various safety issues: fly-
rock, over-blast pressure, vibrations, and
dust. Drill holes would be tamped down
with sand to prevent it blasting into the
air, says George Williams, Upat mining
and export manager. “Earlier this year, we
were approached by a non-explosive rock-
breaking cartridge manufacturing company
called Nxco Mining Technologies. They
have a product size in their range called
‘Rock poppers’, which has no explosives
22 _ QUARRY SA | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
impact above ground (that is, no
shockwave, no vibrations, one hundred per
cent controllable fly-rock, and no dust), but
once placed in a drill hole they break up
rock quite cost-effectively. They are quick
and easy to use and there is also no damage
to essential services, which is normally the
case when using explosives in confined
spaces. So it is ideal for oversize
removal underground.”
Traditional blasting would break
rock into chunks often too big to go on
the conveyor into the crusher, resulting
in massive waste. Rock poppers offer a
choice of various drill patterns that ensures
oversize rocks are broken into smaller
pieces, making for a more efficient process.
“This has revolutionised rock breaking
and we are forming a partnership with
Nxco that will utilise these rock poppers
in conjunction with the appropriate
Milwaukee M18CHM drilling and breaking
hammer — the two technologies effectively
form a single system, drastically reducing
wastage while improving safety.”
You can now cheaply break up a rock
without all the problems that go with the
use of conventional explosives. Blasting a
rock face in quarrying represents the same
problems as mining: Covering the drill
hole and using sand to tamp it to control
the blast. “We can now drill-and-blast in a
few minutes, whereas in the past they had
to bring in a tipper with sand and stone,
which took considerable time. With our
system, you need one machine, one drill
bit, and explosives with some stemming
material, as opposed to the pneumatic
components used traditionally,”
says Williams.
The system has been piloted with
a major mining house, with in-house
training provided by Nxco for the Nonex
Rock Popper Cartridges and has been
approved by the group’s Tool and Health &
Safety committees and the partnership is
now ready to roll out. “This partnership is
how drilling, in particular, can differentiate
itself from the traditional bit-and-tool
approach,” adds Williams.
Upat’s new partnership apart, Williams
points to two other major technological
directions for drilling as being: cordless
tools and improvements in battery
technology. Drilling is moving rapidly
towards cordless drills. Williams says this