EXPLOSIVES AND BLASTING
Sandfire MATSA, as part of its commitment to innovation, digitalisation and improving safety in its underground operations, has achieved a new technological milestone at the Sotiel mine, in the municipality of Calañas( Huelva), Spain.
In collaboration with Insersa and MAXAM, the company has carried out the first blasting operation controlled 100 % remotely from the surface – a key advance in smart mining for the province of Huelva, it said.
The remote-controlled blast was carried out in the Migollas body, a significant orebody within the wider Sotiel deposit. To advance into this area, a new ramp is currently being developed, opening up a strategic route for access to new reserves and also becoming an indispensable piece of infrastructure for the modernisation of this underground operation, the company says.
Carrying out a blasting operation from an office on the surface requires a high degree of technical precision and a robust communications infrastructure, according to the company. To make this possible, Sandfire MATSA and its partner companies have spent months planning and preparing for this operation, as well as installing Wi-Fi access points at strategic locations to enable connection to the data network and, consequently, communication between the underground mine and the surface.
“ Thanks to this technology, the engineering and project management professionals involved in this operation can verify safety parameters in real time and authorise remote detonation under optimal conditions for the safety of personnel and equipment, whilst also improving production efficiency,” it said.
This achievement also builds on Sandfire MATSA’ s significant progress in the field of smart mining.
The company currently operates three types of underground machinery from two remote control rooms located at its Aguas
In collaboration with Insersa and MAXAM, Sandfire MATSA has carried out the first blasting operation controlled 100 % remotely from the surface
Teñidas and Magdalena mines, thanks to the more than 80 km of Wi-Fi network available at both underground operations. These include ore loaders; Epiroc Simba longhole drilling rigs for production chambers; and jumbos for tunnelling and underground mining.
Beyond the optimisation of mining processes, this milestone reinforces Sandfire MATSA’ s commitment to modern mining that prioritises safety at its sites, while driving technological advances that ensure more innovative and sustainable operations, the company said.
To record all drilling, hole preparation and loading activities at Chelopech, BlastIQ Mobile devices were deployed across the entire fleet of underground production drills and to the production shotfirers
for integration into their own planning and reporting systems, including Deswik. Ops. Such integration will enable the Chelopech team to begin removing existing digital capturing tools from their production drills and rely solely on BlastIQ Mobile devices.
By digitalising the drill-and-blast process MMG Rosebery has greatly reduced the overall QA / QC cycle time from drill preparation to charge. This was achieved by limiting the number of visits to surface to communicate plans and changes, allowing engineers to review live data from the surface via BlastIQ Underground.
Through the implementation of the BlastIQ Underground suite of applications provided by Orica Digital Solutions, MMG Rosebery has digitised 165 blasts, capturing data for 9,908 holes and a total of 84,949 drilled metres. As of April 2026, 11,277-hole actual inputs have been digitally recorded. Instances where holes were re-visited and prepared more than once were also collated electronically, highlighting and enabling detailed storyline analysis.
“ This digital record directly supports the accurate delivery, application and recording of 140,760 kg of Subtek™ bulk explosives, all logged digitally at the job site,” Orica said.“ Together, these figures represent the complete, digitally-captured drill, preparation and charging process at MMG Rosebery.”
Additionally, BlastIQ Underground enabled drill-specific adjustments to be made and communicated live between drillers and engineers, reducing downtime and improving operator productivity. By pushing and pulling updated designs through the cloud to mobile tablets, changes were implemented in near real time at the job location, reducing resource wastage, improving crossdepartment efficiency, increasing equipment utilisation and contributing to increased drilled metres per shift.
Towards fully mechanised charge-up
Olitek Mining Robotics said its Remote Charge-up Unit( RCU) project continues to accelerate, with the Brisbane-based company streamlining its patented HelX initiation system to improve integration and drive toward fully mechanised charge-up operations.
Mechanised charge-up of tunnel development faces significantly reduces exposure of charge-up crews to tunnel face hazards such as seismicity, rockfalls, thermal stress and repetitive strain injuries. The development face explosives loading and priming crews are most‘ at risk’ to these geotechnical hazards due to the lengthy exposure duration at the tunnel face to perform their tasks.
The RCU is designed to move personnel at least 5 m away from the underground development face and provide faster, mechanised charge-up options to reduce exposure time for existing operations.
The RCU uses robust mining robotics on an OEM-agnostic platform to enable full face charge-up from the safety of the cabin, Olitek explained. It leverages the HelX initiation system, which repackages conventional detonators and detonation cord into a format that allows full chargeup and tie-in using low-cost, standard
International Mining | AUGUST 2026