Modern Quarrying Q1 2019

Improper or poor practices in blasting can have a severely ill impact on the economics of a mine/quarry.

were fired in a single shot at a large Australian coal mine recently. “Electronic detonation has become increasing popular due to its reliability, accuracy and flexibil- ity, making blasting practice more predictable and allowing for larger and more cost-effective blasts,” says Rorke. “The ability to analyse data both historically and in real time provides a major productiv- ity advantage and allows for the capability of accurately determining cause in blasts that may go wrong.” As technological development continues apace in the blasting industry, what are some of the developments that will likely take place in blasting technology in the near future? Rorke believes that digital technology is expanding the capability of providing efficient blasting and the major development will be in this field where electronic detonators, digital data recording, modern data analysis utilising artifi- cial intelligence will be the focus for improving blasting in the future. “The application of charging and blast timing will rely more heavily on global positioning that provides real-time information on hole charging and firing time choices. The future is bright. Where are my dark glasses?” concludes Rorke. l

Tony Rorke, Specialist AXXIS Development Application at BME.

AXXIS GII detonators use 2-core double insulated downline cables. Higher resistance to electrostatic discharge and high induced ground currents make the GII detonator safer to use in all mining conditions. BlastMap III is BME’s complete blast planning, design and analysis software. It is a powerful and modern software that allows design of the blasts from hole layouts to charge quantities, deck charging and blast timing. BME’s AXXIS system – which has built a strong customer base in the mining sectors of Africa and Australia especially – has been behind the world’s larg- est surface blasts, measured by the number of electronic detonators fired in a single blast. At Zambia’s Kansanshi Mine – the largest copper mine in Africa – 6 690 electronic delay detonators were successfully initiated in one blast last year using AXXIS. Elsewhere, a world record of over 7 400 AXXIS detonators

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QUARTER 1 - 2019 MODERN QUARRYING