Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr
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B L A S T I N G T E C H N O LO GY Both predicted fragmentation and actual fragmentation information (from particle size measurement systems) can be generated and analyzed. Planned fragmentation is affected by blasthole burden, spacing, explosive strength, geologic factors and blasthole diameter. Having the capacity to determine the expected rock size after blasting based on design parameters provides a strong basis for future designs. At sites that have fragmentation measurement systems (particle size distribution) and truck/shovel fleet management systems, MSPM allows for the correlation of P80 (80% passing size) with the measured shovel dig rate. Actual P80 vs. desired P80 targets show the performance of the fragmentation plan. Quality control can be performed on a shot-by-shot basis to determine the quality of the drilling and a score assigned on several factors. These factors include XY hole location variance, over drilling, under drilling and plugged holes. The overall aggregate variances are reported, and each individual variance displayed as well. The initial version of MSPM will focus on drill and blast reporting, analysis and analytics, with additional functionality being added to provide tools for block model reconciliation (e.g. grade control block model vs. resource block model), truck dispatch vs. block models, broken reserves, mined material, and mine plan compliance. Non-compliance to the mine plan can have major impacts on expenses paid and revenue lost. This is true not only in the short term, but non-compliance can also have negative consequences on the optimized long range plan, Mintek notes. Orica says the fifth generation of its SHOTPlus blast design software enables advanced design, analysis and optimization of blast plans. The new program, according to the company, provides extensive blast initiation design capabilities in several language www.e-mj.com formats and supports Orica's pyrotechnic and electronic blasting systems. Features of SHOTPlus 5 include: • Blast design in a full 3-D environment; • Automatic assignment of electronic blasting sequences based upon user-defined burden relief and firing directions; • Auto-adjustable electronic delay timings to meet desired firing windows for vibration control; • Simulation of timing sequences in real time, allowing any problem areas to be highlighted before firing; • Importing of pattern layouts generated from other mine design packages; • Export of charging design data to create loading sheets in Microsoft Excel or other packages; • Creation of import and export templates to streamline routine data transfers between software packages to maximize design process efficiency; • Creation of loading rules defining specific blasthole charging parameters that can be quickly applied to selected holes or to the entire blast; • Generation of blast-material quantity reports for reconciling blasted inventory; • Links to its Advanced Vibration Management (AVM) online tool. Maptek claims its BlastLogic solution can increase drill and blast accuracy by harnessing automated validation and design tools with an intuitive 3-D interface. BlastLogic keeps an historical record of all drilling activity in a single, managed location and interfaces with supported third party drill navigation systems. It can be configured to site-specific parameters, with preferred tolerances and thresholds established for the automated validation process, and a library of blast products and charge rules can be defined and maintained. DECEMBER 2012 • E&MJ; 55