When an Australian open-pit coal mine wished to eradicate the necessity for bulldozer push operations, whereas making certain secure and productive blasting, it turned to BME for its digital initiation options.
Producing 7 Mt/y of coking coal, the mine was using typical forged blast designs on 40-m bench heights to realize most motion of overburden materials – over 3 million cu.m – from every blast. A dragline, situated on the low wall crest, was used to take away overburden.
Because of the nature of the geological options on the location, the mine wanted to conduct a secondary or auxiliary blast to behave as a locking key within the ultimate flooring floor to forestall dragline muck pile spoil creep – an vital danger to handle. The blasted materials was sometimes pushed by dozers in opposition to the principle manufacturing blast face to guard the coal seam from harm throughout manufacturing blasting. This concerned many hours of operation for this gear, which the mine would have most well-liked to deploy elsewhere on the location.
In accordance with BME’s Worldwide Know-how and Area Providers Supervisor, Tom Dermody, the mine wished to discover how the applying of digital initiation may contribute to an environment friendly and sustainable resolution.
“BME was requested to help the mine’s drill and blast crew to optimise blasting procedures, and to search for alternatives the place digital detonators may provide downstream advantages to their operations,” Dermody mentioned. “There have been a lot of targets specified by the client, to assist save prices and time – together with the elimination of dozer push operations and the development of manufacturing blasting whereas nonetheless defending the coal seam.”
To think about the choices, BME rigorously assessed the present blast observe, he mentioned. It was vital to know the connection between burden response and initiation time, for example, to permit a possibility to affect the ultimate muck pile place. Utilizing AXXIS™, BME’s flagship digital initiation system, the blast design was refined by a collection of strategic changes. This included redesigning the auxiliary blast to direct the throw of the fabric extra successfully.
“The answer lay in making a blast design that may forged the blasted materials in direction of the manufacturing face,” he defined. “We due to this fact modified the powder issue and the initiation sequence to affect the ‘throw’ model blast within the required path.”
The AXXIS™ digital initiation system was used to affect blast motion and muck pile efficiency of the auxiliary blast so the fabric may very well be used to guard the coal seams of the manufacturing blast. BME was ready to make use of superior timing and elevated powder issue into the brand new blasting methodology, with a concentrate on burden response. The accuracy and reliability of the AXXIS™ digital initiation system additionally eradicated the danger of detonator mis-fires from cut-offs.
There have been additionally important security advantages from the revised association, Dermody mentioned. The dozing of blasted materials to beneath the excessive wall was carried out below a allow system because of the increased security dangers concerned.
“The brand new blasting method eradicated the necessity for the dozer push, thus enhancing security by decreasing the publicity of workers and gear,” he mentioned. “It additionally allowed the gear to be utilised extra productively in different manufacturing areas.”
Along with the financial savings on dozer working hours and improved security efficiency, the answer additionally resulted in lowered potential coal loss.
“Quantitative knowledge after we utilized our methodology confirmed value reductions when in comparison with preliminary value estimates and conventional blasting strategies,” he mentioned. “We had been additionally capable of obtain better time effectivity for the mine, whereas making certain a top quality of blast outcomes.”
The venture highlighted the worth of digital initiation and a complicated initiation know-how being utilized to conventional mining challenges, in line with Dermody, with the answer paving the best way for extra sustainable and environment friendly mining operations.
