http://www.miningweekly.

com/article/opencast-mines-benefit-from-electronic-detonationtechnology-2015-05-08

Opencast mines benefit from electronic

detonation technology
8TH MAY 2015

he

popularity of
electronic
initiation in
blasting is bound
to grow as more
opencast mines
BURNING FRONT Illustration of a cross-section through a blast showing the
sequence of detonator initiation using a shocktube initiation system with
typical firing times shown

and quarries
benefit from the
reliability and
accuracy of these

systems and the broader impact of high-quality blasts on their

operational bottom line, says specialised mining chemical products and
services provider BME.
The age of electronic detonators is not only making blasting practice
more dependable, but is also allowing for larger and more cost-effective
blasts, says BME blasting technology director Tony Rorke.

He notes that the use of shocktube, or nonelectric detonators, has always

had been restrained by its reliance on a limited number of delay periods
and a limited burning front.
This places constraints on the blast design and implementation, and can
raise the risk of a misfire under certain conditions.
He says, in a large blast, there is a greater chance that shocktube surface
and downlines can be severed by a movement of the ground during a
blast, which creates a situation where longer delay periods could become
a risk.
When you blast with shocktube, you will not necessarily know that there
has been a misfire until the blasted material is being loaded.
Rorke says one of the major advantages of using electronic detonators is
the ability to fire blasts wirelessly. He says using a master control box to
communicate wirelessly with up to ten slave boxes makes it possible to
easily scale up the size of a blast while controlling it.
Each slave control box can be hard-wired to up to 600 electronic
detonators, making this an increasingly attractive option for mines
wanting the added value of larger blasts [accomodating] up to 6 000
detonations.
BME can assist an opencast mining client in designing and conducting
blasts involving more than 3 000 detonators, which deliver a number of
benefits, such as reduced operational downtime and better overall
quality of fragmentation, says Rorke.
While mines may have historically avoided larger blasts because of the
higher risk of error, BME has been able to demonstrate that our
electronic detonation technology is highly reliable as it is scaled up to suit
the customers optimal requirements.

He says the wireless technology also makes it possible to simultaneously

initiate blasts in different parts of the pit, or even in adjacent pits, which
makes the best use of the operational downtime required when blasting.
The reliability and versatility of electronic detonation has been enhanced
by the range of software and hardware advances made in recent years.
BME has developed its own digital initiation system, called the AXXIS,
which improves safety and promotes ease of use, robustness and
accuracy, says Rorke.
He adds that the system allocates precise firing times to the electronic
detonators, allowing engineers to design complex firing sequences in a
blast to achieve predictable and repeatable blast results.
Rorke says, with its ability to develop software to make the science of
blasting ever more precise, BME has also pioneered the BlastMap III
computer software program now in its third generation with complex
equations and useful graphics to help practitioners design the blast they
need.
Used in conjunction with the AXXIS digital initiation system, BlastMap
III gives customers the best blast results and assists in making blasting
much more efficient. It allows the fine-tuning of blast parameters that
include vibration control, fragmentation optimisation, dilution control,
heave control and specialised blasting scenarios.

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