CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Mine background

Goldsearch mine is a mine owned by an individual person by the name Vimbai Chakanetsa.
It started as a consultancy company, which used to offer mining as well as geological
services to the small medium and big mines. The company letter discovered its own gold
reserves in about four places in Zimbabwe. The company firstly discovered a deposit,
fifteen kilometers from Bindura town along Mt Darwin road, in Shamva some thirty
kilometers from Shamva town, in Chegutu some twenty kilometers from Chegutu town and
the other one in Mt Darwin at a place called Acadia. The company’s genesis mine is the
one in Bindura were l was attached.
1.2 Location
Goldsearch is a company located in Lockingvare a place within Masasa an area in Harare.
The mine by the name Goldsearch mine is located fifteen kilometers from Bindura along
Mt Darwin

1.3 History of Shabanie mine

1903; Asbestos was first recorded in the Victoria Mining Commissioners’ report.
1914; Chrysotile asbestos was discovered in Zvishavane by M Kerr and railway line
reached Masvingo
1914;Asbestos Mining co Ltd AAM was first registered in Bulawayo as a successor to the
South African Asbestos co Ltd. The company was by Turner Brothers of Rochdale England
1928; the railway line reached Zvishavane
1929; Turner and Newalls AAMines acquired all assets of R and GA
1978/9; the present Shabanie mine No2 Shaft was commissioned
1996;Assets of Turner and Newall PLC ,SMM Holdings Pvt Ltd acquired by African
Associated Resources

1.4 Geology and Mineralisation

1
The oldies rock formations around the mine are gneisses, which date up to 3.6 billion years
Bulawayan age (circa 2.7 billion years old) greenstones, comprising sedimentary rock,
basalts and ultramafic were then deposited . The rocks were then subjected to deformation
resulting in the formation of slips, faults, folds, and shear zones. This structural
deformation enabled the precipitation of chrysotile asbestos from hydrothermal fluids.
The Shabanie mine ultramafic sill extends 14km in strike, is 3km wide and 1.6km thick.
The sill dips 30º towards the south west. The ultramafic rocks are composed of gabbros
pyroxinites harzburgites, peridotites and dunites. Chrysotile asbestos occurs within partially
serpentinised dunites as parallel and stock work fibre seams. The ore bodies are footwall
talc rock, carbonated serpentinised dunite.
Geological structures indicate a high compressive stress regime which acted in a N24º East
orientation, which resulted in thrusting and down falling of the ultramafic sill.
The carbonated serpentinised dunites occur at the base of the silky ore bodies. This rock
type may contain brittle rock. Silky ore bodies are distinguished from the hanging wall
dunites by the abundance of fibre seams.

1.5 Overview of operations

Early production was by quarrying and even after underground mining was introduced,
opencast workings continued to produce part of he tonnage up to 1994. The first
underground mining method at Shabanie mine was horizontal open stoping with waste fill
and built pillars, but after a series of pillar collapses this was abandoned to favour caving.
Sublevel caving method is practiced a Shabanie mine. In this particular method a fairly
competent dipping ore body is delineated by means of jackhammer developments. These
developments include haulage drives raises and ramps. The developments are necessary to
create access ways to the ore body and to create working areas for further work that will be
done on the ore body .A service way and ramp are placed in the hanging wall of the ore
body. The service way may be vertical (3.9m diameter) or (3.8m*3.0m) H and the ramp is
inclined at 10 degrees (3.2m*3.2m) H
Sublevels are placed at roughly 15m intervals. Retreat drives are developed along the ore
body contact or block boundary, which ever is applicable. Ring drilling crosscuts
(3.2m*3.2m) are developed off the retreat drives at roughly 11m centres. Ore passes 2.4m
in diameter are spaced along the retreat drives so that one ore pass serves approximately 4
ring drilling crosscuts. This level varies according to the number of sublevels which served
by the main levels. Slot drives are developed between adjacent crosscuts. The slots drives
2
 are developed at footwall contact of the ore body. Slot raises 1.8m in diameter are
developed to create breaking space for the initial rings where necessary to maintain height.

Waste
capping

Pre-drilled
holes

Slot

Area under
development

Fig 1.1 the sublevel caving breaking sequence

1.6 Problem Definition

3
Currently at Shabanie Mine, we are not meeting targets. A close analysis revealed that this
stems mainly from poor fragmentation in development and production.
1.7 Justification
Poor fragmentation causes delays in loading and hauling operations. Big boulders have to
be blasted again (secondary blasting). This causes an increase in costs in the form of
explosives used and lost time for production. Fines also cause caking in coco pans and
locomotives. Big boulders also cause hang ups in ore passes which blocks ore flow and
again distracts the efficient flow of ore at the bins. Big boulders would need to be
hammered down to small sizes before the next loco can trip. Thus disrupting efficient flow
of ore. Therefore this project seeks to come up with solutions to rectify the present
problems.

1.8 Aim and objectives

Aim:
To improve rock fragmentation
Objectives
 To assess the current rock fragmentation.
 To carry out a study on the extra costs (time consumed, labour and explosives) on
secondary blasting.
 To identify the drilling patterns and blasting patterns that produces good
fragmentation.
 To minimize hang ups in the ore passes and secondary blasting.
 To minimize secondary blasting.

An investigation poor advances in production and development ends

CHAPTER 2
4
LITERATURE VIEW
2.1Theory of breakage
Purpose of drilling and blasting
Drilling can be done for numerous reasons. It can be done for creating of holes in which
pipes are to be placed, it can be done to make a hole for rock bolting, it can be done to
create a hole which will be used as an encourage place when working in a raise, it can also
takes place when creating ventilation space and it can be done to create holes for the
placement of explosives. Out of all the above drilling is much done when creating holes
for the placement of explosives. This is done with a set target set in order to meet
production, which will give profit to the mine at the end of a given period of time.

The purpose of blasting is to convert rock from one solid piece of material to smaller pieces
capable of being moved or excavated by available equipment or manageable to be
manipulated, or to be converted to a visible tangible mineral. To accomplish this there are
two major factors to consider. These factors are fragmentation and movement or throw
Both of these must match the requirements of the individual rock project. Underground
blasting, for example, require greater fragmentation than surface blasting because of the
size of equipment that can be used and the difficulty of access. If the blast is too small, the
blasting has accomplished more than necessary and therefore the cost is higher than it
could be. If the blast creates insufficient movement the blasted rock will be in such a
position that it is broken but not moved enough to excavate easily.

To achieve the fragmentation and movement one must be acquainted with the theory of
rock breakage in order to design the blast that will produce the desired results at a
minimum cost. The breaking of rock involves two basic process, radial and cracking and
flexural rapture. Rock is stronger in compression than in tension. Considering this fact it
would seem reasonable that the easiest way to break rock is to subject it to a tensile stress
greater than its ultimate strength in tension.
Proper fragmentation results when there is enough force in the compressive wave travels to
the face and back, overcoming the strengths of the medium through which the wave travels.
It has been estimated that only 3% of the explosive energy is used in compressive wave in
the burden area. Along the face the outermost edge is stretched in tension which causes
cracks. If the energy released is not high enough to travel to the face and return to the
source, the boulders will be found in the muckpile around the blast hole. However if there
5
is excessive energy, it will cause additional throw and over break. Boulders on the surface
of the muck pile can be caused when the stress wave is reflected because of density
changes or seams or over break from previous blast. Instead of being fragmented by the
blast, these portions are simply pushed or rolled out of the face. An explosive is a
compound or a mixture of compounds, which is capable of undergoing an extreme rapid
decomposition; thereby releasing substantial ultimate amounts of heat and gases therefore
exert a great pressure on the surroundings.
An explosion can be broken down into four phases, which includes release of gasses,
intense heat, extreme gas, then explosion. An understanding of these phases can be benefit
in understanding the theory of breakage for blasting rock.
When an explosive is denoted, gas is released and as the temperature of the gas increases.
Therefore when an explosive is detonated in a blast hole, the pressure exerted against the
walls of the blast hole (if great enough) will move and break the rock.

6
Flexural Rapture
The second process in breaking rocks is flexural rapture ie bending the rock to the point
where the outside edge, the side in tension breaks. Flexure or bending is caused by the
rapid expansion of gases in the borehole

7
Fig 2.1 Flexural rapture
Stemming
The gas expansion exerts pressure against the cylinder walls (the borehole). The sustained
gas pressure drives the radial cracks through the burden to the free face and then causes the
rock to displace in the direction of the least resistance. This gaseous pressure applies the
force that is necessary to cause flexural rupture of the rock and is responsible for the
fracture of the rock in the direction perpendicular to the borehole axis.

Explosive
gas
pressure

Tensile
stresses

Fig 2.2 Bending of the beam

8
Gas is the major component necessary for the flexure and therefore the primary component
of fragmentation. By section of the rock as a concrete beam, with depth equal to the burden
and length equal to the bench height, it is obvious that to break the beam will require
movement or displacement in addition to cracking. When the explosive has been detonated
and the radial cracks have been expanded, the gas starts the movement by putting a
compressive pressure against the wall of the borehole. This as with the beam will have the
least resistance to flexure at the centre of the spun. The action begins at the location of the
primer; therefore the largest movement will favour the primer side of the centre of the
explosive column. The bending of the beam creates tensile stresses at the free face of the
rock, which break the rock at the location of the weakness planes caused by either changes
in material or the radial cracks caused by the initial compression wave.
The principle of flexural rupture explains the relationship of the length of the borehole to
the burden. Burden is the distance from the borehole to the nearest free face. Through the
understanding of the effects of flexural systems and the varying movements it is clear that
the deeper the borehole the greater the permissible burden and borehole spacing to achieve
desired results.

2.2 Stemming
Stemming is a non explosive material that is placed in the borehole between the top of the
explosive column and the collar of the hole. Stemming can consist of sand drill fines or
gravel.
It is important that all the holes be stemmed to help confine or delay the escape of
explosive gases though the top of the borehole so that the explosive’s efficiency is
increased. Increasing the explosive’s efficiency reduces the amount of explosives required.
If the gases are not properly confined the results can be fly rock, increased ground vibration
and air blast. The reduction in efficiency causes poor fragmentation and boulders.
The best type of stemming to use is angular – type stemming because it offers
resistance to the borehole. Angular stemming tends to bridge across the borehole as the gas
expansion pushes against it. This pushing by the explosive gases causes the stemming to
move slightly, wedging itself against the wall of the borehole, restricting further movement.
Generally the amount of stemming required will range from 0.7B to 1B where B= burden.
Boulders can be formed from nature as caused by insufficient breakage during blasting the
later are called secondary.

9
2.3 Burn hole method

10
 Back holes

Rib holes

Fig 2.3 Burn hole method. Burn cut

Relievers
The burned-cut method of blasting round first developed as a method utilizing a series of
loaded and unloaded straight holes parallel to the direction of advance or tunnel axis.
The closely spaced holes offer a plain of weakness to which the loaded break. In this way
the centre piece the area between the holes becomes a cavity for the rest of the round (the
holes surrounding the burn cut) to break toward when it fires after the burn holes. Also
some holes we generally left empty, because if the rock fractures easily the cylinder may
have so much rock moving into that clogs, causing the broken rock to become bound
against itself, restricting the movement of the other rock.

Lifters

11
Fig 2.4
Advantages of burn cuts
1. Because of the direction of throw with a burn cut there tends to be less fly rock
than with the V cut or wedge cut.
2. The burn cut is drilled straight, permitting more drills at the heading. By the same
token a wedge cut restricts advancement because of the inability to get greater
depth and a proper angle.
9 burnofhole
3. One can use one total length steel for all holes.
4. The geometry of hole placement is less critical for the burn cut the for the angle
cut.

When the various burn cut holes are being drilled, care must be taken to drill the holes
straight
Since alignment is so critical, it is important to drill holes to the proper depth and
alignment. A method that can be helpful to maintain hole alignment is to place a loading
pole in the first hole drilled leaving a few centimeters of it extending out of the hole. This
provides a reference line to which the driller can align the other holes.

12
2.4 Loading of charges
Delay caps
To obtain adequate breakage, delay caps must be used. The holes involved in the wedge or
burn cut must be the first detonated, creating a free face. Then the holes surrounding these
holes will detonate in sequence until finally the trim holes detonate.

Millisecond delay blasting caps offers various advantages

1. They reduce ground vibration.
2. They improve fragmentation.
3. They produce less fly tock.
4. They reduce costs.
5. They reduce over break.

Firing systems
Delay blasting
Through the use of millisecond delays the amount of explosives fired at one given instant
may be reduced by using a different delay period for different holes.

2.5 Fragmentation and advance

Unit cost of the combined operations of drilling, drilling, blasting, loading, hauling and
crushing (if the product has to be milled) will be adversely affected by poor advance per
blast, excessive secondary blasting, high maintenance cost of loading and hauling
equipment and time wasted at the primary crusher due to oversize material.1
Poor fragmentation will contribute to these undesirable factors and it is therefore advisable
to experiment with hole diameter, drilling patterns, hole depths, types of explosives and
methods of charging until the required results are obtained

2.6 Ring drilling

In massive underground ore bodies long hole, ring drilling is employed when large
tonnages are required. Hole diameters vary between 38mm and 70mm and hole depths
seldom exceed 25m. Normally, a raise is mined and parallel pairs of holes are then drilled
from a cross cut and blasted to widen this raise tight across from hanging wall to foot wall.
This is known as slotting. Rings of holes are then drilled (from a drive) parallel to each
1
Ministry of Mines Publication No. 5 Breaking Ground pg 11-12

13
other and from 1m to 2m apart depending on the whole diameter and these are blasted to
widen the slot.

Fig 2.5 Rows in line

Fig 2.6 staggered

Key
1
3 5

4
2

Note: Numbers indicate blasting sequence

Arrows indicate direction of blast
As a rule, the end holes of any row are arranged to fire after the others to assist in obtaining
smooth sidewalls. In addition, when multiple rows are blasted, if the first row has a burden
slightly larger than the following rows then when blasted these subsequent rows will catch
up to the first one and ensuring collision will greatly assist fragmentation. Naturally, this
variation in burden is not possible if drilling is well ahead of blasting.
The principle of assisting fragmentation by making the rows collide is made of when holes
are timed to fire as shown in fig c chevron pattern

14
 Loading of charges
Loading embraces the complete operation of placing a charge in the desired manner with
one or more primers in readiness for firing.2

2.7 Small diameter boreholes

Preparation
The condition and depth of all holes should be carefully checked before attempting to load
any explosive. When upward pitching holes are drilled, the cuttings will usually run out by
gravity; if dry, or wash out with drill water where wet drilling is used.
Both vertical and horizontal holes must be cleaned in order to utilize the available space for
explosives and to facilitate loading in general.
The holes can be cleaned by compressed air or water or if the sludge is heavy, by a
combination of the two.
A properly constructed tamping pole is often necessary for placing the charge and is also
helpful for making a final test of the hole just prior to loading.
The tamping pole should be long enough to reach to the bottom of the hole and should
contain no exposed metal parts except certain approved connectors for joining sections.

Loading charges
Maximum charge density is usually desired, at least at the bottom of the borehole and the
cartridges should be as large as the hole will accommodate for easy and safe loading.
The operation of compacting the charge in the hole is known as tamping. This process is
greatly aided by slitting the cartridge just prior to loading unless the wrapper has already
been perforated in manufacture.
Slitting usually consists of making two longitudinal cuts one on each side, four or five
inches in length, which will allow the cartridge to collapse easily in the hole with a
relatively light blow from the tamping pole.
In many types of blasting, it is important to place the primer well down in the charge and
sometimes in the bottom for most efficient performance.
In rough holes, the cartridge should not be slit and only one or two loaded together.
Pointing one end of the cartridge may help to guide it over the rough spots or through a
constricted opening.
Hole placement
2
Blasters’ Handbook 15th Edition .Publisher McGraw Hill Book Company, pages 207-211.

15
The proper location of boreholes involves several factors, one of the most important being
loading density of the charge.

2.8 Ring patterns

One of the most important parameters in successful sublevel caving is the design of the ring
pattern, for reasons discussed in the following section.3
Initially this fact was not appreciated and therefore a standard layout was adopted in which
the ring spacing was 0.9m and the holes in the ring were drilled from the vertical to 45
degrees and sometimes to the horizontal.
Two wings were blasted at a time, which gave a 1.8m slice of broken ore to be loaded.
Habit dies hard in mining and it was some years before experience reinforced by an ever
increasing volume of evidence from research work done elsewhere particularly in Sweden
(Janelid 1972) and Canada (Sandstorm 1972) led to the adoption of the so-called “steep-
sided” rings tapered channel system in which the side holes are drilled at an angle steeper
than 70 degrees. This pattern is now the standard in use. The ring burden is 1m.
Basically the ring pattern is dictated by the stope geometry and in competent ground,
sublevel caving drifts.
Stope design parameters
Many of the parameters that determine the successful application of the system have been
mentioned already but we repeated here to emphasize their importance. They are:
 Extraction heading width
 Sublevel interval
 Height of draw
 Extraction heading spacing
 Ring inclination
 Ring burden.
2.9 Effects of geology on blasting
Rock properties that influence blasting results are strength, density, sonic velocity and
structure.4

3
Sublevel caving practice at Shabanie mine, Rhodesia , Underground Mining Methods,pg
947

4
Underground Mining Handbook page 732

16
Rock structures are defined using the frequency and orientation of bedding planes, joints
and other naturally occurring features.
Characteristic impedance, which is the product of density and velocity, is useful for
matching an explosive to the intact rock specimen properties.
Knowing the density and the wave velocity of the rock, one selects an explosive with the
same impedance value.
Often such decisions must also consider the effects of fracture frequency defining the
competency of a rock.
If explosives are selected, the orientation of borehole pattern and hole loading
characteristics are important to the blasting requirements.
Hard rocks require additional energy while soft seam intervals may not require loading.

2.10Fan drilling
The burden between fans is designed to give good fragmentation and varies between 1.2m
and 2.7m.5
Drill holes must be carefully aligned and drilled accurately.
Surveyors should mark up the ribs so that the drill rig can be properly aligned to provide
truly parallel fans of holes.
A protractor with a bubble should be provided to check the fan inclination and the angle of
each drill hole.
The loading and blasting of the holes must be performed with great care.
Reliable men should be on this work and any incentive paid them should not be based on
the footage blasted.
It is essential that holes should be well cleaned and loaded right to the top.
If drill holes are not drilled accurately or are not properly loaded and blasted, a solid bridge
or arch is left and only the lower part of the fan is drawn.

2.11 Relationship to hole diameter

Procedure6
i. Select explosive on basis of classification
ii. Select burden on basis of B = cd

5
Underground Mining methods Handbook page 876
6
Drilling and Blasting Technology Section 1
17
 Where d = blast hole diameter in mm
C = constant = 25-35
There is also a relationship between hole length and burden in that optimum length
L= +/-3B
Spacing
Spacing= 1.25B-1.35B

2.12 Burden
This is normally defined as the normal distance between the drill hole and fee face. 7 If
burden is increased holes to be drilled are reduced. This may result in inadequate
fragmentation at the face if explosives per blast are not increased. Usually using a large
hole diameter increases explosives per blast. Therefore the choice of burden is a
compromise between these factors and also the rock strength.
2.13 Fragmentation
The success of any mining operation is dependant on fragmentation. 8 It has a direct effect
on the safety of operations, production rates (hang ups in brows ore passes, chutes tipples,
and wear and tear on LHD units), metal recovery (draw control, dilution) and direct
operational costs (secondary fragmentation, mucking, hauling, crushing and hoisting costs).
2.14 Sublevel caving
The sublevel caving method employs the use of fan drilling using long, small diameter
holes between sublevels or drifts to under cut and blast the ore zone.9 Hole diameters
average to 51mm. Burdens and spacing vary from 1.2-1.8m and 1.5-1.8m respectively.
Powder factors range from 0.3-0,4kgs/t.
Powder factor = mass of explosives used
Volume of rock broken

2.15 Types of explosives.

Industrial explosives
Are classified as one of the following;

7
Ross-Watt et al, 1990
8
Hulstrulid W. A, 1982

9
SME Mining Engineering Handbook 2nd Edition Volume 1, Howard L. Hartman , Senior
Editor , Sacramento, California , August 1992 pg 725-740
18
  Nitro-glycerine based
 dry blasting agents
 water gels,
 emulsions,
 permissibles,
 primers and
 Boosters.

Dry blasting agents:

Dry blasting agents are one of a general category of blasting agents.
A dry agent is a granular, free running mix of a solid oxidizer (usually AN), prilled into
porous pellets onto which a liquid fuel oil or propellant is absorbed. ANFO is the most
widely used blasting product. Velocity of ANFO is over 4 500m/s. the critical diameter of
ANFO is between 51 and 102mm.
Wet blasting agents
Blasting agents that contain more than 5% water by weight are referred to as wet blasting
agents. Within this category are water gels or slurries, emulsions and heavy ANFO. The
critical diameter of wet blasting agents is often less than 25mm.
Three varieties are in common use in the mining industry.
Slurries – are a collidal suspension of solid AN particles suspended in a liquid AN solution
that is gelled, using cross linking agents. Slurries are characterized by excellent water
resistance, high density and bulk strength, good oxygen balance, confinement and coupling
within the borehole. The density of slurries ranges from 1.1 – 1.3 while detonation
velocities vary from 4 115 – 6 069m/s.
Emulsions
Are a two liquid-phase containing microscopic droplets of aqueous nitrates of salts (chiefly
AN) displaced in fuel oil, wax, or paraffin using an emulsifying agent. Emulsions provide
high detonation pressures of 10 – 12 GPa with detonation velocity of between 4420 – 5
640m/s. densities range from 1.15 – 1.45. Emulsions have excellent water resistant
properties regardless of packaging and they remain stable at low temperatures.

2.16 Comparative properties of explosives

Density
The density of an explosive is defined as the weight per unit volume or the specific gravity.
19
Strength
The term strength refers to the energy content of an explosive which in turn contributes to
the force and power it develops and works it is capable of doing.
Strength
Formally based on weight or cartridge strength that reflected the NG content, the strength
the strength of explosives is now commonly expressed as the measured or calculated
energy release or as an energy value relative to that of ANFO at 100%. High strength is
needed to shatter hard rock.10
Strength
The strength of an explosive is a measure of its ability to break rock. The performance
potential of an explosive is a function of the detonation velocity and density as well as the
volume of liberated gasses and the heat of the reaction.
Detonating velocity
The detonating velocity is the speed at which the detonation front moves through a column
of explosives. The speed of detonation is important when blasting in hard, competent rock
where brisance effect is desired fragmentation.

CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
Instruments
 Tape measure
 Cut director
 Drill steels
 Clino rule
10
Introductory Mining Engineering, Howard L. Hartman 1987 page 131.

20
  Explosives; Emulite 45x560mm; 32x200mm; electric detonators; bulk emulite;
boosters
 Charging stick
 Paint
 S36 GD
 Survey plans
 30cm rule
 Pen
 Pencil
 Notebook
 Plans from planning
 Plans from survey
 Jack hammer

Mine Development: haulages, crosscuts

Studies of the current rock fragmentation to be carried through observing the drilling and
blasting practices that are in use.
Procedure
Step 1
Observe
 Marking of holes
 Collaring
 Hole direction
 Hole inclination
 Hole depth
 Charge density
 Timing of the round.
Visual inspection of the muck pile to be done.

Step 2
From the findings it is necessary to take the following corrective measures:
Ensure that:
 Holes are marked properly.

21
  Collaring is done properly (as this is one of the contributing factors to hole
deviation.)
 Hole direction and inclination to be monitored. This is done by the use of a clino
rule.
 Hole direction and inclination to be monitored so that it would be exactly like the
planned and this is done by the use of the clino rule.
 Holes to be drilled to the correct depth. This is achieved through counting the
number of 1m drill steels used and assisted by measuring the hole depth after
drilling by use of a charging stick.
 Holes are not overcharged. This will be achieved through maintaining a charge
density of 2/3 of hole length.
Step 3
Tests carried out:
 Blasting without the use of boosters
 Introduce 9 hole burn cut in areas where 12 hole burn cut is employed.

Production

Studies of the current rock fragmentation to be carried through observing the drilling and
blasting practices that are in use.
Procedure
Step 1

Observe
 Marking of holes
 Machine position
 Collaring
 Hole direction
 Hole inclination
 Hole depth
 Charge density
 Timing of the ring.
Size of big boulders from production areas to be measured using a tape measure and
averaged.

22
From the findings it is necessary to take the following corrective measures.
Ensure that
 Holes are marked properly as per plan.
 The machine is properly positioned during drilling as indicated by A, B and C on
the plan.

A B C

aaaa

 Collaring is properly done (as this is one of the contributing factors to whole
deviation).
 Hole direction and inclination to be monitored so that it would be exactly like the
planned and this is done by the use of the clino rule.

 Holes were drilled to the correct depth. This was achieved through counting the
number of 1m drill steels used and assisted by measuring the hole depth after
drilling by use of a charging stick.

 Holes are not overcharged and that the proper uncharged collar was adhered to.

Fragmentation size to be measured using a tape measure.

Step 3
In production areas the spacing of 1.8m to be reduced to 1.5m.This is done with the aim of
improving fragmentation. This is achieved through working with the planning department
as well as the survey department and implementing the test in the field.

CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
Current Rock Fragmentation Assessment results
 In development, rock fragmentation had a lot of fines but no secondary blasting
necessary.
 Shortcomings noted in these areas are:

23
  Too fine a muck pile that would stick in trolleys and coco pans this in turn reduces
the capacity of the trolleys (dead load).
Interpretation
Too fine a muck pile emanated from:
 Use of pentolite boosters on the face. This is a waste of explosives because Emulite
45x560mm and electric detonators alone can give a good advance and good
fragmentation.
 Holes were overcharged.(too much explosive power).
 Fly rock was also experienced, this emanated from poor stemming.

Current rock fragmentation in production results

 Big boulders were heavily experienced in production blasting.
 Big boulders averaged 1.0x1.0m.These were re-blasted, that is secondary blasting.
Mud blasting is the method used for secondary blasting.

Close analysis revealed that boulders emanated from:

 poor marking
 hole inclination and direction errors
 poor timing
 poor collaring
 poor inclination drilling
 hole deviation
 Short hole length than the required

 Some of the big boulders resulted from the collapse of the bridge that would have
been formed because of short hole length being drilled. These bridges also pose a
danger to the LHD drivers since they sometimes fall during lashing.

Sublevel

Bridge

Sublevel
24
 cc

Sublevel
Holes drilled at a shorter length

Fig 4.1 bridge

Poor timing
Use of the same delay element resulted in large boulders since the breaking face is limited
he diagram below shows the timing used in some sections in production blasting. This
diagram shows that poor timing was practiced and resulted in big boulders. The same
number of timing was used throughout the ring instead of using different delays so as to
create a breaking face.

1 1 1 1 1 1

Fig 4.2 same number delay firing

Reduction in spacing
The reduction in spacing from 1.8m to 1.5m meant an increase in number of holes of to be
drilled. However, the boulder size was reduced to a manageable size and minimum time
was then taken during secondary blasting than before.
This also necessitated an earlier start for the tramming shift.
Even with the increase in the number of holes, explosive use was set off by the increase in
the uncharged collar.
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The reduction in boulders consequently resulted in less explosives used in secondary
blasting.
Explosive usage
The charging crew paid no attention to the uncharged collar. This results in explosives
wastage.
With the all the above parameters closely monitored and machine position monitored as
denoted by A; B; C, the fragmentation improved drastically with big boulders averaging
0.7x0.7.Moreso , the explosive consumption was reduced by a great margin.

Close monitoring of the charge density.

Monitoring of the uncharged collar meant a reduction in explosives consumption.

Production Areas
Sublevel caving at Shabanie Mine
Typical ring design
BLOCK 58/790 Level 716 6x/c29.0

Hole number Machine Angle (º) Hole length Uncharged Explosives

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 position length
1 A 60 12.0 1.0 22
2 A 67 15.8 5.6 20
3 A 74 21.8 2.3 39
4 A 78 30.0 5.6 24
5 A 82 33.0 1.0 64
6 B 84 32.6 2..3 61
7 B 87 29.0 5.6 47
8 B 90 25.8 1.0 50
9 B 87 19.9 2.3 35
10 C 83 20.0 5.6 29
11 C 78 294 2..3 27
12 C 74 21.8 1.0 42
13 C 67 15.8 5.6 20
14 C 60 12.0 1.0 22
Total 318.9 42.2 502
Number of holes 14
Hole size 57mm
Metres drilled 318.9
Tonnes/meter 44
Tones/ring 1395.7
Cases of explosives 17.9
Tones/case 78
Grams/tone 321
Inclination 90(degrees)

Sublevel Sublevel

Drilled holes

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 Sublevel

Fig 4.1 fan drilling

From the tables above the amount of explosives to be used is clearly indicated as well as
the powder factor, the length of the uncharged collar, the hole depth, machine position and
the angles for the holes but in the field different results came out. Holes were deviating; the
uncharged length was not adhered to. This resulted in a bigger spacing than planned and
hence the formation of boulders. Powder factor from the production rings ranged from
400g/t to 550g/t because the charging crew paid no heed to the uncharged length.
Powder factor for Shabanie Mine ranges from 250g/t to 350g/t but in the field the powder
factor would rise to about 400g/t to 550g/t. This resulted from the ignored uncharged length
by the charging crew. The project research managed to lower down the powder factor to
within the stipulated limits.

Results after the tests carried out

 Explosives consumption was reduced in both primary and secondary blasting.

 Good fragmentation was achieved.
 Elimination of hang ups in ore passes.
 Increased production.
 Few labor required at the tipping points(grizzly)
 Efficient flow of ore in the ore passes.
 Less work for the underground crusher.
 High production volumes.
 Small shortfall of targets meeting than before.
 Reduction in costs of labor, time consumed and explosives used.

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 I concluded that the big boulders from production were mainly due to drilling and
blasting crews’ failure to adhere to the set standards.
 The intensity of boulders in production will decrease if close monitoring of drilling
and blasting practices is implemented.
 Maintaining a charge density of 2/3 the hole length in development will eliminate
fines.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Drilling accuracy
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 The quality of drilling is the most single important factor which will influence the
quality of mining. If holes are not drilled correctly, one will have poor advances and
over or under break in stopes. It must be the responsibility of the miner to ensure that
the drilling crew is fully trained in the drilling patterns required and that they comply
fully with these patterns without deviations. If the miner allows the machine crews to
deviate from set patterns, then he would have lost control over the factors influencing
poor advances and poor mining.
 Drill holes must be carefully aligned and drilled accurately.
 Surveyors should mark up the ribs so that the drill rig can be properly aligned to
provide truly parallel fans of holes.
 A protractor with a bubble should be provided to check the fan inclination and the angle
of each drill hole.
 The loading and blasting of the holes must be performed with great care.
 Reliable men should be on this work.
 It is essential that holes should be well cleaned and loaded right to the top.

Close monitoring of charging

 The wasteful practice of nearly filling holes with explosives should be prohibited or
stopped. This will also reduce the cost of explosives used. In general, a charge should
be 0.3-0.5 the hole depth.
 The charging crew should be monitored so that they maintain the uncharged collar
dimensions.
 When blasting different delay firing arrangement must be employed.

Installation of rock breakers at grizzlies

 Though the initial cost of installing rock breakers is high but the continuous use of
explosives to reduce muck pile (fragmentation) to small than 0.35x0.35 proved to
be costly in the long run.
 Provision of rock breakers also implies less work for the underground crusher thus
maintaining its life span.
 The provision of rock breakers also reduces labor since the labor once used for
hammering down boulders at the grizzlies will no longer be needed.

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As further development is still in progress, I recommend that vertical distances between
sublevels be reduced to an average of 15 to 20m since the higher the vertical height the
bigger the spacing will result.

REFERENCES
1. Blasting Operations, Gary B. Hemphill 1981, United States of America.pg
2. Ministry of Mines Publication No. 5 Breaking Ground pages 11-12.
3. Blasters’ Handbook 15th Edition .Publisher McGraw Hill Book Company pages
4. Sublevel caving practice at Shabanie Mine, Rhodesia, Underground Mining Methods,
page 947.
5. Underground Mining Handbook page 732.
6. Underground Mining methods Handbook page 876.
7. Drilling and Blasting Technology Section 1 page 23.
8. Ross-Watt et al, 1990.
9. Hulstrulid W. A, 1982.
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10. SME Mining Engineering Handbook 2nd Edition Volume 1, Howard L. Hartman ,
Senior Editor , Sacramento, California , August 1992 pages 725-740.
11. Introductory Mining Engineering, Howard L. Hartman 198drilling and7 page 131.

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