MREL CUSTOMIZED INSTRUMENTATION CONFIGURATION

MREL DOCUMENT #: CIC060327-1

DATE: 27 MARCH 2006

CUSTOMER: SOUTHERN PERU COPPER CORPORATION – CUAJONE MINE

APPLICATION: BLASTING VIBRATION MONITORING IN THE NEAR-FIELD

1.0 RECOMMENDATION OVERVIEW: MREL has received only limited information to date from the Customer about the
requirements and goals of their near field vibration recording program. MREL is only able at this time to make a
recommendation of a typical vibration recording system for the near field. If more information becomes available from the
Customer, MREL may wish to make changes to our recommendations. Blasting vibrations close to the blast have
characteristics of high amplitude and high frequency. The specifications of the vibration sensors selected must be beyond
the vibration amplitudes and frequencies anticipated. Also, the recording instrumentation must be able to record at a
frequency at least 10-20 times that of the anticipated highest frequency of the vibrations. Typically geophones and
seismographs do not have the amplitude, frequency response or recording speeds required to accurately record blasting
vibrations in the very close near-field. It is recommended that the Customer utilize triaxial accelerometers, to record the
vibrations in three mutually perpendicular planes at each accelerometer location. The accelerometers should be fastened
securely to accelerometer mounts and the mounts fasten securely to the rock surface using epoxy glue.

Cuajone Mine uses blastholes loaded anywhere from 30 to 1035 kg per hole and the holes are delayed to shoot one at a
time. At a distance of 8 metres from a blasthole loaded with 1000 kg of explosive, the blast vibrations are estimated to
have a frequency of 10 KHz and the acceleration is estimated to be 500 g. As the distance becomes closer the frequency
will rise as will the acceleration. As the distance becomes farther away, the frequency will decrease as will the
acceleration.

The triaxial accelerometers for a typical application have a frequency range of 2 to 10000Hz. It is also recommended that
the Customer record each of the three channels of each triaxial accelerometer at a recording rate of at least 250 KHz per
channel to ensure that the recorder is over-sampling the maximum frequency of the accelerometer sufficiently so that
peak acceleration levels are not missed by the recording. All items must be portable, rapidly installed, easily used and
must operate from internal DC power.
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2.0 RECOMMENDATION DETAILS:

Figure 1 shows the components required.

MREL Recorder
Triaxial Accelerometer
Triaxial Accelerometer
Signal Conditioner
Triaxial Accelerometer
Signal Cable

Triaxial Accelerometer Coaxial

Mount Signal
Cable

Accelerometer is located Instrumentation is located

at the location suitable at a safe distance from the
to provide the vibration data blast being recorded -
from the blast. flyrock is the biggest hazard
The mount is glued
onto the rock surface.

FIGURE 1: TYPICAL COMPONENTS REQUIRED FOR RECORDING AN EVENT WITH A TRIAXIAL

ACCELEROMETER
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Triaxial Accelerometer

Depending on the anticipated amplitude of vibration at the accelerometer location, the Customer may wish to
choose one or more of the following calibrated triaxial accelerometers. Full specifications are on Page 4.
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Triaxial Accelerometer
Mount

Although each of the above triaxial accelerometers are provided complete with one mounting base and one
mounting stud, it is recommended that several additional mounting bases (Model 080A15) and mounting studs
(Model 080A27) be supplied in case of loss or in case, after the test, the Operator has difficulty removing the
mounting base from the rock after it has been glued into place. The examples below are for illustration purposes
only.
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Triaxial Accelerometer
Signal Cable

The triaxial accelerometer signal cable can be provided for these accelerometers in pre-made lengths up to 50 m
complete with connectors. Longer signal cable lengths will reduce the frequency response of the system to
below that of the accelerometer. A short example of the cable is shown below. MREL proposes to supply 50 m
length on a portable plastic cable reel for ease of use.
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Triaxial Accelerometer
Signal Conditioner

For each triaxial accelerometer that the Customer wishes to record per test, MREL will supply one triaxial
accelerometer signal conditioner. It operates from 3 internal 9V batteries that the Customer can install and
replace as necessary. Battery life = 33 hours of operation. This signal conditioner has been specifically designed
to operate with the recommended triaxial accelerometers.
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Coaxial
Signal
Cable

For each triaxial accelerometer that the Customer wishes to record per test, MREL will supply three 3 m long
coaxial signal cables with connectors attached for connecting between the signal conditioner and the MREL
Recorder. A short example of cable is shown below.
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MREL Recorder

For this application, when one or two triaxial accelerometers are being installed near the blast, for example, on the high-
wall, the rugged and portable 8 channel DataTrap II is the best MREL recorder for the job. It can record on each of 8
channels at Operator selectable rates from 1 Hz to 10MHz and has more than sufficient memory to record all of the
vibration data. Two triaxial accelerometers will occupy 6 of the DataTrap II’s 8 channels. The Operator would not need to
use the remaining two channels or the Operator could use the remaining two channels to record two directions of a third
triaxial accelerometer, or to record two uniaxial accelerometers (available but not specified in this recommendation). If the
Customer was to upgrade the DataTrap II to include the VOD Upgrade, either immediately or in the future, the Operator
would be able to record the VODs in the blastholes nearest to the accelerometers to ensure that the explosives in the
closest holes detonated properly.

In the mine, the Operator would make his cable connections, turn on and set the Signal Conditioner, turn the DataTrap II
power “ON” press the “NEXT TEST” button, look for warning lights on the channels (indicating short-circuit or open-
circuit), and press the “START” button.

The DataTrap II will record the vibration data automatically into its non-volatile memory without need for the Operator to
be with the DataTrap II during the blast. When it is safe to return to the DataTrap II after the blast, the Operator can turn
“OFF” the DataTrap II power and then return to the comfort of the office for downloading, and automatic graphing of the
acceleration data using the DataTrap II Advanced Analytical Software for Windows.

More information on the DataTrap II, including a downloadable brochure is on the Internet at
http://www.mrel.com/DataTrapII.html . Contact MREL for an electronic copy of the DataTrap II Scope Operations Manual
(applicable for recording sensors) and the DataTrap II VOD Operations Manual (applicable for recording VODs).