Page 18 - EngineerIt February 2021

AUTOMATION AND CONTROL

Mining sustainability can be
enhanced considerably by
quality blasting

Digital journey in blasting supports
Digital journey in blasting supports

mines’ sustainability

he quest to raise productivity on and underground sites,” said Scovira. “Companies can also look to us for rock
mines is relying increasingly on characterisation and specifications for blasting in hot or reactive ground, highwall blast
Ttechnology that pushes the design and management, or novel and disruptive blast design and mining methods.”
boundaries of blasting science into This service comes from BME’s in-house technical staff, and also from other
software tools, digital solutions and recognised third-party specialists in blasting, mining and construction – with the aim
mobile apps. of realising the best project outcomes. The initial on-line consultation to discuss and
These innovations have therefore scope out a blasting project is free of charge, and the service is not limited to existing
been a priority for explosives and BME clients.
blasting leader BME, a member of the “Using our powerful BLASTMAP™ blast design software, mines can achieve optimal
JSE-listed Omnia group – as mining rock fragmentation to make their loading and comminution functions more economical,”
sustainability can be enhanced he said. He also highlighted the value of BLASTMAP™ in understanding and managing
considerably by quality blasting, burden relief times.
according to D. Scott Scovira, BME’s A powerful burden relief feature in BLASTMAP™ gives the blaster better control over
global manager for blasting science. the shape and movement of the blasted rock muck pile. Burden relief is fundamental to
The company’s technology offerings good blast design, as a blaster needs to shape the muck pile to optimise the efficiency
apply across the blast cycle from design of the excavation fleet.
and planning to initiation and analysis. If the mine is using a loader and truck fleet, for instance, the blasted rock will need to
The company has also just launched its be laid out lower – and longer burden relief times tend to be used in the blast. For a
global on-line technical services and truck and shovel configuration, on the other hand, the muck pile would need to be
solutions platform, enabling explosives stacked up higher, usually requiring tighter burden relief times.
users to consult with experienced A pioneer with its AXXIS™ electronic detonation systems, BME has been continuously
explosive engineering professionals. improving this technology for greater on-mine safety and productivity. The system allows
“We can provide blast fragmentation the downloading of blasthole firing times from BLASTMAP™ into the AXXIS™ Logger –
distribution prediction for surface for quick and reliable detonator programming. Data from the AXXIS™ Logger can be
greenfield sites, and fragmentation analysed after the blast to ensure that the actual initiation matched the blast design.
distribution optimisation to support mine- In southern Africa, AXXIS™ has been used by the leading copper producers to
to-mill initiatives at established surface initiate record-size blasts – with 7,401 electronic delay detonators (EDDs) involved in

EngineerIT | February 2021 | 16