Case Study of a Subhorizontal Mining Method with Longhole Drilling in a Narrow Vein Orebody - Cuiaba Mine (Brazil)

This paper describes the application of a new narrow vein mining method in the Cuiaba mine in Brazil. The method was applied at the Galinheiro orebody with several changes in the mine pattern such as mesh, blasting changes, having its results measured on holes deviation, seismographic data and void scanning.

Challenges Related to Near-Field Blasting between Critical Interstate and Railroad Infrastructure

Many technical challenges were encountered while conducting near-field construction blasting between the critical intersection of Interstate 10 and the multiple active railroad tracks in El Paso, Texas, for the Loop 375 Border Highway Project. The andesite bedrock was successfully blasted and excavated, providing site conditions conducive for construction.

Characterizing the Detonation and Blast Wave Characteristics from Commercial Detonating Cord

Detonating cord includes inert jacketing materials which are usually neglected when studying the detonation and blast wave characteristics. Some experimental evidence indicates that the afterburning from these materials can modify the net energy release. This research is aimed to characterize commercial detonation cord using high-speed imaging and piezoelectric sensors.

Customized Mine Blasting for Leaching

This work is about having a fragmentation size for a leaching process without crushing in gold mines, having as an improved metallurgical recovery results, with a global low mine cost.

Debris Collection Efforts Following a Large-Scale AN Detonation

Following a large-scale AN detonation, a debris collection project was conducted to aid in underpinning algorithms used in a Quantitative Risk Assessment tool. This paper details the collection efforts, challenges and lessons learned. This paper also presents some of the initial findings relating to the debris distribution.

Delineating Extent of Cracks in Post-Blast Rock Surface Using the GPR - A Case Study

Delineation of extent of post-blast wall crack is important. Blast-induced damage is qualitatively estimated by using geo-physical tools. Considering damage is a result of threshold levels of vibration, vibration based damage models are prepared. GPR is used as damage measuring tool and near-field vibration analysis is done through numerical modeling.

Detonator Safety Relation to Measurement Errors

We will discuss the kind of procedure that we use to predict the no-fire (for safety) and all-fire (for reliability) stimulus levels for any given type of electro explosive device. The basic idea is to expose a number of explosive devices to different levels of stimulus, so we can estimate the probability of firing as a function of stimulus level. We call this a statistical firing test. But what about the uncertainty in measuring the stimulus? Suppose we are not quite sure what stimulus level we apply? This is the particular question that we will consider today. This relates to both safety and reliability. Surprisingly enough, we will find that some uncertainty in measuring the levels during our statistical firing test actually improves our long-term safety and reliability.

Diameter-Effect Modelling in Unconfined Steady Non-Ideal Detonations

An engineering approach to two-dimensional, unconfined, non-ideal detonation is proposed based on the elliptical construction of the shock locus, combining the axial cylindrical stick Q1D solution with some additional limiting condition to determine the sonic edge of the charge.