The blasting is from the unitary operations in the lowest-costing mining in existence, however the impact of doing a good or bad blasting will affect all the production processes that come afterwards. A simple example: big colpas will reduce the capacity of the charger, the truck and the crusher.
Underground mining is a constant “research and development”, every time a blasting is made efforts change, as it advances geology changes and along with it challenges and ways of operating. There is a need to implement productive processes and operations that will adapt to the existing geo-mechanical conditions in the different deposits. The goal is none other than to reach efficiency and the best profit in all the productive chain of underground operations, high technology is already found in mining and the supplier companies are betting for the distinction to win in an increasingly changing market.
The situation is such, that there are already projections about how mining could be in about 15 more years: mines would go deeper, towards high grade zones that are currently not feasible to go whether it is technically or economically, methods will not vary compared to those that already exist and the biggest strength would go towards high performance technologies, gaining minerals in a productive, efficient, continuous and eco-friendly way, more processes in the underground labor will be integrated and the safety standards will be much higher. Mentally prepared in this vision of the future, the different supplier companies work, among them the ones that lend piercing and blasting services.
Blasting is the initial stage of rock comminution. It preconditions the material for all the following operations until the processing. The goal is to increase the efficiency and decrease the cost in each of these stages. It is because of it that specialists in the area aim for the freed energy in the blasting to be transferred efficiently.
Efficient Blastings
There are basically four aspects that a blasting must always consider:
- Effective use of energy,
- High quality control,
- Experienced staff and
- Teamwork
The first two aspects are the technical part of the blasting, it takes into account the conditions of the rock mass, the geo-mechanics, the caution with the walls, the effects in the productivity, the recovering, the expected dilution, the presence of water, among other relevant factors that can vary according to the labor and production stage in which they are.
With the previous information, the next step is to select the adequate explosive according to the amount of energy it releases, the limitations such as inhibition in the presence of water and the time it takes the energy to release. Knowing how energy is distributed is the most important part to obtain the desired material, the design of the blasting net affects this variant and diverse mathematical models exist to obtain precisely the desired potency, which influences the granolumetry and finally the economically benefits generated.
On the other hand, there is always the human factor, not everything is theoretical and many decisions must come from a personalized and subject-specialized staff. This has a lot of trial and error, the control of results like granolumetry and damage to the walls give updated information about the mass. It is because of this that a good engineer would not commit the same mistake twice in a row.
Lastly, teamwork is fundamental, communication and responsibility are the basis of all mining work, only this way there will be the trust needed for any planning to be performed at 100%. Operators and technicians need lots of information and experience that the engineer in charge must take and the engineer must know how to communicate the daily objectives.
Despite how easy it looks, the worst mistakes occur in this last stage. Technical problems have an easy resolution, all they need is to adjust the data or consult with a second opinion, but human problems are much harder to identify and solve, this is why typical situations like the safety talk are essential.
Finally, if all these factors are well considered the benefits will be optimal and time, energy and money will be saved.
Egresado de Ingeniería Civil en Minas de la Universidad de Santiago de Chile, realizando la memoria de titulación en Innovación Digital en Minería.
Desarrollador de cursos de capacitación en Proyecto de Molibdeno Molyb, de Codelco.