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By Steven V. Crum, Willard E. Pierce

Concern has been raised about the adequacy of current regulatory guidelines designed to protect homes from unwanted blast damage due to low frequency ground vibrations; in particular those with predominant frequencies below 6 Hz. This report summarizes and updates the preliminary results of a continuing Bureau of Mines investigation which will be completed later in 1995. Four structures at four different surface coal mines have been studied by examining their response to ground vibrations created from overburden blasting. House response to ground vibrations with dominant frequencies down to about 3 Hz were recorded. Many of the blasts produced ground vibrations with peak amplitudes above expected crack-producing thresholds. Response motions were compared to those predicted by theoretical single degree of-freedom response models.

Jan 1, 1995

By Clive-Workman Davies, K K. Kabongo, Mensah Frimpong

Given the capital intensity of the dragline operation coupled with rising cost of explosives, the onus is on mine operators to make maximum use of explosives in blasting to assist dragline diggability. At a surface coal mine in South Africa large boulders necessitating secondary breakage and in some cases completely unfragmented sections of a blast resulting in low dragline diggability were encountered in the interburden blast. Twelve blasts were therefore closely monitored and dragline productivity evaluated. The ultimate aim was to improve the overall blasting performance and hence increase dragline productivity. Three areas were in focus; fragmentation assessment, dragline productivity assessment and cost analysis. The studies indicated unsatisfactory explosive and initiation performance, problematic blast design and questionable operators performance. It is established that dragline cost account for 60% of the total mining cost whereas the drilling and blasting cost account for the remaining 40% and that improvement in dragline productivity results in automatic cost saving.

Jan 1, 1996

By R W. Bellenie, P N. Blakey

The phenomena of post detonation gases in muckpiles is reasonably well known. It causes the 'rumbling' noises occasionally heard after a blast in open pits or quarries and is thought to occur due to initiation of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, etc. by 'hot' spots within the muckpile. The problem usually occurs with highly aluminized products, but can occur with any oxygen deficient product. This phenomenon was never a problem underground due to restriction on access to blast areas, ventilation criteria, etc. until the advent of large diameter blastholes and particularly their use for specialized applications such as drilling for blasting down 'hang-ups' in ore passes.

Jan 1, 1980

By Dale S. Preece, Lee M. Taylor

Computer simulation of the physics involved in conventional rock blasting can be split into two phases; transient stress wave propagation and rock motion. Because the two phases involve totally different mechanisms and time scales, they must be numerically modeled with two different computer programs. The first phase is usually modeled with a finite element or finite difference code which treats the rock ss a continuum and simulates the transient stress wave and subsequent fragmentation of the rock. The second phase is usually modeled with a distinct element technique where the rock mass after fragmentation is no longer treated as a continuum but as a finite number of distinct particles that interact with each other through collision mechanics.

Jan 1, 1989

By K. G. Holley

Blasting is usually required to produce easily-excavated broken rock, while leaving surrounding rock masses as undamaged and stable as possible. In mining applications, it is common to utilise production blasting in the centre of an open pit, and specially developed limits blast designs when blasting adjacent to the excavation perimeter. In open pit blasting, limits blast designs generally include pre-splitting, trim blasts, or buffer blasts, all of which are designed to limit, or eliminate, damage beyond the designed pit wall. This paper reports on the findings of a study of the profile of damage in rock masses surrounding blasts, determined by a combination of vibration monitoring, displacement monitoring using extensometers, and video inspection of open holes drilled at various distances behind blasts. The results obtained suggest that the profile of damage may extend for the full depth of the bench, for distances of up to 12 to 15 metres behind blasts. This suggests that entire berms may be affected by blasting, displaying loss of friction and cohesion along joint and fracture planes. The study has considered production blasts and trim blasts with small diameter blastholes and pre-splits.

Jan 1, 2004

By Lewis L. Oriard

Near the village of Villarino de los Aires, in the province of Salamanca, Spain, was an existing underground hydroelectric power plant. A major enlargement was undertaken to increase the electrical generating capacity, under a contract awarded to a joint venture of Dragados y Construcciones, S. A. (Spain), Entrecanales y Tavora, S. A. (Spain), and S. A. Conrad Zschokke (Switzerland). The enlargement required the excavation of a large and complex underground system of tunnels, shafts and chambers adjacent to existing facilities and interconnected with these facilities. The existing machine hall and transformer chamber were both extended, requiring the blasting of the existing end walls. The drilling, blasting and excavating of the underground system had to be done without damage to existing underground chambers and tunnels, or any of the existing structures, equipment or instrumentation facilities, often within just a few feet of the blasting. This required careful control of vibrations, airblast overpressures and dust.

Jan 1, 1997

By F O. Otuonye

Full-face blasts were fired in a 12 x 8 ft drift of an underground hardrock mine in a basalt formation with porphyry copper to study the effects of drill pattern and explosive type on the size distribution of the resulting muckpile. Each muckpile produced by five full-face blasts was sampled four times with a scooptram equipped with a 5-cu yd bucket and the size distribution of the broken rock in each bucket was determined by screen analysis. Results show a strong dependence of the fragment size distribution of muckpile on the blast pattern and explosive type for a given rock type. The mean fragment size of the broken rock was compared with the predictive equations of other investigators. Random sampling of the muckpile from full-scale blasts and screen analyses of the samples are recommended in assessing the size distribution of the broken rock because of scaling errors that are inherent in full-scale blasts when designed from results of small-scale tests.

Jan 1, 1985

By Hung Tran, Qian Liu, Patrick Andrieux, Dave Counter

Blast damage in open stope mining has been an important concern in controlling ore dilution. Severe damage to the surrounding rock mass can result in the caving of waste rock and/or backfill materials, as well as general instability of the ground. The blast damage study conducted at Kidd Mining Division in 1995 was aimed at measuring the damage zone around blastholes and at identifying other factors which influence the damage. An approach and methodology developed mainly by Blastronics, together with Noranda under a project with the Mining Research Directorate, was adopted for this project. The principle was to combine vibration measurement results with borehole camera observations to derive the blast damage criteria at the specific site. The Holmberg-Persson Equation was used for the regression of near-field vibration data. The damage criteria was examined with both borehole camera observation results and rock elastic and mechanical properties. Details of this methodology, including instrumentation, are reviewed in this paper and an implementation case study of the blast damage evaluation is presented.

Jan 1, 1998

By Lon Santis

Although unproven, it is suspected that there have been eleven locations since 1988 where explosive generated carbon monoxide (CO) gas moved through the earth and accumulated in nearby underground enclosed spaces. This paper summarizes the incidents, which involved about 30 suspected or medically verified CO poisonings and 1 fatality. Ten incidents occurred in residences and one occurred in a manhole. Although practically nothing is known about the mechanism behind the suspected gas migration, review of the incidents and available information indicates there are certain warning signs and a successful remediation technique available. In each case, overburden heavily confined the explosive in the blasts, preventing release of explosive-generated gases to the atmosphere. All the blasts were in residential areas, and none were excavated immediately. Where the distance from the blast was recorded, 5 of the blasts were within 20 to 50 feet (ft) (6 to 15 meters [m]) of the underground enclosed spaces, 3 were 100 to 150 ft (30 to 46 m) away, and 1 was 400 to 500 ft (120 to 150 m) away. Investigators often identified suspected pathways from the blast site into the underground enclosed spaces. One technique appeared successful at quickly correcting an existing condition. This technique involved applying negative pressure to the earth and removing the CO from the ground surrounding the underground enclosed space.

Jan 1, 2001

By Raimo Vuolio

"Over the past 30 years, the Nordic countries have developed similar practices for estimating damage caused by rock blasting vibrations. However, over the last few years the risk of damage has sometimes been estimated by using international values, which have created unnecessary costs, since they are too conservative. This paper gives a proposal for Finnish blast vibration standards and a calculation model for the extent of the zones for building inspection, risk analysis, and vibration measurements. The international conclusion is that particle velocity is the best descriptor for limiting damage potential for structures. Over 900 000 vibration data recordings from 52971 blasts were collected for this paper during 1970-1989. They show that the most practical description is the vertical component of the peak particle velocity. As rock is a nonhomogeneous medium, it is hard to predict the need and scope of risk analyses, building inspection, and vibration measurements. As a large number of blasts were monitored for the recording of the peak particle velocity in several locations in Finland, and the data combined, it is possible to establish safe scaled distances for the calculation of the need and scope of risk analyses, building inspections, and vibration measurements."

Jan 1, 1991

By W. L. Saunders

RBH Note: In the early days of drill & blast tunneling the jobs utilized large crews of drillers and muckers. Advance per round was limited (typically around four feet) but two rounds per 8-hour shift were expected, around the clock. The scene after a shot must have been chaos, with the muckers expected to quickly make space for the drill setup. Makes one wonder how much time was allowed for the smoke and fumes to clear. Note the headgear of the tunnelers.

Jan 1, 2011

By Michael Karmis, Syed Muhammad Tariq, Zeshan Hyder

This paper analyzes the blast design for lime stone quarries of two major cement plants in Pakistan. The production blast of these quarries was resulting in excessive boulders production. At some instances, the rate of boulders production was approximately 10%-15% of the main production blast i.e. if a round of main blast gave around 4000 tons of material; almost 400 to 500 tons of that material was in the shape of massive boulders. This gave rise to increased operating costs requiring boulders collection, drilling and secondary blast.

Jan 1, 2012

By Jason Rock, Rob Thompson, Lee Julian

This paper presents an innovative shift in inhibited bulk products with specific reference to their manufacture and application.

Feb 1, 2020

By W. Boas, R. Silva, D. Yumi, L. Steffen

The continuity of the flow and stages within the mining process is essential to achieve success in its operation and results, especially when it comes to a gold mine. During the first seven months of 2022, crushing at the Morro do Ouro Mine had 19 stops in the primary crusher due to equipment blockage/obstruction, this could be due to the size of the material that was blasted with explosives and fed. The feeding of coarse material to the crushing plant impacts the operation in several ways, for example, premature wear of the equipment, reduction in the supply of the remainder of the beneficiation, reduction of the buffer pile and damage to the conveyed belt. In a mine located far from the community, the fragmentation improvement is mainly related to load increments or some other relatively simple change. However, when it comes to a mine located close to communities, alterations of this type must be analyzed in detail, as it can have an impact mainly in relation to vibration and flyrock. Aiming to improve the efficiency of the blasting, mainly in relation to the result of fragmentation, a project was created to improve the efficiency of the blasting with a focus on reducing the crushing stoppage and reducing the amount of material discarded due to inadequate granulometry. During the evolution of the project, several improvement solutions were proposed, for example adjustment of the power factor in relation to the geological characteristics of the rock mass, drainage, blasting geometry, vibration reduction techniques and several operational improvements. By using the techniques and methods identified as improvements during the project, it was possible to observe and quantify improvements in relation to the fragmentation of the blast. During the months of January to July 2022 there were 19 events. It was estimated that at this rate there would be 14 more blockage events, but there were only 3 events and that meant a 79% reduction in blockage. In addition to the reduction in crushing shutdown events, there was also a 53% reduction in the amount of ore that is discarded due to inadequate granulometry and, with that, the feed rate of the grinding system was able to reach the maximum feed limit due to the material being fed to the mill well fragmented, contributing to increase the production and productivity of the beneficiation process at the Morro do Ouro Mine in Paracatu-Minas Gerais-Brazil.

Jan 1, 2024

By Garfiansyah Rayes

In 2023, an Indonesian coal mine experienced significant contamination of an emulsion blend explosive by dynamic mud and water flow, triggered by flooding due to exceptionally high rainfall. This intrusion into explosive columns compromised the stability and efficiency of blasting operations, thereby impacting overall mining productivity. The extent and impact of these contaminants on the stability and performance of the emulsion blend explosive were rigorously analyzed through a robust assessment methodology that included comprehensive field measurements and controlled laboratory experiments designed to replicate the challenging site conditions. Utilizing a combination of theoretical calculations and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, this study evaluates the kinetic interactions between dynamic mud flows and emulsion explosives within drill holes. The methodology integrates Torricelli’s theorem for velocity assessments and Darcy’s Law for understanding the penetration mechanics of mud into the emulsion blend. CFD simulations are further correlated with actual blast data to assess discrepancies between theoretical predictions and real-world outcomes. Results demonstrate a significant reduction in the velocity of detonation (VOD) of the explo-sives, traced directly to mud contamination levels, which align with the quantified penetration rates in the study. Practical measures for mitigating such contamination are proposed, including the reinforcement of water-ways, culverts, and bund walls at drilling locations based on validated simulation data. Additionally, rec-ommendations for operational adjustments during high rainfall events are discussed, aiming to enhance blasting safety and efficiency. The paper concludes by suggesting future research directions towards the development of more resilient emulsion formulations and enhanced predictive modeling techniques to better forecast the impacts of en-vironmental variables on explosive performance in mining operations

Jan 21, 2025

By Jerome H. Stofleth

In June of 1998, the DeBruce Grain Elevator was devastated by an accidental explosion caused by the unintentional ignition of grain dust. The DeBruce grain elevator was the largest ‘single head-house’ grain elevator in the nation. It was comprised of 450 cylindrical grain silos, 30 feet in diameter by 120 feet tall, with a centrally located headhouse. Immediately after the explosion, rescue operations were started for seven missing workers. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had taken over operations of the site by day two. On day three FEMA contacted the Washington DC office of the Department of Energy for explosive expertise, who in turn contacted explosives experts at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL). FEMA was looking for guidance in making the decision to downgrade their operation from a rescue to a recovery operation. Based on some chemical equilibrium calculations, and basic explosive engineering techniques, the SNL/LANL team was able to provide the necessary input to allow the decision to be made for the operational downgrade. At this point, only one worker remained un-recovered.

Jan 1, 2004

By Johan Finsteen Gjødvad, Mathias Jern

The paper is part of the ongoing work of the Environmental committee of EFEE. To assist the European experts working with explosives one of the aims is to improve the common knowledge of similarities and differences between national legislation, standards or guidelines on vibration monitoring and other environmental monitoring during blasting in Europe and abroad. This has been done by use of an online survey through the most of 2018. Questions have been raised on vibration monitoring during blasting. The existence of norms, guidelines or standards and how they are used. Even though the questions have been kept at a high level they are formed to try to map the different national standards use of such things as frequency, guidance on monitoring position, distinction between different types of structures, requirement to the equipment and more. Furthermore a few initial questions have been raised on other environmental monitoring relevant for blasting. The respondents are national, cooperate or individual members of EFEE. The answers are experts in the use of explosives and vibration-monitoring in their respective countries. More than 60 have answered the questionnaire from 29 different countries. Mainly European as well as other nations including India, Israel, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, Greenland and Hong Kong. By analysing the incoming answers, the differences and similarities in vibration monitoring of the respondents has been clarified and mapped. Where possible other environmental monitoring has also been analysed. Where needed the different guidelines, standards and regulations have been visited to verify the answers and further elaborate on the comparison.

By Johan Finsteen Gjodvad, Mathias Jern

The paper is part of the ongoing work of the Environmental committee of EFEE. To assist the European experts working with explosives one of the aims is to improve the common knowledge of similarities and differences between national legislation, standards or guidelines on vibration monitoring and other environmental monitoring during blasting in Europe and abroad.

Feb 1, 2020

By Harley Cheema, Brandon Fryman, John Tatom

A new magazine propagation model has been proposed by the IMESAFR Science Panel for eventual implementation into the IMESAFR QRA program. Initial results from this QRA propagation model are now available.

Feb 1, 2020

By Paul L. Matrin

This paper will discuss the recent and on-going drill and blast optimization measures at the Sparkhule Limestone Quarry, which have resulted in a 44% reduction of drill and blast unit costs per ton of broken limestone. This amounts to approximately $240,000 of drill and blast saving per year at current annual production rates of about 2.5 million tons (2.3 million tonnes) total material shot. The reduction of drill and blast costs were accomplished by a detailed and controlled in-the-mine drill/blast experimentation and cost evaluation using 8 different blast pattern designs and shots totaling approximately 267,000 tons (242,200 tonnes) of shot and mucked material. A careful review of the geology of the deposit was performed to determine the different rock classification/strengths/structural properties and to adjust blast designs to optimize fragmentation for the different rock types. Equipment loading productivity and crusher throughput performance were monitored as part of the evaluation process to assure that an optimal fragmentation of broken rock was achieved with the new blast designs. The study included the review of bulk explosive and accessory selection criteria (ammonia nitrate/fuel oil mix - ANFO, mini prills (high density ANFO), sensitized and un-sensitized emulsions at a 30% emulsion/70% ANFO blend), blast pattern design, charge diameter and the cost of drilling. Laser profiling technology was used to assure proper bench heights, stemming and sub-drill footage and front row burdens. High speed photography, video and still photos were taken of the different designed shots to assist in the evaluation of the performance of each blast. Powder density checks, size distribution, back break, detonation velocity and pressure measurements were taken. Different borehole diameters were used for the drill optimization study and drilling cost and productivities determined. A detailed cost comparison between in-house blasting and complete shot service was prepared to evaluate if shot service is a cost effective alternative to current in-house loading and blasting including a review of the new and pending United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire Arms (ATF) regulations and associated owner costs/risks and potential benefit of shot service.

Jan 1, 2004