Surface Mine Drilling and Blasting Procedure using Surpac
1.0 Introduction Drilling and Blasting in any hard rock mine is the first process to free the ore from the in situ or host rocks. The degree and the efficiency through which drilling and blasting is done actually determines the quality of the broken material for eventual downstream processing. In surface mining operations, the purpose of drilling into rock is to provide a “blast hole” into which explosives can be loaded (Source: Blast Hole Drilling Module-4). Good drilling practice include carefully monitoring drill-rig operating parameters, taking careful notes of the changes in geology during drilling, and effectively communicating to the blasting crew any unusual conditions encountered during drilling that may affect blasting results or require changes in hole loading practices. Blast designing is not a science, but knowledge, experience, studying and analyzing past practices in relation to rock strata & geology etc., makes blaster to achieve perfection. T...