Open cut mining equipment essential for better blasting outcomes

Posted by John Smith on June 3rd, 2016

Measurement is the cornerstone of every manufacturing process and open cut mining is no different. In open pit mining also sometimes referred to as open cast mining, blast hole are drilled in the rock or dirt over a deposit of the material being mined. The blast hole is then loaded with explosives and a controlled explosion is performed. This is a very simplistic description of the drilling and blasting process.  Once the blast has been performed, heavy equipment is used to move the broken dirt and to load up the material that has been exposed for processing.

The blast loading process involves loading explosives into the blast hole but the important questions are “What type of explosive to use” and “How much explosives” are needed. The answers to these important questions come from knowing the hole depth and having accurate water depth measurement. Knowing the hole depth allows the calculation of how much explosives to use.  Knowing how much water is in a hole allows the selection of the right product and also whether other processes such as pumping out the blast hole should be performed. On many sites, the basic tool for measuring the hole depth of the blast hole is a dipping tape or tape measure. It is particularly difficult to obtain an accurate water depth measurement with a dipping tape. Until recently, there has not been a better hole dipping option. 

For a tool to survive the rigours of open cut mining, it has to be built tough. It also needs to be supported by the availability of spare parts and a manufacturer committed to supporting the device in all parts of the world. Iguana Industrial Solutions manufactures tools and data collection solutions for the drill and blast industry. Focussing on open pit mining and open cast mining operations, the benchm8 8550 allows hole dipping to be done quickly and efficiently.

The hole depth data and water depth measurement are stored electronically and easily available via USB or even transmitted wirelessly over Bluetooth. Blast loading is only as effective as the weakest part of the drilling and blasting work flow. If hole depth deviations are not caught, it can result in the destruction of the material being mined or excessive fuel costs to move the over burden.

You can’t control what you can’t measure and if it is too hard to measure something, than typically that something does not get measured. Hole dipping provides hole depth and water depth measurement information that is critical to blast loading. The knowledge of the blast hole allows better decisions to be made. Tools such as the benchm8 8550 hole dipper provide significant advantages over the dipping tape and tape measures. Open cut mining is a competitive business and open pit mining operations and open cast mining centres are under pressure to deliver the best outcomes with the greatest efficiency. Clearly the right measurement tools are central to achieving this.