Engineering Commons^™

Wall Control Blasting At The Orphan Boy Mine – Butte, Montana, Jewel Sakyi

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Blasting is often conducted to produce desirable fragment sizes to minimize production cost and energy consumption in downstream processes, including loading, hauling, and crushing. However, the venting of explosive energy in the rock formation sometimes causes unwanted damage beyond the desired perimeter of the blast area. Control blasting has mainly been used in surface mining operations to minimalize blast damage. To explore the applicability of control blasting in underground mining operations, protect the safety of students, faculty, and staff, prevent overbreak, and to ensure the stability of openings and workings, four experimental control blasts, comprising of three smooth blasts and …