Mining Engineering Commons^™

Discrete Element Modeling To Predict Muckpile Profiles From Cast Blasting, Russell Lamont

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Movement of overburden or ore from one location to another may be considered the primary physical process of mining. The means by which it is transported is then of primary concern both to economic production and cost control. The geologic characteristics of some mineral deposits, especially coal and phosphates, lend themselves to overburden transport by means of cast blasting, which when efficiently designed has proven itself to be a cheaper method than traditional truck/shovel, dragline, or even dozer push transport. Simultaneously, this movement of a significant portion of overburden using explosives may enable an operation to increase mineral production, as …

Underground Blast Fragmentation Modeling For Use In The Mine-To-Mill Strategy, Lauren Shields

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

More than 40 years ago, the mine-to-mill concept was introduced in the mining industry by establishing a relationship or link between processing and mining activities. To date, many successful case studies have documented the evident benefits of the mine-to-mill approach. In most cases, the basis of the mine-to-mill approach is to tailor the details of a blast design and its proper execution in order to satisfy specific mineral processing requirements downstream. Most of the available literature and case studies deal with surface mine operations. Due to the relative simplicity of surface mining, the relationship between the powder factor, defined as …

Prediction Of Blast-Induced Ground Vibrations: A Comparison Between Empirical And Artificial-Neural-Network Approaches, Luis F. Velasquez

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Ground vibrations are a critical factor in the rock blasting process. The instantaneous load application exerted by the gas pressure during the detonation process acts on the blasthole walls creating dynamic stresses in the adjacent rock. This triggers different sorts of stress waves, mainly divided into two categories: body and surface waves. The first comprises the P and the S waves, while the second comprises Rayleigh waves. These waves spread concentrically starting at the blast location and move along the ground surface and its interior, being attenuated as they reach further distances.

In most cases, and accepting the hypothesis that …

The Effect Of Delay And Sequence On Blasting Fragmentation Results, Tristan Worsey

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Blasters use the delay between charges and the firing sequence of the explosive charges to help reduce vibrations and achieve the desired fragmentation. Although delay and sequence are recognized as very important for vibrations and fragmentation, only vibration models consider timing as a variable in the prediction tool, without any known model for fragmentation prediction based on the delay sequence. Of the few fragmentation models available, very few take delay into account and do not give guidance on row delay and/or sequence selections. With the invention of electronic detonators in 1984, there are new avenues to explore with sequence and …