The Impact of Blasting on the Business of Mining
The principal mission of the Mining Department is to provide to the processing plant a mineral in optimal condition for its subsequent treatment, either at the lowest cost or at the highest possible production rate, depending on the management philosophy of the mining operation. Of high importance also are the requirements to minimize the environmental impact, to ensure a strong community benefit, and to provide a safe and rewarding working environment.The Blast, as the first stage of the rock comminution process, has the mission of pre-conditioning, or preparing, the rock tor its subsequent processing, in order to obtain a commercial product in the most economic way possible.It is necessary to know ( = quantify) the impact of blasting on the processes of loading, hauling, crushing, and grinding, as well as in the movement of waste material (productivity of extraction equipment and transport). The assertion that waste material does not require the same degree of fragmentation as ore may therefore be only partly true-if finer fragmentation in waste leads to lower removal costs and higher removal rates, the justification for finer blasting in waste material may be easier to make. In the data obtained from this study, diggability (i. e. the tonnes loaded per bucket divided by the bucket fill time averaged over the entire blast) is 20％ to 25％ higher in ore than in waste. If the waste could be excavated 20％ to 25％ faster, in line with shovel performance in ore, additional VALUE to the total operation could be obtained.Today, we know too, that we can impact on aspects such as the efficiency of leaching, using appropriate explosives and systems of high precision initiationIt is necessary to define the relevant Key Performance Indicators of the mining process: fragmentation (size distribution), pre-conditioning (reduction of the Work Index), swell of the muckpile, damage to the walls, dilution, energy consumption, and impact on the environment and personnel(e.g. dust).A system of measurement should be implanted to continually assess these parameters: that which cannot be measured, can not be controlled.It must be linked with the Mining Plan and correctly implanted for the value creation of the business throughout the Production Chain.A missing link in the Value Chain is our ability to quantify the VALUE of improved pit wall stability, and reduced probability of failure, in dollar terms. Until we can do that, we can not make properly informed decisions regarding wall control blasting. Further development in Quantitative Risk Assessment would appear to be a high priority.
blasting process business of mining mining economy mining cost value chain cost optimization
C. P. Orlandi C.K. McKenzie
Enaex S. A.,Santiago,Chile BlastechRology,Brisbane
国际会议
The Asian-Pacific Symposium on Blasting Techniques(亚洲太平洋地区爆破技术研讨会)
昆明
英文
112-119
2007-05-08（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）