Pit & Quarry, January 2014
DRILLING BLASTING The operations old drill at work site that require a different approach The degree of fragmentation directly impacts everything downstream Hissem explains So we came to the conclusion that the site could greatly benefit from 3D imaging technology and a new more flexible drill for the shorter benches Working with a local Sandvik dealer they brought in a smaller drill with improved flexibility the Di550 for working in tight confined bench conditions The newer technology is able to drill holes at various angles so explosives and orientations can be placed more optimally This drill has better balance better reach and higher accuracy and precision Hissem says We took the worst possible bench condition in Wausau to test our concepts in terms of being able to stage and drill the shots needed and exceeded all expectations Productivity improvements Today 3M is able to work both drills simultaneously to greatly increase productivity while improving fragmentation A drill monitoring system for both drills tracks the depth of the hole and the rate of penetration to clarify density changes and voids Wausau also introduced a Drill Log to track all drilling activities and allow operators to make notes about the strata and what was drilled 3D laser profiling technology helps the team devise a drilling plan for the blast before explosives are set After drilling they boretrack the front row of holes to measure drilling accuracy versus the design plan and they generate a comprehensive technical services report This unified approach results in more accurate and predictable results Drilling is a 40 hour event and blasting is a four second event Hissem adds Neither happens during the attention point of a human so we gain an extraordinary benefit from gathering data and metrics to evaluate what was done and plan for the next shot 20 PIT QUARRY January 2014 www pitandquarry com
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