Pit & Quarry, January 2018
DRILLING BLASTING Consider how the processes related to producing construction materials at your operation were instilled in your mind and validated over the years Often the rationale for doing something a certain way is because this is how weve always done things around here Or maybe an old timer taught you a certain way and youve methodically been following that persons lead ever since Neither rationale necessarily means youre right Or that youre processing material in the most efficient manner possible So maybe its time for a change At the scale house its X dollars per ton says Jeff Heinemann vice president at Sandvik Mining Rock Technology whose company developed Quarry Academy in conjunction with Dyno Nobel It doesnt matter how you get there All that really matters is what that cost is at the scale house Heinemann adds CREATING CHANGE Fortunately aggregate producers arent limited to making improvements at the crush stage alone They can institute process improvements up and down their value chain MEASURING YOUR OPERATION AGAINST OTHERS From mine planning to loadout no two operations approach production exactly the same Variances always exist across sites whether its the geology of the mine or the way an operation goes about processing rock And the same logic applies to how aggregate producers approach drilling and blasting At Quarry Academy 2017 an educational seminar for producers and others hosts Dyno Nobel and Sandvik Mining Rock Technology polled attendees about aspects of their business Attendee responses to the companies drilling and blasting questions are presented below According to the companies about 60 Quarry Academy attendees responded to each of the following questions DRILLING Who does the drilling on your site We contract drill 60 We own and operate our own drills 40 What would you like to do in the future We want to continue what were doing 71 We want to change to contract drilling 5 We want to change to do our own drilling 25 BLASTING The muck pile fragmentation management at my operation is Excellent 2 Satisfactory 26 Could be better 60 We take what we get 9 I dont know 3 The biggest fragmentation issue at our operation company is Fines 18 Oversize 50 Inconsistency 28 No issues everything is fine 3 I dont know 1 While a number of operators will zero in on crushing as the step that really nets them profits the activities before and after sometimes provide benefits that are overlooked Two areas referenced at Quarry Academy where aggregate producers could elevate their dollars per ton are drilling and blasting You could be looking at hours if not days to process rock if you dont drill and blast right says Scott Giltner senior project engineer at DynoConsult a division of Dyno Nobel Still instituting change even when a need blatantly stares you in the face is easier said than done The challenge for everybody is that things have been done 34 PIT QUARRY January 2018 pitandquarry com
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