Wyoming surface coal mine determined the time to start planning for future mine progression was before the long term mine plan took them closer to public county road located adjacent to their permit boundary. The mine used a 40/60 HANFO augured blend with good results but sporadic post blast fumes. The mine struggled with past results when introducing new technology that didn’t deliver as promised. Possible post-blast fumes as the mine advanced closer to the county roads was an area of concern with the chance of fumes travelling in this direction and sometime creating a blast delay. The goal of reducing post blast fumes has been part of blasting focused continuous improvement projects in the past but renewed focus has made this a higher priority. Most technology advances occur when the right people with the right need place value in trying technology with hope that a better blasting practice will result.

After speaking with Dyno Nobel, the mine decided to implement BlastWeb®, a centralised blasting system that is specifically designed for use in underground mining operations. BlastWeb allows reliable remote initiation of development, production and stope blasting from a safe and controlled location on the surface. The blast areas can be completely evacuated as no-one is required to be underground for the blasting. In addition to the obvious safety benefits, the other main benefit of the system at this mine is a reduction in the re-entry time. After the implementation of BlastWeb, a comparison was made of the blast completion times before and after its introduction. It was determined that centralised blasting reduced the blast completion time, on average, by 10 minutes. The implementation of Dyno Nobel’s Centralised Blasting System supports both the safety of the mine employees during blasting and an increase in production time.

The primary benefit from the TITAN emulsion technology is being able to note on the post blast reports that no postblast NOx fumes were present. Additional benefits include increased water resistance, increased actual energy yield verses theoretical value, increased product sensitivity resulting in high order detonation, ability to control density, redistribution of energy, increased detonation pressure, same cost per loaded foot, greater fragmentation versus cast movement, and allowing emulsion to be loaded to a lower density in highwall row resulting in the same pounds stretched to a greater height. Success measurements in the overburden truck/shovel blasts included consistent productivity (bucket fill times and bucket volumes) even in harder material located below the sandy strata, reduced post blast NOx fumes based on fume classification chart, few shovel operator complaints, and equal or reduced drill and blast budget. Seventeen blasts were completed without NOx fumes. The pounds per loaded foot was reduced from 51.5 with 40/60 HANFO to 43.1-47.1 range loading TITAN XL 1000. The average difference lbs/ft = 12.36% when 7.6% was needed for cost neutral. Stemming height was reduced from 22 ft to 20 feet to improve surface material displacement. Success measurements in the coal blasts included no roll crusher plugs from slabs, improved shovel production through uniform fragmentation, and equal or reduced drill and blast budget. Ten blasts were completed over afive-week period with no post blast fumes. There was good material movement, uniform fragmentation and generally no complaints or negative comments from shovel operators. Average difference lbs/ft = 11.98% when 4.5% was needed for cost neutral. Pounds per loaded foot averaged 45.33 compared to 51.5 with HANFO.

Although many mines and processing plants have sophisticated maintenance cost information systems, cost control relies ultimately on management actions based on the information such systems generate. A systematic management approach to solving problems and implementing solutions is the key to effective maintenance cost control

Productivity has become the new mantra in recent years for the mining industry. Ever since the “super cycle” of the commodities price boom came to an end, industry executives have realized that a blind chase for value can lead to significant structural costs and productivity defects in the mining process, which ultimately decrease profit. Many chief executive officers (CEOs) have responded to this market volatility by making significant cuts in capital investments. Possessing more operational (“back to basics”) profiles than their predecessors, industry leads now realize that in addition to improving short-term cash flows, they need to: ●● Make sustainable gains in productivity. Programs aimed at improving productivity need to have an enterprise-wide impact, beyond pilot programs that address people or equipment. These productivity initiatives also need to be accepted across all operations and made sustainable going forward by emphasizing truly continuous improvements. ●● Respond with more agility to fluctuating market demands. Business agility requires a supply chain design that enables faster responses to shifts in market demands and prices. With improved business agility, it’s possible to optimize net results per quarter—right down to margin-per-hour operations. Transforming the supply chain design in this way requires a forward-looking understanding of market demand, scenariobased planning, optimal resource allocation and flexible scheduling decisions—all of which necessitate changes across people, technology and processes.