Optimization of Blasting Parameters of Opencast Mines

Abstract

The mining industry is concerned with the extraction of valuable minerals from the earth. In any mining project, drilling and blasting are the first basic operations that are part of an integrated system and impact the results of subsequent operations in productivity and costs. The main objective of fragmentation with explosives is to make the operation as low cost as possible and at the same time keep the technical details in compliance with the safety conditions. This process is achieved by taking of optimization process. In the present study we attempted to evaluate the optimization of blast design by using computer program OPTIMUM BLAST MODEL. The created model is easy to use one, because it can compare explosive performance by keeping the powder factor constant and changing parameters such as drill hole diameter, number of holes and cost of explosives, and consequently make the decision to choose the right type of explosives.