Method of blasting

A method of blasting in which rockpile profile of a blast field is tailored by control of rockpile displacement over the blast field as a result of blasting, this control being achieved by precise control of detonation delay times between individual blastholes in the blast field in combination with the control of one or more other blast parameters, wherein rockpile displacement in a direction perpendicular to a row of blastholes is increased by use of selected ratios of inter-row detonation delay time between rows of holes to the inter-hole detonation delay time between holes along a row, this ratio being in excess of 5:1.

A method of blasting in which rockpile profile of a blast field is tailored by control of rockpile displacement over the blast field as a result of blasting, this control being achieved by precise control of detonation delay times between individual blastholes in the blast field in combination with the control of one or more other blast parameters, wherein rockpile displacement in a blast field comprising at least three rows of blastholes is maximized without causing environmental problems by use of inter-hole detonation delay times of greater than 4 ms per meter of blasthole spacing in all or part of the front one or two rows and by use of inter-hole detonation delay times of up to 4 ms per meter of inter-hole spacing in a latter part of the row or subsequent rows of blastholes.

A method of blasting in which rockpile profile of a blast field is tailored by control of rockpile displacement over the blast field as a result of blasting, this control being achieved by precise control of detonation delay times between individual blastholes in the blast field in combination with the control of one or more other blast parameters, wherein rockpile displacement in a particular direction is increased by use of inter-hole detonation delays along rows of blastholes of up to 4 ms per meter of hole separation in such rows, and by use of selected ratios of inter-row detonation delay time between rows of holes to the inter-hole detonation delay time between holes along a row, this ratio being in excess of 5:1.

A method of blasting in which rockpile profile of a blast field is tailored by control of rockpile displacement over the blast field as a result of blasting, this control being achieved by precise control of detonation delay times between individual blastholes in the blast field in combination with the control of one or more other blast parameters, wherein rockpile displacement is decreased by using a ratio, of inter-row detonation delay time between rows of holes to the inter-hole detonation delay time between holes along a row which is lower than the corresponding ratio for areas in which increased displacement is required.

A method of blasting in which rockpile profile of a blast field is tailored by control of rockpile displacement over the blast field as a result of blasting, this control being achieved by precise control of detonation delay times between individual blastholes in the blast field in combination with the control of one or more other blast parameters, wherein rockpile displacement in a particular direction is decreased by use of a blasthole patted in which the blastholes are staggered such that the ratio of inter-hole spacing along rows of blastholes, the rows being generally perpendicular to the desired direction of displacement, to perpendicular distance between rows is in the range 1:2 to 3:2, by use of inter-hole detonation delays along rows of blastholes of from 4 to 40 ms per meter of hole separation in such rows, and by use of selected ratios of inter-row detonation delay time between rows of holes to the inter-hole detonation delay time between holes along a row, this ratio being 5:1 or less.

A method of blasting in which rockpile profile of a blast field is tailored by control of rockpile displacement over the blast field as a result of blasting, this control being achieved by precise control of detonation delay times between individual blastholes in the blast field in combination with the control one or more other blast parameters, wherein rockpile displacement is controlled by precise control of detonation delay times between individual blastholes in a blast field in combination with control of at least one blast parameter selected from blasthole diameter, blasthole orientation, explosive mass, explosive energy and inter-hole detonation delay, and wherein the rockpile displacement in a particular direction is decreased by use of inter-hole detonation delays along rows of blastholes greater than the inter-hole detonation delays along rows where increased displacement is required.