Polymetal, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

V. A. Kolosov, Deputy Director, Production Directorate
S. A. Antonyuk, Leading Geomechanical Engineer, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, Antonyuk_SA@polymetal.ru
A. I. Illarionov, Leading Specialist in Open Pit Mining

Blast Maker, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

M. A. Raiymkulov, Programming Engineer

The article discusses the teamwork results achieved by the specialists of Polymetal and Blast Maker in adapting Blast Maker’s automated blast design system to the specific geological conditions of the Nezhdaninka deposit situated in the permafrost area in the Republic of Sakha, Yakutia. The deposit is developed using selective blasting of blocks in overburden rocks and in ore bodies. In view of a great number of blocks and due to the tight schedule of their preparation, there are some issues connected with the manual blast pattern design, which prevents from reaching the desired effect of minimized loss and dilution. It has become necessary to have a digital system to ensure the high accuracy and agility of blasting pattern design and blast performance simulation with regard to actual nonuniformity of rock and ore properties. The pilot trials of the automated blast design system proved efficiency of the system performance in the specific geological and geotechnical conditions of the Nezhdaninka deposit. The comparison of the model blast scenario with the laser survey results made it possible to obtain a detail estimate of the detachment zone. The comparison results show that the main causes of disagreement between the prognostic and actual scenarios of blasting are: the values of the scaling factors included in the crushing energy calculation and the presence of the structural damages in rock mass. Improvement of the program has succeeded to multiply enhance its functional, which allows designing blasting operations in conformity with the local variations in the geomechanical characteristics of rock mas, down to every blasthole. This promotes enhancement of blast quality, agreement between the designed and actual perimeters of blasting in blocks and, as a consequence, higher total performance of blasting.

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