Drill and Blast Module

Drill and Blast Module

Mining Software
The Drill and Blast Module utilizes MineSight® ’s powerful 3-D graphics and flexible
storage techniques. Data is collected through the ore control phase from blasthole design
to blasting the pattern. Python scripts create reports from such data as penetration rate and
blasting energy. Other variables monitored include stemming, explosive type, consumables,
drillhole location, and blasthole diameter. As historic data grows, short-range planners
and blast engineers can utilize the information to better predict and schedule costs, track
consumables, monitor drillhole location. The Drill and Blast Module will benefit short-range
planners and designers by providing detailed predictive information in advance of actual
production. This paper will cover an overview of the implementation and data setup and
process flow. Scripting and reporting will also be discussed.
Implementation and Data Set-up
Drill and blast requirements have evolved from the need to track the costs of the drilling
and blasting process to predicting and reconciling results. New efficiencies can be realized
when a better understanding of the history of costs is obtained. Furthermore, once historic
costs are understood, the predictive models and assumptions can be utilized to better
assess and schedule jobs.
Typically, the data is derived from the production cycle of a mine, although the system
could be easily transferred to an exploration project to track drill rate, costs, downtime,
and relevant geological information. It is through a MineSight® Operations installation that
the data is most easily collected, as the module is ready to collect and organize particular
blasthole data. The data is stored in a database in an organized and efficient way which
allows ease of access for auditing and analysis.
The initial setup and data collection is facilitated through MineSight®’s Interactive
Planning (IP) Object. Attributes for the blast areas are predetermined and created in the
MineSight® IP database for storage and subsequent use in reports. The attributes are
outlined below in (Figure 1) and include Planned and Actual Hours, Drill Name, Subdrill,
Stemming, Spacing, and Burden.

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Figure 1.

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Drill and Blast Module

Third party vendors have databases that compile data relevant to their
systems. The MineSight® Drill and Blast and MineSight® Operation packages
communicate with and access those databases to gather necessary information
used in design, planning, and production. ODBC connections, SQL views, and
Mining Software
scripts allow for the communication of all the parts to be summarized in the Drill
and Blast Module. Explosives data from these systems is exported through ODBC sources
or ASCII file dump. This data is run through MineSight® programs to determine the area of
influence of a blasthole which, in turn, is used to determine the KCAL/ton.
Using specialized scripts, the data is accessed and loaded to the drill and blast database.
These scripts and programs will calculate KCAL/ton using a SQL query to determine
benches that have KCAL (explosives information loaded). At the same time, the area of
influence of each hole in the pattern is calculated and also gets loaded to the database. This
process can be run manually or it can be automated.
Process Flow and Pattern Design
Drill and Blast techniques start with blasthole design using the Blast Pattern Editor in
MineSight® (Figure 2). Patterns are easily created within the MineSight® interface and can be
exported for loading to a database.

Figure 2.
Using automatic procedures (Figure 3), these designed patterns can be sent to a database
or to a field instrument for marking in the pit. During the drilling phase, the greater
potential of the Drill and Blast Module becomes apparent. Drill tracking systems collect
digital data that is readily or directly downloaded to a database. Information initially
recorded from such systems is position, penetration rate, hole depth, and water depth.
After the holes have been drilled, the explosives information can be acquired like pounds
and type of explosive used (Figure 4).

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 Drill and Blast Module

Mining Software

Figure 3.

Figure 4.
With the collar data loaded to the blast database, the explosives product used for each
hole can be saved along with other relevant data such as stemming and water depth.
Customizable Reports
Consumables data can be tracked so that engineers can maximize inventories and
purchasing selection. Since any manner of production data is being collected and stored
in the Drill and Blast database, specific analysis can be performed on the quantity and the
quality of a product in question. A specific drill bit may be found to perform better in a
particular type of rock at a specific rate of penetration relative to another manufacturer’s
drill bit. The possibilities of in depth analyses are varied and many. Given that a certain
area has a known geology or difficult drilling condition, this review of data is invaluable in
ordering future shipments of product (Figure 5).
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Drill and Blast Module

Mining Software

Figure 5.
Of course, when designing and drilling a blast pattern, it is imperative that the execution of
the plan be followed closely. It does little good designing a drill pattern and have it look very
little like the original once it gets to the field. The Drill and Blast Module can be used to track
drillhole location. Data from actual collar location is compared against planned drillhole
locations. Utilizing MineSight® scripts, reports can be generated to outline the degree of
accurate representation of the planned pattern to the actual pattern in the field (Figure 6).

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Figure 6.

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Arguably, the strength of the Drill and Blast Module is the flexibility of the
scripts. Virtually any report imaginable is possible given the scope of data
collected and stored throughout the process. Customizable python scripts
organize the data into relevant and coherent information in a variety of reports
Mining Software (Figure 7 and Figure 8).

Figure 7.

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Figure 8.
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