Modern Mining April 2016

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PRODUCT News
48 MODERN MININGApril 2016
Daunia open-cut coal mine in the north-
eastern state of Queensland, Australia,
has broken the world record for the larg-
est electronic detonator blast ever – firing
5 665 detonators in 2 683 blastholes using
the AXXIS™ digital detonation system
from BME.
The mine had last year set a previous
record for the largest AXXIS™-controlled
blast to date when it successfully initiated
4 303 detonators in a single blast to break
2,8 million cubic metres of overburden.
Situated in Australia’s largest coalfield
– the Bowen Basin – Daunia has taken
advantage of the benefits of electronic
detonation to conduct larger blasts; this
generates greater operational efficiencies
by reducing the number of mine stop-
pages that must take place every time
blasting is conducted.
The mine also chose this technology in
response to its faulted ground conditions.
If not well controlled, faults tend to slide
World’s biggest electronic detonator blast at coal mine
over each other during a blast; when using
non-electric detonators, there is a pos-
sibility of the product being snapped by
this movement of ground before it can be
detonated, resulting in a misfire.
“These misfires are eliminated with
electronics, as the detonator operates as
a stand-alone entity the instant you push
the ‘fire’ button,” said Trevor Grant, MD of
the Australia-based blasting optimisation
company Advanced Initiating Systems
(AIS).
The latest record blast was prepared
and carried out by Daunia staff using a
single initiation point and one master con-
trol box. The blasting team was initially
trained and certified by AIS, who are sup-
plied by leading explosives firm BME; both
companies are subsidiaries of diversified
agricultural, mining and chemicals group
Omnia Holdings, which is listed on the JSE.
“The use of the AXXIS system and
electronic detonators allowed the mine
Block with 5 665 detonators in 2 683 blastholes ready for blasting using the AXXIS™ digital detonation system.
to better control and manage the shock
waves and rock movement arising from
the faulty ground conditions,” said Grant.
“The size and success of the blast dem-
onstrates both the ease of use and the
confidence that the client has in the sys-
tem. Very few, if any, other electronic
detonator suppliers empower clients to
conduct blasts of this magnitude and
complexity on their own.”
The AXXIS™ electronic delay detonators
feature very high accuracy, as well as tim-
ing flexibility between detonations. The
average depth of each hole in the blast was
19 m, and the explosive was initiated from
both top and bottom.
“The improved control of the blast
helps keep vibration levels down,” said
BME Technical Director Tony Rorke.“This in
turn improves safety in the opencast min-
ing environment, as high vibration levels
can undermine the integrity of the pit wall.”
BME, tel (+27 11) 709-8765
Latest version of Micromine will have “something for everyone”
MICROMINE is set to release the latest ver-
sion of its leading exploration and 3D mine
design solution, Micromine 2016, to clients
and industry at a launch event in May at
the QV1 Function Centre in Perth, Western
Australia.
Micromine 2016 is the 16th version of
the application, which enables users to
capture, manage and interpret critical data,
and is relevant to all stages of the mineral
extraction process.
Micromine provides explorers with an in-
depth understanding of their project so they
can target prospective regions more effec-
tively, increasing the chance of a project’s
success. It gives miners easy-to-use model-
ling, estimation, planning and design tools
to simplify day-to-day production tasks.
Commenting on the upcoming release,
MICROMINE’s Technical Product Manager,
Frank Bilki, said, “After nearly two years of
continuous development and many hun-
dreds of individual changes, we’re close to
finalising Micromine 2016.
“This year’s release has something for
everyone. Many of the updates are Core
features that benefit every user, not just
those with extra modules. They include
simple timesavers like being able to drop
any supported file into Micromine from
an outside location, and a Project Explorer
pane that provides direct access to all of the
files in a project.”
Other Core enhancements include:
 3D PDF output, which produces PDFs
where users can interactively show and
hide layers, and rotate, pan and zoom
the display.
 Dynamic field expressions that let users
write ‘equations’ wherever they would
select an input field, together with an
expression-based calculator that takes
full advantage of this enhancement.
 Quick-find options for locating drillholes
and wireframes (triangulations) within a
mass of data.
 Maximum Intensity Projection for the
Vizex Point layer for visualising trends in
huge point clouds.
Explorers benefit from a suite of flexible
new drillhole planning tools that include
options for designing straight or curved
holes from the bottom up or the top down.
As an added timesaver, customers working
in a mature area can easily use an existing
hole as a template for a planned hole.
MICROMINE, website: