A method to improve the quality of rock preparation for extraction with emulsion explosives in open-pit mines with high benches
Increasing the production capacity of open-pit and strip mines while ensuring the efficiency of the mining enterprise can be achieved through enhancing the quality of rock preparation prior to excavation. The use of emulsion explosives and the transition to the high-bench technology can reduce the cost of mining operations by optimizing the drilling and blasting parameters. The article reviews methods to improve the efficiency of rock preparation for extraction based on the applicable scientific and methodological principles and it proposes a method to regulate the density of emulsion explosives. Schemes are presented for calculation of drilling and blasting parameters when implementing technical measures aimed at improving the blasting quality through rock preparation for extraction in conditions of overburden and mining operations with bench height of 15 m and higher. Parameters of drilling and blasting operations on high benches are justified with differentiation of the charge density along the length of the blast hole by controlling the delivery of the gas-generating additive. A simulation has been performed and the results of pilot tests of the emulsion explosive charge density control at the Ural deposits are presented.