Intelligent mining without explosives, a possible alternative to the traditional method of blasting, can increase productivity and maximise utilisation of the body ore.
Using no explosives on the mining site will enable continuous operations and output, as mines must be emptied for detonations, disrupting work.
Most mines are still relying on inserting explosives into rock and blasting the surface to reach and collect valuable ore. The procedure requires to get mineworkers to safety and keep them away from the site for hours to allow any toxic fumes to escape.
The rock sediment also needs to stabilise after the blasting and creates substantial waste that has to be moved out of the way to the surface, resulting in lost time, reduced efficiency and virtually no economic return during this time.
Furthermore, the law requires mineworkers to mine deposits of minimum 80 cm high, eliminating the prospect of mining deposits closer to the surface.
Decision Inc. Immix has implemented multiple solutions for major players in the mining space. The company adds value by either replacing current ERP solutions or enhancing existing solutions. The result is much-needed extended functionality.
The blasting scenario can be avoided through the alternative use of devices employed in mining without the use of explosives, particularly in mines that present serious dangers for miners to go in. Blasting usually causes jagged surfaces and loose rocks which is hazardous.
According to Navin Singh, co-director of the Mandela Mining Precinct and representing the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), these devices and blasting alternatives could make closed and even abandoned mines viable again, as they could chip, cut away, or drill holes into rock without detonation.
The mechanisation of mines with intelligent sensor-enabled machinery has the potential of completely changing the mining game and ensuring that mining operations can resume without delays, and operational data is collected and transferred from the site to relevant stakeholders.
Advanced cutting machinery and robotics, particularly the ones that do not require people on-hand to operate them, can render the conventional blasting procedure obsolete in the future. This would potentially not just ramp up ore production but could ensure minimum environmental risks and working hazards.
Decision Inc. Immix’s software provides extensive exploration, Mining, and Mineral Process (xMMP) solutions for key mining requirements, including functionality required for nearly all of the Total Life of Mine (LOM) requirements.
Microsoft Dynamics AX serves as the platform for the xMMP product suite and is a world-class global Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution used by over 20 000 businesses across the globe.
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Contact Decision Inc. Immix and speak to one of our experienced Microsoft Dynamics ERP consultants if you would like to see how an ERP system can help your business.
Jay Armstrong
There has been great interest in this for some time. I remember hearing about gem stone miners using a hydraulic round wedge for breakage in drill holes and thought this is the future, Glad to see we’re moving forward with R & D on this as blasting products, associated cost and related issues are increasing. Whatever the end result will s, if it is economical it will succeed.