New trends in drilling and blasting technology

The mining industry is poised on the threshold of some exciting opportunities. It has been realized that the unit operations such as drilling, blasting, excavation, loading, hauling and crushing are interrelated variables in the total cost equation. The development, advancement and utilization of the innovative technologies are very important for the mining industry to be cost effective. In order to improve performance, the drilling and blasting industry is rapidly adopting technology in all forms. In the modern mines it is very common to encounter the latest forms of laser measurement technologies, global positioning systems (GPS), communication technology and computer systems. The developments in the areas of planning and design of blasts, drill monitoring, drillhole deviation, drill machine navigation systems and laser profiling systems have been discussed in this paper. The innovative practices in the areas of bulk loading of explosives, controlled blasting, explosive performance measurement and the evaluation of blast outcome and productivity have been outlined. The role to be played by the electronic detonators in the next millennium to improve blasting efficiency and mining economics has been described.