Master the practical tools, vital intelligence and the latest advances to effectively understand and manage your drill and blast operation!
Drilling and blasting are critical processes for mining, civil construction, and extractive industries worldwide. They have the potential to make or break an operation.
This master class will provide you with the tools you need to effectively understand and manage your drill and blast operation. These tools will allow your company to improve competitiveness, reduce overall costs, and position your operation in a better position regionally and globally.
This training will deliver vital practical information on drilling, rock breaking and blasting as well as the latest advances in bulk explosives, high explosives and initiating systems which are currently emerging in the market.
You will take away calculation tools, industry best practice rules of thumb, a selection of presentation slides and much more.
After completion of the workshop, Michael will also be available to assist you going forward in setting up the tools that will ensure your drill and blast operation is safe and cost effective.
Learning Methods & Small Sized Class for Best Result
It is our intention to ensure you achieve best learning result from this class. To do so we will strictly keep the class size small. We will present you with a range of interactive learning experiences including presentations, case studies and exercises.
Optimising your drill and blast operations as part of the mine-to-mill mentality is a vital cog in any mining, civil construction or extractive operation. Getting the drill and blast right will form a solid base to being cost effective in all operations.
The survival of an operation is no longer just about making money. The economic success of a drill and blast operation includes key performance indicators focused on safety, health and environment as well as the dollars and cents.
Key benefits of attending
- Interpreting and utilising the industry's best practice rules on drilling and blasting
- Understanding the mechanics of rock breaking and rock blasting
- Exploring the latest in initiating systems and designs to optimise productivity
- Optimising costs with good blast designs
- Handling drill and blast data
- Complying with regulations and legislation
- Improving fragmentation and casting
- Minimising ore dilution
- Managing environmental requirements for ground vibration, airblast, flyrock and fumes
Learn from Michael’s 40 years experience in over 4000 blast!
Your training will begin with Michael’s experience and knowledge from over 35 years of drill and blast in over 240 surface and underground operations in the mining, construction and extractive industries.
Michaels's experience includes surface and underground mines, quarries, tunnels, shaft sinks, civil construction, infrastructure, underwater blasting and highly sensitive heritage and infrastructure blasting.
Michael has carried out over 1500 blasts in environmentally sensitive operations such as blasting alongside valuable heritage sites, operating plants or nearby residences and infrastructure as well as providing on-site drill and blast expertise to special operations such as the rescue of miners at the Beaconsfield mine in Tasmania in 2006.
Michael will also pass on the practical experiences and lessons learnt from over 4000 blasts in countries as diverse as Australia, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, China, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Canada, Philippines and Mexico.
At the end of the workshop, Michael will leave you with the tools you need to optimise your overall operation by delivering safe and cost effective drill and blast. The end of our workshop will mark the beginning of your journey toward improved safe and cost effective drill and blast operations.
CERTIFICATE OF ATTENDANCE
Upon the successful completion of this course, you will receive a Certificate of Attendance bearing the signatures from both Michael and the Course Organizer. This Certificate will testify your endeavor and serve towards your professional advancement.
COURSE FORMAT
This course will be a highly interactive and participative workshop where participants will be encouraged to discuss their own practice and compare it to others and recognised best practice. Real projects and case studies will form an important part of the workshop and participants will be encouraged to discuss and reflect on their own organisations practices and ways to improve them.
PRE-COURSE QUESTIONNAIRE
Michael would like to customize the class based on your specific needs. Pre-Course Questionnaire will be sent to you prior to the workshop to complete. Michael will analyze in advance and address the issues during the course.
Agenda
DAY ONE
Morning Sessions
- Introduction
- What do you want to get out of this workshop?
- Explosives blasting fundamentals
- Understanding the fundamentals for safe and cost effective mining
- Comprehending the mechanics of rock breaking
- How do explosives break rock?
- Mechanical properties and rock behaviour
- Different explosives for different rocks
- Workshop on cost effective product selection (bang for your buck)
Afternoon Session
- Mine to Mill cost structures
- Mine to mill mentality
- Drill and blast costs
- Impact of drill and blast on load, haul and primary crushing
- Case Study: Impact of Drill and Blast on load and haul in medium sized gold project
- Case Study: Impact of Drill and Blast on primary crushing in larger scale copper project
DAY TWO
Morning Session
- Principles of Blast Design
- Drill parameters and selection
- Is bigger better?
- Quality, Quality, Quality
- Determining cost-effective drill and blast parameters for mine-to-mill mentality
- Case Study: Developing cost-effective blast design in medium size copper project
- Principles of Initiation Design
- Initiation products and cost structures
- Electronics vs nonelectric
- Timing vs fragmentation
- Timing vs Throw
- Using timing to minimise ore dilution
Afternoon Session
- Case study: Using timing to improve productivity (fragmentation and diggability)
- Case Study: Using timing to minimise dilution in a low grade, narrow vein gold project
- Environmental and sensitive area blasting
- The cost of compliance in a competitive market
- Productivity vs environmental
DAY THREE
Morning Session
- Environmental and sensitive area blasting
- Minimising blast fumes
- Case Study: Blasting adjacent to live LNG plant and indigenous heritage
- Case Study: Getting it wrong without
- Specialised Blasting Techniques
- Controlled Blasting for final wall/perimeter control
- Presplitting/Line Drilling
- Buffer/Trim Blasting
- Initiation timing for controlled blasting
- Case Study: Final wall control in medium sized gold project
- Case Study: Final Wall control in large copper project
Afternoon Session
- Specialised Blasting Techniques
- Airdeck and stemming deck charging
- Oversize and secondary breakage
- Open Forum/review
- Wrap Up: In summary
- Close of Training Course
Speakers
Mr Michael Smith,
Drill and Blast Consultant and Trainer ,
NeoedgeMichael Smith is a professional mining engineer and a ticketed shotfirer with over 35 years of experience in the drill and blast industry. He graduated from Ballarat School of Mines with a bachelor degree in Mining Engineering in the mid 1980’s. He then spent 3 years as a handheld miner gaining valuable practical experience in all aspects of drill and blast underground.
Following this, Michael went to work for ICI Explosives based in Victoria, Australia. Over the next 10 years, he worked in a variety of roles inclusing Drill and Blast Engineer for quarries and open cuts, Underground Specialist developing new products for the underground market and Business Manager for South Australia and Tasmania.
During that time, Michael also carried out consultative work for ICI Explosives, most notably providing expertise in converting key ICI customers from nitroglycerine based explosives to emulsion based explosives in the Australian and North American/Canadian markets and introducing packaged emulsions and bulk emulsions into the Asian tunneling and mining markets.
In 1998, Michael left ICI Explosives and set up MJS Mining Services to provide quality and professional consulting and training service to the mining, civil construction and extractive drill and blast industries both domestically and internationally. Michael has been Principal Consultant and Managing Director of MJS Mining for the past 18 years. Highlights include onsite involvement in the Beaconsfield mine rescue, solving diverse blasting issues both underground and on the surface throughout the world.
Michael has facilitated in over 180 training courses, workshops and conferences and has been involved in over 3000 blast on the surface and underground over the past 35 years.
Who Should Attend
Attendees who can benefit from this course include but not limited to:
- Drill & Blast Engineer/Manager/Supervisor/Specialist/Foreman
- GM Operations
- Technical Superintendent/Manager
- Mining Production Superintendent
- Mining Project Manager
- Mine Manager/Operators
- Blasting Crew
- Shot firers
- Driller
- Legislators and regulators
From the industries:
- Mining
- Civil Construction
- Development and Infrastructure
- Engineering Services
- Oil and Gas
- Power and Utilities
- Extractive industries
- Environmental industries
- Archaeological companies
Location
ADDRESS
Radisson Hotel Riyadh
King Abdull Aziz Street
P.O Box 18006
Riyadh
11415
Saudi Arabia
