Production and Pre-split Drill and

Blast Design for a gold deposit using

Geovia Surpac Software drill and
blast package
 Cost estimate of drilling
 Cost estimate of blasting and blasting materials
 Environmental suitability of the blast design – Noise and Ground vibration
analysis
 Waste and Ore excavation analysis and cost estimations

Designed and Presented by

Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)
Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Optimized Open –pit design and block model for a gold project.
With planned bench levels
Open pit design strings and ore block model – color coded to show ore grade

Pit is designed to mine as much ore as possible

Optimized to maximize the NPV of the project. RL 240

RL 230

RL 220
RL 210
RL 200
RL 190
RL 180
RL 170
Ramp @ RL 160
RL 180 – RL 170 RL 150
RL 140

Operational scenario: 5 Mtpa mining and 800 ktpa processing

Project measure: NPV
Sensitivity input: Price of element (gold), mining capacity etc
Sensitivity: Project NPV is sensitive to mining dilution and price of
metal (gold). Project NPV varies > 25% when sensitivity input is
varied by 10%.

Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)

Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Production and Pre-split blast designs for RL 240 – RL 230
Ramp from RL 240 to RL 230
Production drill holes

RL 240

RL 230
Ore blocks at RL 235

Pre-split blast holes

Ore block description

Ore block size: 10m x 10m x 5m = X Y Z
Red block: High grade
Yellow block: Medium grade
Green blocks: low grade
Light blue blocks: material waste
Dark blue blocks: waste
Open Pit info
Open pit optimized using whittle,
Top RL = 240; Bottom RL: 140
Ore blocks at RL 140 X-max: 1920E, X-min: 1510E; Y-max: 7558N, Y-min: 7030N
Z-max: 240, Z-min: 140
BH: 10m. Pit comprise of 10 levels. 10 ramps with varying
Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS) dimensions.
Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC) Bench slope angle: 65 degrees
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Production Drill and Blast Plan for RL 240 – RL 230

Blast solid in long section view

RL240 -235

RL235 -232
Production blast holes and blast solid

Rock Classification
240 – 235RL – Waste part – Moderately weathered laterite
with UCS 5-6 MPa - Excavator Stripping
235 -230RL – Ore part – Well cemented strongly weathered
laterite with UCS 16 MPa – Blasting required

Drill and Blast Plan Details

Bench Height = 12 m (First 5 meters will be stripped by
excavator at a bench slope angle of 50 degrees)
Burden = 5 m
Spacing = 6 m
Drill depth 7.2 m
Sub drill = 2.2 m
Stemming = 1 m
Charge length = 6.2 m
Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS) Column charge length (CL) = 4 m
Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC) Bottom charge length (BL) = 2.2 m
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit Drill hole diameter = 76 mm (0.076 m)
 Production Drill and Blast Plan for RL 240 – RL 230 - Cont.

Explosive properties and explosive/ Drilling cost Estimates

blasting material Price
Explosive properties Drill cost estimate for production holes
 Diameter = 60 mm (7cm) Drilling rate/meter = N 8000
 Length = 0.9 m/cart (90 cm) Total number of production holes = 592
 Density = 1.1g/cm3 Total drill depth for production holes: 592 x 7.2 m = 4262 m
 Mass of 60 mm = 1.59 kg/cart (1560 g) Drilling cost: 4262 m x N 8000 = N 34,096,000.00
 Mass of 40 mm = 1.04 kg/cart

Drilling cost estimate for Pre-split holes

Explosive/Blast material Price (N) Total Number of Pp holes = 58 (range 1.5 m to 10 m)
 Cartridge explosive 60 mm = N 2670/Kg Total drill depth of Pp holes = 352.3 m
 Cartridge explosive 40 mm = N 1525/kg Drilling rate/meter = N 8000
 Nonel 25ms connecting wire = N560/m Drilling cost: 352.3 m x N 8000 = N 2,816,000.00
 Electric detonator (ED) = N1950/pis
 Nonel Combindent (15m) = N7,750/pis
 Detonating cord = N 640/m
NB: These prices are estimate and may change depending
on the vendor and location of purchase
Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)
Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Production Drill and Blast Plan for RL 240 – RL 230 - Cont.
Explosive utilization Bottom charge (Bc) and Column charge (Cc) Calculations

Calculation of Bottom Charge Bc Column Charge Calculation

𝐶𝑐 = 7.854 𝑥 10−4 𝑥 𝜌𝑒 𝑥 𝐷2 𝑥 𝐶𝐿
Total number of Production holes = 592 𝑘𝑔
Equation for Bottom charge: 𝐶𝑐 = 1.72 𝑥 4 𝑚 = 6.88 𝑘𝑔 ~ 7𝑘𝑔
𝑚
𝐵𝑐 = 7.854 𝑥 10−4 𝑥 𝜌𝑒 𝑥 𝐷2 𝑥 𝐵𝐿 Mass of explosive charge per meter = 11kg/7.2 m = 1.5 kg
Mass of explosive charge per hole = 7kg + 4kg = 11kg
Volume of explosive (Ve)
Mass of explosive charge for the entire production blast
22 = 11kg * 592 = 6512kg approx. 6.512tons
𝜋𝐷2 ℎ 𝑥 72 𝑥 90
𝑉𝑒 = = 7 = 3465 𝑐𝑚3
4 4
NB: The same type of explosive is used for both the column and
1560𝑔
Density of Bottom charge 𝜌𝑒 = 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 = = 0.45𝑔/𝑐𝑚3 bottom charge, because the rock type is the same all through
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
3465𝑐𝑚3 the blast hole length. As such the density of explosive 𝜌𝑒 is same
for both Bc and Cc
𝐵𝑐 = 7.854 𝑥 10−4 𝑥 0.45 𝑥 702 = 1.72 𝑘𝑔/𝑚 Where:
𝑘𝑔 𝐵𝐿 - Bottom charge length
𝐵𝑐 = 1.72 𝑥 2.2 𝑚 = 3.78 𝑘𝑔 ~ 4𝑘𝑔 𝐶𝐿 - Column charge length
𝑚
𝐷2 - Diameter of explosive
𝐵𝑐- Bottom charge
𝐶𝑐 –column charge
Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)
Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Production Drill and Blast Plan for RL 240 – RL 230 - Cont.
Cost estimates and quantity of explosive and blasting martials for production blast

Cost estimate of explosives

Cost estimate for connecting wire (trunk-line) and surface delay
Number of cartridges required/hole = 7
 Length of 65ms delay connecting wire = 3.5 m
7 x 592 = 4,144 cartridges for the blast.
 Width of Round 100 m X 150 m (20 rows by 25 column)
12 cart per carton: 4144/12 = 346 cartons of
 43 pieces of 65ms connecting wire for trunk line
explosives
 160 pieces of 25ms for looping and surface delay
Cost of explosive for the blast = N 2670/Kg * 6512kg
Total 203pices x 3.5m = 710.5 m
= N17,387,040.00
N560 x 710.5 = N 397,880.00

Cost estimate for combindent

Quantity required = 592 pieces
Number of packs 119 packs (a pack contains 5 pieces)
NB: These prices are estimate and may change depending
Cost of combindent = 592 * N7750 = N4,588,000.00 on the vendor and location of purchase

Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)

Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Pre-split Drill and Blast Plan for RL 240 – RL 230 –Ramp slope stability .
Cost estimates and quantity of explosive and blasting martials for Pre-split blast

Pre-split Calculation RL 240

 Total Number of Pp holes = 58 (range 1.5 m to 10 m) RL 230
 Total drill depth of Pp holes = 352.3 m
 Number of Explosive cartridge (40 mm diameter) =
345 cart
 Mass of explosive/meter depth = 359kg/352.3 =
1.0kg
 Total mass of explosive for pp blast = 345 cart x
1.04kg = 359kg
Cost = 359 * N1525 = N 547,475.00

Total length of Detonating cord for pp blast

 Surface line = 90 m
 Down hole run = 352.3 m + (0.4 m * 345 cart =
138 m) = 490.3m
 Total cord length: 90m + 490.3m = 580.3 m

Cost = 580.3 * N640 = N 371,392.00

Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)
Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Production Drill and Blast Plan for RL 240 – RL 230 - Cont.
Blast material volume estimation using the blast solid – Production Blast

 Total volume of material to be blasted = Original volume (127872 m3) + swell volume (38342.6m3 -
swell factor for consolidated laterite is 30% = swell factor of 0.3, 127872 m3 x 0.3 = 38342.6m3)

 Total volume of material blasted = 127872 m3 + 38342.6m3 = 166,156m3

 Tonnage : 166,156m3 x 2.8 = 465,236.8 Tons

𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 (𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠) 357873.6 54.9 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠

𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑃𝑓 = = =
𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 (𝑘𝑔) 6512 1𝑘𝑔

N/B:
Tonnage used for Pf calculation is the tonnage of original volume i.e. without swell volume

A very high Pf - 55 tons for 1 kg of explosive. For smaller blast fragments we need to increase the quantity
of explosives- achieved by reducing the burden and spacing of the blast plan. – subject to the jaw size of
crusher.
Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)
Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Production Drill and Blast Plan for RL 240 – RL 230 - Cont.
Environmental considerations of the blast design – Air blast and Ground Vibration estimations
Noise – Air blast

P = K [R/Q0.33] -1.2
Where: Longest line
P = pressure (KPa) of charged holes
K = state of confinement
Q = maximum instantaneous charge (kg)
R = distance from charge (m)
Lopez et al. 1995

Burden
𝑄 𝑀𝐼𝐶 = 11 𝑘𝑔 𝑥 30 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 = 330 𝑘𝑔
𝑘 = 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 3.3 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑
𝑅 = 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑚 = 600 𝑚

1 1 1
Spacing
𝑃= = =
600 1/2 600 3.3 𝑥 88.5 Free face
3.3 0.33 3.3 𝑥
330 3300.33
1
= = 0.032 𝐾𝑃𝑎 (𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡)
3.3 𝑥 9.4675

Dyno Nobel Asia Pacific Pty, 2010. Blasting and Explosives – Quick Reference Guide Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)
– Air blast and Ground Vibration. Pp 11-12. www.dynonobel.com Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Production Drill and Blast Plan for RL 240 – RL 230 - Cont.
Environmental considerations of the blast design – Air blast and Ground Vibration estimations

Ground Vibration
V = K [R/Q0.5] -B
Where:
V = peak particle velocity PPV (mm/s)
K = site and rock factor constant (500 for free face average rock)
Q = maximum instantaneous charge (kg)
B = constant related to the rock and site (usually -1.6)
R = distance from charge (m)
Lopez et al. 1995
1 1 1
𝑉= = =
600 1.6 500 𝑥 33.02891.6 500 𝑥 269.296
500
3300.5
1
= = 7.4 𝑥 10−5 𝑚𝑚/𝑠
134648

N/B: A very low PPV – meaning within acceptable environmental

requirements that prevent damages from blasting

Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)

Dyno Nobel Asia Pacific Pty, 2010. Blasting and Explosives – Quick Reference
Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Guide – Air blast and Ground Vibration. Pp 11-12. www.dynonobel.com
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Production Drill and Blast Plan for RL 240 – RL 230 - Cont.
Excavation Analysis

Volume of Material to be excavated Cycle time for trucks from Loading point (LP) to
Volume of Waste-Overburden = 137081 m3 * 2.8 = 383,826.8 tons Dump site (DS)
Volume of Ore = 465,236.8 tons  Distance from LP-DS = 261 m x 2 = 522 m
Total = 849,062 tons  It takes 3 mins to cover 1000 m running at a
speed limit of 20km/hr.
Time span for material excavation  It will take 1.6 mins to cover 522 m.
Loading equipment = CAT 349 (bucket capacity 3.1 m3)  Practical cycle time for trucks LP to DS = 3 mins
Haulage equipment = CAT 730 (ADT) –  No of trips/hr. = 60mins/3mins = 20 tips
(bucket capacity 24m3, quantity 3)  No of trips/shift = 20 * 8hr = 160 trips/truck
Payload = 35 tons/trip (480 trips/shift for 3 trucks)
3
 No of loads to fill one ADT = 24𝑚 ൗ3.1𝑚3 ~7 𝑏𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑠/𝐴𝐷𝑇

383826.8
𝑁𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 3 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑠 = = 22.8 ~ 23 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠.
35 𝑥 480
𝟐𝟑 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝟑𝟖𝟑𝟖𝟐𝟔. 𝟖 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑳𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 ~ 𝟓𝟓𝟎𝒎
𝟐𝟎𝒌𝒎
𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 .
𝒉𝒓
𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆: 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅
𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔.
Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)
Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Production Drill and Blast Plan for RL 240 – RL 230 - Cont.
Excavation Analysis

Cycle time for trucks from Loading point (LP) to Stock pile (SP)
 Distance from LP - SP = 1214 m x 2 = 2428 m

 It will take 7.28 mins ~ 8 mins form Loading point to stock pile

 Practical Cycle time for trucks (Lp –Sp) = 10mins

 No of trips/hr = 60mins/10mins = 6 trips

 No of trips/shift = 6 x 8hr = 48 trips/truck (144 trips/shift for 3 trucks)

465236.8
𝑁𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑂𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 3 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑠 = = 92.3 ~ 93 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠.
35 𝑥 144

93 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑙 465236.8 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐿𝑝 𝑡𝑜 𝑆𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ~ 1214𝑚
20𝑘𝑚
𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 .
ℎ𝑟
Note: It will take 116 days (23 + 93) ~ 4 months to evacuate the 849,062 tons of material.
Increase in the number of loading and haulage equipment will reduce the time span for waste and ore
lifting.
Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)
Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit
 Production Drill and Blast Plan for RL 240 – RL 230 - Cont.
Diesel Consumption Estimate

Diesel consumption for Excavator CAT 349D Diesel consumption for Trucks CAT 730
 Working hours/shift = 8 hr.  Working hours/shift = 8 hr.
 Diesel tank capacity = 705 L  Diesel tank capacity = 480 L
 Usage rate for high duty L/hr. = 53L/hr.  Usage rate for high duty L/hr. = 18L/hr.
 Daily usage = 53 x 8 = 424 L/Day  Daily usage = 18 x 8 = 144 L/Day
 Total working days for material haulage = 116  Total working days for material haulage = 116 days
days  Estimated diesel consumption for trucks = 144 x 116 days
 Estimated diesel consumption for excavator = = 16,704 L/truck
424 x 116 days = 49,184 liters. 16,704 x 3 = 50,112 Liters for 3 trucks

Total diesel consumption trucks and excavator = 49184 + 50,112 = 99,296 Liters

Price of diesel/L = N 1400

Cost of diesel = 99,296 L x N1400 = N 139,014,400.00

Note: Price of diesel is not constant depends on market fluctuations

Designed and Presented by :Engr. Asitonka, Zack Amangi (MNMGS)
Mine Planner/Field Operations @ Pleaides Mines Consult (PMC)
Mine Engineer @ African Natural Resources and Mines (ANRML) – Field Operations Open pit