Live Stream: Digitalization Of Drill & Blast Operations

K-MINE presented a comprehensive demonstration of their drill and blast module with two industry experts. Adriana, Executive Director of Consultoria and K-MINE's official partner in Brazil, brought experience from iron ore, bauxite, oil sands, and nickel operations across multiple continents. Pierre John, an independent consulting engineer from Canada with 40 years of experience in resource modeling and strategic mine planning, provided unbiased evaluation of the software capabilities.

Drilling and blasting operations directly impact excavation, transportation, crushing, and mineral processing efficiency. The process follows a periodic sequence including worksite preparation, drilling project creation, block information analysis based on energy intensity, charging and wiring, mass blast execution, and post-blast evaluation. K-MINE's drill and blast module addresses each stage within a single integrated environment.

Survey data can be imported from various sources including laser scanners, photogrammetry, and drone aerial photography. Point clouds loaded from LAS format are processed directly in K-MINE without additional software, with adjustable density settings controlling detail level. The system automatically generates triangulated wireframe surfaces from point clouds, and mining equipment positions can be visualized in real-time through dispatch system integration.

K-MINE offers multiple approaches for designing drilling blocks depending on initial parameters and site conditions. The simplest method uses bench crest initialization with automatic toe level calculation based on geometric parameters or surface data. Drill hole grids, spacing, coordinates, depths, and subdrill values calculate automatically while the software generates block wireframes and technological data. Users can configure cross-sections in any direction for detailed analysis and parameter adjustment.

The linear projection method constructs blocks from the crest of the current level with flexible bottom specification. Block bottoms can be defined by elevation, surface, or complex geometric boundaries for local mining during ramp operations or geological contact drilling. Existing drill holes can be adjusted individually, and additional blast holes can be designed for specific areas while maintaining all technological constraints automatically.

Block models containing rock strength data integrate directly with drill and blast design. Different rock types display in distinct colors based on strength parameters, enabling charge design adjustments for varying geological conditions. Drilling energy intensity calculated from rig data helps redefine rock strengths, and electrical resistivity tomography data provides pre-drilling characterization of rock mass jointing, watering, and drillability categories.

The module constructs drill hole charges of any complexity using reference tables and geometric parameters. All components are accounted for including stemming, charge intervals, air gaps, detonating cord type, and explosive types. Charge calculations automatically adjust based on geological data when rock strength varies within the block, optimizing explosive distribution while maintaining blast efficiency. Detailed charge reports generate automatically from the design.

Wiring up blasting circuits includes deceleration calculations with multiple design modes. Users can apply existing templates or create custom configurations with specific deceleration values and symbols. The automatic mode determines wiring characteristics based on direction input, while semi-automatic mode allows manual adjustments. The system also manages electronic detonator programming and integrates with mix pump trucks for automated charging vehicle routing and volume calculations.

Safe mining operations require accurate hazard identification during blasting. The module calculates dangerous areas, simulates explosive wave distribution, and indicates zones with different hazard levels on mining operation plans. Overlapping safety zones combine automatically with measured boundaries, alerting users about required evacuations for personnel and equipment. This enables companies to perform the complete blasting sequence safely while maintaining regulatory compliance.

Post-blast fragmentation assessment validates drilling scheme effectiveness. The photogrammetric method processes field survey images with stake-based scaling for accuracy calibration. Automatic recognition identifies individual rock pieces, generating statistics on grain size distribution and histograms. Users can exclude irrelevant areas, define specific analysis zones, and save results to a database with date, location, and analyst information for historical tracking.

Drone surveys represent a modern advancement for grain size evaluation, increasing both data acquisition speed and staff safety by eliminating presence in hazardous rock pile areas. Images downloaded from drones process through automatic grain size recognition with boundary-restricted analysis zones. Results appear in table and graph format showing key quality indicators for drilling block parameter optimization. This workflow supports continuous improvement of drilling and blasting operations.

K-MINE's underground design module handles drill and blast operations for complex underground conditions. Fan drilling designs place sections along drill holes automatically or manually, with lengths limited by ore body boundaries or other parameters. The system performs automatic well numbering, calculates undercharging, and provides visualization of charged intervals. Serrated drilling accounts for established parameters including well boundaries, and comprehensive reports detail total lengths, charged portions, and explosive weights.

Pierre John stated that K-MINE represents a unique category of mining software unlike anything he has encountered in 40 years of experience with other industry platforms. He emphasized that the software makes work visible rather than the technology itself, enabling exceptional productivity. The SQL database foundation provides networking capabilities for team collaboration, while the modular structure allows users to master specific functions without learning the entire system. He recommended trying K-MINE as there is nothing to lose and significant potential for improvement.

Adriana highlighted that K-MINE reverses the traditional approach where companies developed in-house solutions requiring specialized engineering mindsets. The integrated package combines multiple specialist needs identified across various operational situations. The grain size module proves particularly valuable for measuring drilling and blasting efficiency, while safety features improve productivity during blast preparation and post-blast operations. She described the software as revolutionary for the drilling and blasting segment of mining.

The software optimizes blast hole quantity and location using algorithms based on technological parameters and geological rock mass structure. Geographic referencing is important when combining different data sources, with point clouds ensuring coordinate accuracy for photogrammetric work. K-MINE manages point cloud data directly, producing meshes and wireframe surfaces from popular formats including LAS and XYZ.

Pre-blast volumes calculate automatically during drilling project creation, while post-blast volumes require surveying of blasted rock mass using drones or other methods. The module simulates explosions, determines rock mass expansion zones, and calculates safety distances. Charge calculations support various warehouse designs and explosive types, generating complete documentation packages. Water levels in boreholes are accounted for in charge calculations, and ramp blasting design is fully supported.