Experience with cast blasting in Canadian surface coal mines

Abstract

Abstract Canadian surface coal mines are highly mechanized and use a wide variety of mining equipment in overburden handling. Larger equipment has resulted in cost reductions. It is however, considered that given the topography and volume of the materials handled at some Canadian mines that further cost reductions can only be obtained by developing and applying different methods of excavation and transportation of overburden materials. The Surface Mining Laboratory of the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET) is closely working with the industry in an effort to develop such technologies for Canadian mines. One such technique pursued as part of this major overall project is the blast casting of overburden. This paper reports on an on-going CANMET project on blast casting carried out in collaboration with Fording Coal Ltd., a major Canadian surface mine coal producer. This case history also serves to illustrate the type of applied research carried out by CANMET as part of its current emph...