43 AUGUST 2021 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Material Mapping for Optimized Blasting Compiled by the Editorial Staff of WorldWide Drilling Resource® From concept to prototype in just four months, a semiautonomous system for logging material properties and blasthole physical characteristics is improving productivity, safety, and efficiency. IMDEX’s BLAST DOG™ is part of the company’s Internet of Geosensing (ioG) initiative. It is unique, with no other technology having the capacity to produce the same data and affect mine-to-mill efficiency. IMDEX joined forces with Universal Field Robots (UFR) on a collaborative project combining UFR’s E20C 2-ton robotic platform operating UFR Autonomy (AutoLog) with BLAST DOG to optimize blast design and take the guesswork out of drilling and blasting. BLAST DOG provides higher resolution three-dimensional material models built from sensor data to enable better blast outcomes. To perform the sensing, UFR AutoLog drives on the mining bench to hole locations provided by the IMDEX system derived from mine data. It uses robotic vision to check the hole location and then lowers the IMDEX sensor down the blasthole. Valuable information is sent to the IMDEXHUB-IQ system in the cloud in real time to be used by mining engineers to make changes to the blast design. The material properties are domained and supplied automatically to blasting systems, which create complex blast profiles to achieve specific optimized outcomes related to particle size distribution, noise, dust and flyrock minimization, and heave. The resulting improved blast design can lower the cost of blasting, improve fragmentation, and reduce the dilution of ore to improve mining outcomes. Resulting downstream improvements include better waste management, as well as lowering the amount of vibration, dust, and fumes. IMDEX’s Chief Geoscientist Dr. Dave Lawie said, “We are putting geoscience into blasting via the ioG, but measuring what’s important.” Tested at the Dawson coal mine in Queensland, Australia, the collaborative effort of UFR AutoLog and IMDEX BLAST DOG resulted in moving operators out of dangerous zones to improve safety, increase productivity, and reduce risk. IMDEX’s BLAST DOG along with UFR was named the winner of the Greyhound Innovation METS (Mining Equipment, Technology, and Services) Award at the 2020 Queensland Mining Awards and finalist in the METS Ignited Collaboration Award. BLAST DOG™ courtesy of IMDEX. EXB eranhenderson@gmail.com New & Used Tricones PDCs Drag & Claw Bits Drill Collars Bit Tipping Subs & Stabilizers HDD Bits & Reamers DTH Hammer & Bits Custom Fabrication Junk Mills / Fishing Tools Rod Henderson 661-201-6259 Eran Henderson 661-330-0790 A man calls Mrs. Smith and says, “There’s been an accident at the brewery. Your husband fell into a vat of beer and drowned.” Distraught, Mrs. Smith exclaims, “Oh, the poor man! He never had a chance!” The man says, “I don’t know about that. He got out three times to go to the bathroom.” BUYERS MEET SELLERS TIME! DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS? CALL 850-547-0102 and say: “Tell me all about the Buyers Meet Sellers Section.”
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