Geomechanics for optimal drilling and blasting
In August 2023, a seminar on "Applied Geomechanics for Open-pit and Underground Mining" took place in Moscow. Technical specialists and heads of subdivisions attended the event. The purpose of the training was to share knowledge on applied geomechanics. This understanding helps to improve the quality of drilling and blasting operations (D&B) in hard rocks.
Geomechanics for optimal drilling and blasting
Mikhail Dolganov, an engineer for technical support and project implementation, explained the importance of geomechanics for drilling and blasting. "When the benches are mined in descending order and the quarry is deepening, we may often encounter harder rocks than those that were at the start of the deposit mining.
Safe and cost-effective drilling and blasting require a better knowledge of the rock structure. By understanding the geomechanical properties, D&B engineers can efficiently design holes spacing, calculate optimal charges and delay time. This minimizes the impact on the back-break.
The stability of the quarry walls, underground mine roof and walls are of primary importance at the designing stage. They impact the operations safety, "says Mikhail.
Seminar programme
The programme of the seminar included the following topics:
• geotechnical risks;
• methods for assessing slope stability;
• geomechanics of open-pit and underground mining;
• geotechnical monitoring;
• impact of blasting operations on the stability of mine workings.
The programme also covered assessment of the stope and pillars stability based on empirical and numerical methods, mine workings ground support, etc.
The two-day training was conducted by Vadim Lushnikov, geomechanics expert from LVI Geotechnical company. LVI Geotechnical's has many years in consulting and training at mining companies in Russia and abroad.
Evoblast Group - from the Murmansk region to Chukotka
Evoblast Group employs over 500 people. The company operates in 14 Russian regions. No surprise, the training participants arrived from all over the country - from the Murmansk region to Chukotka.
One of Evoblast’s values is enhancement of the employees’ expertise. In this regard, training becomes the tool to achieve success and develop talents.
Such seminars build up the level of knowledge of the D&B engineers and geotechnical monitoring experts. Moreover, such events help establish an internal competency benchmark in Evoblast Group.
