Summary

This review describes the current state of technology of the equipment and technical processes involved in mine blasting. Topics covered include the types and varieties of blasting equipment and supplies available on the market, the cost and technical characteristics of blasters, educational opportunities relative to blasting jobs and employment involving blasting, and the health and safety requirements for blasters in both open pit mines and underground mines.

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Introduction

My father, a miner, would often bring home a six-inch long, one-inch diameter cardboard tube that when lit would spurt out a bright red flame. He called these chesa-sticks and told us they were used underground to set off the explosives that shattered the rock and liberated the gold-bearing ore. The first time I actually saw rock explode from blasting was on the left bank of the Hendrick Verwoerd dam on the Orange River as the blasters, come down from the Transvaal, carved away the abutment that we would later fill in with concrete to hold back the river's waters. Even today, I thrill whenever I see the perfect face of a high Colorado roadcut in fine-grained rock with its regular pattern of half blast holes separated by the perfect break of smooth rock between.

That is the memory side of blasting. The tragedy side is death. As reported on the website of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health:

Between 1978 and 2000, 106 miners were killed and 1,050 were injured by explosives and breaking agents. In 2001, there were 7 blasting-related injuries and fatalities in the mining industry, compared to 140 in 1978. For the past two decades, most explosives-related injuries and fatalities in surface mines occurred when workers were struck by rock, either because they were too close to the blast or rock was thrown much farther than expected. The second leading cause was blasts that shoot prematurely. In underground mines, most explosive-related fatalities were caused by miners being too close to the blast, followed by explosive fumes poisoning, misfires, and premature blasts. Misfires lead to injuries and fatalities as miners try to shoot explosives that failed to detonate in the original blast. Premature blasts occur without warning while blasters are near the explosive-loaded boreholes; the explosive may be initiated by lightning, the impact of explosives being dropped down a dry borehole, or careless handling of the initiating system (blasting caps).

And so, in a way, this review is a kind of tribute to the memory of the chesa stick and those who died in blasting accidents. The story is that my paternal grandfather died in a mine blast, but I have no way to validate the story.