DRILL

In addition to providing its drill fleet for hire, Xcel Drilling and Blasting also offers quarries and mines the option of a full rock on ground service – from developing full blast designs and plans through to drilling the holes and shotfiring.

“At the moment the quarries do their own blasting so we just do the drilling for them,” Hughes said. “However, we can supply a fully affordable drill and blast package to quarries. This is our major point of difference to the likes of Orica and Maxam, whose expertise is in the blasting.”

Xcel employs the Surpac program, which Hughes said “is probably one of the best ones out there”, to develop the blast design, in consultation with a mine customer.

“They will tell you what they want, depending on the size of the ore body and waste, and all together, and you design a shot to suit, so you’re not diluting the ore and the waste,” Hughes explained.

“We design it, then they have to sign off on it. So you might go back and forth a couple of times but you know what the opening is. The optimal result is the less dilution for the ore and the waste, the better for everybody.”

When he works with quarries, Hughes said the focus changes from diluting the ore from the waste in the blast plan for mines to factoring in fragmentation, vibrations monitoring and dust control in the blast plan for quarries.

“You still have to get your fragmentation right to suit the crusher,” he said. “But we’re finding that the emphasis in the quarries is changing. It’s not just about the fragmentation, a lot of the blast planning is about how to reduce the vibration and the amount of dust generated because most of the quarries are now in close proximity to residentials. You have to monitor your blasting and you have to make sure you get it right in the planning.”