With the help of the Fleming College Resource Drilling and Blasting program Nxburst was demonstrated in both a bench and in oversized blasting. Note the extreme differences in fragmentation when breaking the oversized, ranging from an almost surgical split to complete destruction. Using Nxburst allows for complete control over the fragmentation desired.
In order to extract armour stone, minimizing the crushing effects and damaging shockwaves from high explosives are a must. Loading two 50060 cartridges per 13′ borehole with a 1.8M burden and spacing allowed for enough jarring to removing the rock in large pieces.
With the intention of creating dimensional stone for the retaining wall and landscape markets, this quarry wanted a
a fast and efficient method for extraction without compromising the integrity of the rock. When the standard method
of prying the rock from the ground failed and became inefficient, Nxburst was used to blast large slabs that could be
further processed all while reducing machine damage, downtime and fuel consumption while drastically improving
production rates.
A remnant of a previous production blast, this 35’ long, 14’ high and 16’ wide over size rock proved to be a formidable obstacle
to the current working area. As the next round of 80’ deep production holes had already been drilled, sleeved and loaded,
they had to be protected. It was feared that this rock would end up suspended on a large pillar if not removed before ring the
production blast. In order to protect the adjacent production blast, 54 Nxburst cartridges were used within a center-line
and 4 additional rows in 3’ and 2’ burdens on either side. Shown above in mid-blast, this rock was broken in pieces between
1’ and 5’ to facilitate easy transportation to the mill while leaving the next production blast holes unharmed to go
ahead on schedule.