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Every now and then, a new method of mining emerges as a game-changer.

Explosives and blasting specialist company Orica has been given an award for research into a new fragmentation process that promises to increase productivity and save millions in processing costs.

So what exactly did the team at Orica discover that has eluded generations of miners and explosives experts across the mining world?

Orica’s Dr Geoff Brent and his research team have been recognised “for groundbreaking research using a novel method of ultra-high intensity blasting to improve mine productivity”.

That’s quite an honour.

Basically, putting more energy into the blasting process, which in turn improves ore fragmentation and accelerates the processing cycle – means greater productivity and lower costs.

Ultra-High Intensity Blasting – A New Paradigm in Mining, was authored by a team led by Brent.

Their work has been awarded the 2014 CEEC Medal by the Coalition for Eco-Efficient Comminution (CEEC).

Congratulating Brent on the achievement, Orica managing director Ian Smith said the quest to use the chemical energy in explosives to improve ore fragmentation and deliver a step-change in mine processing efficiency was a priority for the global resources sector.

“This research is a demonstration of Orica’s commitment to the development of resourceful solutions through innovation to improve mine productivity,” said Smith.

“The use of electricity to mill ore is usually the largest consumer of energy on a mine site and ore comminution constitutes a significant percentage of electricity consumed worldwide.

“Independent modelling has indicated that increasing the explosive energy by several fold can lead to increases in mill circuit throughput of up to 40%, savings of tens of millions of dollars annually.”

Speaking on behalf of the research team, Brent added: “By utilising explosive energy in the pit to produce much finer ore, we can dramatically increase the efficiency and throughput of the downstream comminution processes of crushing and milling.

“The overall energy consumption across the mining and milling cycle can be reduced with a consequent reduction in emissions. This is a step-change in ore processing.

“To date, it has not been possible to blast at these ultra-high explosive energies, or powder factors, due to safety and environmental constraints.”

It’s such a simple concept, it’s a wonder the technique has never been perfected before.

Substantially reducing milling costs will appeal to mining companies chasing efficiency savings and operational optimisation.

Brent and his researchers will accept their award at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne next month.

“However, the new technique demonstrated for the first time that not only can these ultra-high energies be safely utilised but they can also deliver improved mine productivity and reduce environmental impacts in open pit mines.

“The key to the breakthrough has been to use the rock itself to contain the explosive energy by the selective deployment of state-of-the-art digital electronic initiation systems in novel blast designs. The new method was thoroughly tested in blast models and then verified in large scale production blasts.

“This breakthrough approach is particularly important given the worldwide trend of decreasing ore grades. More ore needs to be ground and processed in order to achieve production targets and this method has the potential to generate a step-change in mine productivity, particularly in complex or lower grade ore bodies.

“It can render ore bodies that might ordinarily be uneconomic both affordable and practical to extract,” Dr Brent said.

“The potential environmental benefits are also enormous. The technique has the potential to cut carbon dioxide emissions associated with grinding by up to 30%.”