Ore Dilution Versus Mine to Mill Optimisation at KCGM

B Bulow1, J Caratti2, K Henley3, M Spiteri4 and S Wotherspoon5

ABSTRACT This paper will investigate the current techniques used to

manage ore dilution due to blasting, such as blast design and ore
Blasting is an essentially violent process aimed to disrupt and loosen
rock for productive excavation and downstream processing. Dilution of block out methodology. The effect of alternative high energy
the orebody to some extent is the inevitable result, particularly in narrow blasting practices on ore dilution at KCGMs Fimiston operation
vein gold mines. A small change in gold recovery is usually a strong will then be investigated using the Distinct Motion Code (DMC)
lever on revenue generation. As a result blast designs are carefully Blast model.
engineered to both minimise and control the direction of rock movement.
Traditionally blast designs in gold mines have used the minimum ORE BLAST DILUTION MANAGEMENT
powder factor that will still permit rock excavation. This now conflicts
with the recent industry trend to optimise the total process flowsheet TECHNIQUES
from the mine to the mill. Numerous mines have achieved success in
reducing total mining cost by increasing powder factors. Not only is Ore blast design
explosive energy cheaper than mechanical comminution energy
requirements, the increased blasting effect may deliver benefits across all The most common methods used in Australian open cut mines to
downstream processes of digging, hauling, crushing and milling. control ore dilution are:
Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) Fimiston operation is
the largest gold mine in Australia, located in the heart of the Kalgoorlie low powder factors;
Goldfields. Blast dilution has been reduced at KCGM by managing low bench heights;
location of blast boundaries and by firing along strike to choked faces.
Significant economies of scale have resulted from application of a bulk choke firing;
mining methods. The bench height of 10 m is the largest in the Western direction of firing parallel to orebody strike; and
Australian Goldfields, and is typically mined in a single pass with large
face shovels. Recent increases in production rates in both the mine and location of ore block boundaries within the blast.
mill has been partly attributed to a 30 per cent increase in powder factor.
Geologists will normally stipulate that powder factors are low
KCGM then examined the benefit of a further 18 per cent increase in
powder factor to 1.0 kg/BCM. enough to just fracture the ground, but not move it substantially.
A concern though was the impact of very high powder factors
Low bench heights are typically used in conjunction with
resulting in excessive blast movement and subsequently ore dilution. complex orebodies to increase assay information from blasthole
This was the subject of a project conducted with Orica Explosives. drilling and to improve the compatibility with small-scale mining
Oricas DMC (Distinct Motion Code) blast model was applied to equipment for selective mining.
understand the effect of not just further increases in powder factor but Choke firing is the practice of firing a blast into a buffer of
also blast geometry and explosive type. The modeling work previously blasted material to minimise throw from the front
demonstrated that high powder factors may be applied with minimal
increase in ore dilution provided the combination of blast geometry and
rows of blastholes. The material is typically loose enough to
explosive type is optimised. These results are currently being permit some burden relief but will restrict significant mixing of
implemented to achieve further reductions in total mining costs without a the front row material. Even a well controlled free-faced blast
significant impact on recovery. will still create significant ore dilution. Ideally the direction of
firing of the blast is oriented to match the strike of the orebody as
shown in Figure 1, and hence minimise mixing of ore and waste.
INTRODUCTION
These practices are only carried out where there is close
Dilution at the margins of ore blocks is a major issue for the gold cooperation between geologists, mine planners and blasters.
mining industry. As ore block size decreases and complexity
increases, the potential for dilution due to ore movement
increases. While there will always be some movement during
blasting, predicting the direction and amount of movement is
critical to managing dilution and enhancing gold revenue.
An equally important issue to gold mines is the need to
continually reduce total mining costs. As a result many mines
such as KCGMs Fimiston operation have adopted significant
increases in powder factor to boost productivity in all
downstream processes. While cost effective, high energy blasting
can risk ore dilution. This must be carefully managed as a small
change in recovery greatly effects revenue.
Ore
1. MAusIMM, Technical Services ManagerWest, Orica Explosives,
15 Ogilvie Road, Mt Pleasant WA 6153. FIG 1 - Align the direction of firing with the strike of the orebody.
E-mail: brad.bulow@orica.com
2. Mining Engineer, KCGM Fimiston, Kalgoorlie WA 6430. Some mine planners will shape blast pattern boundaries to suit
ore blocks. Where possible ore blocks, in particular high grade
3. Principal Blasting Specialist, Orica Explosives, Kurri Kurri NSW blocks will be entirely contained within a blast pattern. Ore
2327.
dilution due to blasting is probably greatest along blast pattern
4. Production Geologist, KCGM Fimiston, Kalgoorlie WA 6430. boundaries where inconsistent ore movement results from
5. MAusIMM, Senior Technical Services Engineer, Orica Explosives,
frictional edge effects against in situ material. The blast pattern
PO Box 497, Kalgoorlie WA 6430. boundaries are ideally of regular geometry with open corners

EXPLO 2001 Hunter Valley, NSW, 28 - 31 October 2001 159

B BULOW, J CARATTI, K HENLEY, M SPITERI and S WOTHERSPOON
cut-off on drill hole echelons. However where blast pattern
boundaries must suit ore block shapes, irregularly shaped blast
patterns with tight corners typically result.
While the above techniques will achieve the desired goal of
minimal ore dilution due to blasting, the added constraints may
increase the total cost of mining and milling. Can the blasting
techniques be modified to achieve a dual goal of both minimal
ore dilution and reasonable digging and milling costs? Choke
firing and firing parallel to the orebody strike are good dilution
control practices. However, can powder factor be reasonably
increased in some cases? This is the primary subject of this
paper.
Ore block outs
Another key question is how much the ore (as defined by the
original block-out) has moved during the blast? In horizontal
section, in which direction and how far will the ore block move?
In vertical section (Figure 2), is the greatest mixing in the collar
region, adjacent to the explosive column or is it uniform? In
summary, will the ore block location change from flitch to flitch?
Common sense tells us the answer is yes!
Top Flitch
Middle Flitch
Bottom Flitch
FIG 2 - Possible movement profile by flitch.
Previous work on ore dilution has been conducted by three
Masters students at the University of Nevada-Reno from 1992
to 1995 (Zhang, 1994; Taylor, 1995; Gilbride, 1995). All the
fieldwork was conducted at the Rain Mine of the Newmont Gold
Company, the Coeur Rochester and Twin Creek Mines. Similar
work at the Union Reefs Gold Mine in Australia (McKenzie et
al, 1998), showed that material in the middle of a bench will
move further than that near the top or bottom of a bench. These
authors generally agreed that significant horizontal displacement
occurred adjacent to the explosive charge. There was diversity of
opinion regarding how much material moved from the collar
region of the blasthole.
The amount of movement at each horizon will determine how
much the original block-out should be adjusted for each flitch.
The research at the University of Nevada-Reno also
demonstrated by field measurements that the ore block
displacement direction is aligned with the angle of initiation.
This was within the boundaries of the blast pattern where the free
face or edge effects from in situ material will not have significant
effect.
DMC BLAST MODEL
Recent advances in blast modelling technology have greatly
improved the ability to predict final muckpile profile in two
dimensions by modelling particle motion during blasting. The
Distinct Motion Code (DMC Blast) model has been under
development since 1987, in cooperation with Orica Explosives
(Preece and Taylor, 1989). The use of DMC Blast to model
160 Hunter Valley, NSW, 28 - 31 October 2001
ore/waste dilution blasting has also been described (Preece,
Chung and Tidman 1997). This unique model treats the rock
mass as a series of spheres that move freely after explosive
detonation to predict rock movement. DMC Blast is from the
suite of advanced Orica blast models that treat the blasting
process mechanistically, rather than empirically.
Rock strata in DMC Blast is modelled as layers of spheres
which have their own elastic response and energy absorption
characteristics. This flexibility allows the definition of a model
containing multiple rock types, dipping at any angle. DMC Blast
has a wide range of uses where the user is interested in the
motion of the rock mass. The code does not model
fragmentation, because it assumes the rock mass is already
divided into spheres of a defined size. The elastic properties and
rock absorption factors of each rock type in the model must be
input. These must be determined by rock testing and face
velocity measurement from a test blast.
As each row of blastholes in the model detonate, the gas field
produced by the detonation creates an impulse on the spheres
surrounding the blasthole. Spheres in front of the blasthole are
free to move either towards the free face or upwards towards the
bench. As the blast progresses, the burden in front of each row of
blastholes is given motion, and the model tracks sphere motion,
interaction and energy losses through collisions. Eventually the
spheres settle into the final muckpile as a result of blast energy
and gravity.
Plots of many material parameters can be generated at any
time step during the simulation, including X or Y displacement
of each particle, location of burdens or rock types or particle
velocity. In this paper Average horizontal movement results
(average X axis movement of all the particles in each burden) are
presented. This graph is very effective for comparing the
potential impact of different blast parameters on ore dilution due
to blasting.
KCGM CASE STUDY
Background
The Fimiston Pit (commonly known as the Super Pit) is located
on the outskirts of Kalgoorlie, about 600 km east of Perth,
Western Australia. The deposit lies within the Eastern Goldfields
Province of the Archaean Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia.
The pit is divided into two sections by the Golden Mile Fault and
separates the lodes into what are known as the eastern and
western lodes. The lodes are also broken down into three
categories based on their orientationMain, Caunter and Cross.
These lode orientations have an influence on blast design and
direction of firing. The geology for the pit consists of primarily
Golden Mile Dolerite with a minor portion of Paringa basalt on
the east. The most significant structure within the pit is the
Golden Mile Fault and is contained within black sulphidic shale
with porphyry dykes.
There have been over 100 years of mining in the Golden Mile.
As a result, open pit mining is complicated by the presence of
about 3000 kilometres of old mine workings including stope
voids, shafts, drives and crosscuts. These workings are well
mapped, but there is still the occasional unknown void being
exposed.
Mining is conducted primarily on 10 m benches with no
flitches. Some selective mining on 5 m flitches is used where ore
bodies are either relatively flat lying or are being dug from the
footwall side. This method helps in reducing the dilution, as the
geologists can be more selective and have the benefit of
increasing the grade. Total movement is approximately 83 Mt
with 13 Mt of ore being milled annually to produce about
750 000 oz of gold. The resource as of January 2000 is 356.7 Mt
at 2.5 g/t with a reserve of 175.2 Mt at 2.1 g/t.
EXPLO 2001
 ORE DILUTION VERSUS MINE TO MILL OPTIMISATION AT KCGM

Ore movement tracking is conducted on as many shots as

possible. The geologist locates monitors, 14 m lengths of
polyurethane pipe, in drill holes between blast holes and as close
to the ore block boundary as possible. Pre- and post-blast
positions of the monitors are picked up by the surveyors and
entered into a database along with other information such as
powder factors, blast directions, monitor type and geology. This
information is then used to adjust the ore mark up as required.

Mine to Mill optimisation

FIG 3 - Voids from old underground working exposed in the presplit pit
walls.
Ore mined is placed on blend fingerslong, narrow dumps
approximately 250 m 50 m - which are reclaimed, crushed and
milled in 5 m strips to reduce bias within the ore. The mill
throughput is determined by the blend finger composition of
material types. KCGMs mining fleet consists of 23 Caterpillar
793 haul trucks (240 tonnes), three Komatsu PC8000 face
shovels, one Komatsu PC4000 face shovel, one Caterpillar 994
loader and ancillary equipment.
In March 2000 powder factor was increased from 0.55 to
0.76 kg/BCM primarily to improve the digability of the shots. An
average increase in dig rates of 13 per cent was achieved in
Oroya Cutback, the main working area of the mine (see
Figure 4). Mill throughput increased approximately seven per
cent in the same period. The scatter in the dig rates was primarily
due to the influence of voids in the ore zones remaining from old
underground workings. Poor fragmentation often results near the
voids due to inconsistency in blasthole burden. Drills must work
a safe distance from the void and then use angled holes to
overcome the resultant large burdens. Variability in the actual
void location and difficulty in its prediction further compound
the problem. That aside, a clear increase in average dig rates
resulted.
In September 2000 Andrew Scott (2000) conducted a study to
evaluate the influence of blasting practices on downstream
performance. He asserted that mill throughput could be improved
by three per cent by increasing the powder factor to 1.0 kg/bcm,
with a further three per cent mill throughput increase available
by increasing the detonation pressure of the explosive. Powder
factor was increased to 0.83 kg/BCM with a further similar
increase in crusher and mill throughput. Note that the data in
Figure 4 is blast by blast and in Figure 5 it is by blend finger.
There is still some debate on site as to how much of this
downstream improvement was due to powder factor rather than
other variables such as material blend and mill relining. As
indicated in Figure 5 the mill re-line usually causes a temporary
reduction in throughput. However the improvement in
fragmentation was clearly quantified by the improvement in belt

Digability/Powder Factor vs Time

Oroya Cutback
1.60 1600

1400
1.40
1200
Digability (m3/hr)
Powder Factor

1.20
(Kg/BCM)

1000

1.00 800

600
0.80
400
0.60
200

0.40 0 Design PF
Sep-99 Dec-99 Mar-00 Jun-00 Sep-00 Dec-00 Mar-01 Digability
Time
Before March 1, 2000 (1129 tph ave)
After April 1, 2000 (1272 tph ave)

FIG 4 - Digability versus powder factor history.

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B BULOW, J CARATTI, K HENLEY, M SPITERI and S WOTHERSPOON

SAG Mill & Crusher Throughput vs Powder Factor

2000 0.85
1900
0.80

Powder Factor (Kg/BCM)

1800
Throughput (t/hour)

1700 0.75
1600 0.70
1500
60% oxide composition
1400 0.65

1300 0.60
1200
0.55
1100
1000 0.50
1/01/1999 1/04/1999 1/07/1999 1/10/1999 1/01/2000 1/04/2000 1/07/2000 1/10/2000 1/01/2001 1/04/2001
Time - Denotes Mill Reline

SAG Mill tph Powder Factor Crusher tph

FIG 5 - Crusher and SAG mill throughput versus powder factor history.

Powder factor was initially increased to 0.83 rather than

Belt Cut Sizings 1.0 kg/BCM due to concern about its impact on ore dilution.
120.0 Significant increases in powder factor will create more muckpile
100.0 heave and movement. During the period powder factor was
Cumulative%

increased from 0.65 to 0.83 kg/BCM, the blast monitoring

Passing

80.0

60.0
40.0
20.0
0.0
1.0 10.0 100.0
Size (mm)
FIG 6 - Belt cut sizings versus powder factor.
cut sizings (Figure 6). It is reasonable to assume that the
improved fragmentation was a major driver on improved
throughput downstream.
According to Scott (2000) an objective of mine to mill
blasting is to flatten the ROM fragmentation curve by reducing
the top size and increasing the proportion of fines (approximately
12 mm). Reducing top size will increase digging, hauling and
crushing efficiency. Increasing fines will maximise the
proportion of material that will not require breakage in the mill.
Also, flattening the slope of the ROM fragmentation curve will
minimise the proportion of material in the critical size range of
25 - 75 mm which reduces performance of the SAG mill.
Reducing the crusher gap size will primarily affect the top-size
of the mill feed, while blasting will impact the generation of
fines.
Rock fragmentation occurs in response to two mechanisms.
Firstly there is compressive failure resulting in a cylindrical
crushed zone of material immediately around the blast hole.
Secondly there is tensile failure resulting in the extension and
intersection of cracks beyond the crushed zone. Fines are
generated primarily in the blasthole crushed zone. The extent of
the crushed zone will depend on the characteristics of the rock
and the detonation pressure generated by the explosive. Hence
the selection of explosive type will influence the generation of
fines in a blast.
program revealed that average horizontal blast movement
increased from 1.5 m to 2.5 m. Orica was then engaged to use to
the DMC model to determine how blast design could be varied to
allow manageable amounts of blast movement at high powder
1000.0
factors.
PF = 0.60
PF = 0.68 Blast pattern configurations
PF > 0.80
The impact of blast design changes on performance and dilution
at KCGM has been modelled using the DMC Blast model. The
most significant design changes were explosives type, stemming
length and powder factor. The effect of timing, hole diameter and
pattern expansions were also examined, but were less significant
in this particular case. Hence the results for these latter
parameters are not presented. It is important to note the effect of
altering blast configurations at a mine site must be evaluated on a
case by case basis. Each particular combination of geology and
blast design parameters will create a different blast movement
scenario. For example another case study documented by Bulow
(2000) noted the significant effect of hole diameter and blast
timing.
Base case
Geological and blast design data were collected to develop a base
case on the model. The typical choke blasting configuration to
reduce dilution was used in all cases. Actual muckpile survey
data was collected to calibrate the model. The muckpile power
trough is typically 5 m wide and 2 m deep, with a vertical swell
of 1 - 2 m above the bench. The rock properties of the primary
rock type, Paringa Basalt are shown in Table 1. The base case
blast design is shown in Table 2.
Model outputs reflect changes along a 2Dcomputation plane
in the direction of blast movement as shown in Figure 7. The
movement resulting on the centre-line of a V initiation
sequence will require a will require a 3D model. Orica in the
USA is currently developing this capability.

162 Hunter Valley, NSW, 28 - 31 October 2001 EXPLO 2001

 ORE DILUTION VERSUS MINE TO MILL OPTIMISATION AT KCGM

The pre- and post-blast model configurations are shown in effected by the model boundaries. The scenarios modelled are
Figure 8 and Figure 9. The model is coloured coded according to shown in Table 3.
blasthole burden. Note that while the model bench surface is at
15 m, the actual bench height and hole depth is the KCGM
standard 10 m and 11.3 m respectively. Increased model height
ensures that blast effects near the bottom of the model are not TABLE 2
Base case blast design.

TABLE 1 Pattern 4.5 5.2 Bench height 10 m

Paringa basalt rock property data. Stemming 4.5 m Subdrill 1.3 m
Explosive Energan 2640 Powder factor 0.75 kg/bcm
UCS 87 MPa Youngs modulus 57 GPa (1.2 g/cc)
Density 2.9 kg/m3 Poissons ratio 0.25 Hole diameter 165 mm Initiation 17 ms/100 ms

l
m ode
D M C e of
P la n Direction of
Movement
1
Legend

CD 17
CD 100
1 Leadin
Inhole MS #12

FIG 7 - Initiation design of base case.

FIG 8 - Pre-blast DMC model configuration.

FIG 9 - Base case post-blast profile.

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B BULOW, J CARATTI, K HENLEY, M SPITERI and S WOTHERSPOON

Explosive type effects of increased powder factor and explosives energy

The first series of simulations involved simple substitution of
explosive type. All other blast parameters stayed the same except
powder factor, which was effected by the different explosive
density (see Table 4). The primary difference between the
explosives was the proportion of emulsion versus ammonium
nitrate (AN) prill. This also significantly effects the energy
partition of explosives. As the proportion of prilled AN
increases, heave energy increases, and fragmentation energy
decreases. The relative proportions of emulsion, prilled AN,
heave and fragmentation energy partitions in the explosives
examined in this work are shown in Table 4.
DMC Blast does not model fragmentation, but allows the
partitioning on heave, movement and dilution to be investigated.
The DMC model predicted that changing explosive type caused
significant changes in horizontal movement and potentially
dilution (see Figure 11). Quite simply, the higher the prilled AN
content of the explosive product, the greater the potential
movement, and conversely the greater the emulsion content the
less the movement. Following the sequence in Table 4, DMC
predicted the greatest horizontal movement will result for
Energan 2620 (6 m), and then decrease progressively for
Energan 2640 (base case: 3.5 m), then 2660 (2.1 m) and least
for Powergel 2560 (1.5 m). The reduced movement for
Powergel 2560, a high emulsion content explosive, is also
obvious in comparing Figure 9 and Figure 10.

TABLE 3
DMC Model Parameters.

Case study Pattern Stem Explosive type Powder factor

Base case 4.5 5.2 4.5 Energan 2640 0.75
Explosive type 4.5 5.2 4.5
Powergel 2560 0.75
4.5 5.2 4.5 Energan 2660 0.81
4.5 5.2 4.5 Energan 2620 0.68
Stemming length 4.5 5.2 4.0 Energan 2640 0.80
4.5 5.2 5.0 Energan 2640 0.69

High powder factor/ 4.1 4.8 4.5 Energan 2640 0.89
Explosive type 4.3 4.9 4.5 Energan 2660 0.89
4.1 4.8 4.5 Powergel 2560 0.89
3.8 4.5 4.5 Energan 2640 1.00
4.0 4.7 4.5 Energan 2660 1.00
3.8 4.5 4.5 Powergel 2560 1.00

TABLE 4
Relative comparison of Explosive types.
# #
Explosive Description Emulsion Prilled AN Fuel oil Fragmentation energy Heave energy

Energan 2620 1.1 g/cc heavy ANFO 30.0 per cent 66.4 per cent 3.6 per cent 115 96
augured
Energan 2640 1.2 g/cc heavy ANFO 36.0 per cent 61.0 per cent 3.0 per cent 120 92
augured
Energan 2660 1.3 g/cc heavy ANFO 43.0 per cent 54.6 per cent 2.4 per cent 123 87
augured
Powergel 2560 1.2 g/cc gassed, water 70.0 per cent 30.0 per cent 0.0 per cent 112 87
resistant, pumped

# Energy figures are calculated with Oricas non-ideal detonation code CPeXTM and are relative to 1 kg of ANFO at a density of 0.8 g/cc.

FIG 10 - DMC model resultExplosive substitution: Powergel 2560.

164 Hunter Valley, NSW, 28 - 31 October 2001 EXPLO 2001

 ORE DILUTION VERSUS MINE TO MILL OPTIMISATION AT KCGM

It is notable that Energan 2620 produced most movement Stemming length

even though the powder factor was the least, as it is the product
most partitioned towards heave energy. Similarly its velocity of
detonation (VOD) and fragmentation energy partition will be the
least, and will potentially produce fewer fines. Field experience
with increasing emulsion content at KCGM supports this.
Comparing Powergel 2560 or Energan 2660 with 2640, while
the powder factor and total explosive energy is the same, the
muckpile produced is more loose or digable for the higher AN
content product. For this reason, Energan 2640 has been
traditionally favoured over Energan 2660. Given that
maintaining efficient shovel productivity is an issue for KCGM,
this must be carefully monitored.
If finer fragmentation and less movement are desired,
Energan 2660 is normally recommended for dry holes. The
decision whether or not to use Powergel has historically been
driven by the presence of water in the blasthole. Powergel will
produce the least movement of all products, and can also be used
in dry holes. Being a pumped product it will take longer to load
than an augured Energan product, but the improved recovery
may justify the increased cost.
As shown in Figure 12, changing the stemming length effects the
horizontal movement of a muckpile more than its vertical heave.
The stemming length effects the distribution of explosive within
a bench. The location of maximum horizontal movement is at the
interface between stemming and explosive. Here there is the
optimum combination of both energy and freedom of movement
due to the bench surface free face. Shortening stemming columns
pushes explosive energy into the least confined area of the bench
and greatly increase movement.
Stemming length is critical to ore dilution control. Figure 13
evidences how large a lever it is to ore movement. It is also a
strong lever on fragmentation as the stemming region is area
most likely to produce coarse material. Any program to increase
powder factor by reducing stemming length must be carefully
monitored as its large impact on dilution may easily outweigh
any improvement in fragmentation. Other options to increase
powder factor are reduced pattern size, increased explosive
density or increased blasthole diameter.

DMC Burden Horiz Movt - Effect

of Explosive Type
Aveage Horizontal Movement (m) Base Case
7 P/gel 2560 pf=0.75
E/GAN 2660
6 E/GAN 2620

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Burden

FIG 11- Effect of explosive type on average horizontal movement.

FIG 12 - DMC model result 4 m stemming increased heave.

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B BULOW, J CARATTI, K HENLEY, M SPITERI and S WOTHERSPOON

DMC Burden Horiz Movt - Effect of Stemming Length

Average Horizontal Movement (m) Base Case

5 Stem = 4 m
Stem = 5 m

0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Burden

FIG 13 - Effect of stemming length on average horizontal movement.

FIG 14 - DMC model result powder factor 1.00/Energan 2640.

High powder factor Energan is normally favoured over Powergel as it is augered

In this series of simulations high powder factors of 0.89 and
1.0 kg/BCM were evaluated for all explosives except
Energan 2620. This product was eliminated as it produces large
amounts of heave and horizontal movement even at lower
powder factors. The objective of this study was to determine
whether movement could be controlled at high powder factors.
The higher emulsion content products were also more attractive
from the mine to mill perspective as their energy partition is
biased towards fragmentation rather than heave. An example of
the DMC model results is shown in Figure 14, while all results
are shown in Figure 15.
Energan 2640 at powder factors of 0.89 and 1.0 kg/BCM
(Figure 14) produced the largest (and unacceptable) amounts of
horizontal movement. A significant result was that if Energan
2660 was used in preference to Energan 2640, powder factor
could be increased from 0.75 to 0.89 kg/BCM with no increase
in movement. DMC also indicated that powder factors of
1.0 kg/BCM produced a potentially acceptable increase in
horizontal movement of only 1.0 m if charged with Energan
2660 or Powergel 2560.
rather than pumped and can be loaded much more productively.
For this reason, and given that the movement results are similar
Energan 2660 is the recommended product for KCGM.
Energan 2640 has been preferred to 2660 in the past however
(powder factor 0.65 kg/BCM) as it produced improved muckpile
looseness and digability. As the powder factors being currently
evaluated are so much higher, this experience with Energan
2660 is no longer a sound guide. While Energan 2660 will
produce less heave than 2640, due to the high powder factors
digability should actually improve. Another reason to
recommend Energan 2660 is that its higher fragmentation
energy will produce finer mill feed.
CONCLUSION
The DMC Blast model has been closely calibrated to match
muckpile profiles obtained at KCGM. The model demonstrated
that blast movement and potentially ore dilution responded
significantly with changes in explosive type, stemming length,
and powder factor. The DMC Blast model offers a quick path to
blast optimisation by allowing the testing of different blast
design options before field trialing.

166 Hunter Valley, NSW, 28 - 31 October 2001 EXPLO 2001

 ORE DILUTION VERSUS MINE TO MILL OPTIMISATION AT KCGM

DMC Burden Horiz Movt -

Effect of Explosive Type & p.f. Base Case
Average Horizontal Movement (m) p.f. = 0.89
7 P/gel 2560 pf.=0.89
2660 @ p.f. 0.89
2640 @ p.f. =1.0
6
2660 @ p.f. = 1.0
P/gel 2560 pf.=1.0
5

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Burden

FIG 15 - Effect of high PF/explosive type on average horizontal movement.

A change in the explosives type to either Powergel 2560 or REFERENCES

Energan 2660 will allow powder factor to be increased
significantly without a substantial increase in heave, movement
and dilution. The energy partitioning of these explosives is
expected to produce a further benefit of a large increase in
fragmentation at high powder factors. This should be manifest as
a reduced run of mine top size, benefiting the digging and
crushing process and as increased fines primarily benefiting mill
throughput.
The DMC Blast modelling of blasting at KCGM has shown
how muckpile heave, dilution, and movement relate to blast
design changes. Significant increases in powder factor to
increase fragmentation are feasible, if the energy partitioning of
explosives is utilised to control muckpile heave, movement, and
dilution.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to KCGM and Orica Australia management for granting
permission to publish this paper. Thanks also to Nick Elith of
Orica Quarry Services for his skilled preparation of some of the
figures in this paper.
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