Expansion of Quarry using TITAN® 1000 LD and DigiShot® Plus
Document type: Case Study

CASE STUDY

EXPANSION OF QUARRY USING TITAN® 1000 LD AND
DIGISHOT® PLUS
 PROJECT SUMMARY
EXPANSION OF QUARRY #6
Surrounded by numerous communities, the Graymont
Marbleton Quarry was looking to expand its quarry number
six. It was important to the quarry that this expansion did
not disturb the surrounding communities with blasting
vibrations and noise. The quarry cares for the communities
and works hard to cause little impact. Along with being
respectful of its neighbors, the quarry was also looking
to obtain the best possible fragmentation for production.

BACKGROUND PROJECT GOALS
LIME PRODUCTION AND COMMUNITY EXPANDING PRODUCTION WHILE RESPECTING
RELATIONS THE COMMUNITY
The Graymont Marbleton Quarry, one of the oldest lime The DigiShot Plus electronic initiation system was the best
production facilities in North America, is located in system for this expansion because it was able to deliver
Quebec’s eastern townships, approximately 40km theresults needed for this expansion to be a success.
northeast of Sherbrooke Quebec. This site has a total of Graymont Marbleton Quarry was aiming to obtain desired
six pits that have been quarried since 1824. On the same fragmentation results while adhering to vibration and
property, Graymont also runs a lime processing plant with noise levels. It wanted to get the most out of each blast
an annual production capacity of 330,000 tonnes. to meet the recommended maximum amount of explosive
 pounds/delays while fully utilizing the electronic initiation
Adjacent to the Marbleton site are numerous communities system’s adequate capacity and timing versatility.
that rely on it for construction aggregates. The plant is also
a major producer of lime used for agricultural purposes.

The expansion of Quarry number six required blasting to
be done on areas of severely uneven terrain and within the
 TECHNOLOGY APPLIED
regulated vibration and noise control levels. DigiShot Plus
was the electronic initiation system the quarry chose to go DIGISHOT PLUS AND TITAN 1000 LD
with because it felt this system by Dyno Nobel would best Dyno Nobel’s DigiShot Plus system was used because of
meet its needs. its ability to synchronize blasts from multiple bench boxes
 improving safety and timing. The synchronized timing also
 helped with vibration and noise control. Along with timing,
 having the ability to test each detonator to ensure
 communication gave extra assurance to the blaster that
 the blast would take place. Being able to set millisecond
 timing between holes and decks ensured the pounds of

CASE STUDY

explosives/delay were met. The auto-tagging features and
robust connectors made the tie-in quick and easy, saving
time on the bench. DigiShot Plus provided the vibration
and noise control with the accurate timing that was
needed for this expansion.

Along with DigiShot Plus it was decided to use TITAN
1000 LD emulsion with a 1.25 density. The sensitized bulk
emulation has excellent water resistance and provides
superior blasting performance in nearly all open pit
applications. Using the bulk emulsion also eliminated
the requirement to manually handle packaged explosives
and significantly facilitated the loading tasks as well as
minimized the time required to load blast holes.

VALUE ADDED
RESULTS BY THE NUMBER
Value added benefits realized:
 • Vibrations 30% below allowable limits.
 • 250% greater tonnage compared to yearly average
 blast.
 • Zero holes or decks initiating at the same time ensuring
 limit of pound of explosives/delay were met.
 • Qualitative feedback from the customer indicates
 actual loading and tie-in time was 18 hours less than

expected.

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