Electronic Detonators boost performance, cut costs at the Savannah Project
Document type: Case Study

UNDERGROUND CASE STUDY

Electronics Boost Performance and Cut Costs at
the Savannah Project

PROJECT SUMMARY TECHNOLOGY APPLIED
DELIVERING UNDERGROUND ORE PRODUCTION FLEXIBLE TIMING ENABLES SUPERIOR BLAST
 PERFORMANCE
Panoramic Resources Limited is a West Australian based The 2190_6095 stope was drilled out from the 2190 level,
nickel sulphide producer with two underground mines in with 15 main production rings of up and down holes. This
Western Australia. It operates the Savannah Project 130 resulted in the planned stope starting under the 100 fault
kilometres north of Halls Creek. in the 2215m RL level and going down to the 2165m RL
 level where bogging of the broken ore occurred.
Open pit operations closed in January 2006. Ore production
continued underground, in the order of 650,000 tonnes per Initially, pyrotechnic detonators were used for the first six
annum. The intrusive-style ore body consists of a major firings. The blasts were successful but gave mixed results,
lens of massive sulphide mineralisation along the hanging with some unplanned over-break at the brow, a few ‘lumps’
wall contact, with minor lenses hosted in the footwall. at the draw point and a lot of oversize on the ROM.

The main ore body was offset by the 100 fault, underneath In addition, a ‘ridge’ had formed in the floor after firing six.
the completed open pit and the 500 fault, which forms the Firing seven was done with electronic detonators due to
base of the resource. the complicated geometry of the shot and due to access
 being lost during the blast.

PROJECT GOALS Based on previous experience, the drill and blast team
 were confident this stope firing could be executed without
UNLOCKING ORE BODY VALUE compromising the integrity of the pump station through
The drill and blast team planned to unlock the value of the excessive vibration. In addition, there should be a reduction
2190_6095 stope at the mine without disturbing a major in the amount of oversize and back-break compared to the
pump station and its supporting infrastructure, located previous six blasts in this stope.
only 40 metres from the stope.
 The tremendous flexibility of electronic initiation was shown
This pump station was critical in the management of when significant discrepancies were found in blasthole
the calculated and expected water inflow that occurs depths on the initial plan. The timing of stope firing was
periodically in the Kimberley region. adjusted to reduce the impact on the hanging wall.

Combining experience and skills, Panoramic Resources
 and DynoConsult created a blast plan without any overlap
 of initiating times, the nearest being 4ms apart. This
 plan ensured vibrations at the pump station and other
 infrastructure were the lowest practical amount possible.

Fault finding was performed with minimal fuss despite wet
 and muddy conditions. The electronic detonator control
 equipment interrogated the system, so the detonators
 could be tested to ensure working order.

This allowed rigorous testing of network integrity prior to
 blasting. The blast was fired from the surface where a low,
 evenly spaced rumble, gently shook the firing point to the
Personnel conducting an inspection of a fired stope. delight of all those assembled.

UNDERGROUND CASE STUDY

VALUE ADDED
ELECTRONIC DETONATORS DELIVER BETTER
RESULTS
The most compelling argument for using electronics was
improved safety. With pyrotechnics, charge-up operators
would have been exposed twice at the brow.

The electronic detonator system enabled the firing of a
rise, slot and rings in one shot, aiding in removing risks to
charge crews.

Panoramic Resources production engineer Mark Shannon
said, “Electronics performed strongly, and greater precision
allowed effective solutions to complex mining problems.

“This would not have been possible without Dyno Nobel’s
electronic detonators. Broken dirt was uncommonly fine
and very easy to bog.

“Ore fragmentation exceeded expectations. The stope
brows had little overbreak, without a trace of a scat on the
pump station floor.

“We were also able to demonstrate a 54% saving on rock
breaking costs.

“ROM rock breaking had averaged 5.7 hours per day the
month prior to this stope, but in the first month of the
2190_6095 stope this decreased to 5.0 hours per day.

“As the stope emptied, this dropped to 2.6 hours per day.
Improved fragmentation from electronic detonators saved
approximately $7000 in rock breaking costs alone.

“The use of Dyno Nobel’s electronic detonators, despite
the extra initial outlay for the detonators, has saved
Panoramic Resources a considerable amount of money,
not only for the process department, but also for the
mining department due to less wear and tear on the
bogging fleet.”

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