Patent ID: 7690307

Claim:
A mechanical stemming apparatus for mining blasting operations to contain or confine gases generated by explosives, thus preventing generated energy from being released to the atmosphere, wherein the mechanical stemming apparatus comprises two main pieces, one over the other: a) a base piece ( 1 ) and b) a central piece ( 6 ), the central piece additionally comprises two lateral wedge elements ( 8 ) and four supporting pins ( 11 ); wherein the base piece ( 1 ) is formed by a cylindrical body with a smaller diameter than the diameter of a borehole or blast hole into which the apparatus is inserted, the cylindrical body having a cavity at its bottom end and a coupling female cone at its top end with four circular perforations ( 5 ) to introduce said supporting pins ( 11 ) to connect the central piece ( 6 ) and a central circular perforation ( 4 ) from the top end of the cylindrical body to the bottom end of the cylindrical body, through which electric lines can pass.