Blasting

Blasting in mineral extraction terms means removal of rock from the natural strata or host body by means of explosives. No air pollution control is possible although control of emissions from the preceding drilling operation is possible usually using a compact pulse jet bag filter mounted on the drilling rig. In terms of surface preparation – usually of metal surfaces – the blasting process implies repeated impact of the surface with high speed abrasive material such as chilled iron shot. There is also the option to surface blast with expendable shot –usually the bi-product of some other process such as copper smelting where copper oxide slag is used. There is also blasting using glass or other beads or softer material. In all cases the “shot” is likely to be recovered and “air washed”. There is also the need to maintain extraction to collect the airborne dust removed from the surface being worked upon. OptiFlo RC, FabriPulse Fusion and RotoClone N have all been successfully applied to the range of applications possible under the heading of “blasting”.