The combined mining under the condition of underground mining in the aquifer rock mass of the open-pit sides raises an acute issue of joint drill-and-blast works (D&B). The construction of an underground mine begins normally with the approach of the open-pit mine depth to the final marks. In this situation, if there is a volume for the cutback, it is very small, and the blast works come close to the limit open-pit contour, behind which the protected rock mass is located and in the future the underground mining is supposed to be carried out. The main task in the drill-and-blast works under such conditions is to preserve the stability of this rock mass. The well-timed shielding of the blast and creating the fracture surfaces by the trim blasting reduce the negative impact of the blast on the open-pit side, but do not always prevent the propagation of stress waves caused by the seismic effect along the rock mass. Therefore, restriction of the seismic effect of blast in the border zone is as important for the stability of the rock mass as professional deviated contour holes.
The paper desribes the results of the analysis of the drilling and blasting index at some large enterprises. The significant period of their work has been considered. The increase in the specific consumption of explosives by years has been shown and the reasons for this increase have been explained. The issue of the development prospects of the drilling and blasting complex in terms of reducing the cost of explosives, as well as some issues associated with the use of explosives, manufactured on site. It is suggested that in the near future the development of open mining will be associated with the acceleration of processes and a significant increase in their intensity, both in the development of new ones and in the refinement of existing large open-pit mines. In this regard, drilling and blasting operations are waiting for certain changes in both the mechanization of processes and the technological methods of production. An approach is proposed for improving energy efficiency and resource saving in the production of drilling and blasting operations, which consists in applying a horizontal cut along the bottom of the bench with blasting breaking of the rock mass. It has been previously shown that the use of this method of breaking can be quite effective in comparison with the traditional approach.
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