Abstract

Falling earth is one of the main causes of serious accidents and deaths in mine work. These collapses can occur during spalling operations or the installation of a ground support, when the workers are exposed to an unsupported rock mass. Several factors affect the degree of difficulty of the spalling and support work, including the damage caused by the tunneling of drifts in the rock, which is the subject of this study. The researcher compared a conventional blasting pattern to a perimeter blasting method. The report presents the results obtained with the two blasting techniques, based on several indicators. A significant improvement is noted in the stability of the excavations when perimeter blasting is used. This improvement is even more significant when the initial quality of the rock mass is taken into account and only zones of similar quality are compared.