Foam Gel in the Design of Blasthole Charges at Open-Pit Mines

The monograph presents the scientific and practical foundations for the use of foam gel in the design of blasthole charges in open-pit mining. The regularities of blast-impulse formation, the interaction of detonation products with the stemming material, and the redistribution of blast energy into the rock mass are considered. The results of theoretical and experimental studies of variable-phase foam-gel stemming are summarized, including the physicomechanical, rheological, and structural properties of foam-gel compositions, laboratory modeling methods, and the regularities governing the formation of a stable stemming column in a blasthole. The design of a blasthole charge, technological solutions for preparing and delivering foam gel, the methodology of pilot-industrial tests, and the results of industrial trials at the Kalmakyr open pit of JSC Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex are presented. The influence of the technology on fragmentation quality, explosive consumption, and the parameters of the dust-and-gas cloud is demonstrated.