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Case Studies

Short Interval Controls Improve Drill and Blast Coordination

A gold mining client was looking to improve coordination in its drill and blast operations and increase the production of drilled holes by shift. YCP Unison worked together with the client to implement short interval controls using its proprietary SIC D&B tool.

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Key Results

Achieved a 114% compliance rate with drill and blast plan
Exceeded targets for number of drill holes by 24%
Actual drilled meters exceeded target by 468 drilled meters

Specific Actions Taken

By working closely with the client’s management teams, YCP Unison identified the following areas of focus to be prioritized:

Training to identify deviations

Dispatcher supervisors were trained to use the SIC D&B tool to easily identify deviations from the drill plan at short time intervals throughout the shift and establish corrective actions whenever deviations occur; in addition, dispatcher supervisors received one-on-one training so that they can better use the tool.

Revised responsibilities for dispatch supervisors

The work of dispatch supervisors expanded to include tasks such as developing a new way to report the number of holes drilled during a shift and continuous coordination with operations to ensure compliance with drill plans and number of holes aimed for during the interval.

Procedures for non-compliance to drill plan

If queuing at loading units is non-compliant for two consecutive revisions, a procedure for re-allocating trucks was developed. Additionally, when payloads were non-compliant for one consecutive revision, operator would be contacted to increase the load.

Our Approach

Initially, the number of holes drilled in each of the client’s shifts were only recorded by Dispatch during the shift, but were not reported until the end of each shift. This allowed no corrective actions to be taken on site, with little opportunity to correct any deviations from drilling plans in real time. This made it clear that Dispatch communication systems were not well-designed for optimized drilling, despite Dispatch having real-time information during the entire operation.

The purpose of implementing and using the SIC D&B (Short Interval Control of Drill and Blast) methodology was to monitor the progress of drilling holes in short time intervals within the shift. This allowed personnel to identify possible deviations from the drilling plan and establish corrective actions as soon as they occurred, allowing them to comply with the drilling plan per shift and per day more easily.

Results

Possible deviations in drilling plan were identified much faster to set up corrective actions whenever during the shift, rather than after. This kept operations in line with drill plans, with corrective actions taken at short intervals.

The use of YCP Unison’s SIC D&B tool and the coordination of the Dispatch and Mine Operations supervisors helped to the client’s personnel comply with the planned and measured drilled holes with the corresponding KPIs.