The Big Blast Show: When Bigger isn't Better

🔥 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 Big muckpile. Big pride. It’s the dopamine hit of blast day. But here’s the uncomfortable truth:🔍 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲, 𝘄𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲. 🧠 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐃𝐎 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐈𝐆? Let’s be honest . it’s not always about the geology or production goals. • 𝗘𝗴𝗼 : Loud blasts look like performance. • 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 : “We’ve always done it this way.” • 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗺 : KPIs get ticked. Targets met. Meanwhile, operations quietly bleed. Blasting is also psychology . Not just art. Not just science. And sometimes, it’s emotionally driven. 💣 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐑 Big blasts don’t just concentrate energy. They concentrate 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸. One misfire in a small blast? ➡️ Annoying. One misfire in a large blast? ➡️ Dangerous. Disruptive 𝗮𝗻𝗱 Expensive. Let’s break it down: • 👷 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁: Unexploded charges = silent killers during mucking or secondary operations. • 🚧 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘀: Can’t dig. Can’t load. Can’t crush. Everything stops. • 💸 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗸𝗲: Re-drilling, re-priming, idle machines — your “cost-saving” blast just blew its own budget. And ironically? Big blasts often skip quality checks in the name of 𝙚𝒇𝙛𝒊𝙘𝒊𝙚𝒏𝙘𝒚. But when you scale up, your margin for error shrinks. In a small blast, you can’t afford a misfire. In a big one? You can’t afford 𝒂𝙣𝒚𝙩𝒉𝙞𝒏𝙜 𝙡𝒆𝙨𝒔 𝒕𝙝𝒂𝙣 𝙥𝒆𝙧𝒇𝙚𝒄𝙩𝒊𝙤𝒏. And that’s a dangerous bet. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 "𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐘" 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐌𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄 Yes, larger diameter holes = fewer drill meters. Fewer holes sound like savings. But here’s what doesn’t make it into the dashboard: • 💥 𝗨𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Large holes don’t spread energy evenly. Fragmentation suffer • 🪨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞: You trade finer fragmentation for unpredictable boulders • 📏 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥: Wider burdens and spacings = precision out the window. • 🎯 𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Fewer holes = less control over initiation sequencing It’s not efficiency. It’s erosion of control, consistency, and downstream productivity. 🧱 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐒 𝐁𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐒 When teams get used to chasing tonnage through size alone, something more dangerous happens: 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜. - Precision gets replaced by routine. - Initiation timing? “Good enough.” - Burden checks? “Next time.” - Post-blast reviews? “No time, we’re busy moving muck.” 🧠 What starts as a tactical decision becomes a cultural drift. And suddenly, a site that once engineered every hole is now managing by momentum Let's stop chasing size and start chasing strategy because “𝘽𝙞𝙜” 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣.