The practical aspects of blasting are well estabished in mining engineering.

Explosive charges are

emplaced in blast holes suitably located relative to a free surface of an opening, and detonated. Rock
surrounding the charges is fragmented and displaced by the impulsive loading in the medium, generated
by the sudden release of the explosive's potential energy. Control and routine application of such an
intrinsically violent process represent significant feats in both chemical and mining technology.
Underground mining in hard-rock environments is highly dependent on the successful execution of
blasting procedures. Although shaft borers and raise borers are occasionally used in developing vertical
access to and within an orebody, the greatest majority of mine development is still undertaken with
well-established and efficient methods of drilling and blasting. Orebody rock is liberated from its natural
surroundings, and subjected simultaneously to an episode of massive comminution, by primary blasting
in the stopes. Other minor blasts, in stope drawpoints and ore passes, for example, may be required to
maintain the free flow of ore in the ore-handling system. The significance of rock blasting in mine
development and production indicates the value of a brief exposition of the fundamentals of blasting
mechanics. Preceding discussions of mine excavation design and excavation support design have been
based, in the main, on consideration of static forces and stresses generated in the medium, and their
effect on the in-situ rock. Most mine openings are created incrementally, by segments excavated in a
nearinstantaneous process. The consequences of the rapidity of excavation have been discussed in
Chapter 10, but the nature and effects of the excavation process per se have not been considered. A
particular concern with blasting is its effect on the rock in the immediate periphery of an excavation.
Intense local fracturing, and disruption of the integrity of the interlocked, jointed assembly, can be
produced in the near-field rock by poor blast design. More extensive adverse effects can be induced by
the transmission to the far field of energy input to the rock by explosive action. In high-stress
environments, such as occur at depth, or in pillars supporting panels mined to a high extraction ratio,
perturbations associated with blasting may trigger extensive instability in the mine structures