Orica, the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial explosives and innovative blasting systems, has announced the release of its new blast design and modelling software for underground mining applications, SHOTPlus™ Underground. Since its original launch, SHOTPlus™ has grown to be the mining industry’s leading drill and blast software solution around the world, says Orica. Following successful trials by Orica’s technical services teams, the new SHOTPlus™ Underground blast design and modelling software is designed specifically for advanced underground blast design and complex blasting scenarios.
Orica Global Digital Products Senior Manager, Angelo Labriola, describes the new software, saying “The latest SHOTPlus Underground has been fully re-written and is now the premier blast design package for the underground mining sector. Designing, analysing and visualising in 3D has never been easier, ring to ring and hole to hole interactions and overall blast dynamics are at your fingertips, allowing users to optimise and maximise output, benefit and results.”
Underground production blasting typically requires geometrically complex ring patterns. Optimising the explosives loading and initiation design and producing clear instructions to blasting crews requires a specialised software solution. SHOTPlus™ Underground is designed to meet the discrete needs of underground mining applications, delivering an improved interactive 3D environment and enhanced visualisation as well as Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) tools to allow engineers to identify the most efficient blast design to ensure the required outcome. The new set of features and tools also allows for easy adjustment of blast designs and rapid comparison of different scenarios.
“The ability to seamlessly adjust, visualise and optimise underground blast loading designs and timing allows users to efficiently design blasts, irrespective of complexity. It also enables the necessary analysis to optimise the performance of blast designs with Orica’s electronic initiation systems, dramatically cutting down the time required to produce loading and timing instructions for blast crews” Labriola said.
Direct integration with Orica’s electronic initiation systems ensures that the blast design process flows seamlessly, with Orica’s product suite, delivering enhanced accuracy and efficiency whilst ensuring the integrity and safety of the process.