Dyno Nobel, a global leader in commercial explosives, was a part of a record-breaking blast that took place on April 29, 2018, at the Renard diamond mine in Québec, Canada, operated and owned by Stornoway Diamond Corp. An underground blast initiated by 1,461 DigiShot Plus detonators facilitated the recovery of a large volume of kimberlite. This is the largest underground blast on record that has been initiated with DigiShot Plus. DigiShot Plus is an electronic initiation system developed by Dyno Nobel and DetNet® (a joint venture partner of Dyno Nobel).

The Renard Mine is located approximately 250 km north of Mistissini in the James Bay region. The mine is a fly-in and fly-out operation, with commercial trucking to and from cities for all supplies needed to accommodate operations at the mine. The blast was initiated from the surface to ensure safety of mine employees. The use of DigiShot Plus allowed the mine to maximise timing accuracy and also tie in a large quantity of detonators while maintaining testability of the detonators. This continuous communication with the detonator allows the user to verify there are no missing detonators and each detonator will be initiated.

The Renard Mine called this stope shot a “Mass Blast,” which was fitting for this large-scale blast. A total of 265,000 projected tons and 208,000 kg of explosives were used to load this stope shot, including the 1,461 DigiShot Plus detonators used for initiation. The downholes had a diameter of 6½ in and the upholes had a dimeter of 4½ in, and all hole depths varied from 25 m to 65 m.

The blast design was developed by the engineering group at the Renard Mine and was executed by the Dyno Nobel on-site representatives. Josh Lachapelle, the electronic initiation representative, used ViewShot®, Dyno Nobel’s blast pattern software, to input the timing and tie in path for accuracy and potential troubleshooting.
At 17:38 (5:38 pm) the blast was initiated remotely from surface consuming the 1,461 DigiShot Plus detonators. Renard Mine Management and personnel were pleased with the blast result.