Webinar- Reading the Rock: Geology Considerations in Blast Design

From fragmentation to fly-rock, back break to vibration, geology can have drastic effects on the results of your blasting. A well designed blast takes into account site specific rock characteristics, to achieve the desired results. Technical Specialist and Solutions Engineer Elijah Williams discusses how to accommodate rock characteristic information into your blast design. Starting with drone data to analyze highwalls and identify face characteristics such as bedding planes, dip & strike angles, and 3D burdens, to adding drilling data to measure changes in the rock strata, deviation, and cavity locations. Hear Elijah’s best practices, tips and tricks, and lessons learned from years of experience on how to lay out, load, and time your shot while taking into account your specific geology to get your best blast Presenter: Elijah Williams | Strayos Links to other content: eBook: AI for Drilling and Blasting - https://www.strayos.com/ai-guide-for-... Blog: Webinar Summary - https://blog.strayos.com/webinar-summ... #mining #miningsoftware #MiningAI #quarry #quarrying #blasting #blastingsoftware #blastdesignsoftware #blastingAI #aggregatesupply #cementindustry #coalmining TABLE OF CONTENTS: 00:00 Welcome & Introduction (Host) 00:34 Speaker Introduction — Eli Williams 01:30 Overview of Strayos Platform & Workflow 03:00 Webinar Agenda & Housekeeping Notes 04:05 Eli Williams Opening Remarks 04:45 Agenda Overview — Site Conditions, Rock Properties & Blasting 05:12 Understanding Geological Site Conditions 06:00 Key Rock Property Indices (GSI, RQD, RMR) 07:15 Powder Factor Basics & Rock Difficulty 08:35 Poll 1 — Sources of Geological Data 09:50 Resources — USGS Maps & Regional Rock Data 11:00 Bringing Geology & 3D Models Together 12:10 Using AI to Detect Seams & Voids 13:15 Importance of Fault Detection & Joint Mapping 14:20 Best Practice — Orienting Blasts with Jointing Systems 15:05 Examples — Shooting Against, With, or Across the Dip 16:20 Real Site Example — Slip Condition & Safety 17:50 Manual Annotation of Joints in Strayos 19:15 Blast Design Considerations — Good Drilling Data 20:45 Keeping Holes Vertical & Consistent 21:55 Digital Drill Design & GPS Drilling Benefits 23:05 Accurate Elevations & Consistent Bench Floors 24:10 Smart Drilling — Measure While Drilling Data 25:25 Analyzing MWD Data — Penetration Rates, Hard Bands 27:00 Poll 2 — How Do You Gather Burden Measurements? 28:10 Borehole Probes — Why They Matter 29:20 How Borehole Deviation Impacts Safety 30:30 Example — Extreme Hole Deviation Case Study 32:00 Using Deviation Data for Loading Decisions 33:00 Adjusting Timing & Loading Based on Probe Data 34:15 Example — Adjusting for Seams & Hole Collisions 35:30 Final Loading Considerations — Stemming & Decking 37:00 Monitoring Fragmentation Outcomes 38:00 AI Fragmentation Analysis in Strayos 39:10 Poll 3 — Ground Vibration Prediction Tools 40:30 Ground Vibration — Rock Mass Impact & PPV 41:45 Using Machine Learning for Vibration Prediction 43:00 Monitoring with Seismographs & Feedback Loops 44:15 Summary — Tying Geology to Design & Safety 45:30 Q&A — Vertical vs. Inclined Holes 46:30 Q&A — Importing Large Point Clouds & Files 47:10 Q&A — Subdrill Design & Jointing 48:00 Q&A — Borehole Probes in Strayos 49:00 Q&A — Pre-Splitting & Bench Face Angle 50:00 Q&A — Dealing with Hard Cap Rock 51:00 Closing Comments & ISEE Conference Invite 52:00 Thank You & Webinar Wrap-Up