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Oil, Gas & Mining vocabulary · Mine Types & Mining Operations

Blasting

Meaning in oil, gas & mining, with examples

/ˈblæstɪŋ/nounCore term

In oil, gas & mining, blasting means: Breaking rock with explosives placed in drilled holes so it can be loaded and removed. It is a daily task in open pits, underground mines and quarries.

In Turkish: patlatma, atım

How it is used

Part of the drill and blast cycle. A shotfirer or blaster designs and fires the blast; the area is cleared before blasting and checked after it. Common terms: blast pattern, blast hole, charge, misfire, fly rock and blast vibration.

Example sentences

  1. Blasting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., so all personnel must leave the pit by 1:15.

  2. Nearby villagers complained about vibration from the blasting.

Common collocations

  • drill and blast
  • blast hole
  • blasting schedule
  • controlled blasting
  • blast vibration
  • open-pit mineA mine where ore is dug from the surface in a large, stepped hole that gets wider and deeper over time, instead of through underground tunnels.
  • benchOne of the flat, step-like levels cut into the walls of an open pit or quarry, where drilling, blasting and loading take place.
  • underground mineA mine where ore or coal is reached through shafts, declines or tunnels and extracted below the surface, used when the deposit is too deep for an open pit.
  • overburdenThe soil and waste rock lying on top of an ore body or coal seam, which must be removed before the valuable material can be mined.

More terms: Mine Types & Mining Operations

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