Magnetics Business & Technology - November/December 2024 - 6

FEATURE ARTICLE
Explosives Pioneer Orica Rocks the Mining Industry with Magnetic Inductance Priming
coupling with the help of a ferrite layer that concentrates and directs
the magnetic flux from the transmitter to the receiver.
WebGen 200 improves on Orica's unique first-generation system
with enhanced capabilities for safe and reliable wireless initiation
of blasts on the surface and underground. The second-generation
system offers four variants of primers specifically designed for
surface, underground development and underground production
blasting.
Blastholes primed with WebGen have no wires between or in blastholes
but depend on remote initiation using the magnetic induction
signals. This opens new opportunities for surface and underground
mines to improve recovery, reduce dilution and increase production
by reducing operational delays and scheduling constraints.
In underground mines, the system can significantly reduce risk to
personnel by reducing or eliminating the need to re-enter stopes
and drawpoints to connect blastholes with wire or signal tube. In
surface mines, it reduces constraints on the mine schedule by allowing
sleeping blasts to be converted to haulroads.
WebGen 200 Surface enables new mining methods and blasting techniques
at surface mines
150-years-young Orica has come up with a truly explosive way to
apply the power of magnetic inductance that is rocking the mining
industry. In the world of mining, innovation is not just a buzzword,
asserts the company, it's a necessity. As mines delve deeper and
face increasingly challenging conditions, the need for advanced
technologies becomes paramount.
At the forefront of this technological revolution stands Orica, an Australian
company with 150 years of experience in mining and civil
blasting. Today, its cutting-edge blasting technologies are transforming
mining operations, enhancing safety, efficiency, and productivity.
At the heart of the innovation is its groundbreaking WebGen
system for setting off blasts both in underground mines and at
surface mines. The system employs low-frequency magnetic signals
capable of transmitting robustly through rock, air and water to
initiate blasts. The signals are transmitted from a stout field antenna
to activate the specially designed primers placed at the explosive
charges.
" We know that as our customers go deeper
and move into more complex mining they
are requiring more advanced technology
to help them mine differently and continue
to extract their ore bodies safely and efficiently, "
explains Angus Melbourne, chief
technology officer at Orica. " That's where
WebGen 200 and our broader technology
roadmap comes in. "
Somewhat akin to wireless charging of a
cell phone or EV battery, a wireless inductive
signal is a type of electromagnetic field
that transfers power between two coils without
physical contact, using the process of induction. It is a kind of
wireless energy transfer that uses electromagnetic induction to provide
power to portable devices by inductive coupling between the
transmitter and receiver. Fundamentally, alternating current passing
through an induction coil creates an electromagnetic field used to
transfer energy via induction to a receiving coil, accomplishing the
Angus Melbourne,
CTO at Orica.
WebGen 200 product suite has four variants for underground and
surface blasting.
The primers can be
encoded in groups that
can be fired together
to make larger blasts
as needed. Groups
of in-hole primers can
be wirelessly initiated
by a firing command
that
communicates
through hundreds of
meters of rock, water
and air. This completely
removes constraints
often imposed by the
requirement of a physical connection to each primer in a blast and
importantly allows for removing people from harm's way. A blasting
sequence can be changed at short notice without the need to send
people to disconnect and reconnect blastholes. The primers can be
slept for up to 60 days after encoding, giving operational flexibility
to fire blasts when environmental conditions or production demands
dictate.
The WebGen 200 system has two antenna
options. The larger is a semi-permanent installation
that can achieve a useful range
of more than 700m in the right conditions
while the other is a semi-portable installation
that can achieve useful range of more
than 350m.
6 Magnetics Business & Technology * November/December 2024
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Magnetics Business & Technology - November/December 2024

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