Effectiveness of the P100 and P600 Bulk Explosives

The criteria for selecting an explosive for a blasting operation in an open pit mine is dependent on factors such as water resistance, cost, critical (minimum) diameter, relative effective energy (REE), relative bulk strength (RBS) amongst others. Perseus Mining Ghana Ltd (PMGL) employs the use of two emulsion explosives, the P100 and P600 in blasting in its two pits AG-Pit and Fobinso-Pit respectively. This work seeks to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the two explosives and also their effectiveness in helping PMGL achieve a successful blast. It also addresses the factors which influences their selection and usage at PMGL and the analyses of ground vibrations and costs for fifteen blasts randomly selected from the month of November in 2013. Observations made during this work shows both explosives have excellent water resistance abilities and also that the P600 has higher REE and RBS than the P100 which led to the conclusion that both explosives are effective for use in wet ground conditions.