Drill-to-mill: Efficient drilling and blasting resulting in increased mill throughput at Barrick Goldstrike

摘要

Measurable improvements in throughput have been documented at Barrick Goldstrike due to increased ore fragmentation through efficient drilling and blasting techniques. A decrease in throughput at the autoclave, due to increasingly hard ore, was identified in early 2002. A team of individuals from the open pit and process areas worked closely on a continuous improvement initiative to ensure that it would address the needs of both groups, with the target of actually improving throughput in future years, despite the projected harder ores. The Barrick Goldstrike open-pit group, along with the process division, began experimenting with novel blasting technology and techniques to improve mill throughput in the spring of 2001. A series of tests were developed to determine if fragmentation and, ultimately, mill throughput could be influenced by optimizing the drilling and blasting program in known hard ore areas. This continuous improvement initiative was given the name drill-to-mill (D2M).