Join us at the 49th Annual ISEE Conference! We will be offering fun and engaging events for spouses or guests including Yoga with Baby Goats, an Ice Cream Sorbet Making Class sponsored by Sayre Associates & Wine Glass Painting, to top it all off....its FREE!
From: ISEE Board of Directors Meeting
To: ISEE Members
What: 2023 ISEE Virtual Annual Membership Meeting
When: March 9, 2023
Time: 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. US Eastern Time Zone
Where: ISEE Zoom Conference Call (details on how to register will be coming shortly)
The ISEE Board of Directors invite you to join us for the Annual ISEE Membership Meeting held virtually this year. During this call we will review:
- 2022 election results
- Welcome new Director and thank exiting Directors
- 2021-2022 fiscal year financial results
- 2023-2025 Strategic Plan
- 2023 Annual Conference results
- 2022-2023 fiscal year budget
- Constitution Updates
- New Business
- Old Business
More information will be coming including how to register to attend the Virtual Annual Membership Meeting.
Announcement posted January 5, 2023
2023 ISEE 49th Annual Conference Sponsors
SPONSORSHIPS:
Austin Powder Gold Level Sponsorship
Blaster's Tool & Supply Water Station Sponsor
BME ISEE Networking reception
Burton Wire Conference Coffee Break
CAT Lunch Sponsorship
Carlson Software Silver Level Sponsorship Key Card
Carlson Software Key Card
Controlled Blasting Conference Bags
Dyno Nobel Platinum Level Sponsorship
Dyno Nobel Blasters Video Roundup
Explosive Solutions LLC Full page color ad in conference program
Explosive Solutions LLC ISEE Networking reception
Four Star Blasting Lunch Sponsorship
IEE Global Pty Conference bags
ITSCO Full page color ad in conference program
ITS-WM Full page color ad in conference program
M-Roc Bloody Mary Bar
Nelson Brothers Silver Level Sponsorship
Nobel Insurance Welcome Reception
Nomis Photo Contest
Powderman Conference Bags
Sandvik Mining Blasters Video Roundup
Sayre Associates Sorbet Making Class Sponsor
Sayre Associates Water Station Sponsor
Tradestar Official Conference T-Shirt
Tradestar Lunch Sponsorship
Tread Corp Conference Lanyards
Sponsor Spotlight:
Dyno Nobel’s Ranger: SAFE, SIMPLE, and SMART
Dyno Nobel launched the Ranger at ISEE’s Annual Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique in 2022, and the rollout in the year since has been a massive success. There are over 114 units currently in the field, and many customers are now moving from NONEL toward electronic detonators thanks to the Ranger’s flexibility and ease of use.
The Ranger is a blast initiation system that was designed explicitly for the open cut, quarry, civil, and construction industries. The multipurpose device can be used as a Base or Bench Ranger to control the entire blast with two channels that can connect up to 300 detonators each for a total of 600. The Ranger also has a robust built-in long-range antenna that can handle even the harshest mining conditions with a range of up to 3 kilometers or 1.8 miles.
The Ranger stands out in the field for a number of reasons. Traditionally, detonators have been assigned a hole location only, and delay times are then set at the time of blasting. The process is often time-consuming and may introduce user errors. The Ranger’s flexible tagging option tackles these problems by allowing the user to assign both hole location and delay time at the hole or, alternatively, assign delay times at any time the user prefers. This feature enables the user to adjust the process to their needs, thus speeding up the tagging process.
The Ranger also offers a “tag by plan” option, which allows users to pre-design a blast plan using the CE4 Tagger or ViewShot Xpress blast application. The user then only needs to align the correct hole with the valid hole number on the tagger. The tagging path is flexible, so adjustments can be made to the plan during tagging and the addition of any new blastholes. This simple-to-use feature significantly reduces the potential for user error.
In addition to its tagging modes, the Ranger offers several key safety benefits. It automatically checks to ensure the correct number of detonators per channel and offers autonomous detection and testing of the detonators. Detonator energy can be monitored right up to the point of blasting for increased safety throughout the entire process, ensuring sufficient blast voltage at each detonator.
“Eliminating misfires is crucial to ensuring safety and productivity,” says Braden Lusk, President, Dyno Nobel Americas. “The Ranger delivers the safety and reliability that customers need by providing both automatic detonator detection and voltage verification in a rugged, easy-to-use unit.”
Austin Powder Launches E*STAR Tunnel
Economical, Easy to Use, and Environmentally Responsible
July 2022. Cleveland, Ohio. Austin Powder, a leader in the manufacture, distribution, and application of industrial explosives and engineered blasting solutions, announces the release of its new E*STAR Tunnel, developed for rapid tunnel blasting deployment while reducing post-blast plastic residue in the muck pile.
Austin Powder is committed to continuously improving its products and is proud to introduce the E*STAR Tunnel detonator as the latest edition to the E*STAR Electronic Initiation System.
The robust design and exceptional leakage tolerance make the E*STAR Tunnel detonator and the accompanying blasting system reliable in demanding and extreme tunnel conditions.
The newly designed E*STAR Tunnel connector introduces less plastic to the blast site, while the neon colors allow for quick detection, even in a low-light underground environment. "Two of the great features of the E*STAR Tunnel are the economy of the product and the reduction of environmental impact on our customers." Says Campbell Robertson, Global Manager, Electronic Initiation Systems. "Even though the connector and the leg-wire were each designed to have less plastic, it is extremely robust and has proven to be an excellent product."
E*STAR Tunnel offers delays of up to 20 seconds, allowing customers to optimize timing to solve issues caused by excessive vibration or sub-optimal fragmentation. Using the flexible E*STAR Tunnel timing in the blast, along with accurately timed contour holes, can prevent overbreak, which improves wall stability with more advance per blast. This results in multiple production and safety efficiencies which makes significant positive impacts on every part of the operation.
The accuracy of the E*STAR Tunnel timing reduces scaling times and optimizes energy with significantly less over-break, which positively impacts the bolting and concrete spraying cycles.
With RFID capability and Sections & Intervals, the new Austin Powder programming method is specifically designed for tunneling. Programming and connecting E*STAR Tunnel detonators is a rapid process resulting in faster hole-loading and improved fragmentation with less oversized material. Campbell Robertson explains why. He says, "Unlike typical pre-set pyrotechnic delay periods, any detonator can go to any hole, and you assign your delays based on the sections and intervals you have preassigned on your Logger."
In a recent trial in Europe, customer Jiří Horčička, Project Manager, Metrostav Norge AS, said, "The E*STAR Tunnel system is very intuitive, so it is easy to handle for our blasters. The second advantage is that it has a very low environmental impact, and we as customers will definitely use this system in the future with no doubts."
Join Austin Powder on our mission to improve the world we live in through the safe and responsible use of explosives.
Austin Powder continues to develop technology to improve the efficiency of blasting processes. The E*STAR Tunnel technology is now available. Contact your local Austin Powder representative for more information.
First off, we would like to thank all the authors from around the world who took the time to submit abstracts and papers for the 49th Annual ISEE Conference. We would also like to thank our reviewers who worked hard to review all the papers that were submitted. It was a rigorous peer review process with over 140 abstracts and papers reviewed by 26 dedicated reviewers across 4 continents, 61 papers were chosen for presentation.
We are pleased to announce the top 3 papers by merit:
1st-Anisometric Blast Wave Propagation of Geometric Charges in Breaching Applications by Mark Herman
Summary: Minimum safe distance (MSD) calculations are used widely in military applications. These calculations are often based on spherical charges in open air. However, some applications, including explosive breaching, use other geometries. These other geometries exhibit a shock wave profile that has different values when measured in different directions, thus making the current spherical models inaccurate.
2nd-Mining Cost Optimization Strategy Based on Adaptive Blast Design by Paul Couceiro
Summary: This paper describes the application of a heuristic cost optimization approach, where blast parameters are used as decision variables to evaluate the potential impact of several blasting scenarios on subsequent operations. This can be done while continuously modelling, measuring and calibrating the resultant operational performances throughout the mine cycle.
3rd-Encounter with Potentially Acidic Sulphate Soils (PASS) and Bulk Emulsion Reaction in a South Africa Iron Ore Mine by D. Scott Scovira
Summary: Recently a mine reported a decline in blast performance: the bulk emulsion was breaking down inside blast holes that had been left to sleep while the rest of the blast was loaded. Tests conducted with a mixture of the bulk emulsion and mine water from the bench, along with the inclusion of drill hole cuttings, revealed a new mechanism for bulk emulsion breakdown driven by a reaction with Potentially Acidic Sulphate Soils (PASS).
Congratulations to all three who will be recognized at the ISEE conference in San Antonio!
Reminder: Please get your release forms and videos submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than Nov. 30th 2022 to be included.
If selected, your video will be part of the overall 2023 Blaster’s Round-Up Video program on Sunday, February 5, 2023 showcasing the excellent work taking place in the field.