Working directly with mine site personnel, BESTECH reviewed the operations existing production blast re-entry protocols and benchmarked against the current industry practices in Canadian mines.

Areas for improvement were identified, and the ACG’s mXrap Omori tools were used to develop a systematic and quantitative re-entry protocol methodology.

Use of mXrap tools ensures re-entry protocols are always up-to-date, considering the most recent seismic responses to production blasting. This is critical to safety and due diligence, as mining operations continually experience new and changing conditions which impact seismic hazard and risk.

Input from site operation leads ensured re-entry protocols were realistic and minimized possible impacts on production while ensuring safety of underground personnel by reducing exposure. A comparative retrospective analysis was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing and new re-entry protocol methodology for mitigating seismic risk. This provided a justification for the implementation of a formal re-entry protocol procedure.

At the request of the operation, project results and conclusions were presented to the mine site’s external seismic review board as part of their annual seismic review.