Harmony Gold operates the Mount Marion underground gold mine near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The mine consists of two ore zones, East and West, and mining of these zones is currently conducted using the sublevel caving method._x000D_
When mining commenced in the Western zone, the span was insufficient to induce caving of the country rock above._x000D_
Dyno Nobel, together with Harmony and 360 Drilling, developed an innovative drill and blast solution in order to promote cave propagation and improve the safety of personnel at the operation._x000D_
The solution involved a series of shallow angle drill holes up to 90 m into the hanging wall of the West zone. These were charged with Titan 7000 underground bulk emulsion and the HotShot electronic initiation system. The blast used over seven tonnes of emulsion and 46 detonators and achieved the desired result without damaging nearby mine infrastructure.