Aeci Limited

Aeci Explosives Limited

Carl H Lubbe

Pieter S Halliday

Jeremy G Smith

Keith Anthony Jordan

Colin D Wilson

Arno W Dolz

Laurence Justin Wislon

Gareth Tucker

Alan J Harris

Laurence J Wilson

Lynette Swartz

David G Russell

Colin Douglas Wilson

The invention provides a method and apparatus (10) for loading a sensitized flowable explosive into a borehole. The apparatus (10) is portable and comprises containers 14, 16 which are pressurizable, for containing an explosive under pressure. Containers 14, 16 have closeable explosive inlets, closeable explosive outlets, and closable fluid inlets. In accordance with the method gas bubbles are dispersed into an explosive base to provide a sensitized explosive which is fed as a batch into the portable containers. The containers are pressurized to de-sensitize the explosive, after which the containers are conveyed to a borehole where the explosive is loaded from the apparatus into the borehole.

Explosives dispersed from a pressurized container

The invention provides a method of loading flowable explosives into a borehole, and a lance suitable for use in the method, A plurality of different fluids are fed into the borehole along a plurality of separate conduits each forming part of the same lance, The lance comprises said separate conduits, arranged side-by-side.

Loading of boreholes with flowable explosives

A positive displacement explosive base dosing pump is provided with a drive motor 14 and has an outlet 22 connected via a flexible hose 24 to a lance 70. The lance 70 has a mixing device 72 therein and a reciprocable positive displacement gassing solution dosing pump has an outlet connected via a flexible conduit 54 to the lance and feeding into the lance upstream of the mixing device 72. The invention involves using the base dosing pump 12 to pump explosive base from a supply 78 along the hose 24 to the lance 70 while the gassing solution dosing pump 16 simultaneously pumps gassing solution from a supply 56 along the flexible conduit 54. The conduit 54 leads the solution into the lance 70 upstream of the mixing device 72 whereby the explosive base is mixed with the solution, so that a mixture issues from the lance 70 which become sensitized after reaction has taken place between the base and solution.

Loading of boreholes with explosive

In a process for the production of a `water-in-fuel` or `melt-in-fuel` emulsion explosive a density-reducing agent is introduced and dispersed in the emulsion at an elevated temperature whereat the emulsion is essentially liquid, the explosive is cartridged and then subsequently cooled by means of a refrigerated fluid so that the continuous phase solidifies and stabilizes the dispersion of the density-reducing agent in the explosive. Preferably, when the density-reducing agent comprises gas bubbles the explosive is subjected to an elevated pressure before it is cartridged in order to ensure that the sensitivity of the explosive will not be impaired by disturbance of gas bubbles by any pressure drop which might occur during cartridging.

Process for the production of an explosive and the explosive

This invention relates to an explosive. In particular, the invention relates to an explosive of the emulsion type in which an oxidizing salt-containing component forms the discontinuous phase in an emulsion wherein the continuous phase comprises a fuel component which is immiscible with the discontinuous phase.

Explosive which includes an explosive emulsion

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Kempton Park, South Africa

Carl H Lubbe