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Blasting Solutions

Surface mining automation

The next evolution of safer, more predictable drill and blast

Built on digital foundations, driven by automation, focused on customer outcomes.

Mining companies are under pressure to improve safety, maintain productivity and deliver more consistent outcomes in increasingly complex operating environments.

Surface mining automation technologies help move people away from hazardous and labour intensive on-bench activities while connecting data, workflows and automation to improve decision-making, reduce variability and achieve more predictable drill and blast outcomes.

Combining autonomous systems, tele-remote capability and real-time data, Surface Mining Automation builds on Orica's established blasting systems, digital technologies and operational expertise to support safer, more efficient and increasingly autonomous drill and blast operations.

Benefits of Surface Mining Automation

From on-bench activities to operational decision-making, automation is helping create safer, more consistent and more efficient drill and blast workflows.

Improve safety

Improve safety

Blast quality and performance

Blast quality and performance

Data insights

Data insights

Social license to operate

Social license to operate

Downstream processing efficiency

Downstream processing efficiency

Field to cloud data workflows

Field to cloud data workflows

Improve orebody knowledge

Improve orebody knowledge

Maximise resource recovery

Maximise resource recovery

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Drill and blast automation

Built on strong digital foundations

Automation starts with connected data, workflows and systems.

For more than a decade, Orica has been building technologies that connect orebody understanding, blast design, execution, measurement and performance monitoring across the drill and blast value chain.

Surface automation builds on these foundations, bringing together blasting expertise, digital intelligence, and operational workflows to support practical automation outcomes in live mining environments.

Our focus areas


Where automation creates value

Surface mining automation combines digital connectivity, tele-remote capability, autonomous systems and real-time data to improve safety, consistency and operational performance across key drill and blast workflows.

Autonomous dipping and measuring

Let technology collect the data, let people drive the decisions.
Combining automation with human expertise creates the best of both worlds: safer workplaces, more consistent data, and greater operational insight. Automated systems perform repetitive collection tasks with precision and consistency, while people focus on oversight, interpretation, and driving better outcomes.

Automated priming

Reduce exposure. Improve consistency. Scale execution.
Every priming task completed manually exposes people to risk, introduces variability and limits the ability to scale operations efficiently. Automating this critical blast preparation activity, moves people away from hazardous work while delivering more consistent execution. The result is safer operations, improved blast quality and a practical pathway toward increasingly autonomous drill and blast workflows.

Tele-remote loading capabilities

Operate from a safer location while maintaining control.
Loading explosives remains one of the highest-risk activities in the drill and blast process, often requiring operators to work in close proximity to hazards on the bench. Tele-remote loading capabilities enable operators to perform loading activities from a safer location, reducing exposure while maintaining operational control. This helps improve safety, support more continuous operations and create a pathway toward increasingly autonomous drill and blast execution.

Connected digital workflows

Turn operational data into actionable insight.
Customers are looking for more than isolated automation solutions — they need connected operations that turn data into action. Connected digital workflows integrate planning, execution, measurement and operational intelligence to provide a real-time view of drill and blast performance. This supports smarter decisions, more efficient operations and a practical pathway toward increasingly autonomous mining workflows.

 

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Emerging autonomous and tele-remote technologies are being developed to improve safety, operational performance and consistency across the drill and blast workflow.

Contact us

Contact Orica's automation specialists to learn how connected technologies, digital intelligence and automation solutions can help create safer, more efficient and more predictable outcomes at your site.

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