What to do when something falls down a blast hole
There is no formal industry guidance for dropped items on the bench. Here are clear, safety-aligned steps, and where a purpose-built retrieval tool fits.
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Practical drill and blast guidance on stemming, measuring, initiation and blast-area safety.
Articles
Stemming confinement: keeping blast energy where it breaks rock
How Scaled Depth of Burial explains energy loss at the collar, and what better confinement means for fragmentation, flyrock and cost.
Why the dip tape is still the reference for hole depth
LIDAR and RADAR systems are arriving on benches, but true hole depth still comes from a weighted tape. Here's why accuracy matters.
Securing leads at the collar without leaving plastic behind
Plastic lead retainers end up in the muck pile. A compostable alternative holds leads during charging, then breaks down after the blast.
Clearing the blast zone: signalling and delineation that just works
Rechargeable sirens and self-charging beacons remove the weak points of aerosol horns and disposable batteries.
GOTCHA™ Retrieval Tool for Blast‑Hole Recovery
GOTCHA - IntroductionWhat To Do If a Phone, 2-Way radio, Detonator Logger or Personal Item Falls Down a Blast Hole (Loaded or Unloaded) | #1 in Safe Retrieval…
Blast Hole Measurement: Precision That Produces Safer, Cleaner, More Predictable Blasts — Every Time
Accurate blast hole measurement is the first decision in every blast design execution — and small errors create costly downstream problems. This article explains the Execution Gap and why reliable depth tapes matter.
Scaled Depth of Burial: A Key Metric in Blast Design
Scaled Depth of Burial (SDOB) is a key blast design metric that measures explosive energy confinement, helping engineers improve fragmentation, reduce flyrock, and deliver safer, more predictable blasts.
Submergo™ dip tapes provide accurate, reliable dip tape measurements for safer, more predictable blasting outcomes
"You can't manage what you don't measure" Peter Drucker, business management consultant & author "Submergo" is a Latin verb meaning to dip, plunge, sink. In mining operations, accurate…
LineSaver™ Initiating Systems Retainer – An Alternative to Bamboo and Wooden Stakes – For Safer, Cleaner Blasts Every Time
Updated on 8 August 2026 The LineSaver initiating systems retainer solves a long‑standing problem in blasting: reliable detonator cord retention without plastic waste or environmental impact. In drill…
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