Aspects related to the safety of handling explosive materials have led to a relatively high gap between the degree of mechanization of shooting works and that of other operations specific to the extraction of hard rocks.
The development of new types of explosive materials and means of initiation, especially those with superior characteristics to transport and handling, have allowed and will continue to allow the development of means for the mechanization of shooting work, which have become an effective way of growth of efficiency and of the safety in the case of landfilling with explosives.
The more recent concerns regarding the reduction of the risk level, since the locations where shooting works are carried out or the development of habitats and industrial objectives are closer to habitable areas, have impelled the diversification of means for mechanized preparation and mechanized loading of explosives in situ. In such increasingly common conditions, the construction and location of explosives depots leads to an increase in the level of risk and a reduction in the level of security..
Consequently, the latest generations of means for mechanizing shooting work have been aimed at reducing the level of risk in use, storage and transportation, due to the fact that precursors, that are not classified as explosives or dangerous goods under national law, respectively the classification of United Nations experts according to the "orange book", are usually transported and stored.
The transition to the mechanization of the shooting works is supported by the multiple advantages offered - verified mainly worldwide and partially in our country - among which are::
- reduction of labor consumption and time compared to manual loading;
- decongestion of the danger zone during the execution of the shooting works;
- increasing the concentration of explosive energy per unit volume of hole;
- increasing the transfer coefficient of explosive energy to the environment subject to dislocation;
- expanding the field of use of explosives;
- reduction of primary costs due to explosives;
- re-evaluation of the geometric parameters of the shooting networks in the sense of their increase;
- reducing the volume of drilling works with the positive effects arising from here;
- reduction of the volume of secondary shooting works;
- reduction of transport, storage and security costs;
- streamlining the management of shooting works;
- increasing the level of security and reducing the level of risk.
It can be stated, therefore, that in the current conditions of the market economy, the re-evaluation of the efficiency potential of the shooting works by mechanizing them must be a major concern, as in this field there are still enough reserves to be exploited.
