Inertial Sensing Part 2: Why Blastholes Fail in Mining & How BlastGyro Solves It #357
Inaccurate blasthole drilling continues to create major challenges for mining operations, affecting fragmentation quality, ore recovery, dilution, and overall production efficiency. Even small deviations in drill alignment can lead to significant downstream costs, making drill accuracy an increasingly important focus for modern mine planning and execution.
In this Mining NOW episode recorded at PDAC, host Jerrod Downey speaks with Duncan McLeod of Inertial Sensing about the long-standing issue of drill deviation and how new surveying technologies are helping address it.
The discussion centers on the BlastGyro, a system designed to bring high-precision surveying methods commonly used in oil and gas into underground mining applications. Duncan explains how the technology evolved from early implementations at LKAB operations in Sweden into a modern continuous surveying platform built for mining environments.
The episode also examines the limitations of many traditional gyro systems, including operational complexity, sensitivity in underground conditions, and cost constraints. BlastGyro is presented as an alternative focused on speed, reliability, and simplified workflows, including continuous surveying capabilities that remove dependence on conventional encoder-based methods.
For mining professionals interested in drill accuracy, blasting performance, and underground surveying innovation, this conversation offers insight into how precision measurement technologies are improving operational outcomes across the industry. Follow Mining NOW for more discussions on the tools and technologies advancing modern mining operations.
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