Association of Mining Expertise Centers, Moscow, Russia:

G. I. Aynbinder, Chief Executive Officer, agec@agec.ru

D. S. Pechurina, Specialist of the Geological Survey Department, Candidate of Engineering Sciences

All-Russian Research Institute for Fire Protection, Ministry of Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters, Moscow, Russia:
N. L. Poletaev, Leading Researcher, Doctor of Engineering Sciences

Kristall Research and Production Association, Dzerzhinsk, Russia:
V. A. Sosnin, Chief Designer – Head of a Department, Doctor of Engineering Sciences

Russian mining and processing works prepare ore for extraction by drilling and blasting using granular explosives based on ammonium nitrate. Persistent accidents at such mineral mining and processing works are reflective of insufficient attention to the process safety management. On the other hand, one of the frequent causes of accidents is identified as interaction of chemically aggressive components of ore. The authors have revealed the phenomenon of self-heating of explosive charges made on the basis of ammonium nitrate in sulfide ore. The test procedure is developed with the use of steel ampoules, which allows assessment of chemical stability during modeling real conditions of joint use of hazardous explosive mixtures and wet ore. It is concluded on the need to add an inhibitor in compositions of the explosives in use for their safe placement in shotholes.

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