need to get through several feet of bedrock

Functional

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Feb 16, 2007
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Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada
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A Compass Magnum 420 recently brought back to life. And an untested "in the wild" Teknetics.
fredrico said:
open for suggestions on how to do it as quitely as possible. ???
thanks
Fred

BOOM!

Are you trying to sneak up on the gold? ;)

Blasters often use padding that looks a lot like a mattress made from rubber. I don't know the spec's on it, but I think it has layers with air pockets inside.

If you are doing your blasting in an area that has water in it, or can be partly filled with water, the water would help to cushion the blast. Of course, it would be easier to drill your holes and place your charges, then seal them before putting the water in, but I would guess there are alternative methods. I'm more into placer mining, but there are others here into hard rock.

F.
 

Hoser John

Gold Member
Mar 22, 2003
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Dry blasting-no problem,many ways to do it. Underwater is a whole different animal. Let the experts do it. You only get to make one mistake-EVER!!!!John
 

djui5

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May 22, 2006
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you could get one of those little portable gas powered generators, and a small electric rock hammer, like the ones they break up sidewalks with. It's not that loud really, and would work quite well. If you really had to, you could put some kinda "wall" around the generator to quiet it down a bit, leaving enough room for exhaust and air flow.
 

aussco999

Jr. Member
Dec 25, 2003
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Texas
There is nothing quite about ANFO, and it takes some form of about a #8 booster (like 30% TNT) to properly set it off. Also, it works better at breaking rocks in a confined space, like a drill hole.

You will probably needed to provided a little more info on the whats, wheres, and whys of your project before someone could come up with a helpful plan for you.

What ever it is, good luck.

John
 

dave wiseman

Hero Member
Jul 23, 2004
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Angels Camp,Ca.
And then there's always non-explosive rock breaking stuff such as Dexpan,Rock-x,aquafoam.You could probably put a muffler on a electric jackhammer.Do your samples pan out where it's worth doing all that? Good luck........Dave
 

ericwt

Sr. Member
Feb 8, 2004
468
13
Heat up the rock with a big fire, then throw water on the rock. The bedrock will crack and you can use a pick. It may take several fires and splashing water on the rock but it is quieter than blasting.

I recommend a water pump and a hose for the water. You do not want to breath those fumes!
 

Miner Matt

Greenie
Sep 8, 2007
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If you are under water then you would need to use Gel Max just like TNT but water proof.If you are on dry bedrock one of the web sites Dave Wiseman gave you will help you.
 

dandbln

Newbie
Dec 12, 2007
1
0
Years ago I bought a gas driven core drill. It cuts a nice 1 7/8 hole in rock. It is nice and portable at about 35 pounds. I usually only carry 2' of drill pipe and a water pump that is sufficient to poke holes in bedrock befor pouring in Dex pan. We used it on a friends property where a granite boulder was in the way of the porch. The old porch was just kind of ramped up over it. My friend drilled about 23 holes into it over the course of two days and she poured Dex Pan in both days. It broke the granite in nice size chunks that they could pick up. They took off about 4 feet of the boulder (she was having fun drilling). The dex pan is safe and non toxic but it does take 24 hours to fully work. I also have a Ryobi gas hammer drill. We have used that often to drill holes to anchor our winch. The Micro blaster uses that one to drill the holes. If you are really serious about drilling I have two Air powered underground drills but you need a large compressor with a 1" output.
 

barber

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Jun 21, 2005
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Yakima,WA
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you didn't say if it was under water, If not, there should be no problem, if you can get dynamite and fuses, and a drill, It would be a piece of cake. I used to be a miner in Idaho. and we had hard rock.
 

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