Blasting tools are an essential part of the mining industry and are used to break down and fracture materials (usually rocks) by use of a calculated amount of explosive to liberate the sought-after product from the waste material. Blasting is also used to remove pockets of unwanted material that are preventing mining machines and personnel to get to the seam containing the materials of interest. Unmanned drill rigs will drill holes at pre-determined depths and positions on a blast face to ensure that a particular size fraction is achieved and that little of the overburden is liberated with the blasting to reduce material handling costs.  Once this process has been completed, an excavator is used to recover the blasted rocks and other debris that has been dislodged during the blasting.  The material is then conveyed to a central conveying system which will take it directly to the surface or via a skip and hoist system.

Blasting equipment is used for both underground and open pit mining operations and is known to be one of the most hazardous aspects of the job.

For mining operations to be successful good blast designs are absolutely vital as poor practices and excessive explosives can result in damage to rock structures causing unwanted caving.