Blasthole Drilling

A hole is drilled into the rock's surface, filled with explosives, and then set off using the drilling technique. This method's objective is to cause cracks in the surrounding rock's inner geology in order to make additional drilling and related mining activity easier. The "blast hole" is the first hole into which the explosives are placed. One of the most common surface drilling methods used in modern mining operations is blast hole drilling.

Dewatering

Dewatering involves controlling groundwater by pumping, to locally lower groundwater levels in the vicinity of the excavation. The simplest form of dewatering is sump pumping, where groundwater is allowed to enter the excavation where it is then collected in a sump and pumped away by robust solids handling pumps. Sump pumping can be effective in many circumstances, but seepage into the excavation can create the risk of instability and other construction problems.