Mintech Pty Ltd

ACN 051 403 715 ABN 42 051 403 715

MINTECH is a wholly Australian owned company and has been operating successfully for over 17 years supplying blasting accessories world-wide to the Mining, Quarrying and Civil Construction Industries. MINTECH products provide the ideal tools to achieve real Cost Effective Blasting.

MINTECH INVENTED:-	*Expanding Foam Borehole Plugs*
	*Non Aerosol (Chemical) Gasbags*
	*Aerosol Gasbags*
	*Stemkones (for Drilled Blasthole Protection)*
	*Borehole Depth Sounders*
	*Stemliner System - (A Safe and Reliable Blasthole Lining System)*

MINTECH'S core business is the patented development and manufacture of Aerosol and Non-Aerosol Gasbags for a variety of blasting applications. MINTECH developed, in conjunction with mining companies and regulatory authorities, their safe and practical applications for use. We also developed gasbags for use in hazardous underground environments. Consequently MINTECH gasbags comply with all the federal and state codes with regard to manufacture, storage, transport, environmental aspects and usage. Additionally MINTECH'S aerosol propellant conforms with International Agreements covering environment protection.

MINTECH'S Stemkones provide for drilled blasthole protection by preventing the unwanted backfilling of blastholes between the drilling and loading cycles.

MINTECH'S Stemliners enable the use of ANFO instead of costly water-proof explosives in dewaterable blastholes.

MINTECH'S Borehole Sounders sonically measure and record blasthole depths, to within 0.5m, thus minimising the need for time consuming manual depth measurements.

MINTECH is at the front line in striving to meet customer requirements and developing our products according to customer needs. MINTECH'S philosophy is to supply products and services that meet the highest consistent quality criteria. These quality criteria are backed up by MINTECH'S accreditation according to ISO 9002 - a standard by which the majority of our customers operate and which was demanded of us by the mining industry. MINTECH also has available qualified technical and support staff who are thoroughly conversant with the mining, quarrying, explosives and plastics industries.

MINTECH has established joint ventures in the UK, USA, South Africa, India and Chile. Accordingly we have access to a wide range of drilling and blasting applications that have provided welcome solutions in other difficult situations.

MINTECH'S aim is to continually maintain the high standards achieved, develop products according to customer special applications and ensure that all MINTECH products meet or exceed the specified standards and legal requirements of the mining and associated industries.

Mintech Products


Gasbag		Stemkone




Stemliner		Borehole sounder

Typical Gasbag Applications

*Sealing off Nuisance Water*
Mintech conceived and developed the *Gasbag* to assist miners simplify and improve their drill and blast operations. The *Gasbag* is a self inflating, high-strength balloon capable of locking off in a borehole and bearing heavy loads for long periods of time. Initially the product's main use was to seal off nuisance water in the borehole to allow maximisation of ANFO in preference to water resistant explosives.

*Top Column Air Decks*
	Top column air decks are suitable for most mining situations particularly in weak to medium strength materials where fragmentation in the stemming zone is required without gross movement. *A 25% - 40% reduction in powder factor is common.*

*Mid Column Air Decks*
Mid column air decks are recommended for harder materials or where significant movement is required. The air deck/charge ratio is lower than that used in top column air deck configurations. A higher level of fragmentation than either top or bottom column air decks results. *20% reductions in powder factor are common.*

*Pre Splitting*
	Previously a cumbersome operation due to the difficulty of distributing explosives throughout the borehole. Air decking using *Gasbags* has made this a simple procedure. Originally used for final excavation limits but now in regular use in multirow shots to produce clean, stable high walls.

Open Cut Blasting Situations

Aim to:
        Maximise use of ANFO
        Maximise carrying and charging capacity of bulk explosive trucks
        Employ efficient charging procedures
        Protect drilled blastholes
        Minimise stemming heights
        Produce clean and stable highwalls
        Reduce environmental impact with lower ground vibration and air blast

New Product - MINTECH AQUADECK¹
Simplifying Underwater Decking in Blastholes

Mintech invented the gasbag which revolutionised blasting techniques within Australia and Internationally. The Mintech gasbag reliably provides cost reductions, increases safety and assists with environmental compliance. However non-dewaterable blastholes, where gasbags cannot be used at depth underwater, have always posed a problem - until now!

Mintech has simplified the method for decking underwater in non de-waterable blastholes. Mintech has developed the Aquadeck. The Aquadeck allows the design decking to be continued across the whole blast area regardless of blasthole water level conditions and blasthole dewatering pump availablity.

What are the AQUADECK benefits?

Totally non hazardous	No storage, transport or handling restrictions
Lightweight Easy to handle	No aerosols or compressed air
The design loading can continue regardless of blasthole water levlels and dewatering equipment
May be located in the blasthole at any depth of water
Not affected by climatic extremes

Not restricted to wet blastholes! - Can replace gasbags where a jagged blasthole wall is hazardous and problematic.

Using a varied installation method, the Aquadeck may be recovered and re-used e.g. when temporary access is required across drill patterns. Using a recoverable Aquadeck not only provides for blasthole protection but minimises waste and reduces the potential for blasthole blockages.

For more information on decking under water in blastholes contact Mintech

¹Patent No. 2004906199 & Reg. Name Pending.

We Have Produced A Guide To Help You To Achieve More Efficient Blasting

Find the answers to questions like:
         How much water can I seal off?
         What size air deck can I use?
         To what height can I reduce the stemming?
         What can I do to achieve better pre-splitting?
         Will I require non-standard gas bags?
         Eg. chemical, submersible....and so on.          Click here to download the guide.

Email us at mintech@gasbags.com.au Telephone +61 2 9516-3375 Fax +61 2 9516-3704
3E 1-7 Unwins Bridge Road, St Peters, NSW 2044, Australia.
PO Box 76, Coogee, NSW 2034, Australia.

Last updated: 2007/04/02