Some of the Best Solutions are the Simplest

BHP Silver City – Priming with a Wooden Tamping Rod

Some of you would have already seen this post from BHP Billiton about their operations at Broken Hill back in the day:

From the Archives: Silver City (1938)

Watching this video makes me think of quite a number of things – most of them to do with technology, change, and the achievements of the miners of past days in the face of significant challenge. Moving men, materiel, and animals between the surface and underground is no mean feat. I’m struck and reminded by the extent of timbering, manual pushing of rail trucks, and the ‘safety’ procedures and equipment used. Most of the technology in this video has changed – being either significantly improved, superseded, or completely obviated through progress. For example, steel alloys have improved, the range of personal protective equipment available today is extensive, and horses have been replaced by mechanised transport methods.

However, one piece of technology remains virtually unchanged – the wooden stick. Albeit a while ago now, I primed holes underground as part of vacation work by gently pushing a packaged emulsion primer with a non-electric detonator in it down with a wooden stick. Wooden sticks (tamping rods) are still used today because they’re cheap, light, come in customisable lengths and widths, and, importantly for this application, don’t hold a static charge or produce a spark when struck. With compressed air we would load ANFO in on top and tie in with det cord, an electric det, and some bell wire.

While some things change, some things stay the same. Some improvement opportunities are obvious and, sometimes, a solution lasts and lasts because of its simplicity, suitability, and value.

The picture featured in this post is a screen grab from the linked video.