January - February 2014
MODERN QUARRYING
15
It’s raining fish ‘n frogs,
Hallelujah!
of the most amazing experiences of my life!”
Henry tells
MQ
that he was asked by Chicks
Scrap Metal to blast 7,0 to 12 t scrap cast-iron sug-
arcane rollers, as they were too big for this compa-
ny’s furnace. “I would stand them up, fill them with
water and then suspend 800 g of high-velocity gel-
ignite slabs on detonating cord in the water. This
method worked well with the occasional failure.”
The Inspector of Mines at the time was a Mr
Rankin, who had heard about this and wanted to
video the procedure. A roller was set up and pre-
pared outside, very close to the blast shelter and
about 70 m from the corrugated iron toilets. To
ensure that this blast was spectacular and failsafe,
Henry added another 100 g of gelignite to the
charge just before blowdown – which turned out
to be a very bad decision indeed.
“Mr Rankin set up his camera in the blast shelter
and I initiated the shot. A piece of cast-iron the size
of a TV hit the toilets, and the corrugated iron from
the toilets wrapped around this piece of cast iron.
It looked like a meteor with a corrugated iron tail
as it ploughed through the bush. The event hap-
pened so fast and so violently that the video was
unable to capture the action. The rest of the roller
disappeared off the face of the earth, and we stood
speechless and in shock staring at the open hole
where the three toilets were located previously.”
Henry’s tendency to always strive to do a better job in
front of an audience, resulted in several other spectacular
events, which MQ will mention later.
A time of change
“In 1975 we purchased our first wagon drill, which
was mounted on wheels and could be pushed from
FACE TO FACE
hole to hole by hand,” he explains. “The hammer
was lifted with an air motor for the insertion of
extension rods, allowing us to drill holes up to a
depth of 15 m. I thought this was the ultimate
in drilling technology believing that we could
not get more advanced than this. Little did I
know what was to come.
“The longer holes resulted in us hav-
ing to change our blasting procedures. I
started using detonating cord with dog-
bone delays. At that same time, we also
changed from hauling stone with ngo-
lovans to hauling with tractors and trail-
ers. We also started mining in a new
area as the old quarry with its 100’
stepped face was not suited to this
new mining method.”
Henry says this was a time of
change. “I also got my new double-
diff Albion Super Six Comet explosive
truck, which was painted signal red
with the words ‘EXPLOSIVES/
SPRINGSTOWWE’ dis-
played in big bold
white lettering on the
back and on the sides.
“A dry chemical powder fire extinguisher
was mounted in the cab between the two bucket
seats. One day, on my way back fromVerulam with
a load of explosives, the fire extinguisher fell out of
its bracket whilst driving. Longone, my assistant,
accidentally triggered it in an attempt to replace
it in the bracket. In his panic and not knowing
how an extinguisher works, he kept his hand on
the trigger while trying to close the nozzle with his
other hand, fighting this extinguisher until it was
