THE Guyana Mining School in collaboration with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and Orica Mining Services yesterday teamed-up to host a two-day course in Selective Explosives Blasting at the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) Multi-Complex Building in Kingston, Georgetown.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds declared the course opened yesterday and spoke on behalf of the mining sector in Guyana.

He outlined critical pointers on enhancing the mining sector and its growth and welcomed the course initiated by the Government to improve the sector and its stakeholders.

Prime Minister Hinds also talked about mining yesteryear against the backdrop of mining today and its advantages and disadvantages.

Also present was Davendra Kissoon, an attorney, who is a representative of Orica Mining Services in Guyana.

He said he has been in the business from its conception and his father assumed the position of mining engineer which caused him to be more involved in the trade.

Kissoon stated that Orica Mining Services has been operating in Guyana for the past 46 years and has been continuously supplying the mining industry here from Guymine to Omai and local quarry operators.

He added that they are now working with two new gold mines to ensure blasting is done safely in an environmentally-friendly and cost-efficient manner to enable Guyana to grow quickly.

Kissoon said, “We are very pleased today to offer a refresher blasting training programme where two qualified mining engineers from Latin America are here and who have been practising in the field for 15 to 20 years. They are here to hone in on skills from blasters, who are already certified and to assist persons who are supervising and dealing with other aspects of the blasting process, so that they are thoroughly updated in safety procedures, transport procedures and technical aspects of the blasting process.”

He noted that the two-day course is one of 15 such courses they have held in Guyana and this is just the beginning of a series of other courses to be done in the future so that they can qualify young blasters.

Kissoon said that one of the most remarkable things about the course is a clear view that persons in Guyana coming from different backgrounds and areas showed up at one place for the course and that in itself is outstanding.

He noted that stakeholders responded readily to the course and with assistance from the ministry the combined effort saw 100% attendance, including personnel from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Guyana Police Force (GPF), the transportation industry and other users of Orica products and administrators and coordinators.

Kissoon told reporters yesterday that they have sufficient expertise in the industry but the need for more such persons was recognised. Therefore the Government initiated the course so that the future would be secure with the relevant personnel since blasters from the past 15 years ago have matured and new people are being trained.

He stated that the course will run for 16 to 20 hours for the next two days and during the third day there will be break-out sessions for specialised aspects such as new techniques, cost efficiency, safety and new products.

Kissoon added that they have 80 participants with 15 to 18 blasters. The two presenters are Adolfo Urritia and Juan Prado, representing Orica Mining Services which is based in 50 countries worldwide.

He said further that participants will receive a certificate of attendance and those who are seeking to be qualified will be assessed for specialised training.

POWER AND PHYSICS

Explaining the process of Selective Explosive Blasting, Kissoon said that it is a simple process which uses the element of power and physics.

He explained that energy is put into a hole and that energy is released through an explosive and the by-product of that energy will either be hard rock which will be used for roads or ore which is used for gold mining and that product is then processed to arrive at the end product.

(By Michel Outridge)