| Summary: | Computation of drilling cost, quantity of explosives and blasting cost are routine procedure in Quarry and all these parameters are estimated manually in most of the quarries in Nigeria. This paper deals with the development of application package QUARRY SOLUTION Version 1.0 for quarries using Visual Basic 6.0. In order to achieve this data were obtained from the quarry such as drilling and blasting activities. Also, empirical formulae developed by different researchers were used for computation of the required parameters viz: practical burden, spacing, length of hole, cost of drilling consumables, drilling cost, powder factor, quantity of column charge, total quantity of explosives, volume of blast and blasting cost. The output obtained from the software QUARRY SOLUTION Version 1.0 for length of drilling, drilling cost, total quantity of explosives, volume of blast and blasting cost were compared with the results manually computed for these routine parameters estimated during drilling and blasting operation in quarry, it was then discovered that they followed the same trend. The computation from the application package
revealed that 611 blast-holes require 3326.71 kg of high explosives (166 cartons of explosives) and 20147.2 kg of low explosives (806 bags of explosives). The total cost was computed to be N 5133999:50 ($ 32087.49). Moreover, the output showed that these routine parameters estimated during drilling and blasting could be computed within a short time frame using this QUARRY SOLUTION, therefore, improving productivity and efficiency. This application package is recommended for use in open-pit and quarries when all necessary inputs are supplied.
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