ABSTRACT
The mechanized charging systems are classified in two large groups, depending upon whether they are merely charging instruments or integral systems of manufacture and charge. The charging capacities for these systems, with a two-man team, oscillate between 500 and 1.000 kilos per shift, depending upon the cartridge sizes. The motor-pump system used is customarily mounted on a small size vehicle that sometimes has a hydraulically powered man basket enabling the blaster to have access to the back holes, operating the pump with remote control. The dewatering of blastholes widens the field of application of bulk ANFO to those cases where the rock masses are saturated or currents, owing to rain, fill the blastholes with water; and also, when charging, the volume of hole drilled is used to better advantage. Once the dewatering of the blastholes is finished, the mechanism of the drum wheel reverses to clean it of sand and waste that might have entered.
