In the present economic scenario of our country, the mining industry in India requires some economic ami innovative approaches for enhanced coal and mineral production. With the increased development of open pit mines for base minerals and particularly (he extensive demand of coal, (he practicing mining engineers arc finding that they have problems in new technology and new ideas which arc particularly associated with mine and ground excavations. Some of (hem arc in common with those traditionally associated with civil engineering. The civil engineers, on the other hand, are producing ever large surface and subsurface excavations and arc finding that they have much to gain from the problems and solution of mining rock mechanics. In this juncture, rock blasting techniques and ils fruitful utilisation for optimum production, has undoubtedly a very important and significant role. <...>

Proper rock fragmentation is the key first element of the ore winning process. It is a two step activity in the sense that the holes for distributing the explosives within the rock mass must first be drilled (Step 1) as specified by the fragmentation plan. This is then followed by the controlled rubblization (Step 2) of the interlytng rock.

It is important that research outcomes be disseminated in a useful form to the clients of the research, and to the community at large if appropriate. The research monograph is a traditional mechanism for reporting substantial bodies of research which, taken together, advance the field to a significant degree. In 1996 the JKMRC published two such monographs, on comminution and blasting, in a series on mining and mineral processing. The present volume continues the series.

This thesis represents one part of the European project “Geological characterisation of shallow marine sands for reservoir modelling and high resolution stratigraphic analysis”, which was established to study shallow marine sands with respect to reservoir properties. The research was focused on the micropalaeontological characterisation of mudstone and source rock successions and the nature, origin and reservoir characteristics of the Bentheim Sandstone in the Lower Saxony Basin.