Cut back benches of the Porgera open pit mine in Papua New Guinea, with cloud sitting below the pit rim.
MJS Mining Services Est. 1998
The record Archive Training Contact

Adelaide, South Australia  ·  Est. 1998

MJS Mining Services Michael Smith  ·  Mining engineer

Michael started drilling and blasting at Norseman, Western Australia, in 1981. He took a mining engineering degree at Ballarat, spent ten years with ICI and Orica, and set up MJS Mining Services in 1998.

Since then he has worked in more than three hundred surface and underground operations, in Australia and in eighteen other countries.

Experience
45 years, drill and blast
Operations
More than 300
Qualification
BEng (Mining), Ballarat
Member
AusIMM, ISEE, Standards Australia
Panorama of the Century open pit mine, Australia.
PL. 01Century open pit, Australia.
01

Career

1981 to now

1985–1988 Underground miner Airleg mining in shrink stopes, random pillar stopes, raising, and development. The first packaged emulsion explosives used in Australia. Stawell, Victoria
1988–1998 ICI, then Orica Explosives Drill and blast engineer, then consulting engineer, then business manager for South Australia and Tasmania. Australia
1998– MJS Mining Services Consulting, training, expert reports. Founded to provide an experienced explosives and blasting service to the construction, mining and extractive industries. Adelaide, South Australia
02

Operations

Twenty of more than three hundred

On site consulting, training, mentoring and auditing of the drill and blast function, and of what it costs downstream in load, haul and crushing. Open pit and underground.

2026Resolute Mining, Syama gold mineUndergroundMali
2026Golden Star, Wassa gold mineUndergroundGhana
2025OceanaGold, Haile gold mineOpen cutUnited States
2023–2025Isibonelo coal mineUndergroundSouth Africa
2023–2025Centamin, Sukari gold mineOpen cut and undergroundEgypt
2019–2024B2Gold, FekolaOpen cutMali
2018–2025Byrnecut, Challenger, Capricorn Copper and CarrapateenaPractical drill and blast training, audit and review. Underground.Australia
2014–2024B2Gold and Filminera, Masbate gold projectOpen cut. First blast with electronic initiation, 2015.Philippines
2018–2023Sabodala gold operationsOpen cutSenegal
2022FCF, Runruno gold and molybdenum projectOpen cutPhilippines
2020SMK, Yanfolila gold operationsOpen cutMali
2019B2Gold, El Limón gold mineOpen cutNicaragua
2018–2019Victoria Gold, Eagle gold operationsOpen cutYukon, Canada
2017–2018Evolution, Mt Carlton operationsQueenslandAustralia
2016–2018Harmony, Hidden Valley gold operationsPapua New Guinea
2015–2019Vienta and Frontera, Cobre del Mayo copperOpen cutSonora, Mexico
2014–2019Barrick, Lumwana copper operationsOpen cutZambia
1995, 2017Barrick, Porgera operationsOpen cut and undergroundPapua New Guinea
2004–2006Bogosu-Prestea gold mineOpen cut and undergroundGhana
2003Rio Tinto, Warkworth coal mineContract drill and blast engineer. Planning, design and scheduling.Australia
Presplit benches on an open pit highwall, with a turquoise pit lake at the toe.
PL. 02Ten metre presplit benches on a highwall, 2019.
03

Heritage, infrastructure and sensitive ground

Blasting close to things that cannot be moved, shut down or replaced. Indigenous heritage, live rail, public utilities, occupied buildings and operating plant.

2022FMG Ironbridge pipelineBlasting in close proximity to major infrastructure and significant Indigenous heritage artefacts along the pipeline right of way.Western Australia
2022St Barbara, Harbour Lights and Tower Hill pitsBlast management strategic study. Impacts and mitigation for residential, commercial and Indigenous heritage receivers.Western Australia
2021Ministers North prefeasibilityConceptual design for blasting close to infrastructure and Indigenous heritage artefacts.Western Australia
2020FMG Eliwana rail projectBlasting close to significant Indigenous heritage artefacts along the rail alignment.Western Australia
2016Recovery of Indigenous heritage artefactsControlled blasting. Drill core holes at 60mm centres, cored to 450mm, with a cut slot along the boundary between the banded iron and the shale.Western Australia
2011–2013Inner Harbour projectBlasting alongside live rail for the Mooka marshalling yard and ore car repair workshop.Port Hedland
2011–2012FMG rail duplicationAlongside live rail, close to significant Indigenous heritage areas.Western Australia
2010–2012Dampier Highway duplicationFor Main Roads WA. Blasting alongside Indigenous heritage and public utilities.Western Australia
2010RGP5 rail duplicationMacMahon and Leighton joint venture. Blasting alongside live rail and Indigenous heritage artefacts.Western Australia
2007–2011Woodside Pluto LNGFor Foster Wheeler Worley Parsons. Over 670 blasts, including the recovery of heritage artefacts using controlled blasting.Burrup Peninsula
2007–2008Ocean Park redevelopmentDrill and blast design for environmentally sensitive tunnelling, for Chun Wo Construction.Hong Kong
2000Northside Storage TunnelEnvironmentally sensitive blasting in the Lane Cove area.Sydney
Annotated plan over a rock face showing drill core holes at 60mm centres and a cut slot, for the recovery of a heritage artefact.
PL. 03Plan for the recovery of a heritage artefact using controlled blasting.

Sixty millimetres, centre to centre

In 2016, a heritage artefact was taken off the rock wall and kept whole. The holes were drilled at 60mm centres, cored to 450mm, with a cut slot run along the boundary between the banded iron and the shale.

The drawing is his. The pattern below is that pattern, at the spacing he used.

Michael Smith standing beside a large rock wrapped in containment mesh, on red ground.
PL. 04Michael beside a rock wrapped in mesh.
A drill rig lit by a light tower at dusk in an open pit.
PL. 05Night drilling with a light tower. Masbate, Philippines.
04

Explosives development, standards and teaching

1993Cadjebut mineTraining and trials of the first bulk emulsion explosives in underground development mining in Australia.Western Australia
1994–1998Product development, ICI and OricaUnderground bulk emulsion systems, Stopeprime, Trimex, the lostat charging hose, Powergel Magnum 365, Impact low energy products, and electronic detonators.Australia
1996Cheung Ching TunnelDevelopment and implementation of the first bulk emulsion systems in tunnelling, as part of the airport project.Hong Kong
1999–2003UNSW Key Centre for MinesDeveloped and ran the five day postgraduate course in Safe Drill and Blasting Management.Sydney
2000–2001TaiwanIntroduced Anfo to the quarry market, and nonelectric initiation to the tunnelling market.Taiwan
2001–2006Standards AustraliaMember of the committee for the review and implementation of AS 2187.2, Use of Explosives.Australia
2006BeaconsfieldOn site drill and blast expertise during the rescue of the trapped miners.Tasmania

Workshops delivered

AustraliaAll states and territories
Ghana
South Africa
Zambia
Senegal
Egypt
Philippines
Papua New Guinea
Malaysia
Taiwan
China
Singapore and Dubai
05

Services

Michael works on site, with the crew who have to fire the shot.

Blast design and application

Surface and underground, from development headings to fifty metre overburden benches. Presplit and controlled wall blasting. Initiation system design, from safety fuse through to electronic.

Sensitive and controlled blasting

Design and application close to heritage, infrastructure, utilities and occupied buildings. Vibration and airblast management, and monitoring.

Audit and review

Independent review of drill and blast practice, fragmentation, and the downstream cost in load, haul and crushing. Explosives quality investigation.

Expert reports and investigation

Subject matter expert reports for regulators, insurers and the courts, including incident and fatality investigation. Evidence given in court.

On site mentoring

Time at the face with shotfirers and engineers. Competency assessment, engineer development, and contractor performance review.

Procedures and technical writing

Drill and blast procedures, technical manuals, and competency based training packages.

Shotfirer courses and blasting workshops

Michael has developed and run more than four hundred courses and workshops, and has trained shotfirers in every state and territory in Australia.

Training
06

Archive

Plates 6 to 12

Michael's own photographs, taken on the job.

The Pluto LNG plant under construction on the Burrup Peninsula.
PL. 06Pluto LNG project, Burrup Peninsula. Consultant, 2007 to 2011.
Blast mats laid over a charged blast.
PL. 07Blast mats used for highly sensitive blasting.
Charging drilled holes in a burn cut in an underground development heading.
PL. 08Charging a burn cut in a development heading with Anfo, 2024.
A group of Orica engineers in a quarry during a blasting workshop in Malaysia.
PL. 09Blasting workshop with Orica engineers. Malaysia, 2019.
Hands lighting a safety fuse during shotfirer training.
PL. 10Lighting safety fuse. Shotfirer training, Nicaragua, 2018.
A blast design training group in front of a highwall at the Sukari gold mine.
PL. 11Blast design training. Sukari gold mine, Egypt, 2025.
A framed ICI explosives identification chart from the 1970s.
PL. 12ICI explosives identification chart, 1970s.
07

Contact

Michael Smith
Principal Consultant, Mining Engineer
MJS Mining Services Pty Ltd
Adelaide, South Australia
Michael Smith.
PL. 13Underground, at the face.