Orica’s BlastIQ Underground: drill and blast control and safety insights for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Orica Digital Solutions’ BlastIQ™ Underground platform is being used at two underground mines on different continents to replace fragmented drill-and-blast workflows built on spreadsheets, paper plans and disconnected charging logs. By centralising design, charging and firing data in a single digital system, engineers can track hole-by-hole compliance, explosives usage and blast outcomes in near real time, improving reconciliation between design and as-built conditions. The case studies point to fewer misfires and re-drills, more consistent fragmentation and clearer accountability across drill, charge and production teams.
Technical Brief
- Similar digital drill-and-blast control is increasingly being mandated in corporate standards for large multi-site operators.
Our Take
Our database shows multiple recent Orica and GroundProbe launches focused on high-resolution geotechnical monitoring, suggesting BlastIQ is part of a coordinated push to digitise both the stability and drill-and-blast domains under the Orica Digital Solutions banner.
The pairing of BlastIQ with GroundProbe-style monitoring from the April 2026 items implies operators could eventually link blast design, execution and slope performance data in a single ecosystem, enabling feedback loops that tighten design tolerances and reduce overbreak or instability risk.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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