Transforming blast performance

In April 2025, Maptek launched BlastMCF, a powerful new web-based add-on to the BlastLogic product family. Drill and blast activities account for up to 20% of total mining costs per tonne, indicating the importance of efficient, high-quality blast designs. BlastMCF meets the challenge with advanced capabilities that streamline design, improve control and drive profitability.

Why BlastMCF

Traditional methods—even with tools such as Maptek Vulcan and BlastLogic—remain heavily dependent on manual engineering input. Effective blast design requires aligning drill patterns, per-hole charge plans, timing and adherence to site-specific conditions. 

Engineers often spend considerable time iterating scenarios, attempting to balance outcomes like fragmentation, vibration, fly rock, powder factor and cost. Fewer engineers and a growing demand for precision means this approach is no longer sustainable.

BlastMCF allows engineers to generate detailed, optimised blast designs that consider multiple competing objectives and automate complexity. Instead of manually building and comparing designs, a cross-section of the most viable options lets users select the best solution based on desired trade-offs.

BlastMCF integrates seamlessly with both the on-premise BlastLogic Enterprise System and BlastLogic Single Site Cloud Access, a natural enhancement for operations already using Maptek solutions. Users requiring powerful blast design capabilities without the full BlastLogic suite can access BlastMCF independently through the cloud.

Creating value

BlastMCF addresses up to 70% of typical blasting scenarios—initially targeting production designs with common diameter, spacing and burden, but variable depth, charge and timing. A genetic algorithm evaluates hundreds or thousands of possibilities, converging on the most effective solutions while respecting user-defined constraints.

When constraints are tight, BlastMCF delivers the design with the least violations, keeping users in control. Typical setup requires basic mine design inputs, and cloud-based processing via the Maptek Compute Framework ensures secure, scalable and fast operations—even for complex evaluations.

BlastMCF is more than a design tool—it is a decision support engine, applying objective-based design calculators. 

Engineers can benchmark blast designs routinely, evaluate trade-offs and generate multiple optimised scenarios in minutes. Responsive, intelligent software supports long-term planning as well as last-minute adjustments. 

When a large iron ore mine trialled BlastMCF, they found it significantly more intuitive than traditional CAD-based tools. Rapid processing allowed quick evaluation of multiple scenarios to make informed decisions based on real trade-offs.

Designed for easy adoption, BlastMCF features a user-friendly interface that includes drill pattern editing tools and integrates with BlastLogic for refining timing design and on-bench execution. It supports file export to third-party systems to ensure optimal designs can be applied downstream.

Future-ready

BlastMCF kickstarts the automation of blast design routines for driving continual refinement. Future initiatives include orchestration of the design process through the Maptek Vestrex platform, enhancing remote design capabilities and enabling auto-creation of multiple blast designs across an entire bench. 

BlastMCF empowers mining operations to maximise blast performance, reduce costs and make smarter decisions faster—a major step forward in digital transformation and operational excellence.