Welcome to the BERG

The Blasting and Environment Research Group has grown out of many years of research undertaken in the Department of Mining and Mineral Engineering at the University of Leeds and in Camborne School of Mines (CSM), University of Exeter. Both institutions are actively engaged in research into a number of different aspects of the environmental impact of quarrying and mining, with a particular emphasis on minimising the impact of blasting on people and property. Indeed, Leeds University had a pioneering Research Group from 1985 to 1994, which was funded by British Coal Opencast Executive before its demise!

In the last few years, Leeds University and CSM have worked increasingly closely together, resulting in a number of joint papers being published. All of the work is practically based and industry focussed, with strong links established with many quarrying companies, consultants and explosives manufacturers. The formation of BERG will act as a focus for our continuing collaborative projects, and provide a wealth of expertise and experience which can be drawn upon to address particular issues.

The BERG web site contains information and background on all the personnel actively involved in research and holds many of the scientific papers they have produced. These are available free of charge in Word or Adobe Acrobat format and many of them have Powerpoint presentations associated with them.

If you have any questions about the material in this Web site, or you think we might be able to help with a particular issue, then please contact us and we will respond as quickly as we can.