1992 2. OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE This paper has the following objectives: - To demonstrate, on the basis of quantified scientific and industrial evidence, that optimised blasting is the primary lever of energy and economic efficiency across the entire unit operations chain in open-pit mines; - To analyse the impact of blasting on loading, haulage and comminution, quantifying the benefits of the Mine-to-Mill approach across the entire pit-to-plant chain; - To characterise the competency profile of the future mining professional in Latin America; - To propose an innovative education framework, comprising a competency matrix, active learning methodologies, and an industry–academia partnership model, for training this professional; - To position innovative education in rock blasting as a strategic and measurable catalyst for the transformation of Latin American mining towards energy efficiency, sustainability and global competitiveness. The scope covers the pit-to-plant chain of open-pit metallic ore mines in Latin America, aligned with the WMC 2026 theme: Trust, Transformation and Technology. 3. METHODOLOGY This paper adopts an integrative systematic review of scientific and technical literature, combined with critical analysis of verified industrial case studies and the proposition of an applied educational framework. The integrative approach allows empirical operational efficiency data to be articulated with educational evidence, grounding the paper’s central thesis in two complementary bodies of knowledge. The bibliographic survey was conducted in the Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Springer Nature and MDPI databases, using the following primary search terms: rock blasting optimization; mine-to-mill; KuzRam fragmentation; Bond Work Index blasting; comminution energy efficiency; Education 4.0; active learning mining engineering. The priority period was 2002–2025, without excluding earlier seminal studies fundamental to understanding the theoretical basis (Bond, 1952; Cunningham, 1983/2005; McKee et al., 1995), as well as strategic reports from IEA, CEEC, ICMM, JKMRC and the US Department of Energy. Priority was given to studies with verifiable quantitative data: field trials, laboratory experiments and industrial case studies with measured results published in peer-reviewed journals. Data were systematised in comparative tables organised by impacted unit operation, type of blasting intervention, quantified result and reference source. The educational synthesis drew on a specific review of Education 4.0, PBL and CBL methodologies, and trends in mining engineering education. The educational framework was constructed by triangulation across three axes: (i) technical competencies required by M2M implementation in operational practice; (ii) principles and methodologies of Education 4.0 (Azofeifa et al., 2024); and (iii) gaps identified in traditional mining engineering curricula in Latin America. 4. BLASTING AS AN ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY PARAMETER AND INNOVATIVE EDUCATION AS A VECTOR OF TRANSFORMATION Sustainable mining transformation does not begin in the mills: it begins at the blast hole. The mine’s lowest-energy-cost operation (~2%) is also the most decisive for the energy and economic performance of all subsequent stages. Understanding this systemic logic, mastering it technically and teaching it in an integrated manner constitutes the central challenge and the essential contribution of this paper.
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