I asked a geologist friend who has been at the mine and provided the last pictures about blasting. His comments:

The ores at Emerald Isle are essentially gravel, lightly cemented with copper oxides.  They won’t require blasting, but might need to be ripped in places if it is particularly cemented.  Any real hardrock mine (like Mineral Park) cannot be ripped, must be pattern blasted. 

So that clears up the blasting which is good news.