ROCK FRAGMENTATION ASSESSMENT USING THE IMAGE ANALYSIS METHOD: QUALITY OF A BLAST IN SURFACE MINING

7th International Scientific Conference - SGEM2007, www.sgem.org, SGEM2007 Conference Proceedings/ ISBN: 954-918181-2, June 11-15, 2007

ABSTRACT

Checking the quality of blasting is considered an essential matter in surface
mining, and requires measuring objective parameters. One of these parameters
is the results of the blasted product. Numerous fragmentation “measuring”
systems have been developed and marketed, based on image-processing. In
this study, the GoldSize system was used to determine the size distribution of
rock fragments in Sarcheshmeh Copper complex mine, Iran. The effects of size
of rock samples and imaging method on image analysis are investigated. Then,
results of image analysis compared with screen analysis for calibrating the Mass
and Sieve Shift factors in software for different rock types in the case study to
being able to measure the size distribution with high preciseness without the
need of screen analysis for future uses. Investigation indicated that by increasing
the size of rock samples and using the expanded imaging method rather than
massive one, the results of image analysis will be close to the screen analysis.
The Mass factor obtained 1.9 and 1.8 for ore and waste rocks and the Sieve Shift
factor obtained 0.7 and 1 for ore and waste rocks respectively.

Keywords: Rock fragmentation, image analysis, size distribution, surface
mining.