Assessment of blasting quality of an opencast mine

Abstract

The goal of this study is to assess the blasting quality of an opencast mine based on fragmentation analysis. Fragmentation of an opencast mine is one of the critical results of the blasting which is treated as the first quality demand in most types of blasting which affects all the downstream processes of mine to mill production like loading, hauling, crushing, and milling efficiency and also the cost involved in thesse processes. In this study, the fragmentation analysis of a chromite mine of Boula-Nuasahi Complex belt was conducted using WipFrag fragmentation analysis programming. Eight snap shots of blasted muck pile of the stated mine were investigated utilizing WipFrag photograph evaluation software. Both single and blended picture examination were done and the blended picture investigation was utilized to assess the top-quality fragmentation of blasting. The mean fragmentation of the impacted shake muckpile was anticipated from the investigation. Finding: Blasted muck pile contained the most proportion of fragments in the dimension vary 10mm to 100mm with a share of 47.37 and coefficient of curvature less than 1indicating blasted muckpile distribution is not very well graded. This study revealed the poor blasting quality of said mine which can be improved by observing and working on weak parts of blasting operation.