Integral System of Monitoring and Modeling for Rock Fragmentation and Blast Vibration

Abstract Most mines seek fine fragmentation for down-stream operations to maximize mineral abstraction with minimized energy cost. On the other hand, maintaining stable highwalls and undisturbed nearby community is highly desirable. To obtain fine fragmentation, it is often required to design blasts with favorable energy concentration through explosive loading or blasthole delay timing. Such blast designs have potential to cause high blast vibration in general. A blast optimization requires a desirable fragment size distribution as well as controlled blast vibration at concerned locations. To achieve the optimization, an integral system for accurate monitoring and reliable modeling of full blast design parameters for rock fragmentation and blast vibration is required. Current technology in the literature falls short for each of the needs. This paper presents an integral system, which includes three indispensable components for blast monitoring and modeling, which together complete a close loop of the needs for blast optimization.