Assessment of rock mass damage from smooth wall blasting at El Soldado mine, Chile A.M. Tunstall, N. Djordjevic and H. A. Villalobos FI Sokdade mine, operated by Compaia Miners Disputed {e las Congles (CMD), is a 5 000 000 uyear copper operation. situated in the coastal range of central Chile, 120 km north= fot of Santiago, Ore is extracted by both open-pit and tunderground mining, bur the former is to the total output. Tn certain sectors the pit walls have reached their Gnal beats and tials with smooth wal blasting ore being undertaken with the aim of minimizing blast induced damage «0 the final pit walls. This should allow a steeper pit design angle and result in subs tial savings in ‘waste removal and ore recovery. The results of a Sed programme to determine the extent ofthe damaged zone Doon che smooth wall blast are reported here Smooth wall blast design ‘The general principle behind smooth wall bhnsting (also now as ‘cushion blasting’ o¢ “trim blasting’) i wo reduce the confinement and concentration of explosive enongy adjacent Jo the final pie wall! This is usually achieved by the use of smaller diameter blastholes drilled at decreased burdens and pavings and by decoupling the explosive in the Final row of les, Subdniling is either reduced or eliminated jn the final row. The smooth wall blast des gn adopted at Fl Solcado for | 2m benches is suinimarized in Table | and the eliaracteris ies of the explosives are et ou in “Table 2 A smooch wall blast was fired in an aren of trachite rock th zones of hematitic alteration, The trachite was of vari- ale quality and contained wo vertical joint horizontal sex plus significant random jointing ets and one The joint spicing varied from 0.3 to 3.0 m. The jointing was generally tight, wih calcite and hematite filling. The altered zone wns Table 1 Smooth wall blast design parameters Row Front a ole dep, 2 0 0 Hole meter, mam los 165 Subeiing, 1a ° Dips min 80 0 Burden, x 5 5 ‘ Base charge (HBET),m 3 Column charge (ANFO),m 5.8 73 20 Stemming “8 38 Lo Poster factor, ot ANFO 218 Ia o7 *Tunahtow toes alo contain # a of 0.25-in decoupled Eman Manwsrine st recived by the Instiocion of Mining and Metallurgy on LS May, 1005; revit snanuscript ressived on 23 Dctoer, 1995, Techies ote published in Trane, Zn Ain, Metal Sisto Alin, dirs 306, Januaey- Ape 197, « Mf Alsaing and Mctallargy 1997, Table 2 Explosive characteris Explosive Specific Veloesty on Relative favity detonation, volume tis Steength strength HEE as 1.25 100 090149 078 4000 yop 1.00 ha 5200 os 5 ANFO 6100350, more weathered and friable and contained «| major joint set, siting parallel to the face Damage assessment [Av the crest of the bench visible hackbreak extended up to 2.m behind the final row of blastholes and minor cracking of the bench surface was present for up to 5 m behind the final row (Fig. 1), Fig. 1 Backbreak bsbind sith wal blast Several half barrels were visible in the more massive areas ‘of the pic wall, demonstrating the effectiveness of decoupled Enaline in reducing the damage. Significant pit wall damage was, however, observed in the lower sections of these holes, ‘which had been charged with ANEO (Fig. 2), ‘To assess the extent of rock mass damage induced by smooth wall blasting four sites were selected at distances of 7 12, 17 and 27 m behind the final row of the smooth wall Blast ig. 3). The sites were selected with reference to the expected overbreak from previous smooth wall blasts, ‘The pre-blast and post-blast rock qualities at each site were assessed by visual examination of diamond-drll core, ro quality designation (ROD) rating? of diamond-dril core and uuphole seismic resting, These techniques are deserihed in tail below. Visual examinaron of dliamondt-dril cone Before the smooth wall blast 14 m long diamond dril-hales ‘were dried vertically at each site. Visual examination of the core was then carried out 10 determine the nature of the frac ‘ures within the care, ‘Ateach site the upper 2-3 m of core was very heavily Frac ‘ured from blast damage caused by subdrilling of the previous bench. Below this fractures were generally of natural ovigin or clearly induced by core drilling and handling, In several cases, however, irregular fractures were observed, which ‘appeared from their nature te have been induced by previous blasting. ‘This could have been either the previous bench of the production blast on the same bench After the smooth wall blast 14-m diamond dall-holes were dlilled at each site approximately 1 m assay from the pre-blasec. 2 Damage caused by ANFO in lower sections of bal holes, Visual examination of the cores thanges in the post-blast core. Core taken trom site 4, 7 m from the final row of holes, displayed sig induced cracking following the blast. This was 1ypicaly seen iy or sub-vertically within the core and was sealed interesting oft sl with calete veining within the Some fracturing through intact rock: was observed. The impli cation is that the high dynamic tensile stains induced a this site by the blast fed to the formation of new fractures in the rock an to the opening and extension of the existing caeite Billed fractures (Figs. @ and 5). Ar site 8, 12 m from the foal rose, similar damage was observed, but on a much smaller seal, In cis eore the dam. age was confined to the existing calcite veining and no Jincturing of the intact rock was observed. ‘The indication is that the dynamic strain at this site was sufficient to extend and open the existing cemented fractures but was insufficient to cause fracturing of the intact rock Sites C and D, at 17 and 27 m, respectively, behind the blast. displayed no obvious new eracking or opening of exist ing caleite-filled joints, ‘This indicates that the dynamic sttins induced at these locations were insufficient (0 over ome the tensile strength of the calcite filling. It is possible, however, that the Weaker, unhealed joints within the rock mass were loosened, but this could not be determined from ‘sual inspection of the care ROD mapping (The second technique used 10 assess damage behind the ‘mooth wall blast was the determipation of pre- and post blast ROD at each site. Pre-blast ROD mapping was carsied Fig. 3 Damage assenment sites ‘out immediately afler visual examination of the core, In the upper 2-3 m of the bene, which had been extensively dam- aged by subdrilling, the RQD was typically less than 201 Fig. 4 Blasteinduce racking of core 7m from inal roFig. 5 Opening of eletelled joints 7 eam final row The quality of the remaining 11 m varied considerably from hhole o hole, burt al holes had a zone oF high RQD at berween (© and 9 m depth, This section of the core was used for the comparison of pre-and post-blast ROD values. The quality of the remaining core was strongly influenced by leaching and bhemattic alteration. Pre-blast and post-blast RQD wales are Ihown ia Table 3, together with the percentage reduction folx lowing blasting The results sh w thar the smooth wall blast caused & signi- Heant reduction in RQD at site and a moderate reduction xt site B. This is 10 be expected, as the high dynamic st required to cause cracking of the core at there sites would also open and shear existing fractures in the core, reducing the ROD. At site C, 17 m from the Final row, the reduetion in ROD of 6% vas probably within the limits of experimental ror and no reliable eonchasions esa be draven frou it. The lous result obtained from site D (post-blast RQD hhigher chan pre-blast ROD) was due to local variations in lithology’ at this depth and is clessly of no use For damage assessment purpose’, Uphote some testing Uphole seismic testing was conducted before and after the able 3 RQD values before and after blasting Site 4 8 D Distance from final ow a7 2 Dre-blase RQD (6-9 m) Mom Pose-blast RQD (6-9 2) nd 70 Reduction io RQD (6-8 m),% 21 TL ” sunesce TETECTOR 2/1, C050 % > AVERAGE veLocITY 1, 5 ONE_MAY SLANT TIME ‘sma, ° enency SOURCES Fig, 6 Uphole svimic technique smouth wall blast to investigate the changes in the mechanieal properties of the rock mast caused by blasting, One L0-m percussion hole of 16.5-cm diameter was drilled at cach ste ‘The holes were filled with water to ensure efficent transis sion of the energy induced by the seismic source to the rack. ‘Vilbraton signals at each site were measured with four ver~ tically orientated geophones placed on the ground surface at distances between 1.5 and 5.3 m from the hole collar and were recorded by a digital blast vibration monitor. ‘The geo~ phones were coupled {0 the ground with the use of plaster to ‘ensure efficient transmission of ground vibrations, ‘The vibra- nals were amplified 100 times using purpose-built rs before being recorded snje source was an el tie detonator, whichdetonated at the bottom of the borehole, Subsequent tests were conducted at I-m intervals up the borehole until the water surt iched, The uphole seismic technique is shown in Fig 6 The values of Pavave propagation velocity that were sed from 1000 to 2000 mis, indicating a weath- ted and fractured rock mas, As expected, values were _gonctally lower at cach site after the blast. However rematie decrease in the P-wave propagation velocity occurred only ac site a, 7 m fiom the final row. Post-bast values of 1550 mis were recorded, representing, relative to pre-blast sales of 1700 mvs, an 8.8% decrease. A typical vibration record at site land its corresponding amplitude spectrum are pasted in Fig 7 Table a Distance from, Reduetion nal row, mt in RQD, % Ye a yer in No Teale *Ansocoted wit cakitevsining ‘core was visible and was characterized by increased fracturing tnd breakage of cemented joints. AC sites G and D damage ‘was detected by uphole seismic testing and was characterized by the shesring, extension and loosening of unhealed joints Blast damage criterion ‘The final stage in the programme was the development of a blast damnage criterion 6 relate peak particle velocity to observed damage. A site-specific scalededistance relationship, twas developed go allow the estimation of peak particle velo- city at each of the damage assessment sites CTable 5), The ‘values were then correlated with the observed damage st each of the sites and dhe damage criterion given in Table 6 was, proposed for the ttachite rock. The exiieal peale particle Results of damage assessment programme Decrease in Pawave Frequency propagation velocity, % —alteauation as Ye Tneoaeusive Ye, Iecoachais Ye Inconslusive Yes rable Predied peak pace voce (PPV) fom sooth Table ‘ht damage eteron wal is = ee ee ane ins —_ iin Se is ns wens deca ; that the recording equipment was not optimized for the detection of small vristions in P-wave velocity An aditional method thacis used to estimate the extent of blast-induced damage isto corapare the frequency spectra of the vibration measured before snd after blast Ibis asuued thar the characteristics of the seismic source and the propaga~ tion distances are identical and the only cause of a systematic Uifference between the pre-and post-blast vibration spectra is due to blastinduced changes in the rock mass characteristics. A compatison of normalized spectra of vibration measured betove and alter the blast at El Soldado shows the Ingest difference in the vibrations mensured at site A significant systematic decrease in the high-frequency concent (typically 3200 Hz) 48 also observed in the wibrations from site 2 Sporadically, some decrease is visible in the spectra calcu Iated for vibrations measured at sites Cand D. "This is mast probably due to the loosening of individual joints that inter~ sect the propagation path of elastic waves, In summary, dhe results of the uphole seismic test suggest thac new fractures were being created in the rock mass at site 4. Damage in the form of extension and opening. of existing Frerures was found at site B and minor damage in the fore ‘ofloosening and opening of existing joints was present at sites and D, Swnamary of damage asessmont results able 4, which sommarizes the results of the damage assess- ment programme, indicates that smooth wall blasting at El Sokiado caused measurable damage behind the blast. ‘This was most significant at sites A and B, where damage tw the velocity is thar at which the relevant damage mechanism begins to assume significance. “The damage criterion is specific co the trachite rock at El Soldado and itis very likely that other rock masses would exhibit damage at higher or lower values of peak particle velocity, reflecting. dferences in tock fabric and joint serength, Conelusions Assessinent of the damage zone behind a typical smooth wall blast was undertaken with the use of daree different techniques—visual examination of diamond-leil core to Identify blastinduced cracking, RQD mapping of core to identify changes in fracture frequency and uphole seismic testing 10 determine changes in rock mass characteristics. ‘The results obtained with the three rechniques showed a rea sonable correlation, ‘The results suggest that major damage in the form of fac- toring of intact rock aceurs at distances of at least 7 m behind the smooth wall blast and that significant damage in the form, of opening and extension of ealete-iled fractures occur at distances of atleast 12 m from the blast. At greater distances, the dominant damage mechanism isthe loosening of existing joints within the rock mass. In the trachite rock encountered fat El Soldado these damage mechanisms correspond 0 approximate peak particle velocities of 2000, 900 and 500 man’s, respectively,Acknowledgement ‘The work was conducted as part of AMIRA project P93E (Advanced Blasting Technology), ‘The permission of Hans Ruge, planning manager at Bl Soldado mine, eo publish tis pots is gracefully acknowledged References Alas Powder Company. Explosives and mek Satine (Dallas, Texas: Aas Postder Company, 1987), 602 p. 2 Deere D. U. uf Design of surlace and nearsuriace constic= tion i rock, In Poe, ai U.S. symposium on rock nachna (New York: AIME, 1967), 237-302, Authors A. M. Tunstall i 9 griduate of the Camborne School of Mines, CCornvill Englands he obtained a HN-D. in mining in 1985 and 2 BEng. is mining engiveering in L987, He worked in undereround production t East Driefoncin gold mine, South AMic, om 1983 tw 1085, Geevor tin mine, England, from 1987 to 1088 and Mount sa Minis, Auszali, from 1988 to 1991, when he joined the Jlios Kruusthniti Mineral Research Cenure Since conducting the research reported here he ina taken up the post of fel support engines with Taitsing Explosives Systems Pry, Lad, Australi, Ades: Initiating Fplosives Systems Pry, Lad Airforce Read, Helden, Queensiand 4344, Australia [Nenad Djordlevie is employed as a senior resesech officer at the Julius Krucscnict Mineral Research Cente and was recently sanded a Ph.D. for is work on the response of suructres to Blast- Induced ground vibrations. He was previously employed in 1988-89 54 contract geophysiist withthe Geotogieal Survey of Victoria and from: 1079 a9 1088 a5 senor engineer—applied geopliles the CerniInstiute, Belgrade, Yugoslavia H, A. Villalobos obrsined a BSc. in geology fom the University of ‘Cancepetin, Chil, in 1989. Since then he has been employed by the seomechanics department af El Soldada mine, where hei spon be foe structural analiss, tunnel support desien and te design of eomechonial monitoring insteumentaion Comparison of indicator and ordinary kriging in assessment of in-situ coal quality in a Turkish mine A. E. Tercan and D. Mamureki Coal-red power stations generate a substantial amount of power, but they are also counted as major potential contsibu- tors to atmospheric pollution, ‘The quality of the cos! affects the efficiency of a power station and thus the level of polls tion, For this reason the power plant constructed at Kangal, Sivas, Turkey, requires that the run-of-mine coal from the Jocal mine that supplies it should have a ealorifie value of not Jess than 1300 kealkg. Ife is less, the poser station applies & severe penalty ‘The coal-producing company has not installed facilities for quality contol of run-of-unine coal ad has relied on esti- rated values. Such estimates are, however, often erroneous and it is necessary to assexs the risks associated with decisions based on these estimates. This calls for quantification of the uncertainty of an unknown value, Two approaches to the problem of characterization of uncertainty are taken here: the first is based on a specific estimator and assumes that the estimation errors have @ gaussian distribution, The type of ‘estimator used is ordinary kriging. The second follows a non parametric approach and requites the derivation of conditional cumulative distiburion functions, Indicator kiging is the technique used in estimating the conditional distribution functions, ‘The results obtained from kriging of the calorific value and ‘determination of the probabilities of noc exceeding the speci fied threshold by the two approaches are compared and the ‘most uncertain areas for decision-making are identified, Theory Let 2*(s) and ¢(3) denote the kriged value and the resulting error, respectively, at location x, ‘The probability that the actual, but unknown, value (2) i less than a specified threshold, 2, is given by n for Pe(Z(s) can be abtained with knowledge of the probability dr sity function of the error, {9 Pe[2(s) se] = PAfEls) <2 -2"()] asset] = J tfe)ae Jn many cases the error distribution is not known and a particular form is assumed. The gaussian distribution with Manuscript fist received by the Inatiution of Mining. and ‘Meuallurgy 00 21 February, 1996; rvied manvscrpt eesived on © September, 1905. Tectsical note published ia. Trans. Lisi Min ‘Mell. Sec. As tin. indus), 106, Septembber-December 1997. 0 “The Insitation of Mining and Metallrey 1997.