Abstract:

Jinchuan No.3 mine area is taken as a study object. Based on the field investigation of discontinuity parameters, by adopting Monte Carlo simulation method, a synthetic database of discontinuities is generated. The ore fragmentation for block caving is predicted by determining the number of discontinuities that form a block, establishing the equation of the discontinuities in the 3D coordinate system, determining the actual vertices and the coordinate of each vertex, and the volume of the block is measured; the characteristics of the block shape are identified. The ore fragmentation has a direct influence on the configuration of stope bottom, the selection of loading and handling equipment, secondary crushing method, the estimation of explosive consumption and so on. The simulation results show that the fragmentation with equivalent size of more than 0.9 m account for 38.2 per cent and those more than 1.3 m account for 17.2 per cent of the total fragmentation volume.

Key words: block caving method, ore-caved fragmentation, fragmentation prediction