Utilisation of Geomechanical Properties of Rock for Effiecient Fragmentation

7/27/2019 Utilisation of Geomechanical Properties of Rock for Effiecient Fragmentation

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UTILISATION OF GEOMECI -lANICAL PROPERTIES OF ROCK FOR

EFFICIENT FRAGMENTATION

(A CASE STUDY OF NATIONAL IRON ORE MINING COMPANY, ITAKPE.KOGI STATE)

BY

ISIAKA AFOLABI FATAlMNE/96/8574

A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDI~S

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE AWARD OF MASTERS DEGREE(M.ENG.) IN MINING ENGINEERING (SURFACE MINING OPTION),FEDERAL UNIVERSITY

OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE, ONDO STATE, NIGERIA.

AUGUST 2003


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CERTIFICATION

This is to certify that this dissertation was presented by Mr. : Isiaka Afolabi Fatai in the

Department of Mining Engineering, School of Engineering and Engineering Technology ,

Feder al Uni versity of Technology, Akure , Ondo State, Nigeria and to th e best o f my

kno wledge , it has not been submitted elsewhere for the award of a degree.

Dr. J. M. AKANDE

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT MAJOR SUPERVISOR

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A C KNOWLEDGEMENT

My sincere thanks goes to my supervisor Dr . O. Ojo for his keen interest in seeing to the

successful completion of this project and for his valuable suggestions and advice from

time to time .

My thanks also go to Dr . J.M . Akande who is my co - supervisor and also the Head o f

Mining Engineering Department , Federal University of Technology , Akure for his advice

and Engr. Z .O. Opafunso for his valuable contributions. I also acknowledged the

assistance of the staff of Nation al Iron Ore Mining Project Itakpe, particularly those in

the Mining and Planning Section for the perm ission granted me to take samples from the

project site.

My sincere gratitude goes to my dearest one , Mrs . R .A . Isiaka for her support during my

strive for higher ed ucation and to Mr . B. M. Olaleye for his advice and assistance during

the laboratory sessions.

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A new approach in evaluating the fragmentation of rock mass blasting is presented. It

differs from most of the methods as it is predicated on a pre-existing in-situ block size

distribution in the rock mass as defined by the natural discontinuity network. The blasting

efficiency is evaluated through comparison of Block Size Distribution (BSD) of the rock

mass and the corresponding muck pile, and this depends on blasting parameter used .

'Based on the laboratory and field works, trial and error method of powder factor

estimation is reduced significantly. The result of experiments have been able to provide a

database and provide for those basic parameters necessary for drilling tool s election and

design , and for optimal blast design.

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Utilisation of Geomechanical Properties of Rock for Effiecient Fragmentation