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This paper is part of a special issue on Discrete Fracture Network Engineering (DFNE)
Introduction
With ever-increasing global demand for mineral
resources, mass mining methods for large lower-grade
deposits (e.g. block and panel caving) are becoming
more attractive. A large-scale block or panel cave mine
constitutes an example of a high volume rock-factory,
whose success and viability are dependent to a large
extent on the caveability of the deposit and the fragmentation of the ore material. To help mitigate the risks
1
Superintendencia Geologa, El Teniente, CODELCO-Chile, Rancagua,
Chile
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Golder Associates Ltd, Vancouver, BC, Canada
3
Universidad de Santiago, Chile
4
El Teniente, CODELCO-Chile, Rancagua, Chile
5
Geologica, El Teniente, CODELCO-Chile, Rancagua, Chile
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1 Rock mass and mining method at the El Teniente Mine. a Cross-section of pre-undercut mine method; b Intense vein network
stockwork at a development ahead of the cave front; c Laboratory scale sample showing weak veins; d Weak veins as faces
of caved rock blocks; e LHD at the production level loading mine production From Brzovic and Villaescusa 2007
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2 Plan views and cross-sections of Sur Andes Pipa mine sector at the El Teniente mine. Hydraulic Fracturing (HF) holes (black
dots and lines) and blasting under confined conditions (BUCC) blast holes (blue and red dots and red lines) are shown.
Hydraulic Fracturing fractures performed are also displayed (black lines perpendicular to HF holes in cross-sections).The
colour version of this figure is available online.
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3 RQD measurement and core information. Top left, Location of pre (red lines) & post (blue lines) blasting under confined
conditions (BUCC) drill cores of the South Trial in a cross-section, black lines are blast holes, all within dacita rock type
(yellow). Top right, Statistical data analysis of RQD pre & post-BUCC, which also includes post-BUCC data far from the blast.
Bottom right, Statistical data analysis of RQD post-BUCC against distance from the blast. Bottom left, Table of RQD data
post-BUCC. The colour version of this figure is available online.
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4 Photos from borehole camera (BHC) and core tray showing hydraulic fracturing (HF) and blasting under confined conditions
(BUCC) fractures within the unfractured primary rock mass at the El Teniente mine. Blasting under confined conditions
fractures in vertical inspection holes show large roughness profile (pointed by red arrows). Hydraulic fracturing fractures
with sub horizontal orientation when crossing inspection holes and cores (pointed by blue arrows), show smooth
roughness profile. The colour version of this figure is available online.
5 Array of blasting under confined conditions (BUCC) blast holes and two characterisation boreholes drilled
post-pre-conditioning. The identified BUCC fractures are shown on the inspection borehole. The white grid cells are
20620m. Blasting under confined conditions factures orientations from four inspection holes is also shown (left)
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6 Histograms of observed blasting under confined conditions (BUCC) fracture dip (left) and simulated fracture dips (right)
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HF fractures
In addition to the BUCC fractures, the HF fractures
have also been created within the model. The HF fractures were modelled as discrete fractures based on both
the frac design and records of successful ones reported
by operations staff. As such, the HFs were modelled as
circular discs with a 20m radius (w) and oriented sub
horizontally, according to the stresses at the SuaPi mine
sector (i.e. perpendicular to s3).
DFN summary
The DFN model built here has been calibrated or
constrained by a range of field data including orientation,
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8 Graph showing the number of fractures intersected by the simulated boreholes SG390 and SG391 with the red line
representing the correct ratio of intersections for a number of different fracture size models. The inset histogram shows the
distribution of these ratios. The colour version of this figure is available online.
Fragmentation performance
Introduction
Evaluating the impact of any form of pre-conditioning
has always been difficult because of the challenges of
isolating good data from areas without pre-conditioning
and comparing it to areas where the only significant
difference has been the addition of induced fractures from
pre-conditioning. With the creation of a DFN description
of the BUCC fracturing and the HF fracturing (Fig. 12),
there is now a tool with which the fragmentation
performance can be compared. In this respect, a block
model of the preconditioning intensity was developed.
This represents the intensity of new open fractures formed
within the competent rock mass by preconditioning.
In order to evaluate the pre-conditioning effectiveness,
fragmentation measurements at the production level draw
points of the SuaPi mine sector were correlated to the
modelled preconditioning intensity.
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10 Discrete fracture network model (one realisation) of the simulated blasting under confined conditions (BUCC) fractures.
a view showing fractures initiating from BUCC boreholes and coloured by fracture area; b plan view with fractures coloured
by strike with box showing location of modelling grid; and c section through modelling with P32 of one realisation
calculated. The colour version of this figure is available online.
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11 Graph showing the relationship between simulated and actual fracture intensity (P32/P10) and distance from the blasting
under confined conditions (BUCC) holes. RQD has been used as a proxy to fracture intensity
Table 1 Summary of geometric fracture properties used for blasting under confined conditions (BUCC) fracture generation
Discrete fracture network
(DFN) property
Distribution/description
Parametres
Comments
Model method
Geocellular model
Orientation
Spatial distribution
Intensity
Fragmentation impact
To evaluate the impact of the differing pre-conditioning
strategies on rock mass fragmentation, 3D blocks within
a representative volume of the pre-conditioned area have
been mapped in FracMan. The methodology used is an
implicit block mapping and is optimised to provide an
initial estimate of the natural fragmentation of the
Mean 5m
Max 8m
Min 0.5m
0.45m21
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12 Discrete fracture network (DFN) model of both the blasting under confined conditions (BUCC) fractures and the horizontal
HF fractures. Inset image is a plan view
13 Distribution of calculated cellular P32 for veins only and pre-conditioning scenarios
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Table 2 P32 results for the Dacite with different pre-conditioning configurations, after Brzovic et al. (2014a)
Structural Intensity P32 (m2/m3)
Veins
Faults
3.1
0.06
3.1
3.1
0.06
0.06
BUCC
HF BUCC
0.39
0.11
0.50
0.22
0.35
0.08
0.22
0.43
HF
{ Veins refers to the primary fragmentation within the Dacite rock mass.
14 Calculated P32 property distribution in grid (606100655m) for veins only, Hydraulic fracturings (HFs) only, blasting under
confined conditions (BUCC) fractures only, veins 1 BUCC fractures and veins 1 BUCC 1 HF fracture. The colour scale is
P32 (m21). The top right image shows the DFN model of BUCC and HFs. The colour version of this figure is available
online.
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15 Discrete fracture network (DFN) models and fragmentation results for veins only (top) and veins plus blasting under
confined conditions (BUCC) plus HF fracture models (bottom). Fragmentation models coloured by block volume showing
the significant change in fragmentation as a result of the pre-conditioning fractures. The colour version of this figure is
available online.
characterised, with a statistical analysis being undertaken to estimate the fine and coarse fraction
tonnage.
Both size data are combined and correlated to the
database of the mine production, which allows the mine
to correlate each draw point with a range of data
including date, shift, column height, extraction tonnages. Data analysis is undertaken for a certain number
of draw points that have similar geological conditions
and have received similar rock mass preconditioning.
Based on fragmentation data analysis, The hang up
frequency of the three studied sub sector as a function of
the extracted column height is shown in Fig. 18. The
effect of preconditioning within the primary rock mass is
observed during the first 100m of the column height.
Secondary ore influences by fines migration occur above
that column height. It can be seen in Fig. 18 that the
closer BUCC blast hole spacing within the north part of
SuaPi mine sector resulted in better productivity as
a result of their being less interruptions to the drawing
process.
During the fragmentation measurement campaign,
special attention was made to the identification of large
rock blocks resulting in hang ups, especially those which
block (e.g. in a draw point hang up) in to a threedimensional volume and tonnage. It is important to
note that all large rock blocks over the production
level floor that the LHD cannot carry were fully
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17 Scheme of fragmentation measurement methodology. The flip-chart (top left). Rock block in a draw point (top right). Rock
block for secondary blasting (bottom left) and a hung up (bottom right). Rock block measurement for shape factor (middle)
18 Hang up frequency observed of the three studied sub sectors through the extracted column height. Above 100m of the
column height, the secondary ore influence appears in drawpoints. It is also indicated blasting under confined conditions
(BUCC) blast sequence (stages, blast holes and tons of explosive used) to each BUCC sub mine sector
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19 Plan view of SuaPi mine sector showing local preconditioning intensity and large rock block occurrence in hang up at the
production level draw points (center). It is also shows detailed location and information of the hang ups with extreme case
blocks (right). The occurrence of large rock blocks for each preconditioning strategy and precondition intensity can be
seen at the left. Top left, example of a large rock block in hang up. The colour version of this figure is available online.
took more than one shift to bring down from the draw
bell. These large rock blocks were characterised as
having their longest axes greater than 6m long. More
than 40 cases were reported during the study, with some
of these blocks taking more than 12 shifts to clear the
draw bell. In some cases, the longest axis of the blocks
was measured up to 14m long (known as extreme
cases). In Fig. 19, the extreme cases of large blocks are
shown over a map of the preconditioning intensity 30m
above undercut level. In 80% of the cases, these large
blocks were located where only HF was implemented,
and in 50% of them, extreme cases were located where
there the preconditioning intensity (P32) was
v0.24m2m23 of HF BUCC fractures.
Summary
In order to validate the effect of rock mass pre-conditioning, fragmentation measurements were undertaken
at the Sur Andes Pipa mine sector within the El Teniente
mine. As described previously, two different pre-conditioning techniques were implemented over the strong
and massive Dacite rock mass. The main conclusions of
the work were:
Both rock mass pre-conditioning techniques resulted
in the generation of new open fractures within the
virtually fracture free Dacite.
HF fractures tend to have a sub-horizontal orientation (opening in the direction of (s3) and BUCC
fractures tend to have sub-vertical orientation.
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Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the El Teniente Division of
Codelco-Chile for their permission to publish the data
and for supporting this work. This study was funded by
the Dacite Project and by API T10E202 both of
Codelco-Chile. This paper was originally presented at
the 1st International Conference on Discrete Fracture
Brzovic et al.
References
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