Report on Iron Ore Rock Recognition Trials
Fabio Ramos, Peter Hatherly, Sildomar Monteiro
Technical Report: ACFR-TR-2009-001
Abstract: With the availability of monitoring data relating to drill performance and operation, the possibility arises for using that data to estimate the properties of the rocks being drilled. These properties could include rock type and strength.
ACFR has previously developed theory and algorithms for the analysis of multi-parameter data for other automation projects requiring fusion of sensor information to provide a most likely estimate of a required situation. It was felt that these techniques could be applied to the problem of estimating ground conditions using the monitoring data gathered during the drilling of blast holes.
For a trial in November 2006, a comprehensive set of drill monitoring data were obtained together with geotechnical, geological and geophysical support data aimed at providing an insight into the ground conditions. This report concerns the analysis of the drill monitoring data. In keeping with the terminology of the petroleum industry, the drill monitoring data is termed measurement-while-drilling (MWD) data. The analysis of the MWD data to determine subsurface geological conditions is termed rock recognition.