Application of Kuz Ram Model to Minimize the Drilling and Blasting Operational Cost at RP3 Lafarge Limestone Quarry

This work presents the application of the Kuz Ram model to minimize the drilling and blasting operational costs at the Lafarge Limestone Quarry. The quarry faces challenges with rock fragment size distribution produced after primary blasting. The presence of boulders and toes requires a rock breaker or secondary fragmentation to reduce the broken materials to acceptable sizes further, thereby increasing the cost of production. Face mapping and Point Load Test (PLT) were used to characterize the rock at the RP3 Lafarge Limestone Quarry. The explosives parameters and blast design used in this study are the current parameters used at the RP3 Lafarge Limestone Quarry. The Kuz Ram model was applied in the actual parameters as a predictive model to analyze the results of blasting based on the parameters such as blasthole diameter, hole length, burden, spacing, sub drilling, charge length, blasted volume per hole,and powder factor. The Kuz Ram model results were compared to the results obtained from the Split Desktop image analysis. Significant differences in the distribution of rock fragment sizes were identified. Compared to the Kuz Ram prediction model, Split Desktop showed a more realistic size distribution in numerous blasts.The Kuz Ram model proposed by Cunningham (1983) was modified to meet the specifications of the RP3 Lafarge Limestone Quarry using the results obtained from Split Desktop image analysis software. The collar, alignment, hole depth and burden and spacing deviations were measured to evaluate the differences between the planned and the actual parameters at the RP3 Lafarge Limestone Quarry. The cost evaluation was also done in this study using the Kuz ? Ram model to compare the planned, actual, and proposed parameters.