Fragmentation risk assessment in open-pit blasting using interaction matrix-vulnerability index method

Poor fragmentation, oversize and undersize, means economic loss and as a consequence, putting the whole mining operation at risk. Risk assessment prior to blasting operation can be a helpful tool for total cost reduction. In this paper, a new model, considering all pertinent parameters is proposed to predict the risk due to poor fragmentation in rock blasting, using the concept of Rock Engineering Systems (RES) with interaction matrix. The principles of RES were used to define an index, the so called vulnerability index (VI), describing the risk condition due to poor fragmentation.