Evaluating the relationship of vertical drilling rate with rock properties in the Marble quarry mining

In this research, the relationship of vertical drilling rate (VDR) with rock properties is studied in the marble quarry mining based on the combination of field surveys and laboratory experiments. To achieve this, the VDR is initially measured while drilling at the Malawi marble quarry mine. Then, the physical and mechanics tests are conducted on the core specimens prepared from the collected minor blocks corresponding to the under-drilling mine benches. Parametric study revealed that natural density, dry density, slake durability index, Schmidt hammer rebound, compression wave velocity, point load index, uniaxial compressive strength and modulus of elasticity exhibit an inverse relationship with VDR. Conversely, VDR was found to have a direct relationship with porosity, water content, Los Angeles abrasion, and Poisson ratio. Moreover, it was confirmed that VDR is more correlated with the rock mechanical properties rather than the rock physical features, considering the obtained mean coefficient of determination (COD) of 0.8948 vs. 0.9206. Besides, sensitivity analysis showed that modulus of elasticity and water content are the most and least effective variables on VDR with an influence value of 1.152 and 0.8865, respectively. Additionally, statistical analyses are conducted and optimum empirical quadratic, power, and exponential relations with high accuracy (COD values from 0.861 to 0.987) are proposed to determine the VDR based on each rock property. Finally, comparative analysis is conducted for further verification of the current study. Accordingly, the values of lower and upper limits of COD, and mean relative error are obtained 0.36, 0.9576, and 0.359 for previous researches vs. 0.861, 0.987, and 0.114% for this study. These results confirm the superiority of the current research compared to the similar previous studies.

Evaluating the relationship of vertical drilling rate with rock properties in the Marble quarry mining Keywords:

Marble quarry mining , Parametric Study , Rock Properties , Statistical analysis , Vertical drilling rate