Use of geotechnologies in mining planning in Quarries carbonated rocks - Contribution to the digital transition (Industry 4.0)
Authors: Duarte João , Sousa Francisco , Valente Bruno 
Published: December 2021

As part of the strategy for Industry 4.0, this work was developed to outline a methodology that is an important contribution to improve the efficiency and productivity of processes in the ornamental stone extraction industry. Since this sector is important for the Portuguese economy, it is imperative to optimize processes to improve their efficiency in the use of resources, economic valuation, and economic viability. Knowing that one of the main factors to take into account in the feasibility of an exploration of ornamental rocks is the density, persistence and attitude of the discontinuities present in the rock mass, a methodology is proposed that aims to map and characterize the existing discontinuities in the using the latest digital technologies and whenever possible open access (CloudCompare, Stereonet, 3D Block Expert). To this end, work was initially carried out on an active exploration front, identifying and characterizing, through the traditional method (compass and clinometer) and photogrammetry, existing discontinuities and statistically analysing their occurrence. The data analysis shows a variation in the attitude of the discontinuities in a range of -17.72 ° to 14.7 °, this variation corresponding to the strike. As a percentage, there is also a variation in the range of values, from -5.30% to 4.91%, with the reference value being the value obtained by the photogrammetric method. This step was also used to compare the acquired data and verify the variations between them depending on the method used. Photogrammetry was used with another complementary purpose, but very important for the proposed methodology, which is related to the 3D modelling of the fronts and the subsequent projection or extraction of the existing discontinuity plans. The determination of the attitude of the discontinuities was obtained through the manipulation of the point clouds obtained by the photogrammetric modelling, based on the technique of Structure for Motion [SfM] and application of the RANSAC Shape Detection algorithm of the CloudCompare® program, which allows the determination of the attitude of the discontinuities. The characterization of the discontinuities by the photogrammetric method provided the data that was used in the present study to calculate the blocometry in that sector. This was calculated using the 3D BlockExpert software, based on the exploration sequences. The program calculated the predicted volumes in each one, based on a standard dimension for the block of 2.7 × 3.0 × 2.0 meters. As a result, it was possible to compare a number of blocks the value predicted by the 449 modellings and the number of blocks produced 490. This difference of approximately 10% for this order of magnitude is acceptable and confirms the reliability of the proposed methodology. This evaluation using Geotechnologies allows data modelling to be effectively an important process in the planning of the extractive process, and with the development of this approach, it may introduce in a second phase the decision automation of the extractive process, based on economic and commercial criteria and last and third stage, the automation of the extractive process.