# Digitalization in Open-Pit Mining: A New Approach in Monitoring and Control of Rock Fragmentation
## 4 Results and Discussion
Summarizing the following obtained results, the authors want to emphasize their scientific and practical significance:  
* The use of information-analytical systems at mining enterprises is not new, they are widely used and certainly bring additional profits and increase economic efficiency. However, the relationships to be analyzed, as well as the mutual influence of changes in some parameters throughout the various stages of mining production are not fully defined. Regarding the process of rock fragmentation, mining enterprises usually equilibrate the parameter of the average lump size: determine it at one or more stages and conduct optimization measures to change this parameter [36; 37]. The authors of this work made an assumption and tried to prove it. This assumption says that in addition to the parameter of the average lump size or the distribution of grading, it is necessary to take into account the parameter of the lump form. The results showed that even a rough assessment of the form (the division was carried out only on three varieties) can provide an opportunity to optimize technological processes. For example, changing the parameters of drilling and blasting, trying to obtain a certain size of the average piece, you can obtain a lot of spilt-shaped material. This form, firstly, is a substandard material of granite production; secondly, it fills the dump trucks transporting rock mass from the quarry to the factory in a special way, it passes through the crusher sieve (the smaller side) and the larger side will give the increased load on operation of mechanisms, etc. In other words, the form of lumps affects the parameter of bulk density, and the parameter of bulk density is very important for many processes of mining production [38; 39]. * The authors saw a certain ratio in the aggregate form of cube together with square and spilt. At the stage of the geological measurement of the material, their ratio was 50 to 50; at the same time, after blasting, the ratio became 20 to 80, and after the fourth stage, the ratio again approached 50 to 50. This might indicate that during blasting,the destruction is not along the boundaries of the mineral grains, but along the inner section of the grains, or the boundaries of the mineral grains are not completely destroyed (which is more likely). There is a pre-destruction effect, where the weakened bonds between mineral grains are destroyed in the subsequent stages of mining, which means that the resulting material has a special internal energy. This energy can be leveled out in different ways in subsequent stages. If we concentrate only on the average lump size, then, for example, the yield of fines at the blasting stage will be normal, and at the stage of crushing and screening, it will exceed the norm. A joint evaluation of the size of blasted rock mass pieces with the evaluation of the fragment form may have a greater effect. The experiment conducted in the present paper is labor-intensive and very costly; therefore, the form was evaluated and a simplified division of forms into three classes was made. In reality, these classes may be much more, and therefore, the data for obtaining relationships and interdependencies should also increase. In the authors' opinion, the existing software complexes for determining the size of pieces in the analysis of grading formation should be finalized with a module for identifying the form. This will reduce the implementation and development resources. For this purpose, the authors developed an algorithm, which was implemented in the software and tested on experimental data. The authors want to emphasize the importance of using the learning method of the algorithm with reinforcement and using a human in the first stages to train the program. The algorithm developed by the authors was tested based on photographs of a mountain range, the pieces' form was determined during the experiment (manual enumeration of the pieces). The convergence was 80%, which is a good result.