A new modification to the Kuz-Ram model using the fragment size predicted by image analysis

Abstract

Fragmentation of rocks or mineral deposits plays an imperative role in the determination of economic viability of mining operations. The determination of the fragment size is usually done using either the Kuz-Ram model or image analysis. However, the Kuz-Ram model often overestimates the fragment size though it is simple to implement, while the prediction of the image analysis is accurate but difficult to implement and costly. Hence, this study proposed a new modified Kuz-Ram model based on the data obtained in the literature. To achieve the aim of this study, an analytically adjusted original Kuz-Ram model and the image analysis datasets were used to formulate an objective function which was solved using the least square method implemented in the MATLAB environment. The proposed model was validated using datasets outside those used in developing the model and the performance of the proposed model was assessed using the error analysis. The overall error between the proposed model and the image analysis is about 3.5%, while that of the original Kuz-Ram model and the image analysis is above 60%. Hence, the proposed model can accurately approximate the fragment size predicted using image analysis with no cost and easy implementation.