Investigation of effect of magnetite percent on geomechanical and seismic parameters: case study Chadormalu ore deposit

Investigation of effective parameters on mechanical and physical properties of ore deposits is very important in determination of their rock mechanic and failure properties. This investigation can be suitable in different mining operations such as drilling, blasting, comminution and mine planning. In this paper, at first, microscopic sections were studied under different lights in Chadormalu iron ore mine. Then geomechanical and seismic properties as well as failure behaviour of the oxide ores (magnetite and hematite) were studied. The results demonstrated that the percentage of magnetite has a direct relationship with uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength, Young modulus and P and S wave velocities; and the magnetite percentage has an inverse relationship with Poisson's ratio, porosity and saturation. Finally, the relation between magnetite percent and blast-induced preconditioning was investigated. The results showed that increasing the percentage of magnetite will increase the blast-induced preconditioning and increasing preconditioning decreased comminution processes in the Chadormalu iron ore mine. Also increasing the percentage of magnetite in feed of process factory from 25 to 50% decreases the power consumption from 70 (KWh/t) to 40 (KWh/t).