Analysis of discontinuities in the Lashotor stone quarry complex (south of Isfahan) and its importance in extraction optimization

The Lashotor stone quarry complex as the part of the Sanandaj-Sirjan structural zone is located in the south of the Isfahan city. The Cretaceous calcareous units are the main lithological unit extended in the area. Unscientific extraction is caused to produce many wastes in this stone quarry Complex. Investigation and modelling of structural discontinuities is an essential step in the mining to wastes reduction and economic efficiency improvements. Blocks with different geometric characteristics (number and volume of each block) resulted from the intersections between discontinuities and the faces directions. So, the attitudes of discontinuities (i.e. bedding, joints and stylolites) and their spacing and direction of the cutting step of each face were measured during field survey. The dominant strike of discontinuities are stylolites, which are parallel to the bedding planes based on rose diagrams of the strike direction obtained from field measurements. The average spacing of the stylolites is ~1-1.2 meters. Based on the results of the Modeling Using 3DEC software and the percentage of non-economic blocks was calculated and the volume-cumulative percentage diagrams the current faces were not extracted in correct directions. Therefore, modeling was repeated for different directions of the faces until reaching an optimal direction in order to reduce the waste and increase the efficiency. Finally, the best extraction direction was suggested.