Fuzzy expert system for economic zonation of an ornamental slate deposit

✍ Scribed by J. Taboada; C. Ordóñez; A. Saavedra; G. Fiestras-Janeiro

• Book ID: 104017694
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 303 KB
• Volume: 84
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0013-7952
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enggeo.2006.02.002

✦ Synopsis

Investigation of deposits for traditional extraction activities (metals and coal) has generally been based on determining grade, or content, of the required material. In order to apply the grade concept to an ornamental rock such as slate, it is first necessary to define the variables that determine both the geotechnical recovery rate for the rock masswhich conditions the size of the extracted blocksand the aesthetic features of the slatewhich define the quality of the slabs as potential roofing material.

For this research, geotechnical and aesthetic data for a slate deposit were collected from 16 continuous core borehole samples. A fuzzy expert system was then developed using this data, defining the rock mass recovery rate and slab quality in accordance with the criteria of a slate expert, producing as a final output a zonation of the deposit in terms of top quality slate, medium quality slate or waste.

A mathematical model based on fuzzy logic was chosen due to the fact that the boundaries between different quality groups in a deposit are not clearly distinguished. Moreover, quality also depends on a company's infrastructures for transformation of the blocks, and also on its commercial strategies.