Engineering Geology 267 (2020) 105480

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Engineering Geology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enggeo

Establishing relationships between structural data from close-range T

terrestrial digital photogrammetry and measurement while drilling data
⁎
Sohail Manzoor , Samaneh Liaghat, Anna Gustafson, Daniel Johansson, Håkan Schunnesson
Division of Mining and Geotechnical Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden

A B S T R A C T

Geologists, mine planners, geotechnical, and mining engineers always strive for maximum information to get a better insight of the rock mass before interacting with
it. Over the recent decades, close-range terrestrial digital photogrammetry (CRTDP) has been increasingly used for data acquisition and to support the conventional
methods for rock mass characterization. It provides a safe, time-saving and contact-free way to gather enough data to minimize user dependent biases. However, it
requires an expensive camera, fieldwork and some software to extract the information from images. In addition, it can over-estimate the rock fracturing sometimes
due to weathering of the rock face or poor blasting practices. Measurement while drilling (MWD) data include the responses of different drilling parameters to the
variations in the rock mass. MWD data are produced in large quantity, as they come from every hole drilled. These data correspond to the inside variations of rock
rather than the surface ones counted in photogrammetry.
In this paper, structural data are obtained from different bench faces of an open pit mine using a commercial software package, ShapeMetriX3D (by 3GSM). These
data are compared to the MWD data of the boreholes that were blasted to produce these bench faces to establish certain relationships between drilling parameters and
rock mass structures. Half casts of the boreholes with MWD data were visible on the bench faces of the pre-split wall that allowed a better correlation. The results
show abrupt changes in MWD parameters for open joints or cavities with some infilling material and overall increases or decreases in parameters for closely spaced
bedding planes, fractures or foliations. The results are promising and suggest the method can be used to characterize the rock mass, modify the charging of explosives
in blasting operations and facilitate the geological modeling of the rock mass.

1. Introduction constraints make traditional methods unpopular with users (Kemeny

Weak zones or discontinuities within a rock mass should be in-
vestigated carefully in any rock engineering or geotechnical project.
Knowing the physical and mechanical properties as well as the geo-
metry of the rock mass is of prime importance in rock engineering as
these traits control rock failure mechanisms (Firpo et al., 2011; Gigli
and Casagli, 2011; Chen et al., 2016; Buyer and Schubert, 2017;
Riquelme et al., 2017). Without sufficient understanding, any sort of
rock failure analysis is prone to a high degree of uncertainty.
Physio-mechanical properties are usually determined from in-situ or
laboratory tests, while geometrical parameters are measured in the field
(Firpo et al., 2011). Traditional methods for determining the geome-
trical characteristics of the rock mass in the field require a geological
compass and physical access to the measurement locations (Gaich et al.,
2006). Methods include one-dimensional scanline surveys and two-di-
mensional window surveys (Sturzenegger and Stead, 2009a). These
surveys are typically performed by a geologist or field engineer and
may suffer from human error or measurement bias (Ferrero et al., 2009;
Gigli and Casagli, 2011). Other constraints include safety issues, access
and time restrictions, difficulties in reproducing the results, limited
coverage in large target areas, lack of user experience etc. These
and Post, 2003; Ferrero et al., 2009), and they are being replaced by
remote sensing techniques.
In the last decade, digital elevation modeling and geomorphological
terrain analysis have undergone an evolutionary transformation
(Westboy et al., 2012). Several techniques are now available to de-
termine the geometrical properties of the rock mass without physical
access, thus increasing user safety and overcoming access and time
restrictions. These new techniques allow the user to determine the
geometry of the rock mass by developing 3D geometrical models of the
rock surface and analyzing them using specially developed computer
software (Feng et al., 2001; Haneberg, 2008; Sturzenegger and Stead,
2009a, b; Bonilla-Sierra et al., 2015; Riquelme et al., 2015). Although
contact-free techniques date back to the 1960s when researchers used
terrestrial photographs for geological mapping (Linkwitz, 1963;
Rengers, 1967), image-based measurement has advanced rapidly in
recent years (Roberts and Poropat, 2000). Also, laser scanners or a
combination of laser scanners and digital images can be used to con-
struct the rock face (Kemeny et al., 2003; Feng and Roeshoff, 2004;
Lemy and Hadjigeorgiou, 2004).
Today, photogrammetry and laser scanning are the most widely
used techniques for rock face characterization (Ferrero et al., 2009).

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sohail.manzoor@ltu.se (S. Manzoor).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2020.105480
Received 27 March 2019; Received in revised form 4 November 2019; Accepted 13 January 2020
Available online 13 January 2020
0013-7952/ © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
S. Manzoor, et al.
Each has its own advantages and disadvantages (see Kemeny and Post,
2003; Jaboyedoff et al., 2009; Sturzenegger and Stead, 2009a; Lato
et al., 2010; Fisher et al., 2014; Li et al., 2016), but both can overcome
the limitations of traditional methods and have other advantages as
well, including the availability of excessive data, more objective results,
the ability to work in magnetic environments, etc. The mining industry
has specific problems with geomechanical data collection, for example,
limited exposure and unsafe rock face conditions. Therefore, a safe, fast
and contact-free data acquisition technique is always preferred over a
traditional geological mapping technique (Lemy and Hadjigeorgiou,
2003). ISRM (1978) suggests photogrammetry can be a viable alter-
native to traditional methods in potentially dangerous and inaccessible
areas.
In the last two decades, aerial and close-range terrestrial digital
photogrammetry (CRTDP) have been widely used for 3D topographic
modeling (Remondino and El-Hakim, 2006; Matthews, 2008; Fraser
and Cronk, 2009; Salvini et al., 2013; Assali et al., 2014). “Close-range”
denotes a distance of up to 300 m from the camera/scanner location to
the analyzed object (Wolf and Dewitt, 2000). Photogrammetry is very
useful in determining 3D structural parameters from stereoscopic
images (Vasuki et al., 2014). It has been applied for many years both in
surface and underground mining operations (Fekete et al., 2010), but it
is becoming even more powerful with advances in digital camera
technology, accompanied by the use of unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs) for digital photography in remote areas (Bemis et al., 2014).
Use of UAVs can considerably improve data acquisition in inaccessible
areas where other techniques face various limitations (Salvini et al.,
2017; Francioni et al., 2018). However, photogrammetry requires an
expensive camera, fieldwork that can hinder the production cycle in
mining operation and a software to extract the information from the
images. In a weathered rock face or if blasting practices are poor, the
technique may over-estimate rock fracturing.
Measurement while drilling (MWD) is another useful technique for
gathering data to characterize the structural and mechanical properties
of the penetrated rock mass (Monteiro et al., 2009; Khorzoughi and
Hall, 2016; Rodgers et al., 2018; Vezhapparambu et al., 2018). It
monitors drilling parameters like penetration rate, rotation pressure,
percussive pressure, feed pressure, flush pressure and damping pressure
as the bit penetrates into the rock mass. The technique was introduced
by Schlumberger Ltd. in 1911 to remove the blindness of drilling op-
erations in the oil industry; later, in the 1970s, it was applied in the
mining industry to improve various mining operations (Segui and
Higgins, 2002) and is considered a low cost approach to get high re-
solution data in less time than other subsurface exploration techniques
(Khorzoughi, 2013). Moreover, since data are recorded during the
drilling operation, the technique does not slow down the production
process. It permits fast and accurate insight into the geo-mechanical
parameters of the rock mass, far in advance of the downstream pro-
cesses (Rai et al., 2016).
When combined with other exploration methods, the MWD tech-
nique provides an improved description of the subsurface rock prop-
erties (Segui and Higgins, 2002). It has been used to identify rock
fractures (Schunnesson, 1996) and characterize the rock mass
(Khorzoughi, 2013; Van Oosterhout, 2016; Ghosh et al., 2017;
Khorzoughi et al., 2018; Van Eldert et al., 2019), but the results have
rarely been validated by the established methods of rock mass char-
acterization. This study aims to establish relationships between rock
structural data and MWD data using the well-established CRTD pho-
togrammetry to harness the maximum benefits associated with MWD
technique. It uses stereoscopic images of nine different bench faces from
the Luossavaara Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB's) Leveäniemi iron ore mine to
perform a structural analysis of the face using the commercial software
ShapeMetrix3D (by 3GSM). MWD data (penetration rate, percussive
pressure, feed pressure and rotation pressure) collected from the
boreholes before the exaction of these benches are analyzed in MATLAB
and Rock Manager (by Epiroc) to detect variations in drilling
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Engineering Geology 267 (2020) 105480
parameters. Results from the analyses are compared and correlated to
establish relationships between them.
2. Methodology
This research is based on a literature review, close-range terrestrial
digital photogrammetry and measurement while drilling data. Data
were collected from Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB's (LKAB's)
Leveäniemi open-pit mine in Sweden.
2.1. Site description
The Leveäniemi iron ore mine is located in Svappavaara, an old
mining village in Kiruna Municipality in the northern part of Sweden. It
is an open-pit mine, owned and operated by LKAB. The Leveäniemi
mine was first operated from 1964 to 1983. After that, the mine was
closed and flooded. 1n 2015, the company received a permit to re-open
the mine, and the water was pumped out. Today, the planned annual
production is 12 million tonnes of magnetite iron ore with an average
grade of 44%. There are 15 years of remaining mine life as per reserve
estimates. Because of the varying nature of the ore quality, both short
and long-term plans have been made using deposit models to maintain
a good balance of iron concentration for the processing plant.
After blasting, the waste is dumped in a nearby dump area, and ore
is hauled to the crushers. The crushed material is processed further to
remove the waste from the ore. The processing phase has three stages:
sorting, concentrating and pelletizing. Magnetic separation is used in
sorting and concentrating phases to separate iron from the waste. The
final product in the form of pellets is transported to customers for
processing into high quality steel.
The study selected one wall of the mine with poor rock conditions
and one with good rock conditions and pre-split blast holes (see Fig. 1).
The wall with poor conditions was selected to check the response of
MWD data to highly fractured rock, and the wall with pre-split blast
holes was selected for the following reasons:
i. It was intact with minimum blast-induced fractures because of pre-
split blasting;
ii. Half casts of the pre-split blast holes were identified on the wall,
permitting improved correlation with MWD data.
2.2. Close-range terrestrial digital photogrammetry
CRTD photogrammetry includes image collection, 3D model gen-
eration and structural analysis. In the data collection phase of this
study, stereoscopic images of nine different bench faces were taken
using a DSLR camera following the standard procedures prescribed by
3GSM, 2010. The basic steps involved are:
1. Setting up of control or reference points near the bench face in the
imaging area.
2. Taking stereoscopic image pair i.e. two images of the bench face
from different positions.
3. Generating a generic 3D model of the bench face from the 2D
images.
4. Scaling and referencing the 3D model using the coordinates of
control or reference points.
5. Analyzing structural features of the bench face.
2.2.1. Camera settings
The camera used for this study was the Nikon D70s which could
cover an imaging area of approximately 40 m height and 50 m width.
Fig. 2 shows the principal geometric arrangement for taking pictures of
a bench face.
Mean distance, D, should be enough to cover the area to be sur-
veyed. The camera has two lenses: a Sigma lens and a Nikon lens. The
S. Manzoor, et al.
Fig. 1. Leveäniemi open pit mine with marked walls used for this study (modified from www.hitta.se).
Nikon lens is standard; it comes with the camera and has a focal length
ranging from 18 to 70 mm. The Sigma lens is used to capture images in
more confined or restricted spaces with a focal length ranging from 10
to 20 mm. The focal length of the lens describes the view angle, i.e.,
how much of the area will be photographed, and the magnification, i.e.,
how much the image elements will be magnified. The shorter the focal
length of the lens, the wider the angle of view and the lower the
magnification and vice versa.
The Sigma lens has a shorter focal length than the Nikon lens and a
wider angle of view but lower magnification. If we are close to the
bench face and cannot go further away because of restrictions like
bench width and thus cannot cover the whole area of interest in the
image with the standard Nikon lens, the Sigma lens should be used.
However, the Nikon lens should be used if the distance, D, does not
restrict the choice of lens, as this lens has less distortion than the Sigma
lens and allows more light to enter the lens, making it more useful in
low light conditions.
Fig. 2. Basic geometric arrangement for data acquisition of a bench face (Modified from 3GSM, 2010).
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Engineering Geology 267 (2020) 105480
The mining environment often restricts the distances and has more
confined spaces, as in this study. Therefore, the Sigma lens was used to
capture the whole area with a shorter imaging distance, D. Several
camera settings are pre-set by the software provider to ensure optimum
use with the software. Image resolution is one of those pre-set para-
meters, with a value of 3008 × 2000. This image resolution was sui-
table to identify the structures of interest in the images. Generally, the
resolution should be better than the minimum size of the structure of
interest in order to successfully identify structures in the photos. In this
case, the images had a resolution of 300 dpi.
Camera calibration is another important procedure in photogram-
metric analysis. In this procedure, a calibration object with known
geometry is used. Many photos of that object are taken from different
angles. These photos are processed, and internal calibration parameters
are determined, including lens distortion, principal point, and focal
length (Qi et al., 2010). In our case, these details were delivered by the
software supplier as calibration sheets. The calibration sheets were
S. Manzoor, et al.
Fig. 3. Stereoscopic image pair. Two corresponding image points P(u,v) relate to one three-dimensional object point P(X,Y,Z) (3GSM, 2010).
imported into the software before starting the 3D model construction to
calibrate the software for the camera used in this study. The system
typically has a position accuracy in the centimeter range for geo-re-
ferencing. So it is capable of producing quite accurate results.
2.2.2. Data acquisition
Fig. 3 shows the principle of taking a stereoscopic image pair. These
stereoscopic images were used to generate 3D models of the bench faces
using a software module. A 3D model is developed by combining the
spatial information with the information in 2D images. For our soft-
ware, it is standard procedure to take two pictures instead of multiple
pictures of the area under observation to generate a 3D model, as data
acquisition is easier and faster. However, several images were taken
parallel to the bench face so that the best image pair giving maximum
accuracy in the 3D model generation could be used for analysis pur-
poses.
Another crucial aspect of 3D model generation is marking and
surveying the control points in the model. This should be done carefully
to ensure the metric accuracy of the 3D model (3GSM, 2010). At least
three control points are required to reference the model in a global
coordinate system (geo-referencing). However, up to six points increase
the reliability of the measurements (3GSM, 2010). Therefore, six con-
trol points, in the form of target disks (red-colored), were used in each
model for referencing purposes. The coordinates of these control points
were determined using a GPS system. The distance between two control
points was fixed and measured and then used to scale the model.
2.2.3. Photogrammetric model generation
3D models were constructed using high point densities, i.e., one
measurement for every pixel. Using higher point densities increases the
details available in the 3D model. But there are drawbacks, including
increased computation time and bigger file sizes. This was not a pro-
blem for this study because of the availability of modern high speed
computers. If there is a limitation due to hardware, lower point den-
sities can be used, but this will compromise the details of interest. Once
a 3D model is constructed, the software displays the final result along
with a quality indicator. Good results are shown as a green bar; bad or
wrong results are in red. In this study, only the models with good results
were used for further analysis. Another quality check for the 3D model
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Engineering Geology 267 (2020) 105480
is the base length ratio indicated in the final results. The base length
ratio is the ratio of the base length, B, and the mean distance, D, as
shown in Fig. 2. It should range between 12.5 and 20 for accurate
measurements. The models complying with this condition were chosen
for further analysis.
The software provides an option to check the quality and accuracy
of the model referencing as well. Statistics include the standard de-
viation of easting, northing, and elevation, as well as total standard
deviation of coordinates. The 3D models showing accuracy in the lower
cm range were used for accurate structural measurements. Range poles
with fixed length were used during data acquisition for scaling pur-
poses. A special software tool, the ‘SMX normalizer’, was used to scale
the 3D model using the range pole length; this is very important for the
accuracy of the model. Fig. 4 shows a 3D model of one of the bench
faces with pre-split blast holes. These 3D models were analyzed using
the Analyst module of the software package to determine the dip, dip
direction, trace length, exposed area and spacing of the discontinuities
marked on each bench face. To extract this information, scanlines were
drawn on the bench face.
The scanlines were drawn exactly on the location of the boreholes to
achieve higher accuracy when comparing photogrammetric data with
MWD data. For example, if a borehole had the coordinates with easting,
182617.9, northing, 7504762.9, and elevation, 281.1 m, the scanline
was added using the same easting, northing, and elevation values in the
3D model. However, the depth of the scanline would be different from
that of the borehole because the borehole is drilled deeper than the
bench face height in blasting operations. Two parameters were used to
draw scanlines at the borehole locations:
1. Coordinates of start and end points of the borehole.
2. Half cast of the boreholes on the bench face.
Coordinates of the boreholes and range poles were measured in the
same coordinate system to have better correlation. Half cast of the
boreholes were visible on the bench faces in pre-split wall so scanlines
were marked following the half cast so that scanline and borehole had
the same location. However, only coordinates were used to match
scanlines and boreholes in poor rock conditions.
S. Manzoor, et al. Engineering Geology 267 (2020) 105480

Fig. 4. 3D model of a bench face with joints, exposed surfaces and scanlines (white dotted lines) marked on the surface.

2.3. Measurement while drilling blastholes were drilled from the contour line of 280 m i.e. the crest of
the bench to 250 m contour line i.e. the toe of the bench as shown in
MWD data were collected from the fully mechanized Epiroc (Atlas Fig. 4.
Copco) SmartROC D65 down-the-hole (DTH) drill rigs used in the
Leveäniemi mine. The Epiroc drill monitoring system retrieves and
3. Data analysis
stores MWD data. The recorded data include time (YYYY-MM-
DDThh:mm:ss), depth (m), rotation pressure (bar), penetration rate (m/
To establish the relationship between MWD data and rock structures
min), feed pressure (bar), and percussive pressure (water pressure
like joints, cavities, bedding planes and fractures, the data analysis
measured by bar). The measured samples are recorded in files in the
comprised the following two steps:
IREDES ‘.xml’ format. These files also record features like drill rig
model, hole identification, plan identification etc., in addition to the
1- MWD data analysis
above-mentioned drilling parameters. The sampling interval along the
2- Structural analysis
borehole is set to 5 cm. MWD data are stored on each drill rig on a USB
memory stick. For this study, MWD data were collected from nine
bench faces for a total of 473 blast holes. The length of the boreholes 3.1. MWD data analysis
was approximately 30 m for the pre-split blast holes and 15 m for the
production blast holes. Fig. 5 shows both of bench faces with poor rock MWD data were collected from the drilling rigs. In the first step of
conditions and pre-split blastholes. The holes were drilled from 310 m the MWD data analysis, the recorded features were extracted in a tab-
contour line i.e. the crest of the bench to 280 m contour line i.e. the toe ular form. This table was used as the input data for the following steps.
of the bench in poor rock conditions. The length of the boreholes was The measured features were placed in columns, and each sample was on
15 m while the bench height was 30 m that means the bench was a separate row. After importing the most significant features of the
blasted in 2 rounds to achieve a bench height of 30 m. The pre-split samples into the table, the input data were filtered to remove incorrect
or faulty values. Noise and outliers can appear at different steps of the

Fig. 5. Location of the benches in both areas of the mine under consideration.

5
S. Manzoor, et al.
data collection process, and should be removed before any analysis. In
this study, the recorded noisy data were divided into three categories:
• Samples recorded in the beginning of each hole: The top of a bench is
often covered with loose rock fragments or fines due to poor
mucking of the material; alternatively, it can be fractured due to the
sub-drilling and priming of the upper bench. In order to drill straight
holes through this disturbed rock mass, the collaring is normally
done with great care, with reduced feed and percussive pressure.
These recorded drilling parameters at the start of the borehole are
not related to the characteristics of the rock mass. Therefore these
recorded samples were removed from the table of input data.
• Samples recorded during the rod change process: Drill rods are usually
shorter than the boreholes to be drilled. Therefore, extension rods
are used to drill deeper holes. Every time a new rod is added to the
drill string, the drilling parameters respond, but they resume their
balanced state after few samples. These rod change signatures occur
at regular intervals and are related to the drill rod length. These
recorded responses don't represent the rock characteristics; rather,
they represent changes in parameters caused by the drill rig. So
these samples were eliminated from the input dataset.
• Samples with negative or abnormally high values: Faulty samples
having unrealistic values, e.g. negative or abnormally high values
for penetration rate or pressure, are not representative samples of
the rock behavior during drilling. For example, a penetration rate of
1000 m/min does not occur in reality. All these abnormal data
samples were removed from the input data.
Fig. 6 shows the measured parameters for one hole before filtering.
The figure indicates that both feed pressure and percussive pressure are
reduced during drilling of the first rod (6 m), and the reduction of feed
pressure results in a reduction of the rotation pressure during the same
interval. The figure also shows that the penetration rate reaches 150 m/
min at the beginning of the hole which is a very unrealistic value and
because of this high value, the rest of the curve is disappeared as the
mean value is less than 1 m/min. Finally, the pressure drops after a
regular interval of 6 m, when a new rod is added to the drill string.
Information about the location of the holes is required to map the
MWD datasets to the structural data obtained from the 3D models.
According to the IREDES standard, another file type named DQ (Drill
Quality) is recorded in addition to the MWD files. These files contain
the specifications for each borehole: borehole identification, plan
identification, borehole name, type of borehole, start point coordinates
of borehole, end point coordinates of borehole, etc. The start and end
point coordinates of the borehole represent the x, y and z for the first
and last recorded samples in each borehole. Borehole identification and
plan identification are two common features of the DQ files and MWD
Fig. 6. Noisy MWD data parameters plotted against depth of the hole.
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Engineering Geology 267 (2020) 105480
Fig. 7. MWD data parameters vs. depth of the hole with specified location
coordinates and status.
files. The files can be combined based on their common features for
each sample in the MWD file, and the start and end point coordinates of
the hole in which the sample is placed can be precisely determined.
In the MWD files, there is also a parameter named depth tag, re-
presenting the depth from the collaring point where the parameters of
each sample are recorded. The approximate coordinates of each sample
can be obtained by adding the depth value to the z coordinate of the
related borehole start point or by subtracting the depth value from the z
coordinate of the related borehole end point. Another feature recorded
for each borehole in the DQ files is status, representing the status of the
specified borehole with respect to the following values: undrilled, fail
and success. Since the recorded data from undrilled or fail holes are not
reliable, the samples related to these holes were removed from the main
dataset. Fig. 7 shows the data filtering, the start and end point co-
ordinates and the status of the borehole.
3.2. Structural analysis
The structural analyses were carried out using ShapeMetriX 3D, a
commercial software package developed by 3GSM and used to acquire
structural data from stereoscopic images (Gaich et al., 2006; Haneberg,
2008; Vasuki et al., 2014; Beyglou, 2016; Buyer and Schubert, 2017).
The SMX Analyst tool of the software was used to mark structures
manually and add scanlines as shown in Fig. 3. Coordinates of the
boreholes taken from the MWD data were used to draw scanlines at the
borehole locations. The structural data were extracted for the desired
scanlines using ShapeMetriX3D which shows the coordinates of each
intersection between any structure and the scanline. Every intersection
between the structures and the scanline is presented as easting,
northing and elevation. Easting and northing were used to match the
results with the corresponding borehole data in MWD files; elevation
was used to calculate the depth of the structures along the scanline to
visualize the variations in MWD data at the corresponding depth. An
example of scanline data is shown in Fig. 8.
4. Correlation and validation
Coordinates of the scanlines and boreholes were matched to com-
pare the variations in the structural data and the MWD data. Structural
data and MWD data were plotted against the depth to identify the si-
milarities, and the areas showing similarities in the data sets were
marked on the images manually. The behavior of the MWD data was
different for different types of structures. Some examples of the results
from the test walls are presented below.
Figs. 9 and 10 show the behavior of MWD data when the hole is
drilled through a rock with fractures or joints with very small aperture.
S. Manzoor, et al.
Fig. 8. Scanline data showing coordinates of different structures intersecting
the scanline.
In these conditions, it is primarily penetration rate (PR) and rotation
pressure (RP) that respond to fractures or joints.
hese parameters show a slight increase in their values when the
drilling process encounters the above discontinuities. As the rock is of
competent nature and the aperture of these fractures/joints is not very
prominent, the increase in drilling parameters is also not very promi-
nent. Statistically, the mean value of penetration rate is 0.85 m/min; it
increases up to 2 m/min, approximately, when it intersects the dis-
continuities, as shown in the figures. Similarly, the mean value of ro-
tation pressure is 60.78 bar, and it increases to 70 bar when drilling
through.
the discontinuities.
Fig. 11 shows another type of MWD data response indicated by
regions of noisy data with fluctuations for all drilling parameters. The
figure indicates that this type of behavior occurs when there are cavities
with removable material or a wedge which is no longer available on the
Fig. 9. Rise in penetration rate (PR) and rotation pressure (PR) at fracture/joint location.
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Engineering Geology 267 (2020) 105480
rock face after the blast. The fluctuations in the MWD data in this case
last longer than the fluctuations for fractures or joints. It is probably
sticky or loose material that causes the MWD to fluctuate so much.
The third type of behavior shown by the MWD data occurs when the
drilling process is carried out in foliated rock or in a rock mass with
closely spaced bedding planes. There is a region of increased penetra-
tion rate for the part of the hole with either of these traits. Fig. 12
presents MWD data for a highly fractured rock face, with corresponding
image.
As the figure shows, the foliations do not cause any abrupt fluc-
tuations in MWD data. There are four spikes in the penetration rate as a
result of four fractures/joints marked as black lines in the rock face
image, but the regions between them show almost constant behavior for
the foliations or bedding planes. Statistically, the mean value of the
penetration rate is increased, i.e. 0.95 m/min, showing the low strength
or fractured nature of the rock. The end part of the hole is actually sub-
drilling, so it cannot be seen in the images. The rock was blasted with a
normal production blasting method, so the actual borehole location was
removed due to back break.
5. Concluding remarks
Measurement while drilling (MWD) is increasingly applied in
mining activities around the world. However, the use of MWD data to
improve mining processes is still not fully implemented, as the varia-
tions in MWD parameters are not fully understood yet. Rock mass
characterization using traditional methods or remote sensing techni-
ques to describe the rock behavior is mostly based on the visible portion
of the rock mass. If applied correctly, MWD data can be used to greatly
improve this description of the rock behavior, as the data represent the
hidden volume of the rock.
Two of the drilling parameters, feed pressure and percussive pres-
sure, are controlled by the drill control system and therefore do not
respond to rock properties, as can be seen in Figs. 6 and 8. The other
two parameters, however, penetration rate and rotation pressure, vary
S. Manzoor, et al. Engineering Geology 267 (2020) 105480

Fig. 10. Variations in penetration rate (PR) and rotation pressure (RP) along with corresponding structures.

with the variations in the rock mass being drilled.
The pre-split wall has good rock conditions, so the drilling para-
meters do not fluctuate much and only show some variations when
major joints or cavities are encountered. The penetration rate and ro-
tation pressure normally rise when the drill bit intersects a joint. In case
of a single joint, this shows up as a peak with one sample. With a cavity,
variations appear in multiple samples; this appears as a noisy region on
the MWD plot. The other wall has joints and closely spaced bedding
planes, fractures and foliations, so it shows abrupt variations, as well as
systematic increases or decreases in MWD data plot. The close joints

Fig. 11. MWD data from two different holes showing fluctuations in all the drilling parameters.

8
S. Manzoor, et al.
Fig. 12. MWD data plot of a borehole and rock face image for poor rock conditions.
and fractures or bedding planes do not cause variations in drilling
parameters, but they can change the mean values for penetration rate
and rotation pressure due to the loss of material strength.
This information can be incorporated into the blast design to adjust
the amount of explosives in the blast holes to improve rock fragmen-
tation through better material handling and increase the stability of the
remaining wall. However, the MWD system needs to be improved to
acquire better quality data with minimum noise and false information.
Declaration of Competing Interest
None.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge LKAB and the staff and management of
the Svappavaara mine for valuable input and support during field stu-
dies. Epiroc is also acknowledged for its valuable input into the project.
Finally, Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency and Formas are ac-
knowledged for financing this project through the SIP-STRIM program.
The authors would like to acknowledge the support from the SLIM
project funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and
innovation program under grant agreement no. 730294 and the support
from Center for Advanced Mining and Metallurgy (CAMM2), Sweden.
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