Assessment of ease of excavation of surface mines

An empirical ground classification system for surface mines is presented. It is designed to provide a means for determining the ease of excavation, diggability, by mechanical excavators. The background and the methodology for determining this excavation index is introduced. This index, which is suitable for rock characterization relies on the point load index of the rock, its block size as defined by the presence of discontinuities. The system is also flexible to account for the influence of weathering as well as the relative ground structure which may assist or hinder the excavation process. The economic consequences of selecting mining excavation equipment are also addressed. The Excavation Index was applied with success to 49 case studies (Hadjigergiou, J. Studies of machine ground interaction in surface mines. Ph.D. thesis, McGill University, 1993, p. 214).