Working with our partner, GTS (Global Technical Solutions), the EPC-UK engineering team has been making widespread use of the SMARTFRAG tool on customer sites over recent months, supporting optimisation and fragmentation processes as we work to ensure greater mineral sustainability.

The SMARTFRAG tool makes it possible for us to measure the fragmentation curve of rock using drone images. The data we gather doing this helps us to ensure we apply the right amount of energy to break the rock to meet our customers’ requirements. 

Developing the technology

SMARTFRAG was developed by GTS using deep learning technologies. By producing Geotiffs from drone photogrammetry models, the technology’s automated assessment routines can rapidly and accurately detect the proportion of different fragmentation sizes within a muck pile. Our SMARTFRAG tool is a real asset as it makes it possible to cover a complete range, including fines, which are difficult to detect using conventional image analysis techniques. 

“The SMARTFRAG tool enables us to match the fragmentation to a site’s geology, a crusher’s ideal size, and the split of products a customer needs to achieve,” Laysa Fonseca, EPC-UK’s Graduate Explosives Engineer explains.

“Already, its implementation has significantly sped up the process of fragmentation analysis, making its value more accessible for all. It’s a vital tool for the drill and blast process because each crusher has an ideal size or distribution of material. By assessing the data created by SMARTFRAG we can alter blast designs to better meet their needs as we simultaneously optimise processes that enable greater mineral sustainability.”