A Solution Surface in Nine-Dimensional Space to Optimise Ground Vibration Effects Through Artificial Intelligence in Open-Pit Mine Blasting

Saubi, Onalethata; Jamisola, Rodrigo S.; Gaopale, Kesalopa; Suglo, Raymond S.; Matsebe, Oduetse

doi:10.3390/mining5030040

Open AccessArticle

A Solution Surface in Nine-Dimensional Space to Optimise Ground Vibration Effects Through Artificial Intelligence in Open-Pit Mine Blasting

by

Onalethata Saubi

^1,*,

Rodrigo S. Jamisola, Jr.

²

,

Kesalopa Gaopale

¹

,

Raymond S. Suglo

¹ and

Oduetse Matsebe

²

¹

Department of Mining Engineering, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Palapye Private Bag 16, Botswana

²

Department of Mechanical, Energy and Industrial Engineering, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Palapye Private Bag 16, Botswana

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Mining 2025, 5(3), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/mining5030040

Submission received: 26 March 2025 / Revised: 22 April 2025 / Accepted: 23 April 2025 / Published: 26 June 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mine Automation and New Technologies)

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Abstract

In this study, we model a solution surface, with each point having nine components using artificial intelligence (AI), to optimise the effects of ground vibration during blasting operations in an open-pit diamond mine. This model has eight input parameters that can be adjusted by blasting engineers to arrive at a desired output value of ground vibration. It is built using the best performing artificial neural network architecture that best fits the blasting data from 100 blasting events provided by the Debswana diamond mine. Other AI algorithms used to compare the model’s performance were the k-nearest neighbour, support vector machine, and random forest—together with more traditional statistical approaches, i.e., multivariate and regression analyses. The input parameters were burden, spacing, stemming length, hole depth, hole diameter, distance from the blast face to the monitoring point, maximum charge per delay, and powder factor. The optimised model allows for variations in the input values, given the constraints, such that the output ground vibration will be within the minimum acceptable value. Through unconstrained optimisation, the minimum value of ground vibration is around 0.1 mm/s, which is within the vibration range caused by a passing vehicle.

Keywords: optimisation; prediction; ground vibration; artificial neural network; blast-induced

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MDPI and ACS Style

Saubi, O.; Jamisola, R.S., Jr.; Gaopale, K.; Suglo, R.S.; Matsebe, O. A Solution Surface in Nine-Dimensional Space to Optimise Ground Vibration Effects Through Artificial Intelligence in Open-Pit Mine Blasting. Mining 2025, 5, 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/mining5030040

AMA Style

Saubi O, Jamisola RS Jr., Gaopale K, Suglo RS, Matsebe O. A Solution Surface in Nine-Dimensional Space to Optimise Ground Vibration Effects Through Artificial Intelligence in Open-Pit Mine Blasting. Mining. 2025; 5(3):40. https://doi.org/10.3390/mining5030040

Chicago/Turabian Style

Saubi, Onalethata, Rodrigo S. Jamisola, Jr., Kesalopa Gaopale, Raymond S. Suglo, and Oduetse Matsebe. 2025. "A Solution Surface in Nine-Dimensional Space to Optimise Ground Vibration Effects Through Artificial Intelligence in Open-Pit Mine Blasting" Mining 5, no. 3: 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/mining5030040

APA Style

Saubi, O., Jamisola, R. S., Jr., Gaopale, K., Suglo, R. S., & Matsebe, O. (2025). A Solution Surface in Nine-Dimensional Space to Optimise Ground Vibration Effects Through Artificial Intelligence in Open-Pit Mine Blasting. Mining, 5(3), 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/mining5030040

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A Solution Surface in Nine-Dimensional Space to Optimise Ground Vibration Effects Through Artificial Intelligence in Open-Pit Mine Blasting

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