Analysis of ground vibrations caused by bench blasting at Can Open-pit Lignite Mine in Turkey

The principal disturbances created by blasting in open-pit mines are vibrations, air blast and fly rock. All of these problems, under some circumstances, may cause severe damage to structures nearby and, apart from that, these can be the possible sources of permanent conflict with the inhabitants who live close to the operation. Therefore, a vibration-control study was performed in mines on the basis that prediction of ground vibration components is of great importance in minimising environmental complaints. This paper presents the results of ground-vibration measurements induced by bench blasting at Can Open-pit Lignite Mine, which is located close to the residential area of Can town. Within the scope of this study, in order to predict peak particle velocity and determine the slope of the attenuation curve for this site, ground-vibration components were measured for blast events. During the study, the parameters of scaled distance were recorded carefully, and the ground-vibration components were measured by suitable monitors for 54 blast events. At the end of the evaluation of data pairs, an empirical relationship, which gives the average line at a 95% confidence level and an upper bound 95% prediction line with a good correlation coefficient, was established and suggested for this site.