Influence of explosion energy on the quality of rough diamonds
- 1 — YakutNIPromalmaz
- 2 — USMGA Explosives Center
Abstract
Technogenic damage (TD) of diamond crystals is currently estimated by mass indicators: relative change in mass separately and in the sieve aggregate (degree of disturbance and mass loss in the class), the number of fragments in the class, etc. This system of indicators (10 grades of sieve size and two major indicators per grade) does not permit unequivocal estimation of quality changes in rough diamonds as a whole and description of many physical and mineralogical changes (cracks, microdefects). More expedient may be the estimation of technogenic changes in the value of crystals. Its price parameters can serve as a scale of importance, and crystal value can be considered as an integrated quality indicator. Interrelation between TD, cost of crystals and extraction parameters and dressing technology in general is caused by natural uncertainty of change of sieve and quality composition of diamond crystals, high statistical variation with low frequency of appearance of some indicators (for example the price of very large crystals) that requires analysis of large statistical samples and hasn't been evaluated so far. In addition, the influence on the damageability of crystals in the processes of mechanical crushing and grinding the degree of dissolution of pieces of ore during the explosion has not been determined. Indirect confirmation of possible ambiguous influence of explosion energy on damageability of crystals are results of experiments [5], in which growth of energy costs at BWR on 25 % led to their reduction on ore preparation as a whole, taking into account crushing and grinding processes at the plant, on 10 %.