Fragmentation georeferencing

A method for determining a location of blast fragments in a pile of blast fragments produced in association with or resulting from mining operations, the method comprising:

• providing a 3D imaging system mounted on an excavation device and viewing a portion of a pile of blast fragments and configured for capturing at least one image of the viewed portion of the pile of blast fragments;
• providing a positioning system configured for providing a location and heading of the excavation device;
• providing a processor configured to automatically execute program instructions to process signals from the 3D imaging system and the positioning system, including by performing image processing operations upon the at least one image of the viewed portion of the pile of blast fragments, to:
• identify a reference location in the viewed portion of the pile of blast fragments;
• determine the reference location in a geographic coordinate system using the location and heading of the excavation device;
• identify a plurality of individual blast fragments in the viewed portion of the pile of blast fragments;
• associate or match individual blast fragments with closest grid elements in a grid pattern;
• and
• determine a distinct geographic coordinate corresponding to each of the plurality of individual blast fragments by way of allocating to each identified blast fragment a georeferenced location relative to the reference location in the geographic coordinate system and a grid element with which the blast fragment has been associated or matched.