System and Method for Controlling a Drill and Blast Event

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to:

• receive, by a control system, a desired rock fragment size for a desired percentage of the population of rock fragments resulting from the drill and blast event;
• receive, by the control system, drill and blast event characteristic inputs;
• determine, by the control system, simulation variables;
• generate, by the control system, multiple drill and blast event scenarios based on drill and blast characteristic inputs and simulation variables;
• determine, by the control system, drill and blast event scenarios comprising drill and blast event specifications for drill and blast events that result in the desired rock fragment size for a desired percentage of the population of rock fragments;
• receive, by the control system, drill and blast event specifications selected from the multiple drill and blast event scenarios;
• communicate, by the control system, the selected drill and blast event specifications to at least one of (a) the operators responsible for executing the drill and blast event and (b) the drilling equipment to be used during execution of the drill and blast event;
• and
• execute the selected drill and blast event by at least one of (a) the operators responsible for executing the selected drill and blast event and (b) the drilling equipment to be used during execution of the selected drill and blast event.

A control system for controlling a drill and blast event, comprising:

• one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to:
• receive, by a control system, a desired rock fragment size for a desired percentage of the population of rock fragments resulting from the drill and blast event;
• receive, by the control system, drill and blast event characteristic inputs;
• determine, by the control system, simulation variables;
• generate, by the control system, multiple drill and blast event scenarios based on drill and blast characteristic inputs and simulation variables;
• determine, by the control system, drill and blast event scenarios comprising drill and blast event specifications for drill and blast events that result in the desired rock fragment size for a desired percentage of the population of rock fragments;
• receive, by the control system, drill and blast event specifications selected from the multiple drill and blast event scenarios;
• communicate, by the control system, the selected drill and blast event specifications to at least one of (a) the operators responsible for executing the drill and blast event and (b) the drilling equipment to be used during execution of the drill and blast event;
• and
• execute the selected drill and blast event by at least one of (a) the operators responsible for executing the selected drill and blast event and (b) the drilling equipment to be used during execution of the selected drill and blast event.