Halil SAĞIROĞLU
Oyak Cement Factories A.S. – Aslan Cement Branch Raw Material Production Chief
- Introduction
Since the 18th century, raw material quarries have been the undisputed fact and reason for the existence of cement, which entered our lives in the 18th century, since the day it started to be industrialized. In the 21st century, the fact that production facilities are still established near reserves is proof that raw material quarries are the cornerstone of production and the source of the industry.
In a sector where quarries are so important, reserve management should be carried out in line with the optimum quarry operation plan, taking into account the difficulty of sustainability in today’s competition. Managing quarries with different chemical contents and volumes reaching millions of cubic meters with minimum cost and loss is a very difficult and specialized issue.
Every cement industry, which is based on the understanding of continuity and stabilized quality, does not refrain from making the necessary investments for reserve management and optimization, as well as employing personnel who are experts in this field.
Making sense of the complex structure of a quarry and creating an operating plan to ensure optimum profit at minimum cost is not possible without the support of technology today. The road map for the appropriate operating plan can be determined through software programs that make the hidden reserves of the quarry visible to the users and can extract the chemical identities of the reserves on a region basis.
This article presents the outline of the study on “Three Dimensional (3D) Modeling and Operation Plan of Raw Material Quarries” of Oyak Cement Factories A.Ş-Aslan Cement Branch with the software programs mentioned above.
The main purpose of the three-dimensional modeling study is to reveal the raw material reserve and extend the life of the quarry with improvement work, to make the quality distribution of heterogeneous raw material quarries, to create raw material budgets, to determine the amount of other additive raw materials, to determine rehabilitation areas, and to create short and long term quarry operation plans.
The quality distribution of the raw material in Oyak Cement Factories A.Ş. Aslan Cement Branch Darıca Quarry Operations and the final status scenario of the quarry were created in 2022. With the modeling work carried out, the final form of the quarries was reached and it was planned to spread the reserve over many years with operating scenarios below sea level.
With the three-dimensional modeling study, the current situation of the site was revealed and the amount of excavation to be carried out was determined and the final stockpile areas, dumping areas, final operating boundary, raw material reserves and quality distribution of raw materials were calculated in this study. Optimum reserve calculations of the quarry operation were made and Above Sea Level (ASL) and Below Sea Level (BSL) operation plans were created.
- Oyak Cement Factories A.Ş. Aslan Cement Branch Darıca Quarry Operations:
Oyak Cement Factories A.Ş. Aslan Cement Branch has two raw material quarries in the factory site. The raw materials obtained from the plants are listed below.
HSM: High Silica Marl
LSM: Low Silica Marl
Limestone Limestone (CaO > 50%)
Low CaO (Waste): < 30% CaO
Dolomitic Limestone and Conglomerate: 5% MgO and above
Picture 1: Darıca Quarry Operations
2.1 Darıca Raw Material Research:
The examination table of Darıca raw material deposits in terms of geochemical model in the past years is presented in the table below.
Table 1: Quarry Modeling by Years
2.2 Darıca Geological Units:
The Geological formations of Darıca Quarries are given below.
- Limestone-grovac-shale representing the Devonian geological period,
- Dolomitic limestones representing the Triassic period
- Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene aged clayey limestone-marn
- Finally, terrestrial clastic rocks revealing the Pliocene time interval
Figure 2: Geological Units of Darıca Raw Material
Quarries from the Bottom to the Top
- Reserve Calculations:
3.1 Apparent Reserve;
It is defined as all blocks within the final operational boundary, covering the Above Sea Level (ASL) and Below Sea Level (BSL) areas, estimated within 150 m impact distance of the drillings.
3.2 Probable Reserve;
Defined as blocks beyond 150 m strike distance, where the quality distribution cannot be estimated. Prospective reserves can be converted into visible reserves through development drilling.
Figure 3:Final Operating Boundary
Picture 4: Final State of the Plant
As a result of the operation according to the operation plans created by the modeling method, the final status of the quarries will be as above. According to this plan, the Upper Sea Level (ASL) operation will start from +110 level and drop to +3 level, while the Below Sea Level (BSL) operation will continue from +3 level to -30 level.
In order to ensure the stability and stability of the quarry slopes after the end of the operation, step slope angles and general slope angles were calculated by taking into account the characteristics of the
material. Accordingly, the general slope of the areas in the northern part of the site will be 300 and 420 in the southern part of the site.
Since a deep quarry operation is not suitable due to the risk to the stability of the slopes, the operation grades are designed with a 50 m safety heel from the +3 level. After the finalization of the operation,
the levels in the east of the site will be filled with vegetative soil to create the final topography for rehabilitation.
Picture 5: Quarry Rehabilitation Area
4. Raw Mix:
The optimum raw material percentages and quality parameters calculated according to the three-dimensional modeling based on the available drilling data are given below.
Table 2: Optimum Raw Mix Table
5. Drillings:
The tables below summarize all the drilling to date that has been done and used for block modeling:
Table 3: Drillings by Year
6. CaO Quality Distribution by Block Model Study:
Block dimensions (length/width/height): 10 m x 10 m x 10 m
Figure 6: Three Dimensional Hearth Structure
6.1 CaO Quality Distribution of the Plant:
CaO distribution of the blocks belonging to the plant with the modeling
method is shown in Figure 6 below. With the modeling program, all
chemical properties (SiO2, Fe2O3, Al2O3, etc.) of the selected blocks can be seen. In this way, operation plans are created and quality irregularities are taken under control at the quarry site.
Figure 7: Darıca Quarries CaO Distribution
6.2 Parameters Used in Block Model Estimation:
a. Composite sample parameters:
• Composite Length: 3 m
• Length Range: Fixed Length
• Min. of Sample Content. Percentage 75%
• Zone Selection Method: Not selected
• Dilution Status: Not done
• Table Name: Sample
• Composited Values: All Chemical Elements
b. Block Dimensions: 10m (X) x 10m (Y) x 10m (Z) Rotation 00 K
c. Anisotropic Ellipse:
• Maximum scanning distance: 150 m
• Maximum vertical search distance:15 m
d. Search Parameters:
Rotation Angle
• Axis 1: 0.00 (North angle)
• 2nd Axis: 0.00 (Investment)
• 3rd Axis: 0.00 (Slope)
Anisotropy Factor
• Semi-Large Axis: 1.00
• Small Axis 10.00
• Maximum Sample Selection: 15
• Minimum Sample Selection: 3
7. Conclusion:
With the ease of “3D Modeling” programs, the identification of hidden reserves and the creation of an optimum operating plan for visible reserves provide the industry with great gains in terms of both
quality and cost.
Oyak Cement Factories A.Ş. Aslan Cement Branch has also benefited
from the services of these programs and has made positive contributions
to product quality and sustainability by combining technology with
more than 100 years of experience in quarry management.
References: 2000 Modeling and Mine Planning – F.Thoue, 2003 Model Update – M.Jones , 2005 Model Update – W.Grits & I.Ercin, 2006 Modeling and Mine
Planning – P.Hirtzig – İ.Ercin, 2009 Modeling and Mine Planning – S.Castiaux – I.Ercin, 2016 Modeling and Reserve Calculations – M.Gokce – H.Sagiroglu, 2022
Modeling and Mine Planning – H.Sagiroglu
