Prediction and Actual Block Recovery in Ornamental Stone Quarrying: Basic Features and Variability

Ornamental stone quarrying represents a specific field in mining activities. Specific features are: excellent rock mass properties (fewjoints, durability); suitable exploitation methods (benched open pit, room and pillars); high quality and value of exploited rawmaterial (required “dimension” criterion for blocks, slabs, beams) to be used in building, arts, architecture. Mining recovery rate is the main index to be satisfied, for the correct use of natural resources, for economic savings and to fulfillregulations concerning environmental restrictions for the reclamation of sites. Technology is also relevant, with development of toolsfor cutting, techniques for geostructural and topographical surveying and equipment for preparing final products. This paper presents a procedure for a simplified approach to sustainable quarrying, thanks to about 30 years of experience indifferent quarry basins. Modern digital tools (LiDAR, GIS, CAD, Python programming, remote machine control) allow for predictingand controlling potential production, and the results can be directly observed during exploitation. Direct observation in different basins involves an emphasis of the strict relationship between main geostructural features, quarry face orientation and technology for cutting on the final results, providing learned lessons on a real base. The output of this study is a tool to help reaching sustainable results in terms of recovery, economics, safety and valorization of theresource: waste and energy reduction, landscape suitable integration and preservation are unavoidable benchmarks of a goodmining project, even for underground exploitation.