Selecting an Appropriate Mining Method for Aragonite Blocks in the Sabz Rang Area, Helmand Province
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66546/aijs.v2i3.64Keywords:
Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Aragonite, Dimension stone, Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM), Sensitivity analysisAbstract
Selecting an appropriate extraction method is an important decision in dimension-stone quarrying because method suitability depends on several technical, geological, operational, environmental, and safety considerations. This study evaluates three extraction alternatives—chainsaw cutting, diamond wire cutting, and controlled blasting—for aragonite dimension-stone blocks in the Sabz Rang area of Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The study used field investigation to characterize existing extraction practices and identify feasible alternatives, and it analyzed structured expert judgments within an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework. Thirteen mining specialists evaluated the alternatives against five criteria: cutting quality, ease of use, environmental aspect, geological aspect, and safety. Pairwise judgments were aggregated and analyzed using AHP in SuperDecisions software, including consistency assessment and sensitivity analysis. The final priorities, ranked in order, were chainsaw cutting (0.48668), diamond wire cutting (0.42034), and controlled blasting (0.09298). The results identify chainsaw cutting as the preferred alternative within the decision criteria and site-specific conditions considered in this study.
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