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All rocks are involved in mining. These include bedrock (in situ), overburden,
sediment, crushed, redeposited or replanted rock. It
is necessary to study the
properties of rocks in their natural state during excavations. In other works (loading,
transportation, crushing), the fragmented state of rocks is studied.
Therefore, the following subspecies are included in the rock study: rock mass,
crushed stone (rock mass) and individual rock fragments (rock sample).
In mining, individual minerals or rocks are extracted from the entire massif.
Therefore, rock physics studies the physical properties of minerals and all rocks.
Rocks
are complex aggregates, multiphase (water, oil, gas, etc.). Thus, the
physics of rocks differs from the physics of solid rocks.