Abrasive waterjet perforation was performed on siliceous, calcareous and carbonaceous shales to study the effect of mineralogy characteristics on shale failure behaviors, and size distribution and fractal dimension of broken abrasives were analyzed to determine fragmentation characteristics of particles. Results indicate that particle detachment is the primary failure mode for siliceous and calcareous shales, while partide scratching plays a more dominant role in carbonaceous shale. Due to weak cementation and high brittleness, siliceous shale has the highest rate of penetration (ROP), followed by calcareous and carbonaceous shales. Among the three shales, abrasive particles have the lowest median-diameter and the highest fractal dimension (D) in the carbonaceous shale perforation. Compared to garnet, silica-sand is lower in median-diameter but higher in D after perforation. Increasing jet pressure helps improve ROP and D, but intensify particle fragmentation simultaneously. There is a positive correlation between ROP and D, depending on mineralogy characteristics of shale. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.