MINESIGHT® TUTORIALS
MineSight® is a powerful visual tool for all facets of mine design and planning. Most of the functions in MineSight® are easy to implement, but some guidance may be desired, especially when first getting comfortable with MineSight®. This section presents a number of tutorials that address some of the more common questions and procedures that arise in the use of MineSight®.
GOING INTO 2D MODE
Using the 2D Mode including setup and Strips and Histograms
CREATING AND MANIPULATING DRILLHOLE VIEWS
Creating Drillhole Views, Editing Drillholes, Compositing and Viewer Properties.
USING THE BLAST PATTER EDITOR
How to create blast patterns using the Blast Pattern Editor.
CREATING LABELS
Adding text to your MineSight® project.
CREATING MODEL VIEWS
Creating and manipulating Model Views and GradeShells.
INTRODUCTION TO MODEL ROTATION
Rotate the project model within project boundaries.
MODEL VIEW BROWSE-EDIT
Viewing and editing model item values in MineSight 3-D.
SETTING UP COLOR CUTOFFS
Setting Color Cutoffs of Materials based on grade or code values.
SETTING UP PLOT LAYOUTS
Setting up Plot Layouts, including creation of Title Blocks and Manipulation of Areas in the Plot Layout.
USING THE MINESIGHT® LINKER
Building solids using the Linker, including basic links, partial links, multifurcation and data preparation.
WRITING PYTHON SCRIPTS
GOING INTO 2D MODE
The MineSight® default Viewer is 3D. All display and editing within this Viewer is done in 3D mode and you should make use of Edit Grids and/or Snap Modes to properly enter new data into a project.
However, you can also put MineSight® into a 2D mode, which makes it easier to do certain editing tasks. It also allows you to step through the data in the Viewer using a set of controlling planes, and visualize drillhole and model data with unique 2D display attributes.
Setting Up 2D Mode
In order to use the 2D mode of the MineSight Viewer, it is first necessary to attach a Grid Set to the Viewer, which is accomplished through the View Options tab of the Viewer Properties dialog.
This tells MineSight which way to clip the data. Attach the Grid Set by clicking on the icon to the right of the Installed Grid Set box. Choose a grid set and click OK. Now, click the Change to 2D Mode button. The 2D mode always begins with the first grid in the grid set, so you may not see any data. Use the dropdown list in the Viewer Properties window to choose an appropriate plane. Another dropdown list with convenient stepping arrows is located along the top of the Viewer window. Going into 2D Mode locks the azimuth and dip of the view; both are locked normal to the attached Grid Set. By default, Plane Filter is toggled on upon entering 2D Mode. Once the Grid Set has been attached to the Viewer, you can toggle between 2D and 3D modes using the icons on the Viewer Icon Strip.
2D icon 3D icon
Properties of 2D Mode
When in 2D Mode, editing and display are limited to the selected plane, and there are certain features that are available only in 2D Mode. In the Viewer Properties window, the Viewer Options tab has checkboxes for Rotate view 180° and Snap Edit Grid to Current Plane. The Rotate view 180° option rotates the azimuth of the view from 0° to 180°, while the Snap Edit Grid to current Plane selection will select an Edit Grid at the current plane location. Note: In 2D Mode, it is sometimes necessary to switch to a different plane before changes are reflected in the viewer.
In the Drillhole View Properties window, there are also a number of 2D Mode options. On the Intevals Tab, there is a checkbox to toggle Label visibility on and off in 2D Mode. On the Display Tab, both the Trace and ID Label options have toggles for 2D Mode. in addition, the 2D Options area allows the specification of the Projection volume, Piercement angle, and Piercement marker size, and provides a checkbox to Invert the view. The projection volume specifies the distance from the current plane from which data will be shown in the Viewer. The piercement angle is a tolerance for drillholes that are somewhat perpendicular to the current plane. If the drillhole is within this tolerance (default value is 10 degrees) with respect to the current plane, the drillhole will be rendered as a square piercement marker rather than a trace. The Piercement marker size option allows the specification of the size of this marker. Finally, the Invert view checkbox is used in conjunction with the Rotate view 180° option; when this is selected in the Viewer Properties, the entire data set, incuding labels, is rotated, resulting in reversed labels. The Invert view checkbox will restore the labels' readability without changing the position of the data in the viewer.
Strips/Histograms
The display of drillhole strips and histogram information for plotting is another feature available only in 2D Mode. The display of strips and histograms is controlled in the Strips/Histograms tab of the Drillhole View Editor.
To add a strip or histogram, first click the Add Strip button; a default strip is created as shown above. The Strip width is a global setting - it defines the width of a strip or the maximum width of a histogram. The Color item defines the cutoff color item to be used for the color display of the strip or histogram. The Pattern item defines the item to be used if patterns are desired in the strip display; patterns can be assigned to cutoff color items using the Properties option in the Cutoff color dialog. The Histogram item defines the item to be used for histogram display; the histogram will display the relative values of the selected item. Finally, the Maximum value box allows a limit to be set for the histogram display. Either a Pattern item or a Histogram item can be chosen for display, but not both.
To add another strip or histogram, simply click the Add Strip button and set the desired limits. The black bar in the strip window represents the drillhole trace, and strips can be placed on either side of the trace, or on both sides. The Move Strip buttons allow you to adjust the position of any of the strips or the drillhole trace; select the strip you wish to move (or the drillhole trace) by clicking with the mouse and then use the Move Strip arrows to position the strip as desired.
Finally, there are options for toggling the display of histogram scale lines and interval outlines. Histogram scale lines give an indication of the magnitude of the histogram bars with respect to the value specified in the Maximum Value window. The color of the histogram scale lines and interval outlines are the same, and can be changed using the palette icon. The following examples will demonstrate the use of the different options available in the Strips/Histogram display.
This figure shows a simple strip; the Strip width is 10 units, the Color Item is CU, and the Maximum value is left at the default value of 10. A smaller value for the Strip width variable will result in a narrower strip, but in this mode, the Maximum value has no effect.
The figure below shows the effect of adding a Pattern item to the strip display. The patterns shown were entered into the cutoff color dialog using the Properties button. In this example, CU was also used as the Pattern item, but another assay or composite item could be used. The blues and purples have patterns, while no patterns were assigned to the greens or yellows in this particular color scheme.
Now let's examine the results if we choose the Histogram option instead of the Pattern option - recall that these are exclusive operations; only one at a time may be used. We will choose CU as the Histogram item, and check Histogram Scale Lines, which display a reference scale based on the value entered as the Maximum Value. We will first choose a Maximum Value of 2 for this example (see figure below), since previous examination of the data has indicated that the highest CU value is approximately 2.6. Note that the intervals where the CU value is greater than the maximum are marked with a Break symbol. This is automatically generated for any intervals whose value exceeds the Maximum. Adjusting the Maximum Value to 3 in this case will eliminate the automatic Break symbols, as seen in the lower figure.
Other elements such as Labels can be added to the Drillhole view using the options on the Display tab of the Drillhole View Properties window, and all elements are then available for plotting. Strips and histograms can be a powerful tool for generating detailed and informative cross section plots as well as a flexible
CREATING AND MANIPULATING DRILLHOLE VIEWS
Drillhole Views are an interactive graphical tool for visualization and editing of assay, composite and/or blasthole data. Creation and manipulation of Drillhole Views is very straightforward, provides a variety of options for item specification, and allows a number of viewing options. This tutorial will guide you through the creation of a Drillhole View, setup of the Viewer Properties and then allow you to explore many of these options.
In order to create a Drillhole View, there must be a File 11 (for Assay Views) or a File 9 (for Composite or Blasthole Views); a File 12 (survey file) is required for Assay Views, but is optional for either Blasthole or Composite views if the survey information is in File 9.
Before creating a Drillhole View, a Folder should be created in which to store the Drillhole Views. In this tutorial, it is assumed that a folder called "Assays" has already been created for this purpose.
Creating a Drillhole View
Creating a Standard MineSight Drillhole view:
In the Data Manager window, click on the Assays folder. Click right then click on New=>DHView=>MineSight. We'll name this view CU.
The DHView Data Selection window will appear. Click on Select PCF and choose the file 10 (Project Control File, or PCF) for the desired project. A list of all the assay and survey files in the PCF will appear. The default is to create a view from assay files but composite and blasthole files are options as well. Click on the desired File 11 for the assay file and its matching File 12 survey file. Click OK. Notice that the OK button is not activated until both files are chosen.
If alphanumeric extra items occur in the survey file (file 12) selected, a window will be displayed asking if they should be appended to the drillhole name. Only the MS3D drillhole names are changed with this option and does not change the file 11/12 drillhole names. Up to two item values can be appended to the file 11/12 drillhole name to construct a longer drillhole name. You cannot change of remove the labels after the view has been defined. If you choose Cancel on the dialog, then the drillhole view will still be created but without the extra items appended to the drillhole name.
Creating a Drillhole View from a Composite/BH file where there is no
survey file:
In the MineSight system, the drillhole survey information is usually stored in file 12. However, this is not mandatory. Drillhole survey information can be stored in the composite or blasthole file (file 9). To create a DH View of a composite/BH file, in the Assays folder, from the right click menu in the data manager, select New=>DHView=>MineSight. Give this new DH View a name, "Composites1".
As in the above example, the DHView Data Selection window will appear. Click on the "Select PCF.." button, then choose the project PCF (Project Control File), and the composite file (file 9) to create the drillhole view from. Since the drillhole survey information is contained within the composite file, be sure to toggle that option. Then click on OK.
In the following window, you will need to select the items in the composite file which contain the drillhole geometry. Specifically, you will need to supply MineSight with the composite items that represent the starting and ending coordinates for each composite interval. In composite files, these are usually EAST, NORTH and ELEV.
Next select where the Drillhole ID is stored. In the composite file (file 9), it can be stored in either the REF# or in 2 DHID labels. In general, REF# is the default location for DHID.
DHID1 and DHID2 are special composite items which are accessed programmatically. To use them, the composite file must have been initialized with them.
After either DH View case (assays and/or composites, with or without a survey file), the next window to be displayed contains the option to limit the items available in the DHView. Clicking Yes brings up a list of items in the assay or composite/BH file. Items can be selected or unselected. Clicking No allows access to all the items in the assay file. Click No.
The drill hole view properties window will appear next, with the "Selection" tab dialog on top by default. Select the drillholes to load, under the "Selection Method" section on the dialog or select the holes individually from the list displayed along the left side of this dialog. Then click on "Load Selection".
Setting a Display Item and Color Cutoffs
The next step is to select a display item. In the lower portion on the Selection tab dialog, select the "Cutoff Item" by clicking on the item chooser icon. A list of the available items in the MineSight file (assay file 11 or composite file 9 depending on the DH View) will be displayed. Select an item from the list. This input field is restricted to a selection from the list, you cannot type in an item label name.
based on, is entered as the Cutoff item. If this is the first DH View created in your project, and/or cutoffs have not been previously entered for the particular Cutoff Item selected, then MineSight will prompt you for the cutoff values when drillholes are loaded.
To set the cutoffs, click on the Cutoffs button. When the "Cutoff Line Colors" window dialog appears, click on the Intervals button to set the cutoffs.
Set the minimum, maximum, and increment to suitable values (the illustrations use 0, 5, and 0.25, respectively). Click OK and the cutoffs will appear. However, all the cutoffs are the same color. To set the colors, select all the cutoffs and click on the Properties button. The Resource Properties window will come up.
Now click on Set Color by Range. This option allows you to specify a range of the spectrum to use in coloring the cutoffs. Use the slider bars to choose a section of the spectrum and click OK. Click OK on the Resource Properties window. Now the cutoffs will be colored.
To display the actual assay interval values for item CU, in the Drillhole View Properties dialog go to the Intervals tab dialog and click on the "+" button, then select CU from the item list.
Now that the display item is set up, the drillholes must be loaded. To do this click on the Selection tab. Click on Select All and then click on Load Selection. The drillholes should appear in the Viewer. Click OK to shut down the drillhole view properties window.
VIEWER SET UP
Now that there is something in the viewer, let's take a quick look at the viewer properties.
The viewer properties window can be accessed by clicking on the Viewer Properties icon. Double clicking on the name of the viewer in the Data Manager window, which is Viewer 1 in this case, can also access this window.
Use the pull down menu to change the grid style to labels and lines. A grid will appear in the viewer. The grids controlled here are just for reference. They will adjust with changes to azimuth and dip as well as zooming in or out.
There are several different types of grids available. Labels and lines seem to be a good option, especially for plotting. Change the Grid Style to see what the other options look like.
Notice that if the Grid Style is Marks or Labels and Marks, the Grid Marks Style pull down menu becomes activated. Marks are the grid intersections. Grid Marks Style refers to which intersections are shown.
There are also options to change the color of the grid and the size of the grid labels.
Now let's take a look at how to adjust the view. The azimuth & dip are adjusted using the controls at the top of the viewer.
The azimuth & dip can also be controlled with the mouse button. Hold down both the left and the right mouse buttons while moving the mouse around.
The mouse can also be used to zoom in and out. With a three-button mouse hold the middle and right mouse buttons and drag. With a two-button mouse, press the Alt key and both mouse buttons and drag.
Panning left, right, up and down is also done with the mouse. With a three-button mouse hold the left and middle mouse buttons and drag. With a two-button mouse, hold the shift key and both the mouse buttons and drag.
There are several icons at the top of the viewer that are very useful in adjusting the display.
It is possible to have more than one Viewer. To create another viewer, highlight New Resource Map, click right, then click on New=>Viewer. Accept the default name by clicking OK. Now you should see both Viewers listed in the Data Manager window.
Viewers can be used one at a time or together. To tile the Viewers, click on the Tile Windows icon. Notice that the properties of each viewer are different. They can have different azimuths and dips; anything in the Viewer Properties window can be different in each Viewer. However, the data displayed in each viewer will always be the same.
If you want to cascade the Viewers, click on the Cascade Windows icon.
DRILLHOLE VIEW OPTIONS
Now, let's take a closer look at the drillhole options. Double click on CU in the data manager window to bring up the Drillhole View Properties window.
Selection Tab
The Selection tab controls the loading and unloading of individual drillholes within the drillhole view. On the left side of the window is a list of all the drillholes in the File 11. All the drillholes with a check next to it are loaded.
In this window, selecting a drillhole means highlighting it on this list. Once the drillhole is selected, it can be loaded by clicking the Load Selection button or unloaded by clicking the Unload Selection button.
There are several ways to select drillholes. We already used the Select All button. Select by grade allows you to specify a range of values for any item. Any drillhole which has at least one interval in that range will be selected. Select by location will check collar locations against a user specified area. Select by ID allows you to type in specific drillhole ID's. Reset before Load unloads all the drillholes and then loads the selected drillholes.
Intervals Tab
The Intervals tab controls the display properties of the individual assay intervals. Along the top of the window is where assay values, called Labels, are set up. Click on Add Label to display assay values. Then click on the Item Selector icon to choose a value to display. Let's display CU. Click Apply. Zoom in and you'll see the CU values displayed for each assay interval.
To color the item labels according to the cutoffs, choose Coloring by Cutoff under Item Label Style. The height of the numbers and their position within the interval can be changed here as well.
Several items labels can be used on either side of the drillhole trace. Just click Add Label each time. The thick black line indicates the drillhole trace. Just click the arrows next to Move Label to change the position of the labels.
You may also choose to filter the dispaly of your DH intervals by a secondary item. Use the Filter item area to specify the secondary filter item, then in the text field, enter the values you wish to display. Check th box to
filter your primary dispaly itme; only those intervals that fit the criteria entered in the text field will be displayed.
Numerical data can be specified as a comma-delimited list or as a range semerated with a colon (e.g. and entry such as '1:3,5' will filter the display, showing only those intervals whose secondary item values are 1 through 3 or 5. Alpha items can also be used for filtering, and wildcards are allowed.
Display Tab
The Display tab has some general display options. The Trace options refer to the survey trace. This does not display color cutoffs, just the position of the trace.
The ID label is the drillhole ID.
Info Tab
The Info tab contains information on the files used in this drillhole view. Under System Notes, there is a list of all the items in the File 11 along with their minimum, maximum and number of decimals. User notes is a place where you can record your own notes about the drillhole view.
Click OK to shut down the Drillhole View Properties window. If you want to bring it back up either double click on it or highlight it, click right and select Properties.
DRILLHOLE EDITING
You can edit drillholes using either the Drillhole Editor or using the Geometry Editor. Either operation allows you to edit the assay values in drillhole intervals, but they each have different functions.
Remember that editing here does change the File 11 so be careful. To edit, highlight CU in the Data Manager window, click right and select Edit.
Viewing Items
This window always comes up in browse mode to guard against accidental edits. To limit the items displayed click View=>Items. This allows you to display only the items you want to see. Another nice display option is
View=>Use Color Cutoff. All the items which have cutoffs set up will use these cutoffs on the table. The drillhole pull down list on the right allows you to pick a drillhole to view.
Before going into Edit mode, it is a good idea to make a backup. This can be done by clicking File=>Backup file.
Edit Mode
To switch to Edit mode, click Edit=>Edit Drillhole. Notice that REF#, FROM, TO, and AI are not editable. This information is protected.
To save the changes as you go along, just click the Apply button. This saves the changes to File 11 so this is permanent.
Edit mode only allows you to edit one interval at a time. To change several intervals, use Select Intervals mode. To get into this mode, click Edit=>Select intervals. Draw a box around the intervals you want to edit. These intervals will be highlighted in yellow. The assay data for the entire hole will be listed in the Edit window. The selected intervals will be highlighted. Choose the item you wish to edit and enter a value for that item. Then click Options=>Fill Selected Intervals.
Composites
There are two composite options. Neither one effects the composite File 9. Let's look at composite intervals first. Click on Edit=>Composite Intervals. Now, draw a box around the intervals you want to composite. They will be highlighted in yellow and listed in the Edit window. Click on Composite in the Composites window. MineSight® will calculate the composite values for all the items listed in the Edit window.
The other composite option is Dynamic Composites. To get into this mode, click Edit=>Dynamic Composite. Pick a drillhole to composite by clicking on it in the viewer, and choosing it from the pull down menu in the Edit window. Next, choose a display item in the Dynamic Drillhole Composite Window. Click on the Composite button. Now, click and drag on the drillhole to select a portion of it to composite. As you drag down on the drillhole the composite values will automatically change, as will the color of the composite in the viewer.
The Apply button will save your composite as a geometry object, which is displayed in the Viewer as shown below. The Geometry Object includes the composite values as text. The Reset button allows you to start over.
USING THE BLAST PATTERN EDITOR
This tutorial reviews how to design blast patterns with different orientations, how to use clipping boundaries, design holes along trim rows, and for ramp shots. The following blast patterns were designed using an AutoCad design as a guideline.
2. Digitize in polygons for use as pattern boundaries based on orientation and/or blasthole spacing of the patterns.
3. Use Minesight's Blast Pattern Editor tool to generate Patterns 221, 222, and 227. The design specs for each of these patterns are summarized in the table below:
Pattern
No. Grid Orientation Pattern type Blasthole Hole Spacing
221 N-S rectangular 29 by 29
222 N.46.5ºE. rectangular 29 by 29
223 N.21.5ºW. triangular 26 by 26
Some Trim Row Layouts and Ramp Shots can also be generated. 4. Generation of Pattern 221
Zoom in on 221 area and click on Tools -> Blast Pattern Editor. Blast Pattern Editor panels are filled in as follows (below).
On the Grid tab (above) you can either key-in actual coordinates for Origin and actual orientation angle for the grid or pick them by digitizing. In this case the origin was digitized and keyed in the N-S 0.0 azimuth orientation. Extent of the Grid works the same way (key in extents or digitize by dragging to required size). What is important here is to make sure the grid covers the polygonal boundary for the pattern.
Still on the Grid Tab, check the box for Clipping Boundary and select the Pattern 221 polygon boundary in the viewer. Check the box to Clip before numbering and specify the Blasthole spacing (29 by 29) for the rectangular pattern. For numbering of the holes in the pattern, use sequential numbering in this case with the Bench Id of 51 as a Prefix. This prefix is specified on the Defaults Tab as shown below:
Back on the Grid Tab now click on Preview to see if you got what you wanted and if so, click on Apply to generate the blastholes according to the pattern design specs (see below).
The Blast Pattern Editor window now contains a listing of the blastholes in the Pattern with their collar coordinates, lengths, and inclinations (see below).
Now use the Adjust Tab to assign a length to the holes (see below).
In this case I am assigning a fixed length of 45 feet to each. This Adjust tab has a lot of useful adjustments. For example the collars can be adjusted to follow the irregular surface of a typical mining bench (Project Collars to a Surface Option). From these variable collar elevations you can then calculate lengths to a fixed elevation (e.g. elevation defined by toe elevation plus constant sub-drill depth). Each hole then gets its exact length assigned based on the surveyed bench floor that the drill rig is on.
Once lengths are assigned, you immediately get 3-D blasthole representations and can use Minesight’s 3D viewing to look at them all lined up like little toy soldiers.
5. Generation of Pattern 222 follows the same steps. This pattern is oriented N46.5E All you have to do is re-orient the grid and pick the Pattern 222 bounding polygon to generate this pattern (see below):
6. Generation of Pattern 227 follows the same steps again but this time specify a 26 by 26 triangular pattern by using an offset of 13 on the Grid tab under Size.
7. Trim Rows
Presplit and trim row layouts are generated from the Line Fill Tab of the Blast Pattern Editor tool. For
example, the three lines of holes were generated that will form the bench face behind Patterns 226 and 227. The first step is to digitize the lines (see below). This was done using Snap offsets from 4920 final design crest of 10, 15 and 22 ft
The spacing of the holes on the trimline nearest the final face is 8 ft. and the spacing of the holes on the other two trim lines is 24 ft. The Line Fill Tab on the Blast Pattern Editor is filled out as follows to generate these trim line layouts.
8 ft spacing:
Repeat, changing the hole spacing to 24 ft and selecting the other two trim lines.
Now go to Adjust tab and set the depth for the holes using any of the available options. 8. Ramp shots
Blast patterns to create ramps where the holes are drilled to variable depths based on the inclination of the ramp can also be designed in Minesight.
Next, a polygon boundary for the Ramp shot is digitized on 4920 level and the Grid Tab is set up for the Ramp shot (orientation and hole spacing)
Finally, the Blast hole depth is set for each hole by setting hole depth to the triangulated surface representing the ramp.
9. Mining out a Ramp
The same triangulated surface representing the ramp can be used to generate the Pattern for removing the ramp. Here the blast hole collar elevations will be set to the variable ramp elevations and the depth will be calculated to a fixed elevation.
The Defaults Tab on the Blast pattern Editor Tool has some exporting options for flexibility in transferring hole coordinates to survey instruments.
CREATING LABELS
Annotation in MineSight® is applied through the use of elements called Labels. There are two main types of labels: Transformed Labels and Semi-Transformed Labels. Transformed labels are entirely fixed in space, with a constant orientation, and therefore will rotate along with the data in the viewer as the view is rotated. Each line of text in a multiple-line transformed label is saved as a separate element. Transformed labels are selectable from anywhere on the label. Semi-Transformed labels are fixed to a point in space, but their orientation will adjust as the viewer is rotated, thus the labels are always properly oriented, upright and readable. Multiple-line semi-transformed labels are saved as a single element are only selectable at their origin, which varies depending on the alignment of labels in that object. For example, if the labels are aligned top-left, then they are only selectable at the top-left.
Labels can be created using the Label-Create Transformed or Create Semi-Transformed functions from the Viewer Menu. First select the object that is to contain the label and make it the current Edit Object. Then select which type of label to create and click in the viewer at the desired location. Enter the text into the dialog box. Both Create Label functions will remain active so that many labels can be added in one session. When through with one label, just click on the new location for the next label. When all labeling is complete, click right in the viewer to exit the function.
The font, size, color and alignment of laels can be set on the Object Properties-Labels tab of the object that holds the labels. Orientation for Transformed labels can be adjusted using the Element=>Rotate function or by snapping to an Edit Grid. To edit the text of a label, select the text and use the Label=>Edit function from the Viewer Menu.
CREATING MODEL VIEWS
One of the most valuable tools for examining the potential of a mining deposit is the Model View. This allows the investigation of the interpolated block, surface or seam model, not only on a visual basis, but on a block by block query basis as well. The Model View option allows the viewing and manipulation of 3D Block or GSM Models (File 15) or 2D Surface models (File 13). The Model View in MineSight® also permits editing of Model block values and coding the model from solids in the Viewer. The following descriptions of Model data manipulation assume that the desired model has been already attached to the MineSight® project.
Creating a Model View
The first step in the creation of a Model View is to designate a folder in which to store the model view. Folder and data object organization in MineSight® is extremely flexible, allowing the grouping of Model Views either with other Model Views or with some other designation, such as by economic mineral or geographic location. Once the Folder is available, highlight the folder name in the Data Manager, click right, and select
New=>Model View. You will be prompted for the name of the Model View, and when you click OK, the Model View Properties dialog window is displayed.
To create multiple model views from a Special Pit Optimization file 13
Using one dialog you can create multiple model views for each of the gridded surfaces contained in a "Special Pit Optimization" file 13 (or a file 13 with more than 50 item labels).
When you create a model view and select a file 13 that has more than 50 items, a notice will be displayed;
By default, the primary display item is "topog" - the standard, required item in any file 13. Click on the file icon to select a different display item and then list of items which are available in the file 13 you are creating the model views from.
Check the items (surfaces) you want to create model views using the checkbox to the left of the item name. Items can be selected individually or multiple items can be selected at once using the Select option at the top of the dialog.
Next, you can optionally enter a name for the model view objects to be created. If the optional name is blank, then the new model view objects will be named using the specified Prefix + the item name (in uppercase).
In the example shown to the left, model view objects will be created for items TOPOG, RCODE, SLPS1, SLPC1, SLPS3, SLPC3, SLPS4 and SLPC4. Model views will not be created from items SLPS2 & SLPC2 because they are not selected. Since a model view name is not specified for items SLPS3 & SLPC3, those model views will be named "ePitsSLPS3" and "ePitsSLPC3". The model views created for the other selected items will be given the optional name specified without the prefix (e.g., the model view created for item "TOPOG" will simply be named "topog").
When you have completed the setup, click on OK and model views will be created for each of the selected file 13 items.
Setting the Model View Properties
You must specify the item for this model view; click on the item selection icon and select the desired item with the mouse. in this example, we have chosen the item CUIDS for display. To assign Cutoff Colors to the display item, click the Cutoffs button, and the Cutoff colors dialog appears. Intervals and Cutoff Colors are selected as described in the Color Cutoffs tutorial.
The display range for the model View is specified on the Range Tab of the Model View Properties window. There are two sets of sliders for setting the range, one for 3D views and one for 2D views. The sliders permit you to specify the portion of the model desired for viewing with respect to Easting, Northing and Level.
Once you have selected the display item and specified a display range, click the apply button to create the model view. The Immediate viewer refresh button will automatically update the model view as any changes are made. Note: the Immediate refresh option can cause somewhat slower computer performance if the model is large or has a large number of items, especially when viewing the entire model.
In the following discussion, we will explore some of the display options available to customize the Model View, along with the procedures required to access the model data for browsing and/or editing. In the view below, we have chosen to limit the view so that we're viewing the center portion of the model, about halfway in the North and East directions. the viewer is in 3D Mode, using the 'standard view' 3D display type and the 'filled polygons' display style. Other display types are Grade Shell, Levels, East-West or North-South sections, while other available styles are Contours, Smooth Contours, 3D Block or Surface/Slab.
Creating a GradeShell
A GradeShell is a solid generated from 3D block model data; the data can be limited by grade or other item value, and is a valuable visualization tool for deposit analysis and mine design. To create a GradeShell, highlight the folder where you wish the gradeshell to reside, click right, and choose New=>Model View. For this illustration we will use the model item CUIDS and create gradeshells defined by the grade intervals 0.5 to 1.0, 1.0 to 1.5, and 1.5 to 2.0, then save the gradeshells as Geometry objects. On the Display tab of the Model View Editor, set CUIDS as the Primary display item and set the 3D display type to GradeShell. On the Range tab, set the range to show the entire model, since the GradeShell will be limited to the area defined by the Range sliders. Alternatively, you may wish to limit the GradeShell to a portion of the model; this portion can be defined using the Range tab sliders as well.
Now, on the GradeShell tab, we'll set the grade interval for the first GradeShell; set the Primary display item to CUIDS, enter 0.5 for the Compute gradeshell > value, check the box to activate the <= window, and enter a value of 1.0. We will also limit this view by the TOPO item, so that blocks with less than 50% TOPO will be excluded from the gradeshell computations. Click the box to Limit by secondary item, choose TOPO as the item, and enter 50 as the >= value. The resulting GradeShell is displayed below.
Finally, to save the GradeShell as a geometry object, click the Save GradeShell button and the Open a Geometry File... dialog comes up. Here you can choose the location and specify the name for the Geometry object where the GradeShell will be saved.
The Geometry object is saved as the default geometry material, as shown below.
Additional GradeShells can now be created using the same model view and saved to new geometry objects - the illustration below shows three gradeshells for the intervals 0.5 to 1.0, 1.0 to 1.5 and 1.5 to 2.0, with contrasting colors and smooth surfaces, which were set in the Geometry Object Properties window.
Exposed Ore Display
The MineSight® Model View can also allow you to view the ore grades from the model on an exposed surface such as a pit wall. To implement this viewing option, it is necessary that the surface you wish to display the grades on is open; in this illustration, a surface (tri804) representing a pit design has been chosen for the display. On the Geometry tab of the Model View Editor, choose the Select button and select the geometry object desired.
Now, choose the Exposed Ore button, and the cutoff colors for the display item specified on the Display tab will be displayed on the selected surface. The range controls have no effect on the Exposed Ore Display - the entire model area that intersects the selected geometry object is displayed. If the model slab is in the way, preventing you from viewing the exposed ore display, turn off the model 3D display on the Display tab dialog. To clear the Exposed Ore Display, select the Clear exposed ore button.
INTRODUCTION TO MODEL ROTATION
Model Rotation BasicsTo define a rotated model, it is necessary to specify a rotation origin and three angles of rotation; this results in the model having a different set of coordinate axes than the project from which it was built. In MineSight the Project Coordinates are designated Easting, Northing, and Elevation while the respective Model Coordinates are denoted by Model X, Model Y, and Model Z. For convenience, the term 'Rotated PCF' should be understood to mean "PCF with rotated model", since the Project Coordinates will always remain orthogonal to North.
Model Rotation is accomplished using the dialogs found under the Files menu -> Rotate Model PCF.
The initial step in rotating a model is to select the rotation origin. The rotation origin is the point with Model coordinates (0, 0, 0) and is specified by Easting, Northing and Elevation (in Project coordinates). The next step is to specify the rotation angles. These angles are defined in MineSight as a series of rotations in a specific order.
The first rotation is a horizontal rotation about the Project Z axis, with positive being clockwise. The defined angle is known as the Model Rotation Azimuth, as illustrated below.
The second rotation is a rotation around the new X axis; this rotation moves the Model Y-axis into the desired position. The second model rotation is known as the model rotation dip, and the positive direction of rotation is up. The illustration below shows a second rotation of dip = 15°.
The third rotation is a rotation around the new Y-axis, which moves the X-axis into the desired position. The third rotation also defines the positive direction of rotation as up; the following illustration shows a third rotation of plunge = -15°.
Adjusting the Project Limits
After the third rotation, the Project Limits must be adjusted; MineSight provides tools that allow the automatic calculation of these limits, as well as the manual entry of desired Project Limits. Since the plotting limits are based on the project limits, it is often desirable to specify 'round' numbers for these limits manually. Model rotation parameters are applied to the PCF, so multiple model files within the same project must have the same rotation parameters. In addition, the Project Limits define the outer limits of your project; if your data is located outside the project boundaries, it cannot be used in MineSight calculations.
Compositing Considerations
After the model rotation parameters have been changed it will often be necessary to recomposite your drillhole data. If your composite File 9 was created using either bench or seam compositing, the composite locations will no longer be valid, and this will have an effect on block estimation during interpolation.
When compositing, it is recommended that you store both the TOP and BOTTOM coordinates of each composite interval, or composite using the ZMID option. If using the ZMID option, you must also select the ZMID option in any subsequent interpolation runs. Remember too, that the TOP and BOTTOM coordinate option results in the storage of the midpoint in the item EAST, NORTH and ELEV.
Grid Sets
Once the model rotation parameters have been applied, grid sets can be created parallel to the rotated model axes. Within the Grid Set creation dialog, select 'Based on PCF' and choose between PCF(model) Plan, PCF(Model) EW, or PCF(Model) NS.
MODEL VIEW BROWSE-EDIT
Description
The Model View Browse-Edit window allows the user to view and interactively edit Model data directly in the MineSight® viewer. To access the Model View Browse-Edit window, invoke the query function and click on a model block in the viewer. The Model View Browse-Edit window will appear. If the Model View Selectability function is toggled ON, model query is disallowed.
The Model View Browse-Edit window has two menu selections: Edit and View. The following sections discuss the options available under each menu selection.
Edit
Under the Edit menu selection, the Browse and Edit functions are available. The Browse function allows the user to examine the model item values for the
blocks specified in the Level, Row and Column windows.
The Edit function permits the same browse capabilities, and the added ability to edit the model item values directly in the viewer. To change model blocks, the block coordinates (level, row, column) can be scrolled or entered directly into the window. The block can also be changed by clicking directly on the desired block in the viewer.
View
Under the View menu selection, the Sort, Items..., Use cutoff colors and Outline block functions are available.
The Sort function will sort the items on the list alphabetically. If this option is not toggled ON, the items are listed in the order they were entered
when the file was created.
The Items... function allows the user to select the model items to be included in the Browse-Edit window. When the desired items have been
checked, choose OK to return to the Browse-Edit window.
The Use cutoff colors function applies the color cutoffs
that are available to the respective values in the
Browse-Edit window. To apply color cutoffs to a model item, use
the Cutoffs button on the Display tab of the Model View
Editor.
The Outline block toggle outlines the selected model block with a highlight marker when checked.
The settings selected on the View menu dialog are stored. When
querying between different model views, the settings are then different for each model view.
SETTING UP COLOR CUTOFFS
When displaying Drillhole Views or Model Views, it is desirable to differentiate between various grades or code values by assigning display colors to the different grades or codes. This section demonstrates how this is accomplished in MineSight®. This example will use CU for the Drillhole View item, and CUIDS for the model View item. The grade values used for both will be a range of 0 to 2, with an interval of 0.2. The steps shown can be easily adapted to any other grade or code item by simply choosing and substituting an appropriate grade range and interval.
The Color Cutoffs Dialog
Color cutoffs can be applied to Assay, Composite or Model View items; Assay and composite items will be displayed in Drillhole Views, while Model View items will be displayed in Model Views. To access the Cutoff Colors dialog in the Drillhole View Properties window, choose the Intervals tab, and then click the Cutoffs button next to the Display Item box. In the case of model views, the Cutoff Colors dialog is found in the Model View Editor, on the Display tab. Click the Cutoffs button next to the Primary display item box. Creating Cutoff Colors for any item will also create an object corresponding to that item in the Items default folder in the Data Manager. The Cutoff Colors dialog can also be accessed by double clicking the item in the Data Manager window. Note: Until Color cutoffs are created through one of the other dialogs, there will not be an Item in the Items Folder.
The Intervals tab in the Drillhole View Properties window
The Display tab in the Model View Editor window
The Cutoff Colors Dialog
When the Cutoff Colors dialog is initially opened, there are no intervals or colors assigned. To set the intervals, click the Intervals button to bring up the Cutoff Intervals window.
Note that we have filled in the range of 0 to 2 and the interval value of 0.2
The Cutoff Colors dialog now has values spanning the specified range, divided at the specified intervals. All of the intervals are colored grey; to assign cutoff colors, select the intervals by
dragging with the mouse (the intervals will be blue when selected), and click the Properties button to bring up the Object Properties window. Click on the Set Color by Range button and bring up the Color Range dialog. This dialog allows various options in setting a color range, but in most cases, simply choosing OK will yield a suitable color range.
Click on the intervals to unselect them, and the cutoff colors are displayed. These colors will now be used to differentiate the varying grade or code values when this item is selected for display, either in a Drillhole View or Model View,
depending on the item. The same Color Cutoffs will be displayed in the Drillhole or Model View Browse/Edit windows if the Use Cutoff Colors option is checked.
SETTING UP PLOT LAYOUTS
MineSight® has a convenient, simple interface for producing scaled plots using the data that is displayed in the viewer. There are two phases to setting up a plot in MineSight®: setting up the Title Block and Legend (if desired), then setting up the Plot Layout itself, using the desired Title Block, Legend, and Area(s).
Title Blocks
Title Blocks are one type of text data object in MineSight®; other text data includes labels such as Drillhole labels and User labels, which are used as annotation. To create a new Title Block, highlight the desired folder in the Data Manager, click right, and choose New=>Title Block. Name the Title block and click OK; then double-click on the Title Block name in the Data Manager. This will bring up the Title Block Editor, shown below. The Title Block Editor dialog consists of two main tabs, the Title tab and the Info tab. The Title tab is where the actual creation of the title block occurs, so that will be the main focus of this tutorial. You can also customize the default title block design using a titleblock configuration file.
The Title Tab
The Title Tab consists of two main areas: the large window on the left is a representation of the Title Block, where the various entries can be edited, while the right side of the tab has a number of toggles and windows for specification of the Title Block size, text size and text alignment. A second window at the bottom of the right side contains a list of the variables which can be used to automatically include selected project information in the Title Block. A number of these selected variables are brought up as defaults when the Title Block Editor is invoked, including the date, time and scale factors in the x and y directions.
Creation of the Title Block begins with the entry of a project name in the designated field; if a different layout of information is desired, the defaults can be edited by simply clicking the desired field and typing over the default entries. If different formats for the project are desired, the list in the right hand window provides the
variables for the most commonly used data formats. Again, these can be edited by simply clicking in the desired field and typing over the default entries. this section of the Title tab also contains buttons which can be used to add, remove or move columns and/or rows in the Title Block. As an example, the figure below shows the initial setup for a Title Block for a project called Mintec1, using a month/day/year date format and an hours/minutes format for the time. In addition, we have chosen to add entries for the maximum and
minimum plot extents in both the x and y directions.
The right side of the Title tab allows the user to set specifications for the Row Height, Font Size, Font Alignment, and Column Width. There are also four different fonts from which to choose. When changes are made in these windows, it is necessary to either press the Tab or Enter keys to set the changes before moving to another row. Row Height and Font Size are based on rows; all boxes in the same row will have the same height and font size. The Total Width and Total Height displays at the top of this section are calculated depending on the specifications in the windows below and the number of rows and columns. Note: this window does not visibly reflect the changes in Row or Column width and height. To see these changes click on the Preview button.
The Info Tab
The second tab in the Title Block Editor is the Info tab, shown below, which displays relevant information about the Title Block. This information includes the Name of the Title Block, the data type, location, and size; in addition, the time and date of creation and most recent editing are also displayed. Finally, there is a large window that is available for the entry of User Notes. When the Title Block has been created, click on the Apply button, then the Close button to return to the MineSight® project.
Legends
A Legend is a type of data object available in MineSight; just as with other data objects, it is created from the Data Manager. To create a Legend object, highlight the desired folder in the Data Manager, click right, and choose New=>Legend.
The Properties dialog for the Legend object can be accessed by double clicking on the Legend name in the Data Manager, or by clicking right and selecting Properties. The Common tab allows you to define the type of data the Legend will display (Company Logo, Cutoff Table, Drillhole View, or Model View).
A Company Logo or any other *.jpg or *.png image file can be inserted in the Legend. This logo can then be positioned and/or resized as necessary in the Plot Layout. The Cutoff Table option will read a Color Cutoff Table Object and build a legend associating the colors to the cutoff values. A precision for the cutoff values can be selected.
The Drillhole View and Model View options allow you to construct a legend that associates the value of a
DH View or Model View item to its corresponding color cutoffs.
Plot Layouts
Plot Layouts are an arrangement of areas, defined and positioned using the Plot Layout Editor. Areas can be Title Blocks or Viewers, either the current Viewer or any other Viewer in the project. Plot Layouts are created by highlighting the desired folder in the Data Manager, clicking right and selcting New=>Plot Layout. The Plot Layout Editor is accessed by highlighting the desired plot layout in the Data Manager, clicking right, and choosing Properties from the dropdown menu. Like the Title Block editor, the plot layout Editor also consists of two tabs, the Layout tab and Info tab. The Layout Tab (shown below) is where the Plot Layout creation takes place, so this will be the main focus of our discussion.
The Layout tab
The Layout tab has two sub-tabs, the Page tab and the Area tab.
Area tab
The Layout Area tab permits a wide range of flexibility in the selection and positioning of different Areas in the scaled plot.
By default, a plot contains one area that consists of the currently active Viewer. In order to change the Area properties, it is necessary to select the Area by clicking left on the Area Icon, activating the configuration options. To change the Area boundaries on the plotted page, click left on one of the small black squares visible when the Area is selected, and drag it to the desired position. The entire area can be moved on the page by clicking anywhere else on the Area and dragging it to the desired location. Precise values for these options can also be entered in the windows, using either absolute units (inches or centimeters, depending on the project units) or as a percentage of the plot size. The six buttons at the top of the panel control the directions available for direct configuration; the top row controls horizontal configuration options, while the bottom row of buttons controls vertical configuration options.
To disallow moving of an area, toggle the Lock Area checkbox. If there is more than one Area in the Plot Layout, the draggability and configuration options apply only to the selected Area.
Additional viewers and other plot layout components can be added by clicking on the plus icon on the Area tab. By default, the new object will be a current viewer, but once it is selected by clicking on the viewer icon, the type option becomes enabled and you can change its type to a named viewer, a title block, a north arrow or a scale bar, then resize it and place it as desired. To remove the selected Area, click the minus icon
. The Move Area buttons control the relative position of overlapping Areas; clicking the Up button brings the selected Area up one layer, while clicking the Top button moves the selected Area to the Top of the stack. Similarly, clicking the Down button moves the selected Area down one layer, while the Bottom button moves the selected Area to the bottom of the stack. To implement the selected configuration options, click the Apply button.
By default, the main viewer's grid set is the controlling grid set. You can also select a named viewer in the plot layout window and then check "use the viewer area's grid set". The grid set is used as the controlling grid set will be the one from which plane(s) to be plotted will be selected. If you want to use the grid set limits, you must make additional settings in the Plot Settings window, described below.
MineSight® by default will automatically calculate the most appropriate scale, depending on the page size and Viewer zoom setting. The scale is based on the project units, either inches or millimeters.
The second portion of the Layout tab is the Page tab, shown below.
Under the Layout tab, the Page tab allows the specification of page size and orientation using two windows with drop-down menu selection. If none of the standard paper size selections is appropriate, selection of the custom option activates selection windows for user entry of page width, height and appropriate units. Orientation selections are Portrait and Landscape. For the explanation of the Plot Page Settings button, see below.
Plot Page Settings button on the Page Tab
If you want to use the grid set limits or defined limits as the limits of your plot, you must do these things: - On the Area tab, verify that the main viewer is the controlling viewer of the layout, that it has an associated grid set, and that it is in orthographic projection on the view options tab of the viewer properties dialog.
- On the Area tab, check the box to Use grid set limits and make sure the radio button is checked to use the main viewer area's grid set
- On the Area tab, choose the two center area configuration icons. These represent distance from left and right edges of the paper to the plot, and distance from top and bottom edges of the paper to the plot.
- Set the distances to some small percentage, such as 5% or 10%. Using these settings will allow the page size to change with the scale.
Now click on the page tab, and click on the Plot Page Settings button. A new dialog will come up. Leave the radio button checked to Use Viewer Grid Set limits. In this case, only the scale, text size and text width factors are enabled. You can set the scale here and plots will be made at the specified scale. The actual size of the plot will depend on the size of the grid set at the chosen scale.
The line width factor is used to specify the relative thickness of lines plotted vs. their thickness on screen. If you would like polylines to plot thicker than they currently do, increase this factor. In both the plot preview and the actual plot, the line thickness will be increased.
The text width factor can be increased to plot text larger than it appears on the screen as well.
To plot the Layout, choose one of the options under the Print button; the Printer selection sends the Plot to the system default printer, while the HPGL or PostScript options allow saving the plot to a file. If you want to save your plotting specifications, click the Save Set button. Give the set a descriptive name. You can then return to the plot layout at a later data and choose this set from the Plot Settings Set pulldown menu. When finished plotting, click the Close button.
Using Multiple Viewers & Synchronizing Data
This section reviews how to create a series of cross sections with a plan view strip map across the top of each plot. We will use multiple viewers in MS3D; one will be for the cross section and one for a plan view strip map. As you step from one section plot to the next, the data will be synchronized.
Open an existing Drillhole View in a viewer, and then open a second viewer. Create a new Grid Set for the planes you want plotted or use an existing grid set (e.g., either an East-West or North-South grid set).
Attach that Grid Set to one of the viewers and put that viewer in 2D mode. This viewer is a cross section view of your data. Under the Drillhole Properties for that Drillhole view, on the Display tab dialog, set the 2D projection volume to +50 & -50.
The second viewer should be in plan view, 3D mode with volume clipping set to match the 2D projection volume set in the other viewer (equally +50 and -50).
Next, create a new Plot Layout object. Select the Current Viewer area to the 2D viewer which is displaying the drillhole data in cross section and toggle it as the "Main" viewer. This viewer now controls the view, and the other viewer is now subordinate to the main viewer. Set the defining grid set at the Main Viewer Area's Grid Set, and toggle ON "Use Grid Set or Defined Limits"
To properly synchronize the data in the viewer representing the plan view strip map with the cross section data in the Main viewer, toggle ON "Sync with the Main Viewer Area's Target" in the Plot Layout Editor's Area tab dialog. This toggle maintains that the correct data is properly plotted from one cross section to the next, matching the data displayed in the Main Viewer.
To display Easting, Northing or Elevation grid lines &/or labels on the plots, turn on the Grids for the viewer windows in the Viewer Properties dialog.
Finally, in the Plot Layout Editor, click on Print | Preview and select a couple of sections to see how they look. Notice, as you step from one section to the next, that the data in the strip map is always displayed in the proper plane and projection thickness as the data in the cross section. If the previews are okay, then click on Print | <print type> (such as 'hpgl2'), then Select All and plots for every plane in the attached Grid Set will be properly created.
USING THE LINKER TOOL
Including Data Preparation, Partial Links, and Substrings and Multifurcations. Preparing Polylines for Linking:
In order to ensure quick and easy linking, all the polyline endpoints should be in the same relative position, and the polyline directions should match.
The nodes on each polyline should be evenly spaced, with a spacing relatively equivalent to that of the spacing between sections. Ideally, the triangles created by linking should be pseudo-equilateral. Very long and thin triangles may cause the problems with Intersect Solids, and self-intersecting triangles may be created due to precision limitations.
Nodes too sparse. Use Polyline Densify.
Nodes too dense. Use Polyline Thin.
Nodes well-spaced.
Basic Link
Basic link operation showing: • previously linked polylines
• strong nodes to guide the new link • selected polylines to be linked next
To perform Basic Linking, select the strings you wish to link into a solid and choose the Linker from the Tools menu or with the icon on the menu bar. The Open a Geometry File dialog appears, where you must specify the geometry object that will contain the linked solid. Once you have selected the desired Geometry Object, the Linker dialog will appear.
Linking is performed by first choosing the desired Link operation - either Link, Quick Link, or Auto Link. Using the Link option requires that you choose each string to be linked and then link them individually, Quick Link allows you to choose a number of strings sequentially before linking, and Auto Link allows you to use the mouse to sweep across a number of strings, which are then automatically linked when you right-click the mouse.
• Link - To create a surface between two complete polylines:
o Select the first polyline to link, then select the second polyline.
o Add strong nodes by clicking left on a node of the first polyline, then a corresponding node of the second polyline; the strong nodes will be highlighted.
o To redefine a strong node pair, click on the first node and the strong link will be removed; then choose the new strong node pair.
o Click right or choose Preview to view the link, then select Apply to complete the link. • Partial Link - To create a surface between two partial polylines:
o Select two nodes on the first polyline.
o If the polylines are closed polylines, you are asked which side of the polylines to use. o Repeat for the second polyline.
o Define strong node pairs as in the Link operation.
o Choose Preview to view the partial link, then choose Apply to to complete the partial link. • Quick Link - To create links without choosing extra strong nodes:
o Select each polyline in the order you wish to link them. o Only the endpoints of the polylines are used as strong nodes. o Surface segments will be updated as the polylines are chosen.
o Click right to preview the linked surface; choose Apply to complete the link. • Auto Link - To create links without choosing extra strong nodes:
o Select each polyline in the order you wish to link them. You can pick each polyline individually, or drag the cursor to "draw" a box around the group of polylines you wish to select.
o The endpoints of the polylines are used as the strong nodes.
o Click right to preview the linked surface; choose Apply to complete the link.
o Auto Link compares the planes on which the polylines lie. This operation may give unexpected results if the planes are not parallel to each other.
o Auto Link performs only simple links, so if there is more than one polyline on the same plane, the additional polyline(s) will be skipped. Auto Link will highlight the skipped polylines and issue a warning. You can later erase the highlights using Clear All Highlights.
• Merge Links - to merge the created links into a surface or solid.
o Once you have created the desired links between polylines, simply click the Merge Links button.
Partial Links
Partial linking is useful when you need to link a portion of one polyline with another. An example might be linking a structure that branches into two sections.
To begin this example, we have selected a number of polylines - the lower polyline will be split to form partial links with the polylines above. With the linker open, choose Partial Link. The MineSight® message window opens, instructing you to select the start and end nodes of the 1st contour, then the same for the second contour. The chosen polyline segments are highlighted, as shown below.
The strong node pairs between the segment endpoints are created by default, and you are asked to add extra strong node pairs. To do this, click on the first contour, then click on a corresponding location on the second contour. For more complicated polyline linking, it is recommended that you insert sufficient strong node pairs to ensure a smooth linking segment. When you are satisfied with the strong node pairs, click right to preview the link.
To save the link, choose Apply. In the example on the left, we linked the remaining segments on the left side with the Link operation, and then repeated the partial Link operation to continue linking segments on the right side.
Substrings and Multifurcation
Substrings are used to split existing polylines into smaller segments. This allows you to create complex shapes for linking without predefining the polylines. Substrings can in turn be split, so a multifurcated link can be done
1. The original string
(highlighted) is chosen after clicking the
Subdivide Polygon button. Then the subdividing string is digitized across the original string.
2. The subdivided string can now be used for linking.
3. Here the subdivided string
has been linked to two neighboring strings.
4. The linking of the split solid.
Self-Intersecting Faces caused by Linking
Always check for self-intersections after creating a solid. To do this, click on Surface=>Check for Self-intersection. Self-intersecting faces may be caused by:
• the original polylines having either too few, or too many nodes, as outlined in the polyline preparation section.
• complex geometry on one polyline linking to less complex geometry on the other
It can be very helpful to create intermediate polylines when trying to perform a difficult link. The procedure for this is outlined below.
