OBJECTIVES
•
To become familiar with Surpac Vision and some of it’s fundamental functionality.•
To become familiar with Surpac Vision’s graphical interface.•
To learn to import/export data to and from AutoCAD.•
To use Surpac Vision’s editing tools to manipulate string data.•
To use Surpac Vision’s viewing tools to manipulate views of data.•
To learn to create Digital Terrain Models (DTM’s) of surfaces.FILES USED
Files used in this lab exercise are found in the following folder:
C:\INTRODUCTION.LAB\
DISCUSSION
Surpac Vision is the flagship product of Surpac Software International. It is a 3D Mine Design and Geology package used in the mining industry for such tasks as surveying, mine design (open pit & underground), blast design (open pit & underground),
exploration, and tailings simulation.
Surpac Vision consists of several modules, which can be enabled on each licence. In the coming weeks you will be exposed to such modules as Geological Database, Block Model, Open Pit & Underground Mine Design, Open Pit and Underground Blast Design, and Solids. Many of the things you learn in this lab exercise will provide a foundation of skills to be used in later weeks for other labs.
The following sections will briefly describe the various aspects of the program covered in lab exercise.
GRAPHICAL INTERFACE
Surpac’s graphical user interface (GUI) is comprised of several areas as shown in the figure below:
Menus: There are 11 different menus to choose from in Surpac Vision. The two default
menus are called Main Menu & Applications Menu. Others include Applets, Blast Design,
Block Model, Database, Mine Design, Ring Design, Solids, Surveying, & Scheduling.
Toolbars: There are 14 different toolbars to choose from in Surpac. The two default
toolbars are called Status Items, & Main. Others include Edit, Create, Display/Hide,
View, Inquire, File Tools, Block Model, Database, Mine Design, Blast Design, Ring Design, & Scheduling.
Menus or Toolbars may be displayed or removed by right-hand clicking any region with no menu item and selecting or de-selecting the menus/toolbars from the subsequent context menu. Menus are located above the separator line in the context menu, and toolbars below.
Navigator: Explorer-like view of all mapped drives. Three modes of opening files are
accomplished from the Navigator by clicking and dragging files into the viewport. Keyboard modifiers are used to define the open mode to use:
Mode Keyboard Modifier Result
Open None File is opened into it’s own layer. The name of the layer is that of the file opened.
Append Crtl File is opened into the active layer and is appended to whatever other data in that layer.
Replace Crtl-Shift File is opened into the active layer and replaces all other data in that layer.
Simple file management is also accomplished within the Navigator from the context menu (right-hand click).
Status Bar: The status bar show vital information such as cursor coordinates, current
view dip and azimuth, change of distance in axis when moving or copying, connectivity to databases & block models.
Message Window: All information relayed from Surpac to the user is displayed in the
message window. It can be resized, minimized & maximized. Its position can also be toggled between floating and docked. Text in the message window may be copied and pasted.
Viewport: This is the 3D graphical environment in Surpac. All data types are viewed in
the viewport (string, surfaces, databases, block models, etc…). Three modes of dynamic view movement in the viewport are attained using the mouse:
Mode Mouse Button Orbit Left
Pan Middle or Both Zoom Right
Command Chooser: All commands run (either from menus, toolbars, or typed in) are
displayed in the command chooser. In parentheses after the function name, the short-cut key is also displayed. While typing commands using the keyboard, the command
chooser will auto-complete your keystrokes. The up arrow can be used to scroll through previously run functions.
Layer Chooser: All available layers are displayed in the layer chooser. The
selected/displayed layer is the active layer. Modifications to data or creation of new data can only take place in the active layer. Surpac Vision always starts with one layer, the “Main Graphics Layer”. Other layers can be added by clicking “new layer” from the layer chooser, or by opening files from the Navigator using open mode.
FILES & LAYERS
The two graphical file types you’ll be using today are String files (*.str) and DTM files (*.dtm).
String files are the fundamental raw coordinate data. They contain points and lines that are arranged and identified by string number. A string is a sequence of
three-dimensional coordinates delineating some physical feature. Valid string numbers range from 1 to 32,000. Strings may contain multiple segments, which constitute discontinuous portions of the same string number. Furthermore, each segment may contain multiple points. Each point in a segment consists of a 3D coordinate (X, Y, Z) and up to 100 optional descriptions. These descriptions are stored in description fields named D1, D2…D100. Many functions in Surpac automatically place information in the description fields as required.
DTM (digital terrain model) files are models of surfaces. They are always created from the raw string data and, once created, must always exist in the same folder as the
data is performed a layer at a time, and always on the active layer. When saving files the same is also true. Each layer is saved in its entirety into one file.
EDITING FUNCTIONS
Surpac’s data editing capabilities are similar in most respects to those of CAD systems. Editing of String data is performed by String, segment or point. All String editing tools are found under the Edit menu. Modifications to String data can always be undone using the Undo function. All editing functions are performed on data in the active layer.
VIEWING FUNCTIONS
All viewing functions are found in the View menu. Viewing functions do not modify data. They only change views and viewing options.
IMPORTING
SURPAC allows users to import & export data to & from external sources. The most common formats for data exchange are ASCII text and .DXF files. All file import/export functions are found in the File menu under Import or Export.
PLOTTING
Plotting in Surpac is accomplished easily with Autoplot (found in the Plotting menu). All String data can be plotted as drawn on the screen. Various parameters such as paper size, scale, and title block can be chosen.
ASSIGNMENT
1. Import the AutoCAD file topo1.dxf to a string file. 2. From the resulting string file create a simple plot.
a. Place your name & the course name in the selected title block. 3. From the resulting string file create a DTM.
4. Fix the file lev100.str by editing all errors in the string data. The things you should look for are:
a. Discontinuous segments along the outside wall. b. Direction or sense of all segments.
c. Closure of all segments.
USEFUL TOOLBAR ICONS
Change Directory Open String/DTM File Save String/DTM File
Autoplot Reset Graphics Undo Redo Window In Window Out Zoom In Zoom Out Zoom All Centre of Rotation Plan View Sectional View Longitudinal View Lights On Lights Off Hide On Faces On Edges On Render 2D grid 3D grid
Digitize at Cursor Location Close Digitized Segment Digitize at Selected Point
Play Macro Start/Stop Record Macro
PROCEDURE
1.
Import the AutoCAD file topo1.dxf to a string file. Make sure your current workingdirectory is C:\INTRODUCTION.LAB\. You can check this in the Navigator. The current working directory appears in bold lettering and has a check mark beside it. To make this your current working directory simply right-hand click on the folder
(C:\INTRODUCTION.LAB\) and choose “Set as working directory” from the context menu.
a.
From the File menu choose Import, DXF file to a string/DTM file.b.
Fill the subsequent form as follows:c.
Click Apply to run the function. When the function is finished it will open a log report of the conversion. It will also state the results of the function in the message window.2. From the resulting string file create a simple plot.
a. Open the resulting file from the previous step topo2.str by clicking & dragging it from the Navigator into the viewport.
b. From the Plotting menu choose Autoplot. c. Fill the subsequent forms as follows:
d. A new window (Plot File Viewer) should appear showing a black-and-white
preview of the plot. Please close this viewer.
e. In the message window it should state that the file has been created
(topo2.sa.pf).
f. To open the newly created plot file (*.pf) click and drag it from the Navigator into
the viewport. It will be opened in it’s own plotting window.
3. From the resulting string file create a DTM.
a. Open the resulting file from the previous step topo2.str by clicking & dragging it from the Navigator into the viewport.
b. From the Surfaces menu choose Create DTM from a layer. c. Choose Apply on the subsequent form:
d. The DTM should then be created. Now save this file. e. From the File menu choose Save, String/DTM file. f. Fill the following form as follows:
4. Fix the file lev100.str by editing all errors in the string data.
a. Open the file lev100.str by clicking and dragging it from the Navigator into the viewport.
b. From the toolbar choose the button to display the point markers, and apply the subsequent form.
c. From the Display menu choose Strings, With string and segment numbers to
display the numbers at the first point in each segment.
d. At A (see diagram) use Edit, Segment, Join to join the end of segment 1.1 to the
beginning of segment 1.2. Remember to check your dialogue prompts!!
e. At B use Edit, Segment, Close to close this segment f. Window In at C using the button.
h. Use Edit, Segment, Break after point, and choose to break after point number 12.
Please note that the point numbers will change when editing the points (deleting & inserting). They point numbers referred to in this procedure pertain to the diagram above.
i. Use Edit, Point, Move to move point 81 out of the drift, close to point number 12.
j. Use Edit, Segment, Join to join point 12 to 81.
k. Note the point numbers have disappeared. This happens because we have
changed the order of the point numbers by joining segments.
l. Use Display, Point, Numbers to re-display the numbers.
OBJECTIVES
•
To become familiar with Surpac’s Gridding and Contouring tools.•
To learn to grid point samples based on elevation as well as descriptive data.•
To learn to create contours from resulting interpolated grids.FILES USED
Files used in this lab exercise are found in the following folder:
C:\CONTOURING.LAB\
DISCUSSION
The Gridding & Contouring functionality in Surpac consists of tools for importing irregularly-collected data, regularizing that data, and generating contours of the resulting regular grid. There are several uses for the Gridding & Contouring functionality in Surpac:
1. Thinning out extremely dense data such as those from aerial surveys. 2. Gridding radmonly collected data to regularly spaced grids.
3. Recreating contours on different contour intervals. 4. Creating contours of geochemical data.
5. Creating contours of stratigraphic thicknesses.
The following diagrams illustrate how irregular point data may be regularized by gridding:
Figure 1: Irregular point data. This raw data may represent collection points for soil
Figure 2: The same data gridded in a regular pattern using geostatistical interpolation
methods.
Measurements in Surpac are unitless and depend entirely on the measurement system used while collecting the data. For instance, elevation may be collected in feet(ft) or metres (m) so it is up to the user to be consistent when working with data from various sources. Throughout this exercise, you will see m/ft which means that if the raw data data is collected in metres then a contour interval of “2 “ means 2 metres. The same goes for assay units. If the samples are recorded in grams per tonne then a contour interval of “5” means 5 grams per tonne.
ASSIGNMENT
1. Import the ‘geo_chem1.csv’ file into a Surpac string file. 2. Create a DTM surface of ‘geo_chem1.str’.
3. Colour the DTM ‘geo_chem1.dtm’ based on Z and Arsenic (D1) and save GIF images of each.
4. Contour the DTM ‘geo_chem1.dtm’ on a 2 m/ft. interval and save the contours. 5. Grid the Z field of ‘geo_chem1.str’ using a 30x30 m/ft pattern. (interpolation)
6. Contour the resulting grid from step 5 using a contour interval of 5 m/ft (from 0 to 100). 7. Create a DTM surface of the contours resulting from step 6 and submit this file. 8. Grid the D1 field of ‘geo_chem1.str’ using a 30x30 m/ft pattern. (interpolation)
9. Contour the resulting grid from step 8 using a contour interval of 5 m/ft (from 0 to 100). 10. Create a DTM surface of the contours resulting from step 9 and submit this file.
PROCDURE
1. Import the ‘geo_chem1.csv’ file into a Surpac string file.
a. The file ‘geo_chem1.csv’ pictured below is a ‘comma-separated value’ file. This is simply a text file containing columns of data, each separated by a comma. The data contained in this text file are X,Y,Z coordinates of geochemical samples plus the arsenic samples themselves.
b. To import this file choose from the File menu, Import, Data from one file. c. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:
2. Create a DTM surface of ‘geo_chem1.str’.
a. From the Surfaces menu choose DTM File functions, Create DTM from string file. b. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:
3. Colour the DTM ‘geo_chem1.dtm’ based on Z and Arsenic (D1).
a. From the Navigator, click and drag the file ‘geo_chem1.dtm’ into the viewport. b. Click on the render button ( ) to apply a light source to the surface.
c. From the Display menu choose DTM with colour banding. d. Fill the subsequent form as follows:
e. From the File menu choose Images, Save GIF image. f. Fill the subsequent form as follows:
Please note that the fields X resolution and Y resolution will be filled automatically with the values pertaining to your screen resolution, not necessarily the values displayed above. g. From the Display menu choose DTM with colour banding.
h. Fill the subsequent form as follows:
i. From the File menu choose Images, Save GIF image.
Please note that the fields X resolution and Y resolution will be filled automatically with the values pertaining to your screen resolution, not necessarily the values displayed above. 4. Contour the DTM ‘geo_chem1.dtm’ on a 2 m/ft. interval and save the contours.
a. From the main toolbar click the Reset Graphics button ( ).
b. From the Navigator, click and drag the file ‘geo_chem1.dtm into the viewport. c. Click on the render button ( ) to apply a light source to the surface.
d. From the Contouring menu choose Contour DTM in layer. e. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:
f. Make sure the active layer is set to ‘contours’ by selecting it from the layer
Layer chooser
g. Save the newly created contours by choosing the File menu and Save,
String/DTM file.
h. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:
5. Grid the Z field of ‘geo_chem1.str’ using a 30x30 m/ft pattern. (interpolation) a. From the main toolbar click the Reset Graphics button ( ).
b. From the Navigator, click and drag the file ‘geo_chem1.str’ into the viewport. c. From the Contouring menu choose Begin contouring.
e. From the Contouring menu choose Contouring area, Define extents. f. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:
Note: click the ‘Calulate’ button to fill the two grid step size fields.
g. From the Contouring menu choose Estimate grid values, By triangulation. h. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:
6. Contour the resulting grid from step 5 using a contour interval of 5 m/ft (from 150 to 250).
a. From the Contouring menu choose Contour grid. b. Fill the subsequent form as follows:
7. Create a DTM surface of the contours resulting from step 6 and submit this file. a. Make sure the active layer is set to ‘contours’ by selecting it from the layer
Layer chooser
b. From the Surfaces menu choose Create DTM from layer. c. Choose Apply to the subsequent form:
d. Choose the File menu and Save, String/DTM file. e. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:
8. Grid the D1 field of ‘geo_chem1.str’ using a 30x30 m/ft pattern. (interpolation) a. From the main toolbar click the Reset Graphics button ( ).
b. From the Navigator, click and drag the file ‘geo_chem1.str’ into the viewport. c. From the Contouring menu choose Begin contouring.
e. From the Contouring menu choose Contouring area, Define extents. f. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:
h. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:
9. Contour the resulting grid from step 8 using a contour interval of 5 m/ft (from 0 to 100).
a. From the Contouring menu choose Contour grid. b. Fill the subsequent form as follows:
10. Create a DTM surface of the contours resulting from step 9 and submit this file. a. Make sure the active layer is set to ‘contours’ by selecting it from the layer
Layer chooser
b. From the Surfaces menu choose Create DTM from layer. c. Choose Apply to the subsequent form:
d. Choose the File menu and Save, String/DTM file. e. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:
OBJECTIVES
•
To become familiar with Surpac’s Block Modelling module and the concept of block modelling.•
To learn to fill a block model from drillhole data in a geological database.•
To learn to constrain a block model to filter out specific blocks.•
To learn report volume, tonnage, & grade from a block model.FILES USED
Files used in this lab exercise are found in the following folder:
C:\BLOCK_MODELLING.LAB\
DISCUSSION
The Block Model is a form of spatially-referenced database that provides a means for modelling a 3-D body from point and interval data such as drillhole sample data. It is a method of estimating volume, tonnage, and average grade of a 3-D body from sparse drill data.
Blocks and Attributes
Records in the Block Model are related to blocks. These are cuboid partitions of the modeled space and are created dynamically according to the operations performed on the Block Model. Each block contains attributes for each of the properties to be modeled. The properties or attributes may contain numeric or character string values. Every block is defined by its geometric centroid and it’s dimensions in each axis. Blocks may be of varying size defined by the user once the block model is created.
Constraints
All Block Model functions may be performed with constraints. A constraint is a logical combination of one or more spatial objects on selected blocks. Objects that may be used in constraints are plane surfaces, DTM’s, Solids, closed strings and block attribute values. Constraints may be saved to a file for rapid re-use and may themselves be used as components of other constraints.
Blocks meet a constraint (e.g.: below a DTM as in the figures below) if its centroid meets that constraint. This is true even if part of the block is above the DTM.
Figure 2: Unconstrained block model in relation to a DTM surface.
Estimation
Once a Block Model is created and all attributes defined, they must be filled by some estimation method. This is achieved by estimating and assigning attribute values from sample data which has X Y Z coordinates and the attribute values of interest. The estimation methods that may be used are:
Nearest Neighbour Assign the value of the closest sample point to a block
Inverse Distance Assign block values using an Inverse Distance estimator
Assign Value Assign an explicit value to blocks in the model
Ordinary Kriging Assign block values using Kriging with Variogram parameters developed from a Geostatistical study
Indicator Kriging Functions concerned with a probabilistic block grade distribution derived from the kriging of indicators
Assign from String Assign data from the description fields of closed segments to attribute values of blocks that are contained within those segments extended in the direction of one
of the principal axes (X, Y or Z)
ASSIGNMENT
1. Add the attribute “gold_nn” to the block model. 2. Add the attribute “sg” to the block model.
3. Fill the “sg” attribute with the Assign Value method. Assign a specific gravity of 2.5 to all blocks below the topography “topo1.dtm”.
4. Fill the “sg” attribute with the Assign Value method. Assign a specific gravity of 2.9 to all block in the solid ore body “ore_real1.dtm”.
5. Fill the “gold_nn” attribute with Nearest Neighbour estimation method. Use the following estimation parameters:
I. Composite file = samples1.str II. Maximum search radius = 500m
III. Maximum vertical search distance = 9999 IV. Bearing of major axis = 0
V. Plunge of major axis = 0 VI. Dip of semi-major axis = 0 VII. Anisotropy Ratios
i. major / semi-major = 1 ii. major / minor = 1
VIII. Constraints: Inside 3DM (ore_real1.dtm) 6. Create a Block Model Report and report the following:
I. Average weighted gold grade II. Average weighted specific gravity III. Tonnage (multiplication factor = 11) IV. Organized by bench (0,250,10)
V. Choose one of the available formats (.csv; .not; .htm; .rtf; .pdf) VI. Constraints: Inside 3DM (ore1.dtm)
USEFUL TOOLBAR ICONS
BLOCK MODELLING
Open Block Model Close Block Model Display Block Model Add New Graphical Constraint Remove Last Graphical Constraint
Remove All Graphical Constraint Edit Block Model Constraint Block Edge and Face Visibility
Add Slicing Plane Constraint Remove Slicing Plane Constraint
Colour Model by Attribute Remove Block Colours Add Block Model Attribute Delete Block Model Attribute
Edit Block Model Attribute Block Maths Identify Block Values
PROCEDURE
1. Add the attribute “gold_nn” to the block model.
a. Make sure you’re connected to the block model first. From the Navigator, click
and drag the block model “block_model.mdl” into the view port to connect to it. Notice the special icon and name of the block model that appears in the status bar.
b. From the Block Model menu, choose Attribute, New. c. Fill the subsequent form as follows:
2. Add the attribute “sg” to the block model.
a. From the Block Model menu, choose Attribute, New. b. Fill the subsequent form as follows:
3. Fill the “sg” attribute with the Assign Value method. Assign a specific gravity of 2.5 to all blocks below the topography “topo1.dtm”.
a. From the Block Model menu, choose Estimation, Assign value. b. Fill the subsequent forms as follows:
4. Fill the “sg” attribute with the Assign Value method. Assign a specific gravity of 2.9 to all block in the solid ore body “ore1.dtm”.
a. From the Block Model menu, choose Estimation, Assign value. b. Fill the subsequent forms as follows:
5. Fill the “gold_nn” attribute with Nearest Neighbour estimation method. Use the following estimation parameters:
I. Composite file = samples1.str II. Maximum search radius = 500m
III. Maximum vertical search distance = 9999 IV. Bearing of major axis = 0
V. Plunge of major axis = 0 VI. Dip of semi-major axis = 0 VII. Anisotropy Ratios
i. major / semi-major = 1 ii. major / minor = 1
VIII. Constraints: Inside 3DM (ore1.dtm)
a. From the Block Model menu, choose Estimation, Nearest neighbour. b. Fill the subsequent forms as follows:
Please note that the above form specifies source data. In this case the gold grades are
contained in the file samples1.str in the second description field (D2). Feel free to open this string file and from the Inquire menu use Point Properties to view the description information contained in the D fields of each sample point.
6. Create a Block Model Report and report the following: I. Average weighted gold grade
II. Average weighted specific gravity III. Tonnage (multiplication factor = sg) IV. Organized by bench (0,250,10)
V. Choose one of the available formats (.csv; .not; .htm; .rtf; .pdf) VI. Constrain the report to all block within the solid “ore1.dtm”. a. From the Block Model menu, choose Block model, Report.
OBJECTIVES
•
To become familiar with Surpac’s Open Pit Blast Design tools.•
To design various open pit blasts using regular and staggered grids, pre-split holes, and ramp blasts.FILES USED
Files used in this lab exercise are found in the following folder:
C:\OP_BLAST_DESIGN.LAB\
DISCUSSION
The Open Pit blast design module in Surpac consists of very specific tools for the design,
planning, and reporting of the various types of blasts that may occur in Open pit mines. The blast design module allows you to create and charge vertical and inclined holes in rectangular patterns, along segments, or in a straight line between any two points digitized on the screen. The drilling parameters which need to be defined include:
• pattern type (rectangular or staggered) • hole numbering (regular or zig-zag) • burden (distance between rows)
• spacing (distance between holes in a row) • collar position (set at an elevation or to a DTM)
• hole length (set at a given length, elevation, or to a DTM) • bearing (also referred to as azimuth)
• dip • diameter • pattern name
• hole name (including optional prefix, suffix, and also padded with zeros) Blasting parameters which need to be addressed include:
• depth of stemming (rock chips, dirt, or other non-explosive material placed on top of the charge)
• charge interval (multiple charge intervals separated by stemming are allowed) • explosive name
• explosive SG (specific gravity, or density of explosive) • detonator name
• delay name
• delay time (in milliseconds)
• charge depth can be automatically adjusted to hole depth
Designing Blasts
Rectangular Blasts: Two types of blast patterns may be created: a rectangular or
spacing, but is useful in creating echelon-sequenced patterns. The follow diagram displays the two kinds of rectangular blast patterns that can be used:
Rectangular Staggered
The following diagram shows the two numbering patterns that can be used for numbering of the blast holes in a particular blast: regular or zig-zag.
Regular Zig-Zag
Pre-split Blasts: Pre-split blast holes are drilled at relatively close spacing along a
planned fracture plane. Pre-split blasts are used to break the rock to form certain
features such as a curve in a pit wall or a ramp. Surpac can create pre-split holes along a straight line, or along a segment
Figure 1: Pre-split blast holes around a curve in the pit wall.
Figure 2: Pre-split blast holes following the pit wall and extending down to a desired
ramp design.
Sub-Drilling: Sub-drilling, that is, drilling below the floor of the lower bench, can be
achieved in Surpac by using a simple method. You must move the DTM to which you are extending the drilling down the amount of sub-drilling. For example, if you are to sub-drill 1m, then a new surface equal to the current pit surface must be created. This new surface, however, must be moved downward 1m. The purpose of this is to have a surface to which you can extend the blast holes and that will take into account the sub-drilling depth.
Figure 3: Typical profile of a bench blast design showing inclination of holes and sub
drilling.
Blast Hole Nomenclature: The following table provides examples blast hole names that
can be automatically assigned by different combinations and permutations of the blast hole naming parameters:
Hole ID Hole ID
Prefix Suffix
Starting
Value
Pad
Hole_id
Pad
Length
Pad
Character
Examples
1 No
1, 2, 3
A
1 No
A1, A2, A3
940- Rc 1 No
940-1rc, 940-2rc, 940-3rc
bh-
1
Yes
3
0
bh-001, bh-002, bh-003
N_
201
Yes
4
x
N_x201, N_x202, N_x203
Bh
8
Yes
2
0
08bh, 09bh, 10bh
RC
901 No
RC901, RC902,RC903
Charging Blast Holes: Once a blast has been designed, you may continue further with
the process by assigning explosive charges to the holes. Any blast holes designed in Surpac may be charged according to the user’s specifications. These charging data may then be uploaded to a blast database for reporting and calculations. In Surpac the following charging parameters can be user-defined:
1. Explosives name (e.g.: ANFO) 2. Explosives density
3. Delay name
4. Delay time (e.g.: 25 ms)
ASSIGNMENT
1. Create four blast designs:
I. Rectangular pattern at 48m elevation clipped by one of the segments in the file “zones40.str”. Sub drill the blast holes 1m.
II. Staggered pattern at 48m elevation clipped by one of the segments in the file “zones40.str”. Sub drill the blast holes 1m.
III. Pre-split blast along the pit wall crest at the 48m elevation. IV. Pre-split blast along the ramp crest.
2. Create a plot of all four blast designs.
3. Charge all four blast designs with Stemming at the collar (1m), and ANFO (0.8) in the rest of the hole.
USEFUL TOOLBAR ICONS
BLAST DESIGN
Create rectangular blast pattern Design line of blast holes Design blast holes along segment
Design single blast hole Complete unextended hole
Assign new hole ID’s Upload holes to database
Modify charge defaults Charge all holes
Charge holes inside digitized box Charge holes inside digitized segment
Charge holes inside existing segment Charge single hole
Uncharge all holes
Uncharge holes inside digitized box Uncharge holes inside digitized segment
Uncharge holes inside existing segment Uncharge single hole
Delete all holes Delete a group of holes
Delete single hole Delete all unextended holes Delete holes inside a digitized box Delete holes outside a digitized box Delete holes inside a digitized segment Delete holes outside a digitized segment
Delete holes inside an existing segment Delete holes outside a existing segment
PROCDURE
1. Create four blast designs:
I. Rectangular pattern at 48m elevation clipped by one of the segments in the file “zones40.str”. Sub drill the blast holes 1m.
a. From the Navigator click and drag the file zones40.str into the viewport
to open it.
b. From the Blast Design toolbar choose the button to create a rectangular blast pattern.
c. A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select area for
blasting holes”.
d. Click and drag to define a rectangle in the area shown in the following
diagram:
e. Hit the F2 key to apply and accept the defined rectangle.
f. Fill the subsequent form as follows. Please note that the values in the
fields Origin X, Origin Y, Grid Height, Grid Width, & Grid Angle will be different for your selected rectangle:
g. A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select a closed
segment to clip the holes”. Click the segment in the lower right-hand corner as in the following diagram:
Click here to select this segment
II. Staggered pattern at 48m elevation clipped by one of the segments in the file “zones40.str”. Sub drill the blast holes 1m.
a. From the Blast Design toolbar choose the button to create a rectangular blast pattern.
b. A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select area for
blasting holes”.
c. Click and drag to define a rectangle in the area shown in the following
d. Hit the F2 key to apply and accept the defined rectangle.
e. Fill the subsequent form as follows. Please note that the values in the
fields Origin X, Origin Y, Grid Height, Grid Width, & Grid Angle will be different for your selected rectangle:
f. A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select a closed
segment to clip the holes”. Click the segment in the lower left-hand corner as in the following diagram:
Click here to select this segment
III. Pre-split blast along the pit wall crest at the 48m elevation.
a. From the Blast Design toolbar choose the button to design blast holes along segment.
b. A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select the starting
position and drag to the end of selection”.
c. Click and drag from the first point in the following diagram to the
second point:
Click and drag from here
d. Fill the subsequent form as follows. Note that the Line Length value
may be different than yours:
e. A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select the target
Click the toe segment as the target
IV. Pre-split blast along the ramp crest.
a. From the Blast Design toolbar choose the button to design blast holes along segment.
b. A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select the starting
position and drag to the end of selection”.
c. Click and drag from the first point in the following diagram to the
second point:
Drag to here
d. Fill the subsequent form as follows. Note that the Line Length value
may be different than yours:
e. A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select the target
segment”. Click to select the toe segment of the ramp as in the following diagram:
Select the toe of the ramp as
the target
2. Create a plot of all four blast designs.
a. Make sure the view is plan by clicking the button.
b. From the toolbar click the button to start AutoPlot.
c. Fill the subsequent forms as follows. Note that the scale values on the right hand
side may be different from your values, so you will have to select an appropriate
d. Upon applying the previous form, a dashed box will appear centered around your
data in the graphics viewport. This box represents the paper you’ve chosen. The prompting message asks you to “Move/Rotate selection box. Apply to continue. Assist key to rescale box.” With the left mouse button click and drag to move the box. With the right mouse button click and drag to rotate the box about the lower, left corner. Hitting the F1 key (assist key) will rescale the view if you’ve move the box partly outside the current view. Hitting the F2 key (apply) will apply the changes you’ve made. Just hit the F2 key to apply and continue.
f. Once Surpac has finished processing the plot it will let you know with a message
in the message window at the bottom of the screen: “Processing finished - plot
file is maingraa.pf”. It may also open the file automatically in the Plot File
Viewer, which is a separate little program solely for viewing plot files.
3. Charge all four blast designs with Stemming at the collar (1m), and ANFO (0.8) in the rest of the hole.
a. From the Blast design toolbar, choose the button to charge all holes.
OBJECTIVES
•
To become familiar with Surpac’s Geological Database module.•
To learn about the minimum requirements for a geological database.•
To learn to import data into a database from ASCII text files.•
To cut section through drillhole data and create plots.FILES USED
Files used in this lab exercise are found in the following folder:
C:\GEOLOGICAL_DATABASE.LAB\
DISCUSSION
The Geological Database module in Surpac is one of the most important set of tools you can learn. Drillhole data are the starting point of all mining projects and constitute the basis on which feasibility studies and ore reserve estimations are done. A geological database consists of a number of tables, each of which contains a different kind of data. Each table contains a number of fields of data. Each table will have many records with each record containing the data fields. Surpac require 2 mandatory tables: collar and survey.
The information stored in the collar table describes the location of the drill hole collar, the maximum depth of the hole and whether a linear or curved hole trace is to be calculated when retrieving the hole. Optional collar data may also be stored for each drill hole. For example, date drilled, type of drill hole or project name. The mandatory fields in a collar table are:
• hole_id • y • x • z • max_depth • hole_path
The survey table stores the drill hole survey information used to calculate the drill hole trace coordinates. Mandatory fields include, downhole depth at which the survey was taken, the dip and the azimuth of the hole. For a vertical hole, which has not been surveyed, the depth would be the same as the max_depth field in the collar table, the dip as -90 and the azimuth as zero. The y, x and z fields are used to store the calculated coordinates of each survey. Optional fields for this table may include other information taken at the survey point e.g., core orientation. The mandatory fields in a survey table are:
• hole_id • depth • dip
1. interval 2. point 3. discreet
The interval tables require the depth at the start of the interval and the depth at the end of the interval, called the depth_from and depth_to fields respectively. The point tables require only the depth where the sample was taken, called the depth_to field. A sample identifier field is defined for interval tables but this field is not a key field and so does not require data if not available. The y, x and z fields are used to store the calculated coordinates of the sample depths. The discrete sample tables are used for storing data for a point, which has a unique samp_id. All that is required for this is the samp_id and its position in space i.e., its Y, X and Z coordinates. The discrete sample table is ideally suited for storing and later processing geochemical soil samples. The following diagram shows some of a typical geological section from the Geological Database module in Surpac:
ASSIGNMENT
1. Add an interval table called “geology” with an optional field called “lithology” to the “surpac” database.
2. Add an interval table called “sample” with an optional field called “gold” to the “surpac” database.
3. Import geology and sample data into the database from the files geology.txt and samples.txt, respectively.
4. Create and plot E-W sections starting at 7120N to 7600N in steps of 40m. I. Create colour display styles for the lithology and assays. II. Display lithological codes on the right-hand side.
III. Display assays on the left-hand side.
IV. Display colour-filled bar graphs of the gold assays on the left-hand side and offset them 5m.
USEFUL TOOLBAR ICONS
GEOLOGICAL DATABASE
Open Database Close Database Drillhole Display Styles
Display Drillholes Complete unextended hole
Previous Section Next Section Reverse View Direction
Zoom Plane Refresh Drillholes
Identify Drillhole Edit Drillhole End Section Mode
PROCEDURE
1. Add an interval table called “geology” with an optional field called “lithology” to the “surpac” database.
a. First you must connect to the drillhole database. To do this simply click and drag
the file “surpac.ddb” from the Navigator to the viewport. You will see in the Status Bar an item appear with the database icon and the name “surpac”. This means you have successfully connected to the database.
b. From the Database menu choose Database, Administration, Create table. c. Fill the subsequent forms as follows:
2. Add an interval table called “sample” with an optional field called “gold” to the “surpac” database.
a. Make sure you are connected to the drillhole database. See step 1.a. b. From the Database menu choose Database, Administration, Create table.
3. Import geology and sample data into the database from the files geology.txt and samples.txt, respectively.
a. Make sure you are connected to the drillhole database. See step 1.a.
b. From the Database menu, choose Database, Import data and fill the subsequent
c. From the Database menu, choose Database, Import data and fill the subsequent
4. Create and plot E-W sections starting at 7120N to 7600N in steps of 40m. a. From the Database menu, choose Display, Drillholes.
b. Fill the subsequent form as follows:
c. From the Database menu, choose Sections, Define. d. Fill the subsequent form as follows:
e. This will create section starting on 7120N, every 40m. Notice in the status bar
the current drillhole section is displayed. To switch to other sections choose
Previous section ( ), and Next section ( ) from the Database, Sections menu. Now you will need to display certain information along the hole traces. In order to do this you will need to define the display styles.
I. Create colour display styles for the lithology and assays. f. From the Database menu, choose Display, Drillhole display styles.
g. In the subsequent form, expand the geology folder to find the lithology field. h. Right-hand click on the lithology field and choose Get field codes from the
i. This will add ALL 7 unique lithological codes to the list. Expand the lithology folder.
j. For each of the 7 lithological codes select, on the right-hand side, a different colour (graphics & plotting). For example:
B Æ Red IN Æ Green MU Æ Blue QV1 Æ Yellow S2 Æ Orange SH Æ Cyan ST Æ Magenta
Modify colours of each lithological code here All unique lithological codes
k. Before applying the form, expand the sample folder to find the gold field. l. Right-hand click on the gold field and choose Get min – max range from the
m. This will add one grade range, which consists of the minimum and maximum
values found in the gold field. This is just to provide you with a reference of the range of values currently available in that field.
n. From the first range created, on the right hand side, change the From Value and
To Value to 0 and 2, respectively.
o. Choose a colour for this particular grade range.
p. Right-hand click again on the gold field and choose Add new style from the
context menu. This will add a new range below the previously added range.
q. On the right-hand side, change the From Value and To Value to 2 and 4,
respectively.
r. Choose a colour for this particular grade range.
s. Continue adding grade ranges in increments of 2 until you reach 10. For
example:
0-2 Æ Cyan 2-4 Æ Orange
4-6 Æ Yellow 6-8 Æ Blue
8-10 Æ Red t. Apply the form to save the styles changes.
II. Display lithological codes on the right-hand side. u. From the Database menu, choose Display, Drillholes. v. Fill the different tabs on the subsequent form as follows:
III. Display assays on the left-hand side.
IV. Display colour-filled bar graphs of the gold assays on the left-hand side and offset them 5m.
y. From the Database menu, choose Display, Drillholes. z. Fill the subsequent form as follows:
aa. Finally, to create plots from each of the sections you will need to prepare the
section on screen using the above steps to achieve the look you desire. Then, click the Autoplot ( ) button from the toolbar.
bb. Fill the subsequent form as follows. Note that values for the scales will be
cc. Upon applying the previous form, a dashed box will appear centered around your
data in the graphics viewport. This box represents the paper you’ve chosen. The prompting message asks you to “Move/Rotate selection box. Apply to continue. Assist key to rescale box.”. With the left mouse button click and drag to move the box. With the right mouse button click and drag to rotate the box about the lower, left corner. Hitting the F1 key (assist key) will rescale the view if you’ve move the box partly outside the current view. Hitting the F2 key (apply) will apply the changes you’ve made. Just hit the F2 key to apply and continue.
ee. Once Surpac has finished processing the plot it will let you know with a message
in the message window at the bottom of the screen: “Processing finished - plot
file is maingraa.pf”. It may also open the file automatically in the Plot File
OBJECTIVES
•
To become familiar with Surpac’s Pit Design tools.•
To construct a pit with a ramp starting from a base.•
To calculate the volume between a designed pit and a topography.•
To generate a final surface using a designed pit and natural topography.FILES USED
Files used in this lab exercise are found in the following folder:
C:\PIT_DESIGN.LAB\
DISCUSSION
The Pit Design module is a suite of functions that allow you to design: • an excavation (pit) from the bottom up or the top down • a land fill or waste dump from the top down or bottom up • a road which requires cut and fill of topography
Benches
The Pit Design module uses normal String data to build a pit by progressively expanding or contracting toes and crests. Benches are constructed by either expanding or
contracting closed strings, either upwards or downwards depending on where the design is started, by a certain bench height. That is, pit design may be started on surface and designed downward to a base, or from a base and upward to topography. Which way a design is started depends on what data is available, the specific data involved, and the requirements of the project.
When expanding (or contracting) closed strings to construct benches, they are done so on a point-by-point basis at specified angles. These angles are the pit wall slope measured from one toe to the next crest (upwards) or one crest to the next toe (downwards). The pit wall slope is defined by the user in any of three different ways:
Design slope
One constant slope for the entire pit. This is used for simple pit designs.
Descriptions
Each point in the segment to be expanded is done so at a slope angle specified by a value in the point’s description field (D1). This is used where different parts of the pit perimeter require different pit wall slopes according to
geotechnical constraints.
Slope Strings
Each point in the segment to be expanded is done so at a slope angle specified by where the point lies in relation to a ‘slope string’ file. A ‘slope
string’ file consists of clockwise, closed segments defining the areas of different pit wall slopes. In the point’s description field (D1) is the value of the pit wall slope of that particular zone or area. This is used where different areas
of the pit property require different pit wall slopes according to geotechnical constraints.
By bench height
Nominate a single height by which to elevate a toe or lower a crest. The resulting segment will be elevated or lowered by the nominated bench height. To elevation
Nominate a single elevation to which a toe will be elevated or a crest will be lowered. The resulting segment will reside entirely on the same nominated
elevation. To DTM
Surface
Nominate a DTM to which a toe will be elevated or a crest will be lowered. The resulting segment will conform to elevations determined by the nominated DTM
surface.
The widths of benches are obtained by expanding crests (or contracting toes) by a certain berm width.
Ramps
When design a pit, either from the top down or bottom up, you may choose to include a
ramp. Ramps are defined by points along their edge and by a gradient. Exits from the
ramps onto the benches may be included as part of the ramp design. Once the ramp is defined it will automatically be designed as the pit design progresses. There are two types of ramps:
1. Circular Ramps: Circular ramps, either clockwise or anti-clockwise follow the perimeter or wall of the pit. Their sense (clockwise or anti-clockwise) depends on how the pit is designed; either from the bottom upwards or from the top
downwards. Circular ramps may be edited, deleted, added at any time during the pit design. Switchbacks are used to reverse a circular ramp’s direction.
Clockwise ramp built from bottom upwards. Anti-clockwise ramp built
from bottom upwards.
2. All Cut Ramps: All Cut ramps do not follow the wall or perimeter of the pit. Instead, they follow a pre-defined centreline. The perimeter of the pit then is reformed to accommodate the requirements of the all cut ramp.
All-Cut ramp following a pre-defined centreline.
ALL-CUT RAMP
ASSIGNMENT
1. Construct a pit from the base up to topography. Start with the file pit1.str. Build the pit with 10m bench heights and 5m bench widths (berm widths), at a pit wall slope of 50° until it reaches topography (topo1.str). Include a ramp in your pit design.
2. Create a surface (DTM) of your pit and generate a final surface using it and the topography (topo1.str).
3. Generate a final, mined surface using your pit and the topography (topo1.str). 4. Calculate the cut volume of your designed pit.
USEFUL TOOLBAR ICONS
PIT DESIGN
Load Slope String File Select method of pit wall slope
New Ramp Edit Ramp Load DTM Surface Display DTM Surface Offsets
Hide DTM Surface Offsets Expand Segment by Berm Width Expand Segment by Bench Height Expand Segment to Elevation Expand Segment to DTM Surface
Expand String by Berm Width Expand String by Bench Height
Expand String to Elevation Expand String to DTM Surface
PROCEDURE
1.
Construct a pit from the base up to topography. Start with the file pit1.str. Build the pit with 10m bench heights and 5m bench widths (berm widths), at a pit wall slope of 50° until it reaches topography (topo1.str). Include a ramp in your pit design.a.
From the Navigator click and drag the file pit1.str into the viewport to open it. This string will form the base of the pit you will create.b.
From the Mine Design menu choose Pit design, Select slope method.c.
Fill the subsequent form as follows:d.
From the Mine Design menu choose Pit design, Set slope gradient.e.
Fill the subsequent form as follows:f.
From the Mine Design menu choose Pit design, New ramp.g.
A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select the first ramp point” then “Select the second ramp point”. Choose the sides of the ramp as in the following diagram:Second ramp point First ramp point
h.
Fill the subsequent form as follows:i.
From the Mine Design menu choose Expand segment, By bench height.l.
Notice that the prompting text reappears giving you the chance to select another segment to expand. Hit the ESCAPE key to exit the function.m.
From the Mine Design menu choose Expand segment, By berm width.n.
A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select the segment to be expanded”. Click to newly expanded crest string. That is the outermost string.o.
Fill the subsequent form as follows:p.
Notice that the prompting text reappears giving you the chance to select another segment to expand. Hit the ESCAPE key to exit the function.q.
Now you will load a surface topography so that you can build the pit to match the surface. From the Mine Design menu, choose Pit design, Load DTM surface.s.
From the Mine design menu, choose Pit design, Display DTM surface offsets.t.
A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select the segment to display the DTM offsets”.u.
Click to select the outermost segment. The vertical distances from the points around the selected segment to the surface are displayed.v.
From the Mine design menu, choose Pit design, Hide DTM surface offsets.w.
You have just built one bench. Repeat steps i. trough p. until your pit is within 20m of the surface.x.
From the Mine design menu, choose Expand segment, To DTM surface.y.
Fill the subsequent form as follows. Note that the Minimum z value and theMaximum z value may be different from yours.
z.
Notice that sometimes after expanding a segment errors or odd geometry may form in the expanded segment, such as in the following diagram. These geometrical problems may be easily corrected using the Edit functions.These points should be moved or deleted.
2.
Create a surface (DTM) of your pit.a.
Check the layer chooser in the first toolbar to make sure the layer in which your pit resides is the active layer:Layer chooser
b.
From the Surfaces menu, choose Create DTM from layer.c.
Apply the subsequent form:3.
Generate a final, mined surface using your pit and the topography (topo1.str).a. From the Navigator, click and drag to open the topography DTM file (topo1.dtm) and the DTM file of your pit.
b.
From the Surfaces menu choose Clip or intersect DTM’s, Lower triangles of 2DTM’s.
c.
Fill the subsequent form as follows:d.
A prompting message will ask you to “Select first trisolation”. Choose one of the 2 DTM’s.e.
A second prompting message will ask you to “Select second trisolation”. Choose the next DTM.f.
The final, mined surface will appear in the specified layer (final surface) after some time calculating.4.
Calculate the cut volume of your designed pit.a.
In order to calculate a volume you always require 3 things: 2 surfaces and a boundary string. In this case the boundary string will be the outermost string in the pit. That is, calculate the volume inside of this string and between the 2 DTM’s. You, therefore, must know what number the outermost string in your pit design is. To fin this out use the function to identify a point on that string. Remember the string number because you’ll need it in the next step.b.
From the Volumes menu choose Cut and fill between DTM’s.OBJECTIVES
•
To become familiar with Surpac’s Ring Design tools.•
To prepare underground workings data for the Ring Design module.•
To design sub-level cave blast rings from slices of underground workings.•
To calculate the drilling & blasting statistics from design blast rings.•
To generate a plot of several designed blast rings.FILES USED
Files used in this lab exercise are found in the following folder:
C:\RING_DESIGN.LAB\
DISCUSSION
The Ring Design module in Surpac is a suite of tools used for the design of underground blasts. Many different types of blasts can be accommodated for different mining methods with Ring Design including, Block Caving, Sub-Level Cave, VRM/VCR, Long-hole, and Open Stoping.
The general procedure for preparing data for Ring Design is quite easy. Ring designs are created from sections of original underground 3D models. Basically, in Surpac once 3D models are constructed of stopes and mine workings, these models can be sliced to create sections. Blast rings are then designed on one section at a time. The following diagrams show examples of 3D models of stopes and mine underground mine workings created in Surpac, and of the sections created from the 3D solid models.
Stope
Top sill drift
Bottom sill drift
Figure 2: Vertical sections through the 3D models created every 10m along the
bottom-sill drift.
Once sections have been generated, blast rings are designed on each section. The following diagram is a typical blast ring designed using the Ring Design module.
Figure 3: Typical blast ring designed using the Ring Design module. Holes are coloured
& numbered by sequence.
ASSIGNMENT
1. Create vertical sections of the solids in the file “stope1.dtm” every 10m. 2. Design a ring blast on section # 3 from step 1.
3. Charge and sequence the blast ring designed in step 2.
4. Generate a report of blast statistics for the ring blast including, drilled lengths, charged lengths, explosive mass, & powder factor.
USEFUL TOOLBAR ICONS
GEOLOGICAL DATABASE
Begin Ring Design End Ring Design Open String Files of Sections
Previous Section Next Section
Zoom to Area of Current Ring Redraw
Add New Drill Rig Edit Drill Rig Properties
Select Drill Rig Select New Drill Rig Position
Move Drill Rig Move Drill Rig by Distance Move Drill Rig by Coordinates Move Drill Rig by Distance From Wall
Move Drill Rig to Previous Setup Rotate Mast
Rotate Mast by Angle Rotate Mast to a Point
Select Centreline Create Single Hole Create Cardinal Holes
Create Normal Holes Create Parallel Holes Create Multiple Holes
Delete Hole Delete Range of Holes
Delete All Holes Change Diameter of One Hole Change Diameter of Range of Holes
Change Hole Length Set Length of One Hole Set Length of Range of Holes
Move Hole Rotate Hole Snap One Hole to Stope Snap Range of Holes to Stope
PROCEDURE
1. Create vertical sections of the solids in the file “stope1.dtm” every 10m. a. From the Navigator, click and drag “stope1.dtm” into the viewport to open it. b. From the toolbar, click the button to render the solids.
c. From the Navigator, click and drag “cl1.str” into the viewport to open it.
d. This is a centreline string for the bottom sill drift. It is located inside the bottom
sill drift solid. In order to view the string click the button to turn the DTM edges off, and the button to turn the DTM faces off.
e. Check the layer chooser in the first toolbar to make sure the layer in which the 3D
solid resides is the active layer:
Layer chooser
f. From the Solids menu, choose Solids tools, Section using centreline.
g. A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select the centreline start point”.
Click to select the extreme southwestern point.
h. The prompting message will then ask you to “Select the centreline end point”.
Click to select the extreme northeastern point.
2. Design a ring blast on section # 3 from step 1.
a. From the Ring Design menu choose Ring design, Start ring design to begin a
Ring Design session.
b. Apply the subsequent form:
c. From the Ring Design menu choose Ring design, Open section files of stopes
and openings to open the sections created in step 1.
e. Note the new items in the Status Bar at the bottom of your Surpac window. f. Press the button until you reach section number 3:
Section number
g. From the Ring Design menu choose Ring design, Setup, Rig properties edit the
drill rig properties:
i. From the Ring Design menu, choose Setup, Drilling parameters.
j. Fill the subsequent form as follows:
k. From the Ring Design menu choose Setup, Rig position to select a new drill rig
position.
l. A prompting message will appear asking you to “Select the Survey Openings”. Click to select the bottom sill drift as in the following diagram.
m. The prompting message will then ask you to “Select the Stope Outlines”. Click to