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Underground Mine Design
Underground Mine Design
in
Surpac 6.0
August 2007
www.gemcomsoftware.com
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this manual, we assume no responsibility for
errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damage resulting from the use of the information
contained herein.
Gemcom Software International Inc. Gemcom, the Gemcom logo, combinations thereof, and
Whittle, Surpac, GEMS, Minex, Gemcom InSite and PCBC are trademarks of Gemcom Software
International Inc. or its wholly-owned subsidiaries.
Contributors
Rowdy Bristol
Peter Esdale
Phil Jackson
Kiran Kumar
Product
Gemcom Surpac 6.0
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................. 4
Requirements......................................................................................................................................... 4
Objectives .............................................................................................................................................. 4
Workflow ................................................................................................................................................ 5
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Introduction
There are many types of designs employed in underground mining. Although there are numerous
requirements for each design, Surpac can assist you to create practically any type of mine design.
Requirements
Prior to proceeding with this tutorial, you will need:
A basic knowledge of Surpac string files and editing tools as covered in the Introduction to Surpac
manual.
Objectives
The objective of this tutorial is to allow you to understand some of the string editing tools available in
Surpac to create a decline and production access points into stopes.
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Introduction
Workflow
Workflow
The process of performing underground mine design described in this tutorial is only one of many
different approaches. There is no single set of steps which is generally employed in the process.
You may want to start from the top and go down, from the bottom and design up, or start in the middle of
the deposit and proceed up and down at the same time. The workflow you adopt will generally be the one
which you find best for you.
In this tutorial the workflow is as follows:
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Workflow
Requirements
Prior to performing the exercises, some experience in underground mine design is helpful, but not
required.
Terminology
Centreline a line which represents the centre of a drive. The centreline can be used to create
solid models, or outlines for plan view plots.
Stope a 3-dimensional area (usually ore) which is to be mined out by blasting a series of long
holes or ring design holes
a point representing the location on the surface which is an entrance to the underground mine.
You will open files containing this data into graphics, and then use various editing and point creation tools
to create the underground mine design.
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The name of the work directory is displayed in the title bar of the Surpac window.
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Requirements
Prior to performing the exercises in this chapter, you should have:
a basic knowledge of Surpac string files and editing tools, as covered in the Introduction to Surpac
manual.
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5.
Click the eye icon in the Layers pane for the layer stopes.dtm to hide the stopes.
6.
7.
8.
Choose View > Surface view options > Hide triangle faces to hide the drives.
Choose Display > Strings > With string numbers.
Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.
Strings 10 and 11 represent the centreline string numbers in the final design.
You should see the following:
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1.
2.
This file represents a small part of the existing workings at the 215 level. String 215 is the outline
of the existing workings, and string 1 is the design centreline.
The start point of string 1 is the point at which the production crew will begin mining to implement
the design. Although mining will begin at this point, you do not have to begin the design at this
point. In this case, you will begin the design at the ore zone, and work back to this point.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Open stopes1.str.
Spin the data around to get an idea of how the strings are formed in 3D space.
Choose Display > Strings > With string numbers to display all strings with numbers.
Choose Inquire > Point properties, and click several different segments.
Notice that the string numbers correspond with the Z value of the strings.
You will now create a design starting from the 200 level up to lev215.str.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Note:
The main graphics layer currently does not contain any data.
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As shown in the final design previously, the string used to create the main drive between the two ore
zones is string 10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Click two points on the south end of the ore zones to create another point midway between the two
selected points, as shown:
16.
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Next, suppose you want to move the end of the drive (the first point created) 50 meters to the southeast,
along the line between the two points.
17.
Note: Point modes can be accessed directly from the Main toolbar, as shown in the image above.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
Click the northern end of string 10, then the southern end of string 10.
Enter the following information, and then click Apply.
New points will be created every 50 meters from the first point to the second point.
You should see an image as shown.
26.
27.
28.
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Points 2, 3, and 4 have now been inserted in between the northern endpoint and the southern endpoint of
the centreline:
These points will serve as the starting points for the access drives to the ore zones.
29.
If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run:
_01_create_centreline_between_ore_zones.tcl
Note:
If the macro pauses, displaying Click in graphics to continue in the message window, you will need to click in
graphics to allow the macro to continue. Also, you will need to click Apply on any forms presented.
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1.
2.
Click the Design string button on the Status bar at the bottom of the main Surpac window
(currently displaying Str = 10).
Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.
3.
4.
5.
6.
This is one way of creating a point in string 11 at the same location as point 1 in string 10. Next,
you will create the endpoint of the access drive using the same function.
7.
Without cancelling the previous function, click point 2, and then click point 1.
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8.
This will create a new segment of string 11 that will extend beyond the western ore zone as shown.
You will clip this to the edge of the ore zone later.
9.
You need to do this between segments so that the end of the first segment is not connected to the
beginning of the second segment.
10.
11.
12.
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13.
14.
Without cancelling the previous function, once again click point 2, and then click point 1.
Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.
You now have two segments of string 11 representing the centreline of ore access drives left and
right off the main drive.
15.
You will now copy both segments of this string to points 2, 3, and 4.
16.
Using the combobox on the Status Items toolbar, set the snap mode to Point as shown.
17.
18.
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Note:
19.
In order to correctly select a string or segment in Surpac, do NOT select a point common to two or more strings.
In this case, in order to select string 11, you would not want to position the cursor right on top of point 1, as this
point is common to string 10 and string 11, and you could not be certain exactly which string you will select.
Notice that there are two additional points on string 10 (point 3 and point 4) where you need access
drives. You can continue using the String Copy function to create drives for these points.
20.
21.
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22.
The last step is to trim the access drives back to the ore zones.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
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You should now see all portions of segments inside both ore zones removed:
You will now remove the portions of string 11 that are extended beyond the ore zones.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run:
_02_create_access_drives_to_ore_zones.tcl
Note:
If the macro pauses, displaying Click in graphics to continue in the message window, you will need to click in
graphics to allow the macro to continue. Also, you will need to click Apply on any forms presented.
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The gradient from the Access Point to the Start of the Decline will be flat.
The gradient from the Start of the Decline to the End of the Decline can be no more than 15%
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1.
Double click on lev215.str in the Layers pane to make it the active layer.
2.
Choose Display > Strings > With string numbers to display all strings in the layer.
String 215 is the outline of the existing workings, and string 1 is the design centreline.
The end of string 1 is the point which our design must tie into the existing workings. For this tutorial, it will
be referred to as the "Access Point". Both strings represent the elevation of the floor.
You need to know the elevation of the Access Point, and of point 5 on string 10 (labelled as "End of
Decline" in the previous design image).
3.
Choose Inquire > Point properties to determine the elevation of the two points.
You should see:
Elevation of Access Point: 216.98
Elevation of End of Decline: 200.00
This means that you have to travel 16.98 meters vertically to get from the access point to the end
of the decline.
You also need to know the bearing of the design centreline (string 1) from lev215.str, and the
bearing of string 10 from ugdes1.str.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
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You can calculate that the angular travel to get from the first bearing to the second bearing is:
334.3332 - 255.0000 = 79.3332 degrees
One of the design constraints is that you want the gradient from the Access Point to the Start of the
Decline to be flat. So you will make curve 2 rotate through 79.3332 degrees, and curve 3 rotate through
90 degrees.
You could construct this curve, grade it to 15%, and then determine how much you need to move it.
Alternatively, you could do all of the calculations by hand and construct the curve in the correct location.
In this example, you will create the curve first, and then move it.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Set the Design string as 10 and leave the Design gradient set to zero percent.
15.
16.
17.
18.
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19.
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21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
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30.
A single point will be created, adding onto the existing segment of string 10.
31.
32.
33.
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You will now grade the segment, and determine the elevation of point 36, at the end of the decline curve.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
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You could append this onto the southern end of curve 2, but to illustrate another couple of tools,
you will instead move both curves 2 and 3 at a bearing of 334.3332 degrees by a distance of 19.54
meters, and then regrade the segment.
To do this, you first need to break the curves away from the main drive.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
You should see the segment moved at a bearing of 154.3332 by 19.54 meters:
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50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
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A new point will now be created much further south than required:
56.
You will now move this point (number 37) to the location where it will be in line with both the line just
created, and with the centreline of the Access Point.
57.
58.
59.
Note:
60.
Next, click both of the endpoints of the centreline of lev215.str (i.e. string 1).
Note:
You may need to use the Assist key (F1) to allow you to zoom in on lev215.str so that you select the correct
points. It does not matter which end you select first for this string, point 37 will still be moved to the correct
position as shown.
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61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
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70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
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76.
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78.
79.
If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run:
_03_create_main_decline.tcl
Note:
If the macro pauses, displaying Click in graphics to continue in the message window, you will need to click in
graphics to allow the macro to continue. Also, you will need to click Apply on any forms presented.
Page 32 of 47
5.
6.
7.
8.
Choose Design > Underground tools > Room & pillars from centreline.
Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.
Note:
9.
This sets the width of the road to be fixed at 5m for both strings 10 and 11.
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10.
11.
12.
If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run:
_04a_create_road_outline.tcl
Note:
If the macro pauses, displaying Click in graphics to continue in the message window, you will need to click in
graphics to allow the macro to continue. Also, you will need to click Apply on any forms presented.
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5.
6.
7.
8.
Note:
This sets the width of the centreline to be 4m, while the access drives are set to 3m.
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9.
10.
Click Yes.
11.
12.
Page 36 of 47
13.
14.
Choose Design > Underground tools > Room & pillars from centreline.
Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.
Note:
This instructs Surpac to use the d1 field to determine the width of the road for each string. In this case you have
already set d1 to 4m for string 10, and d1 to 3m for string 11.
Page 37 of 47
15.
16.
17.
18.
If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run:
_04b_create_road_outline.tcl
Note:
If the macro pauses, displaying Click in graphics to continue in the message window, you will need to click in
graphics to allow the macro to continue. Also, you will need to click Apply on any forms presented.
Page 38 of 47
Creating a Solid
Creating a Solid
Task: Viewing Profiles
You will now use the centre line and two types of profiles to create the dtm corresponding to the
underground drives. Firstly, you will look at the two different types of profiles you will use.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
.
Click the Reset graphics icon
Open drive_profile3x3.str.
Choose View > Zoom > Out.
Choose Display > Strings > With colour fill.
Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.
24.
25.
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Creating a Solid
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
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Creating a Solid
32.
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Creating a Solid
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
Notice that both of the profiles are centered at point 0,0 on the floor of the profile.
If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run:
_05a_display_profiles.tcl
Note:
If the macro pauses, displaying Click in graphics to continue in the message window, you will need to click in
graphics to allow the macro to continue. Also, you will need to click Apply on any forms presented.
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Creating a Solid
1.
2.
3.
4.
Select string 10 with the mouse. Notice that this profile is applied to string 10 only, i.e. the
centreline string.
5.
Page 43 of 47
Creating a Solid
Next you will triangulate the ore access drives, which are in string 11.
6.
7.
Choose Underground tools > Triangulate using centre line & profile.
Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.
Note:
You will need to click on each individual segment to create all of the access drives.
Page 44 of 47
Creating a Solid
8.
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Creating a Solid
10.
11.
12.
13.
If you want to see all of the steps performed so far in this chapter, run:
_05b_triangulate_centreline.tcl
Note:
If the macro pauses, displaying Click in graphics to continue in the message window, you will need to click in
graphics to allow the macro to continue. Also, you will need to click Apply on any forms presented.
Page 46 of 47
Creating a Solid
1.
2.
If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run:
_05c_drive_volume.tcl
Note:
If the macro pauses, displaying Click in graphics to continue in the message window, you will need to click in
graphics to allow the macro to continue. Also, you will need to click Apply on any forms presented.
Page 47 of 47