Drill and Blast in Surpac 6.0: July 2007

Drill and Blast in
Surpac 6.0
July 2007
www.gemcomsoftware.com
Copyright 2007 Gemcom Software International Inc. (Gemcom).
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International Inc. or its wholly-owned subsidiaries.
Contributors
Peter Esdale
Rowdy Bristol
Phil Jackson
Kiran Kumar
Product
Gemcom Surpac 6.0
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................. 4
Requirements......................................................................................................................................... 4
Objectives .............................................................................................................................................. 4
Workflow ................................................................................................................................................ 4
Concepts ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Drilling .................................................................................................................................................... 5
Blasting .................................................................................................................................................. 8
Getting Started............................................................................................................................ 9
Task: Setting the Work Directory ........................................................................................................... 9
Task: Opening the Blast Design Profile ............................................................................................... 10
Modifying Blast Design Defaults ............................................................................................. 11

Drilling Defaults Tab ............................................................................................................................ 11
Charging Defaults Tab ......................................................................................................................... 12
Rock Classifications Tab ..................................................................................................................... 12
Firing Defaults Tab .............................................................................................................................. 13
Rock Mass Classification (RMC) Polygons ......................................................................................... 14
Designing a Blast Pattern Using RMC Polygons ................................................................... 15

Task: Design a Blast Pattern Using Auto Spacing and Burden from Polygons .................................. 15
Task: Clip Blast Pattern to Area on the Top Bench ............................................................................. 22
Task: Save the String File and Load Holes to the Blast Database...................................................... 23
Task: Design a Blast Pattern With More than one Burden and Spacing ............................................. 25
Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern .............................................................................................. 28

Task: Unload a blast pattern from the blast database ......................................................................... 28
Task: Charge All Holes ........................................................................................................................ 29
Task: Tie in a Diagonal Firing Pattern ................................................................................................. 30
Task: Upload Tie in Pattern to the Blast Database.............................................................................. 32
Task: Tie in a V Firing Pattern ............................................................................................................. 34
Task: Tie in a Customised Firing Pattern ............................................................................................ 36
Create a Blast Boundary and Blast Solid ............................................................................... 38

Task: Unload a Blast Pattern from the Blast Database ....................................................................... 38
Task: Create Blast Boundary String .................................................................................................... 39
Task: Create Blast Solid ...................................................................................................................... 40
Create a Blast Report ............................................................................................................... 41

Task: Recall the Pit Pickup String File and Blast Pattern .................................................................... 41
Task: Generate a Blast Summary Report............................................................................................ 42
Task: Generate a Blast Work Order Report ........................................................................................ 43
Pre-split Holes .......................................................................................................................... 45

Task: Creating Pre-split Holes Along a Segment ................................................................................ 46
Task: Creating Pre-split Holes Along a Straight Line .......................................................................... 56
Blast Database Concepts ........................................................................................................ 66

Tables and Fields in a Drill & Blast Database ..................................................................................... 66
Task: Creating a new Drill & Blast Database....................................................................................... 67
Task: Upgrading a v5.0 Blast Database .............................................................................................. 69
Loading the Blast Database .................................................................................................... 70

Task: Loading Sample Intervals into a Database ................................................................................ 70
Page 3 of 79
Introduction
The drill and blast 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 digitised on the screen.
Requirements
Prior to proceeding with this tutorial, you will need:
Surpac 6.0 installed

The drill and blast tutorial data set.
A good understanding of the basic Surpac concepts of strings, segments, DTMs, and string tools.
Objectives
The objective of this tutorial is to allow you to create a blast design from start to finish, including all the
intermediate steps needed to produce the final report. It is not intended to be exhaustive in scope, but
will show the workflow needed to achieve a result. You can then refine and add to this workflow to meet
your specific requirements.
Workflow
The process described in this tutorial is outlined below:
1. Open blast design profile
2. Set up blast design defaults
3. Design blast hole collar pattern
4. Prime and load blast holes
5. Design the tie in pattern for firing
6. Up-load the blast design into the blast database
7. Create a true blast outline, using a blast destruction cone
8. Create a blast solid
9. Produce a blast report
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Concepts
There are several terms and concepts particular to this tutorial which will be explained here. Note that not
all terms are the same in all countries, and you may need to apply your preferred terminology where
applicable. Much of the terminology associated with this document is specific to the mining and quarrying
industries.
Drilling
Drilling parameters which are customisable include:
Bearing - also referred to as azimuth.
Burden the distance between rows.
Collar - the starting point of a drill hole.
Diameter the diameter of drill hole in units of measure (ie. metres or feet).
Dip the angle of a hole above or below the horizontal.
Pattern - a set of blast holes which will be collectively drilled, sampled, charged, and blasted.
An example of a pattern is shown below. Each dot represents one blasthole.
Spacing the distance between holes in a row.
Subdrill distance - extra drilling length to add to each hole.
Toe - the bottom or ending point of a drill hole is referred to as the toe. A line defining the base point of a
slope may also be referred to as a toe.
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Concepts Drilling
Presplit Holes
Often holes are drilled at relatively close spacing along a planned fracture plane. These holes are
referred to in Surpac as presplit holes. Surpac can create presplit holes along a straight line or along a
segment. The example below shows presplit holes created along a segment, and in a straight line. One
set of holes are created from one segment, the crest of a bench, to another segment, the toe of the ramp.
The horizontal holes, which could be used as drains in a pit wall, or for sampling, were created along a
straight line.
An example of presplit holes is shown:
Blast Boundary
A blast boundary can be generated for a designed pattern using blast cones around each drill hole. The
outermost segments of each cone are joined up to create the blast boundary.
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Concepts Drilling
Blast Solid
A blast solid can be generated by using the blast boundary and projecting it down to a design elevation or
to a DTM surface.
Tie in patterns
A tie in pattern can be generated using one of the standard templates, or you can select holes/tie in lines
individually to generate a customised pattern.
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Concepts Blasting
Blasting
Charging parameters which are customisable include:
Booster name may be selected from Anzomex G (PG), Anzomex H (PH), Anzomex K (PK), Anzomex P
(PPE), Anzomex PP D (PPD), Anzomex PP P (PPPE), Jumbo prime (PJ) or Stopeprime (PSP DL).
Charge depth - can be automatically adjusted to hole depth.
Charge interval - multiple charge intervals separated by stemming are allowed.
Database - All of the drilling and blasting information for each hole can be saved to a database. Surpac
supports MS-Access(TM), and any database connectable via ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity). The
recommended database type is MS-Access(TM).
Delay time (in milliseconds) - defaults to 400 milliseconds.
Depth of stemming - rock chips, dirt, or other non-explosive material placed on top of the charge.
Detonator name -, may be selected from Excel LP, Nonel LP, Nonel MS, connectadet or enduradet.
Detonator position in the hole may be selected from top, middle or bottom of the hole.
Explosive - may be selected from ANFO 0.8, 0.9 or 1.0, Power Gel, air or stemming.
Reports and Volume Calculations

The drill and blast module can generate three report types:
Blast summary - The blast summary report gives a rundown of all the blast design and costing
details, including such things as total drilling length, explosive products, mass of explosive down
each hole, powder factor, blast volume, drilling cost and explosive cost.
Pattern setout - The pattern setout report contains a list of hole numbers and their coordinates
Work order - The work order report gives details of the total number of explosive products to be
used in a blast, including such things as number and type of detonators in the blast, total mass of
explosive, kilograms of explosive per hole and number of boosters required.
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Getting Started
Overview
The following will be presented in this chapter:
Setting the work directory

Opening the blast design profile.
A work directory is the default directory for saving Surpac files. Files used in this tutorial are stored in the
folder:
<installation directory>\demo_data\tutorials\drill_and_blast
where <installation directory> is the directory in which Surpac was installed.
Task: Setting the Work Directory

1. In the Surpac Navigator, right-click the drill_and_blast folder.
2. From the popup menu, select Set as work directory.
The name of the work directory is displayed in the title bar of the Surpac window.
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Getting Started Task: Opening the Blast Design Profile
Task: Opening the Blast Design Profile

Open Surpac and it will start either in the no profile mode, or in a previously set default profile.
3. Right click in the area immediately to the right of the Help menu and choose Profiles, and then
blastdesign.
4. If you wish to set this as your default profile every time you start Surpac, right click in the area
immediately to the right of the Help Menu and choose Profiles then Set current as default.
For more information on setting up profiles and customising menus and toolbars, see the Introduction to
Surpac tutorial.
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Modifying Blast Design Defaults
Overview
The following concepts will be presented in this chapter:
Setting up and adding to the blasting design defaults.

Setting up string polygons for different rock mass classifications.
Note: The blasting.ssi file should be backed up regularly as it contains all your default blast design and cost
parameters. Accidental overwriting or deletion of this file will require manual re-input of all the information.
Drilling Defaults Tab
1. Choose Blast design > Drill and Blast Settings.

The Blast Design Defaults form will open on the Drilling Defaults tab as shown:
Notice the panel for Drill Rigs. By right clicking the row number and selecting Add, you can add the
names of any drill rigs you have on site to this list. The drill rig can then be assigned to a blast pattern
when designing a blast.
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Modifying Blast Design Defaults Charging Defaults Tab
Charging Defaults Tab

1. Click the Charging Defaults tab.
This is the area where you enter all your explosives product information. You can then select any
of these products when charging the holes in a blast design.
Rock Classifications Tab

1. Click the Rock Classifications tab.
This is the area where you enter all the Rock Mass Classification (RMC) information.
2. Right click on one of the row numbers and select Add, to create a new record.
3. Enter the rock classification details in the following columns
Rock Name - Basalt Fresh
Rock Description - FreshBas
SG - 2.8
Powder Factor - 0.8
Sub Drill - 0.6
Burden - 2.5
Spacing - 2.5
Blast cone angle - 50
Drilling cost per unit length - 30
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Modifying Blast Design Defaults Firing Defaults Tab
Note: The Rock Name and Rock Description entries are case sensitive.
The values entered in the previous form are used in various other parts of the tutorial. For example, when
reporting on a blast with the Rock name of Basalt Fresh, the mass of blasted material will be calculated
using a specific gravity (SG) of 2.8. Other values will be explained as you progress through the tutorial.
Note: You may see different data if the drill and blast tutorial has already been run on your computer. If so, leave the
data alone and simply Apply the form.
The burden value for oxide has been filled in incorrectly. Look at the fields Rock name and Burden.
4. Change the burden value to 6.
Firing Defaults Tab
1. Click the Firing defaults tab.

This tab contains template details for the three most common firing patterns.
If you have a blast design that is suited to using one of these firing patterns, then you can generate a
firing sequence with minimal effort, using of one of these standard templates.
This is best illustrated by an example (which is covered in a later section of this tutorial) so for now just
check that each entry for No. of rows is 1.
No. of rows refers to the number of rows that will be connected together to fire on the same time delay.
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Modifying Blast Design Defaults Rock Mass Classification (RMC) Polygons
Rock Mass Classification (RMC) Polygons

Next, you are going to use string maths to modify some string polygon files so they are in a suitable
format to use the Modify burden and spacing by polygon option when designing a blast pattern.
1. Choose File tools > String maths.
2. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.
3. Choose File tools > String maths.

Note: The data entered is case sensitive.
You have now set up two RMC polygon files that can be used to automatically set burden and spacing
when designing a blast pattern. This will be covered in a later chapter of this tutorial.
If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run
01_data_setup.tcl
Note: Whenever the macro pauses, displaying the prompt Click in graphics to continue in the message window,
you will need to click in graphics. Also, you will need to click Apply on any forms presented.
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Designing a Blast Pattern Using RMC Polygons
Overview
Creating blast patterns using the auto spacing and burden from polygons option.
Saving the blast pattern and loading the holes to the blast database.
Task: Design a Blast Pattern Using Auto Spacing and Burden from
Polygons
1. Open bench960_950.str.
2. Open rmc_960.str.
Note: The polygon file must be in the currently active layer to use the auto spacing and burden from polygons option -
ie. drag the polygon file into graphics last.
For this chapter of the tutorial you are going to design a blast pattern for the upper bench in the pit
pickup, and align it with one section of the free face.
3. Choose Blast Design > Create blast pattern.
You are prompted to Select area for blasting holes.
In this case, you will select an area larger than you wish to blast and then trim the blast.
4. Click and drag an area similar to that shown.
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Task: Design a Blast Pattern Using Auto Spacing and Burden
from Polygons
5. By holding down the right mouse button to rotate the selected area, and holding down the left
mouse button to move the selected area, orientate the blast pattern to align with the longest
section of the free face as shown.
6. Press ENTER to accept the selected area.

7. Click the tab Pattern Settings.
8. Enter the information as shown.
Note: The coordinates of the Blasting Grid Origin, Grid Height, Width and Angle will be different for you, but should be of
similar magnitude.
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from Polygons
9. Click the Hole Settings tab.

A blast pattern will be generated.
A detailed explanation of each field on this form follows:
Origin X The X coordinate of the origin of the grid.
Origin Y The Y coordinate of the origin of the grid.
Grid Height The length of the grid along the axis labelled "Burden".
Grid Width The length of the grid along the axis labelled "Spacing".
Grid Angle Grid angle may be set to any value from 0 to 360. The grid angle is the azimuth, or
bearing of the axis labelled "Burden".
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from Polygons
Layout Either rectangular or staggered. Below is an example of each:
Rectangular Staggered
Order Either Regular or Zig-Zag. Below is an example of each:
Regular Zig-Zag
In these examples, the rows are ordered from south to north. It is possible to order the rows from north to
south or east to west or west to east by rotating the grid to an angle of 90, 180, or 270 degrees
respectively.
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from Polygons
Spacing input
You have three choices:
Modify burden and spacing by polygon will use the burden and spacing defined in the blast
design defaults file. Setting up these polygons and the blast design defaults has already been
explained in the chapter Modify Blast Design Defaults.
Under the section Manual Burden/Spacing, you have the choice of either Burden and Spacing
or Number of holes.
If you select Burden and Spacing, you will be prompted for the burden (distance between rows)
and the spacing (distance between holes in a row). The number of holes in each direction is
calculated based on the grid height and grid width, and is displayed on the Blast pattern design
form. For example, if the grid height is 120, and the burden is 10, the number of rows is 13 (120/10
+ 1). If the grid width is 60, and the burden is 7.5, the number of columns (or holes per row) is 9
(60/7.5 + 1).
In the example below, a burden of 10 and a spacing of 7.5 has been used.
If you select Number of holes, you will be prompted for the number of holes per row, and the number of
holes per column. The spacing between holes in each direction is calculated based on the grid height and
grid width, and displayed on the form. If the grid height is 120, and the burden is 10, the number of rows
is set to 11, the burden (spacing between rows) will be 12 ( 120 / (11 - 1) ). If the grid width is 60, and the
number of columns is set to 21, the spacing (distance between holes in a row) will be 3 ( 60 / (21-1) ).
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from Polygons
Collar Elevation
May be either Fixed, DTM layer, or DTM file.
If Fixed is selected, you will be prompted to enter an elevation (Z value). The collar elevations of all
holes in the pattern will be set to this value.
If DTM layer is selected, you will be prompted to enter the name of another existing layer which
contains a DTM.
Note: This layer must contain a DTM that is numbered object 1, trisolation 1. This DTM must be a DTM surface and
not a 3D solid model. In other words, the DTM must have been created using the function CREATE DTM, and
not with any of the solids modelling tools.
The collar elevation of each hole will be set to the elevation of the DTM where the hole intersects
the DTM.
If DTM file is selected, you will be prompted to enter the name of an existing DTM file, and whether
or not you wish for the DTM to be displayed. The collar elevation of each hole will be set to the
elevation of the DTM where the hole intersects the DTM.
Toe Elevation
May be either Set Length, Set Elevation, DTM layer, or DTM file.
If Set Length is selected, you will be prompted to enter a hole length. The length of all holes in the
pattern will be set to this value.
If Set Elevation is selected, you will be prompted to enter an elevation (Z value). The elevation of
the toes (end, or bottom point) of all holes in the pattern will be set to this value.
If DTM layer is selected, you will be prompted to enter the name of another existing layer which
contains a DTM. The toe elevation of each hole will be set to the elevation of the DTM where the
hole intersects the DTM.
Note: This layer must contain a DTM that is numbered object 1, trisolation 1. This DTM must be a DTM surface and not
a 3D solid model. In other words, the DTM must have been created using the function CREATE DTM, and not with any of
the solids modelling tools.
If DTM file is selected, you will be prompted to enter the name of an existing DTM file, as well as
whether or not you would like to see this DTM file displayed on the screen. The toe elevation of
each hole will be set to the elevation of the DTM where the hole intersects the DTM.
Hole Bearing
Hole bearing may be set to any value from 0 to 360. The bearing (also known as azimuth) of all holes in
this pattern will be set to this value. For vertical holes, hole bearing may be set to any value. Zero is
commonly used for the bearing of vertical holes. The bearing is measured as the azimuth in plan view
from the collar to the toe, or end of the hole.
Hole Dip
Hole dip may be set to any value from -90 to 0. The dip of all holes in this pattern will be set to this value.
For vertical holes drilled down, hole dip should be set to -90. For horizontal holes, the dip should be set to
zero. The dip is measured as the angle from the horizontal plane to the toe, or end of the hole.
Hole Diameter
The hole diameter is to be entered in units of measure. If you are using the metric system, this is in
meters. For example, a 76mm hole would be entered as 0.076 (meters). If you are using the imperial
system, enter this value as feet. For example, a 6 inch hole would be entered as 0.5 (feet). The diameter
is written to the D4 field of the first point of the segment which represents the hole.
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from Polygons
Clip to Boundary
After you apply this form, if CLIP TO BOUNDARY is set to Yes, then you will be prompted to select a
closed segment. All holes that would have fallen outside this boundary will be deleted. Direction of the
boundary segment is ignored. In other words, if the segment is anticlockwise, it is treated as if it was
clockwise for determining if a hole is inside or outside the segment.
Pattern Identifier
The pattern identifier is a string of text and/or numbers that will be written to the field blast pattern if the
data is written to a database. The pattern identifier is written to the D2 field of the first point of the
segment which represents each hole.
Hole ID Prefix
All holes will be created with a numeric hole name (hole ID). Any characters which you wish to precede
the numeric portion of the hole name can be entered here. For example, if you wanted the holes to be
numbered 940-1, 940-2, 940-3, etc., you would enter "940-" as the hole ID prefix. The hole ID prefix may
be left blank. If it is blank, the holes will be numbered 1, 2, 3, etc.
Hole ID Suffix
All holes will be created with a numeric hole name (hole ID). Any characters which you wish to come after
numbered 1rc, 2rc, 3rc, etc., you would enter "rc" as the hole ID suffix. The hole ID suffix may be left
blank. If it is blank, the holes will be numbered 1, 2, 3, etc.
Starting Value
All holes will be created with a numeric hole name (hole ID), starting at the number specified here. For
example, if you wanted the first hole number to be 1000, the second hole to be numbered 1001, the third
hole to be numbered 1002, etc, then you would enter a starting value of 1000.
Sequence Rows, and Row Increment
It is possible to commence each row of blast holes with an ID number that is incremented from a base
value. For example, each row might commence with an even hundred value, i.e. 100 for the first row, 200
for the second row, etc. If this option is selected the incremental value that defines the starting hole ID for
each new row should be entered in the row increment field. Obviously, the increment chosen must be
greater than the number of columns in each row.
Pad Hole id, Length, and Character
To insure that holes are presented in order when viewing them in a database table, you may want to
"pad" the numeric portion of the hole with a character. For example, if you wanted holes numbered ABC-
001, ABC-002, ABC-003, etc, you would say "Yes" to Pad Hole_id, set Pad Length to 3, and set Pad
Character to "0".
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Designing a Blast Pattern Using RMC Polygons Task: Clip Blast Pattern to Area on the Top Bench
Below are some examples:
Hole ID Hole ID Starting Pad Pad Pad

Examples
Prefix Suffix Value Hole_id Length Character
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
Task: Clip Blast Pattern to Area on the Top Bench
1. Choose Delete > Outside boundary.

You will be prompted to Select a closed segment.
2. Click any point on the top bench outline.
You will see an image like the one shown.
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Task: Save the String File and Load Holes to the Blast
Database
Task: Save the String File and Load Holes to the Blast Database
1. Choose File > Save > string/DTM
Note: After loading a blast pattern to the database, the string layer is deleted and holes from the database displayed.
This is to avoid having two copies of the blast pattern in graphics at the one time, which could potentially contain
conflicting information after an editing operation. You do not have to save the string file, because it is possible to
download a pattern from a blast database back into string file format.
3. Choose Database > Upload blast holes into database.
Note: Make sure you are using the Blast Database menu as shown, and not the one from the Geological Database
menu.
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Task: Save the String File and Load Holes to the Blast
Database
You will notice that there are two panels at the top of this form, labelled Duplicate holes in database
and Extra holes in database respectively. These two panels warn you when a blast pattern with the
same identification already exists in the blast database, and gives you the option of what to do in this
case.
There are two situations where you would have a duplicate blast pattern.
The first situation is when you mistakenly type in a duplicate Pattern Identifier on the Blast
Pattern Design form. In this case, you should cancel the Load Blast Holes to Database form
and edit the Pattern Identifier before continuing the Load Blast Holes to Database operation.
Tip: Use string maths to change the d2 field to a unique Pattern Identifier, before proceeding.
The second situation is where you have modified an existing pattern and now wish to overwrite the
original pattern stored in the blast database with the new information.
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Task: Design a Blast Pattern With More than one Burden and
Spacing
Task: Design a Blast Pattern With More than one Burden and Spacing
1. Click the Reset graphics icon .
3. Open multiple_rmc_zones.str.
4. Choose Blast design > Create blast pattern.
You are prompted to Select area for blasting holes.
5. Create an area similar to that shown.
6. Press ENTER or F2 to accept the selected area.
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Spacing
7. Enter the information as shown.
Note: The coordinates of the Blasting Grid Origin, Grid Height, Width and Angle will be different, but should be of similar
magnitude.
8. Click the Hole Settings tab.
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Spacing
10. Choose Delete > Outside boundary.

You will be prompted to Select a closed segment.
11. Click any point on the top bench outline.
You will see an image like the one shown.
Note: Some editing of holes will be required at the contact zone between different RMC areas, as the burden and
spacing conditions can not be met in all cases at these locations.
02_auto_rmc_patterns.tcl
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Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern
Overview
Unload a blast pattern from the blast database into a string file format.
Charging blast holes.
Tie in a firing pattern.
Upload firing pattern to blast database.
Task: Unload a blast pattern from the blast database

3. Choose Database > Download blast holes from database.
You should now have a display that looks like the image below:
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Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern Task: Charge All Holes
Task: Charge All Holes
1. Choose Charge > All holes.

2. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply
You will now get a charge report called charging.log.
3. Close charging.log once you have inspected it.
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Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern Task: Tie in a Diagonal Firing Pattern
Task: Tie in a Diagonal Firing Pattern
1. Choose Firing sequence > Generate firing sequence.

3. Define the first row of the pattern by clicking and dragging to identify the tie in for the first row.
See the image below.
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Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern Task: Tie in a Diagonal Firing Pattern
You should end up with a display like the image shown.
The tie in delay information is written into the description fields of each of the blast holes, so the
information can be saved and uploaded to the blast database.
The tie in lines have been created in the new layer, in this case called tie_in. You should switch to that
layer and save the file if you wish to keep a copy for plotting, later recall, visualising etc., as this string file
is not saved when uploading the tie in information to the blast database.
There are also functions to animate and step through the blast firing sequence.
4. Double click on the tie-in layer in the layer chooser to make it the active layer.
5. Choose Firing sequence > Firing animation to animate the blast.

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Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern Task: Upload Tie in Pattern to the Blast Database
Task: Upload Tie in Pattern to the Blast Database

1. Choose Database >Upload blast holes into database.
Note: Make sure you tick the option to Overwrite with new blast holes, as you now wish to replace the original data
with the new pattern, including the firing sequence information.
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Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern Task: Upload Tie in Pattern to the Blast Database
3. Click Apply on the blank Draw Holes form as shown.
4. Click Apply on the blank Define Query Constraints form as shown.
The firing sequence information will now be loaded to the blast database and the holes contained within
the database displayed in graphics.
Note: You can view a single blast hole by selecting the Database menu, then select Display followed by View a blast
hole. You can change the display styles for such things as explosive, stemming etc. by selecting the Database menu, then
select Display followed by Blast hole display styles.
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Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern Task: Tie in a V Firing Pattern
Task: Tie in a V Firing Pattern

6. Choose Firing sequence > Generate firing sequence.

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Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern Task: Tie in a V Firing Pattern
8. Define the apex of the V pattern, and the two sides of the V, by clicking and dragging each line as
shown.
You will see a blast pattern like the following:
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Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern Task: Tie in a Customised Firing Pattern
Task: Tie in a Customised Firing Pattern

6. Choose Firing sequence > Customised firing sequence.

Note: For this example, no template has been used and you are able to tie in the holes in any order or pattern that you
select.
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Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern Task: Tie in a Customised Firing Pattern
8. Select some holes to define the holes in the first row as shown.
Note: The holes for row 1 are selected by clicking on the end points of the row, and then pressing ESCAPE.
9. Choose Firing sequence > Increment row number.

10. Select the next row in the firing sequence by clicking on either the start point, any inflection points
or the end point.
11. Continue defining rows using the above process until you have completed all the rows as shown.
Note: Once you have finished a tie in row, press ESCAPE and you will be prompted to start the next row. When you
have completed all rows in the firing sequence, press ESCAPE twice to finish the operation.
03a_load_&_tie_pattern1.tcl
03b_v_pattern.tcl
03c_custom_pattern.tcl
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Create a Blast Boundary and Blast Solid
Overview
Unload a blast pattern from the blast database into a string file format
Create a blast boundary, using a destruction cone around every blast hole
Create a blast solid using the blast boundary
Task: Unload a Blast Pattern from the Blast Database

You should now have a graphics display that looks like the image shown.
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Create a Blast Boundary and Blast Solid Task: Create Blast Boundary String
Task: Create Blast Boundary String

1. Choose Blast Design > Create blast boundary string.
Note: The option to Overwrite cone angle has been ticked. Normally the value you enter as cone angle in the blast
design defaults is used, but in this case the option to temporarily override the value has been selected.
You should now have a graphics display that looks like the image shown.
3. Choose Blast design > Clip blast boundary by crest string.

4. Follow the prompts to clip the blast boundary.
Prompts: 1. Select the crest segment of the free face to clip with.
2. Select the true blast boundary segment.
3. Select a point which lies on a part of the blast boundary to retain.
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Create a Blast Boundary and Blast Solid Task: Create Blast Solid
Task: Create Blast Solid

1. Choose Blast design > Create blast solid.
3. Use the mouse to select a point on the blast boundary segment. You should now have a blast solid
displayed in graphics that looks similar to the image below.
4. Choose File > Save > string/DTM and name the file solid_bp1.dtm.
04_blast_boundary_&_solid.tcl
which will run through all the steps in this chapter of the tutorial.
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Create a Blast Report
Overview
The following concept will be presented in this chapter:
Generate a blast report using a blast design and a solid created from the blast pattern.
Task: Recall the Pit Pickup String File and Blast Pattern
7. Choose Display > Display loaded blastholes.
8. Enter the following information, and then click Apply.
You should now have the blast pattern and pit pickup displayed in graphics.
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Create a Blast Report Task: Generate a Blast Summary Report
Task: Generate a Blast Summary Report

1. Choose Report > Blast summary.
Note: There are three options for the report type. Generally, the consolidated report is the best option to select, as it
will still produce a report in most situations even if some information is not available. For example, if the blast
pattern contains two rock classifications but the blast solid contains only one object/trisolation, then a detailed
report cannot be produced because there is no way to determine what proportion of the volume belongs to which
rock classification. In this case the consolidated report will still produce a report using the total combined volume.
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Create a Blast Report Task: Generate a Blast Work Order Report
You should now have a blast summary report, bp1.not, displayed.

Note: The option Override blast solid details allow you to temporally override the blast solid details when producing a
blast report. The idea here is that the blast solid detail entries for Blast pattern, and Rock mass Classification,
must match the information stored in the database for the specified blast pattern, in order that a complete blast
report can be generated. By ticking this option, a second panel is enabled, from which you can select values to
temporarily use to generate the blast report.
Task: Generate a Blast Work Order Report

1. Choose Report > Work order.
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Create a Blast Report Task: Generate a Blast Work Order Report
You should now have a blast work order report, work_order_bp1.not, displayed.
05a_blast_report.tcl and 05b_blast_work_order.tcl
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Pre-split Holes
Overview
What are Pre-split Holes?

Creating Pre-split Holes along a segment
Creating Pre-split Holes along a straight line
Often holes are drilled at relatively close spacing along a planned fracture plane. These holes are
referred to in Surpac as presplit holes. Surpac can create presplit holes along a straight line, or along a
segment. The example below shows presplit holes created along a segment, and in a straight line. One
set of holes are created from one segment, the crest of a bench, to another segment, the toe of the ramp.
The horizontal holes, which could be used as drains in a pit wall, or for sampling, were created along a
straight line.
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Pre-split Holes Task: Creating Pre-split Holes Along a Segment
Task: Creating Pre-split Holes Along a Segment

2. Open bench940.str.
3. Choose Display > Strings > With string numbers.
You should see the following:
Notice that the following string numbers are used:
String Description
1 ramp strings
940 940 elevation design toe
950 950 elevation design toe and crest
960 960 elevation design crest
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You will create a pattern near the ramp from the 950 elevation to the toe of the ramp.
These holes are shown below:
5. Click the icon put the data in plan view.

6. Zoom in on the ramp area, as shown below:
7. Choose Blast design > Pre-split holes along a segment.
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8. Click the 950 crest as shown, drag to the top of the ramp, and then release the mouse button.
Note: If, as you were dragging, any other segment was highlighted, you may have selected a different string. If any other
string was selected, press ESCAPE and try again.
9. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply:
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A detailed explanation of each field on the Pre-split Parameters form follows:
Spacing input
Either Spacing or No holes (i.e., "Number of holes").
If you select Spacing, you will be prompted to enter the spacing distance between holes. The number of
holes is calculated based on the line length, and displayed on the form. As shown on the Pre-split
Parameters above, if the line length is 112.283, and the spacing is 5, the number of holes is 23
(truncated integer value of (112.3/5 + 1) ).
If you select No holes, you will be prompted for the number of holes you want drilled between the first
and last points. The spacing between holes is calculated based on the line length, and displayed on the
form. If the line length is 112.283, and you enter number of holes as 11, the spacing between holes will
be 11.228 (112.283/ (11 - 1) ).
Collar Elevation
Either Fixed, Selected Segment, DTM layer, or DTM file.
presplit holes created will be set to this value.
If you select Selected Segment, the collar elevations of all holes will be set to the elevation of the
selected segment at the specified distance along the segment.
If you select DTM layer, you will be prompted to enter the name of another existing layer which contains
a DTM. The collar elevation of each hole will be set to the elevation of the DTM at the XY coordinates of
the collar location.
If you select DTM file, you will be prompted to enter the name of an existing DTM file, and also whether
or not you wish for this file to be displayed. The collar elevation of each hole will be set to the elevation of
the DTM at the XY coordinates of the collar location.
Toe Elevation
Either Set Length, Set Elevation, DTM layer, DTM file, or Set to Segment.
If Set Length is selected, you will be prompted to enter a hole length. The length of all holes created will
be set to this value.
If Set Elevation is selected, you will be prompted to enter an elevation (Z value). The elevation of the
toes (end, or bottom point) of all holes created will be set to this value.
If DTM layer is selected, you will be prompted to enter the name of another existing layer which contains
a DTM. This layer must contain a DTM that is numbered object 1, trisolation 1. This DTM must be a DTM
surface and not a 3D solid model. In other words, the DTM must have been created using the function
CREATE DTM, and not with any of the solids modelling tools. The toe elevation of each hole will be set to
the elevation of the DTM where the hole intersects the DTM.
If DTM file is selected, you will be prompted to enter the name of an existing DTM file, and whether or not
you would like to see the DTM file displayed. The nominated DTM must be numbered object 1, trisolation
1, and it must be a DTM surface - not a 3D solid model. In other words, the DTM must have been created
using the function CREATE DTM, and not with any of the solids modelling tools. The toe elevation of
each hole will be set to the elevation of the DTM where the hole intersects the DTM.
If Set to Segment is selected, after the form is applied, you will be prompted to enter a Segment offset,
and a Fix Value. You will then be prompted to select a segment, and, if the segment offset amount is not
zero, you will be prompted to select which side of the segment you wish the toes to be extended. Where
possible, the holes will be extended to the segment at the nominated offset distance. In some cases,
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such as interior corners shown below, you must choose between maintaining the bearing or the offset of
the hole.
If you set Fix Value to Bearing, the orientation of the holes will remain perpendicular to the collar
segment, but the offset will not be honoured. If you set Fix Value to Offset, the offset distance will be
honoured, but the bearing of the hole will not be perpendicular to the collar segment.
Bearing Offset
Bearing and Hole Bearing

If Hole Length is Set to Segment, hole bearing and dip will be determined by the geometry of the
selected segment so the bearing, hole bearing, and dip will not require input. If Hole Length is anything
else, you must enter the method for calculating the bearing of the hole as either Set Bearing or Perp. to
Segment. If you select Set Bearing, you must enter a value for Hole Bearing (from 0 to 360 if the angular
unit are set to degrees, and 0 to 400 if the angular units are set to grads). The bearing (also know as
azimuth) of all holes in this pattern will be set to this value. For vertical holes, hole bearing may be set to
any value. Zero is commonly used for the bearing of vertical holes. The bearing is measured as the
azimuth in plan view from the collar to the toe, or end of the hole. The value entered for Hole Bearing will
be used for all holes, regardless of the orientation of the segment. If you select Perp. to Segment, all
holes will be created perpendicular to the segment.
Hole Dip
selected segment, and bearing, hole bearing, and dip will not require input. Hole dip may be set to any
value from -90 to +90 if the angular units are set to degrees, and -100 to +100 if the angular units are set
to grads. The dip of all holes in this pattern will be set to this value. For vertical holes drilled down, hole
dip should be set to -90. For horizontal holes, the dip should be set to zero. The dip is measured as the
angle from the horizontal plane to the toe, or end of the hole.
Hole Diameter
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Page 51 of 79
Clip to Boundary
After you apply this form, if CLIP TO BOUNDARY is set to Yes, you will be prompted to select a closed
segment. All holes whose collar location would have fallen outside this boundary will be deleted. Direction
of the boundary segment is ignored. In other words, if the segment is anticlockwise, it is treated as if it
was clockwise for determining if a hole is inside or outside the segment.
Pattern Identifier
The pattern identifier is a string of text and/or numbers that will be written to the field blast_pattern if the
Hole ID Prefix
Hole ID Suffix
Starting Value
Pad Hole_id, Length, and Character
To ensure that holes are presented in order when viewing them in a database table, you may want to
Character to "0".

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
Page 52 of 79
After applying the form, you will be prompted to select a segment which will be used as the toe position.
10. Select the ramp string as shown.
You will see the presplit holes created.

11. Choose Display > Point > Attributes.
You will see an image like that shown.
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Notice that the holes are numbered with the prefix 940-, suffix of "ps", and are drilled from the 950 crest
down to the ramp toe.
The result will be a series of two-point segments in the layer blast hole layer which represent individual
holes. The first point of the segment is at the collar, and the second point of the segment is the toe, or
end of the hole. If the layer blast hole layer does not exist, it gets created. If there are no strings in the
blast hole layer, or if the blast hole layer does not exist, the string number used for the holes will be the
design string number. If there are strings in the blast hole layer, the string number assigned to the holes
will be one greater than the maximum string number.
13. Choose Display > Hide point > Attributes.
15. Spin the data around on the screen.

You should see something like the image shown.
16. Choose Inquire > Point properties.

Click on the collars and toes of some holes.
Notice that the following data is present in the string file:
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5
Collar (start of segment) DrillBlast1.1 Hole ID Hole Number Hole Length Diameter
Toe (end of segment) blank blank blank blank blank
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Pre-split Holes Task: Creating Pre-split Holes Along a Straight Line
In this example, you want to ensure that you only create holes which are at least 1.5 meters long as
anything shorter is not worth blasting.

19. Click the icon to return to plan view.

20. Zoom in on the southern end of the presplit holes.
You should see that at least one hole is less than 1.5 meters in length.
Note: Your hole lengths will not be exactly the same as what is displayed.
21. Choose Delete > Single hole.

22. Click all holes less than 1.5 meters in length, and then press ESCAPE.
23. Save the file as pattern940-2.str
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Task: Creating Pre-split Holes Along a Straight Line

2. Open bench940.str.
3. Choose Display > Strings > With string numbers.
You should see the following:
5. Click and drag in graphics to become familiar with the contents of the file.
Notice that the following string numbers are used:
String Description
1 ramp strings
940 940 elevation design toe
950 950 elevation design toe and crest
960 960 elevation design crest
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In this example, you will create horizontal drain holes on the pit wall. The holes you will create are shown
below.
You will use a DTM of the pit wall in this area to set the elevation of the holes.
6. Choose Surfaces > DTM File functions > Create DTM from string file.
Note: It is not necessary to display this file in graphics in order to use it to create holes.
8. Close the log file
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9. Click the icon to return to plan view.

10. Zoom in on the northern end of the two ramps, as shown.
11. Choose Blast design > Pre-split holes along a line,

Click a point approximately halfway between the 960 crest and the 950 toe as shown, drag to a point just
south of there, then release the mouse button.
Note: If you have any problems, press ESCAPE and try again.
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Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.
Note: The coordinates of the Presplit Line Origin, Line Length and Bearing will be different, but should be of similar
magnitude.
Notice that you are nominating a DTM file to set the collar elevations. The elevation of the holes created
will be equal to the elevation of the DTM at the given XY coordinates of each hole.
You are setting the Bearing of the holes to be Perp. to Segment (ie. perpendicular to the line you
created). After applying the form, you will be prompted to select which side of the line you created to
create the holes.
By setting the hole dip to zero degrees, you will be creating horizontal holes.
The holes will be numbered 950-701d, 950-702d, 950-703d, etc.
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A detailed explanation of the fields on the form follows:

Line Origin
The X (easting) and Y (northing) of the first point clicked with the mouse will be displayed. These
coordinates can be edited on the form.
Line Length
The length of the line (from the first point the mouse was clicked to the point where the mouse was
released) is displayed. The length of this line can be edited on the form.
Bearing (of the line)
The bearing of the line (from the first point the mouse was clicked to the point where the mouse was
released) is displayed. This bearing can be edited on the form.
Spacing Input
Either Spacing or No holes (i.e., "Number of holes").
If you select Spacing, you will be prompted to enter the spacing distance between holes. The number of
holes is calculated based on the line length, and displayed on the form. As shown on the Pre-split
parameters form above, if the line length is 40, and the spacing is 4, the number of holes is 11 ( (40/4 +
1) ).
If you select No holes (i.e., "Number of holes"), you will be prompted for the number of holes you want
drilled between the first and last points. The spacing between holes is calculated based on the line length,
and displayed on the form. If the line length is 40, and you enter number of holes as 9, the spacing
between holes will be 5 ( 40 / (9 - 1) ).
Collar Elevation
Either Fixed, DTM layer, or DTM file.
presplit holes created will be set to this value.
If you select DTM layer, you will be prompted to enter the name of another existing layer which contains
a DTM. The toe elevation of each hole will be set to the elevation of the DTM where the hole intersects
the DTM.
The collar elevation of each hole will be set to the elevation of the DTM at the XY coordinates of the collar
location.
If you select DTM file, you will be prompted to enter the name of an existing DTM file, and also whether
or not you wish for this file to be displayed. The collar elevation of each hole will be set to the elevation of
the DTM at the XY coordinates of the collar location.
Toe Elevation
Either Set Length, Set Elevation, DTM layer, DTM file or Set to Segment.
If Set Length is selected, you will be prompted to enter a hole length. The length of all holes created will
be set to this value.
If Set Elevation is selected, you will be prompted to enter an elevation (Z value). The elevation of the
toes (end, or bottom point) of all holes created will be set to this value.
If DTM layer is selected, you will be prompted to enter the name of another existing layer which contains
a DTM. The toe elevation of each hole will be set to the elevation of the DTM where the hole intersects
the DTM.
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If DTM file is selected, you will be prompted to enter the name of an existing DTM file, and whether or not
you would like to see the DTM file displayed. The toe elevation of each hole will be set to the elevation of
the DTM where the hole intersects the DTM.
If Set to Segment is selected after the form is applied, you will be prompted to enter a Segment offset,
and a Fix Value. You will then be prompted to select a segment, and, if the segment offset amount is not
zero, you will be prompted to select which side of the segment you wish the toes to be extended. Where
possible, the holes will be extended to the segment at the nominated offset distance. In some cases,
such as interior corners shown below, you must choose between maintaining the bearing or the offset of
the hole. If you set Fix Value to Bearing, the orientation of the holes will remain perpendicular to the
collar segment, but the offset will not be honoured. If you set Fix Value to Offset, the offset distance will
be honoured, but the bearing of the hole will not be perpendicular to the collar segment.
Bearing Offset
Bearing and Hole Bearing

selected segment, and bearing, hole bearing, and dip will not require input. If Hole Length is anything
else, you must enter the method for calculating the bearing of the hole as either
Set Bearing or Perp. to Segment. If you select Set Bearing, you must enter a value for Hole Bearing
(from 0 to 360 if the angular unit are set to degrees, and 0 to 400 if the angular units are set to grads).
The bearing (also known as azimuth) of all holes in this pattern will be set to this value. For vertical holes,
hole bearing may be set to any value. Zero is commonly used for the bearing of vertical holes. The
bearing is measured as the azimuth in plan view from the collar to the toe, or end of the hole. The value
entered for Hole Bearing will be used for all holes, regardless of the orientation of the segment. If you
select Perp. to Segment, all holes will be created perpendicular to the segment.
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Hole Dip
selected segment, and bearing, hole bearing, and dip will not require input. Hole dip may be set to any
value between -90 to +90 if the angular units are set to degrees, and -100 to +100 if the angular units are
set to grads.. The dip of all holes in this pattern will be set to this value. For vertical holes drilled down,
hole dip should be set to -90. For horizontal holes, the dip should be set to zero. The dip is measured as
the angle from the horizontal plane to the toe, or end of the hole.
Hole Diameter
Clip to Boundary
After you apply this form, if CLIP TO BOUNDARY is set to Yes, then you will be prompted to select a
closed segment. All holes whose collar location would have fallen outside this boundary will be deleted.
Direction of the boundary segment is ignored. In other words, if the segment is anticlockwise, it is treated
as if it was clockwise for determining if a hole is inside or outside the segment.
Pattern Identifier
The pattern identifier is a string of text and/or numbers that will be written to the field blast_pattern if the
Hole ID Prefix
Hole ID Suffix
Starting Value
Pad Hole_id, Length, and Character
To insure that holes are presented in order when viewing them in a database table, you may want to
Character to "0".
Page 62 of 79

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
After applying the Pre-split Parameters form, you will be prompted to select the direction to which the
holes will be drilled.
12. Select a point to the east of the line as shown.
Page 63 of 79

You should see the presplit holes as shown.
Notice that the holes are numbered with the prefix 950-, suffix of "d", start at hole 701, and are horizontal.
The result will be a series of two-point segments in the layer "blast hole layer" which represent individual
holes. The first point of the segment is at the collar, and the second point of the segment is the toe, or
end of the hole. If the layer "blast hole layer" does not exist, it gets created. If there are no strings in the
blast hole layer, or if the blast hole layer does not exist, the string number used for the holes will be the
design string number. If there are strings in the blast hole layer, the string number assigned to the holes
will be one greater than the maximum string number.
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15. Spin the data around on the screen.

You should see something like the image shown:
16. Save the file as pattern940-3.str
06a_presplit_holes_segment.tcl and 06b_presplit_holes_line.tcl
Page 65 of 79
Blast Database Concepts
Overview
Tables and Fields in a Drill & Blast Database

Creating a New Database for Drill & Blast
Upgrading an Existing Blast Database
Tables and Fields in a Drill & Blast Database

The tables and fields for a drill and blast database are as shown.
TABLES Collar Survey Translation Sample Styles Charging
hole_id hole_id table_name hole_id code hole_id
y depth field_name samp_id field_name samp_id
x dip code depth_from from_value depth_from
z azimuth num_equiv depth_to graphics_colour depth_to
max_depth description graphics_pattern explosive
hole_path line_colour detonator
blast_pattern line_style delay
FIELDS blasting_method line_weight booster
delay marker_size det_position
drill_rig marker_style Num_of_ boosters
ground_water_level plotting_colour Num_of dets
hole_diameter plotting_pattern
rock_class style_type
subdrill table_name
surface_delay to_value
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Blast Database Concepts Task: Creating a new Drill & Blast Database
Task: Creating a new Drill & Blast Database

2. Choose Database > Open database.
Note: Make sure you are using the Blast Database menu, and not the one from the Geological Database menu.
4. Click Apply.
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Blast Database Concepts Task: Creating a new Drill & Blast Database
At this point a database is created and a connection is made to the database as shown in the status bar
at the bottom of the screen.
8. Choose Database > Close database to disconnect from the database.
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Blast Database Concepts Task: Upgrading a v5.0 Blast Database
Task: Upgrading a v5.0 Blast Database
1. Choose Database > Upgrade blast database.

Note: Make sure you are using the Database menu from the Drill and Blast menu bar and not from the Geological
Database menu.
4. Click Yes
Page 69 of 79
Loading the Blast Database
Overview
The following concept will be presented in this chapter:
Loading Sample Intervals into a Database
Task: Loading Sample Intervals into a Database
1. Choose Database > Open database.

Note: Make sure you are using the Database menu from the drill and blast menu bar and not from the geological
database menu.
3. Choose File > Open > string/DTM file

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Loading the Blast Database Task: Loading Sample Intervals into a Database
5. Choose Database > Upload blast holes into database.

Page 71 of 79
Following is an explanation of each field on the form:
Overwrite with new blast holes

If one or more holes in the blast hole layer have exactly the same hole id (name) as holes already in the
database, then you can select whether or not to overwrite the existing data in the database with this data.
If duplicate holes exist and Overwrite is set to "Y", all data in any table in the database with a hole id
which is listed under "Duplicate Blast Holes" will be deleted. Collar and survey information (and
optionally, sample and charging data) for the new holes will be loaded into the database.
If duplicate holes exist and Overwrite is set to "N", the database will be left untouched, and none of the
data from the blast hole layer will be loaded to the database. As an example, if a hole named 950-801
exists in the database, with data in the collar, survey, and sample table, and you select to overwrite it, all
of the data pertaining to hole 950-801 in the collar, survey, and sample tables will be deleted.
Load sample data

If you select "Y", you will be prompted to enter the name of an interval table. Sample intervals will be
created in the nominated table
If you select "N", you will not be prompted to enter a table name. No new sample intervals will be created
in any table in the database.
(Sample) Table name

The sample table selected here must be an interval type of table (i.e., the table must contain the following
fields as a minimum:
TABLE NAME SAMPLE
hole_id
samp_id
FIELD NAMES
depth_from
depth_to
It is not necessary to have sample element fields in order to create sample intervals. In the example
immediately above, the SAMPLE table only contains hole_id, samp_id, depth_from, and depth_to. It
does not contain any sample element fields, such as gold, silver, copper, ash_content, DDT_ppm, etc.,
and yet it is acceptable to load sample intervals into such a table. Fields may be added afterward with the
ADD FIELD option.
Additional rows of data will be written to the nominated table. The hole_id will be taken from the string
data in the blast hole layer. The samp_id will be taken from the sample prefix, suffix, and sample id
method chosen. The fields depth_from and depth_to will be calculated from the sampling method
selected.
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Sample prefix
All samples will be created with an incrementing alphanumeric (letters or numbers) sample name (sample
ID). Any characters which you wish to precede the alphanumeric portion of the sample name can be
entered here. You can use the characters "%ID%" to represent the hole ID.
For example, if the hole ID was 940, and you wanted the samples to be numbered 940-1, 940-2, 940-3,
etc., you would enter "%ID%-" as the sample prefix. The sample prefix may be left blank. If it is blank, the
samples will be numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. or A, B, C, etc.
Increment start
ID), starting at the number or letter specified here. For example, if you wanted the first sample number to
be 101, the second sample to be numbered 102, the third sample to be numbered 103, etc, then you
would enter a starting value of 101.
Sample Suffix
ID). Any characters which you wish to come after the alphanumeric portion of the sample name can be
entered here. For example, if you wanted the samples to be numbered 1rc, 2rc, 3rc, etc., you would enter
"rc" as the sample suffix. The sample suffix may be left blank. If it is blank, the samples will be numbered
1, 2, 3, etc. or A, B, C, etc.
Padding Length and Padding Character

To insure that samples are presented in order when viewing them in a database table, you may want to
"pad" the numeric portion of the hole with a character. For example, if you wanted samples numbered
ABC-001, ABC-002, ABC-003, etc, you would set Pad Length to 3, and set Pad Character to "0".
Increment method
Either continuous or reset at each hole. If you want your samples to start incrementing at each new
hole, use reset at each hole. If you want your sample numbers at the start of each hole to be one greater
than the value at the end of the previous hole, use continuous
For example, if you were taking two samples per hole, and set Increment method to reset at each hole,
Sample prefix to %ID%-, Increment start to "A", and were starting with hole ID DH5, you would get
sample ids of: DH5-A, DH5-B, DH6-A, DH6-B, DH7-A, DH7-B.
If you were taking two samples per hole, and set Increment method to "continuous", Sample prefix to
%ID%-, Increment start to "A", and were starting with hole ID DH5, you would get sample ids of: DH5-A,
DH5-B, DH6-C, DH6-D, DH7-E, DH7-F.
Page 73 of 79
Below are some examples of sample ids:
Sample Increment Pad Pad Sample Increment

Hole ID Example Sample ID
Prefix Start Length Character Suffix Method
950-8 1 0 0 continuous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
950-8 A 1 0 0 continuous A1, A2, A3, A4, A5
950-8_1, 950-8_2,
950-8 %ID%_ 1 0 0 continuous 950-8_3, 950-9_1,
950-9_2
950-8-A, 950-8-B,
950-8 %ID%- A 0 0 continuous 950-8-C, 950-9-A,
950-9-B
BM098, BM099,
DH3 BM 98 3 0 continuous BM100, BM101,
BM102
DH3_1, DH3_2,
DH3 %ID% 1 2 _ reset DH3_3, DH4_1,
DH4_2
DH04-1a, DH04-2a,
DH04 %ID%- 1 0 0 a reset DH04-3a, DH05-1a,
DH05-2a,
Sampling method and Sample length(s)
Either fixed length, varying lengths, or single sample.

If you select fixed length, sample increments will be created at the sample length specified down the
hole. If you enter a sample length shorter than the hole length, multiple samples per hole are possible. If
you enter a sample length equal to the hole length, you will get one sample per hole. If you enter a
sample length longer than the hole length, the sample length will be equal to the hole length.
If you select varying lengths, sample increments of uneven length will be created at the set of sample
lengths entered. The sample lengths must be separated by semicolons.
For example, if you wanted samples from 0 to 1, 1 to 4, and 4 to 9, you would enter 1;4;9.
If you select single sample, you will get one sample per hole. If you leave sample length(s) blank, the
sample will be equal to the length of the hole. If you enter a sample length equal to or shorter than the
hole length, the sample will be set to that length. If you enter a sample length longer than the hole length,
the sample length will be set equal to the length of the hole.
Page 74 of 79
End sample method

The end sample method allows you to select how to deal with the last sample in a hole, in the case where
the depth_to value of the last sample is not equal to the hole length. Where the depth_to value of the
last sample is equal to the end of the hole, the End sample method is irrelevant.
The options for End sample method are: ignore partial sample, include partial sample, extend to
hole length, extend on tolerance, or include if min length.
If you select ignore partial sample, then any part of the hole after the last full sample will be ignored. For
example if you specified fixed samples of 10m and your actual hole depth was 53m, then the remaining
3m after the last full sample (40m to 50m) would be ignored.
Hole depth: 53
Fixed sample length: 10
IGNORE PARTIAL SAMPLE
hole_id samp_id depth_from depth_to
DH3 DH3_1 0 10
DH3 DH3_2 10 20
DH3 DH3_3 20 30
DH3 DH3_4 30 40
DH3 DH3_5 40 50
If you select include partial sample, then any part of the hole after the last full sample will be included as
a partial sample. For example if you specified fixed samples of 10m and your actual hole depth was 53m,
then the remaining 3m after the last full sample (40m to 50m) would be included as a sample of 3m.
Page 75 of 79
Hole depth: 53
IGNORE PARTIAL SAMPLE
DH3 DH3_1 0 10
DH3 DH3_2 10 20
DH3 DH3_3 20 30
DH3 DH3_4 30 40
DH3 DH3_5 40 50
DH3 DH3_6 50 53
If you select extend to hole length, then any part of the hole after the last full sample will be included as
part of the last sample. For example if you specified fixed samples of 10m and your actual hole depth was
53m, then the last sample in the hole would be adjusted to be from 40m to 53m.
Hole depth: 53
EXTEND TO HOLE LENGTH
DH3 DH3_1 0 10
DH3 DH3_2 10 20
DH3 DH3_3 20 30
DH3 DH3_4 30 40
DH3 DH3_5 40 53
Page 76 of 79
If you select extend on tolerance, then any part of the hole after the last full sample will be included as
part of the last sample if it is with the specified end of hole tolerance value. For example if you specified
fixed samples of 10m and your actual hole depth was 53m, then the last sample in the hole would be
adjusted to be from 40m to 53m if the end hole tolerance was greater than 3m, otherwise the over drill
would be ignored with the last sample being from 40m to 50m.
Hole depth: 53
End hole tolerance distance: 5
EXTEND ON TOLERANCE
DH3 DH3_1 0 10
DH3 DH3_2 10 20
DH3 DH3_3 20 30
DH3 DH3_4 30 40
DH3 DH3_5 40 53
Hole depth: 53
End hole tolerance distance: 2
EXTEND ON TOLERANCE
DH3 DH3_1 0 10
DH3 DH3_2 10 20
DH3 DH3_3 20 30
DH3 DH3_4 30 40
DH3 DH3_5 40 50
If you select include if min length, then any part of the hole after the last full sample will be included as
a partial sample if it is of at least the specified minimum length for a sample. For example if you specified
fixed samples of 10m and your actual hole depth was 53m, then the remaining 3m after the last full
sample (40m to 50m) would be included as a sample of 3m providing the specified minimum distance for
a sample was greater than 3m.
Page 77 of 79
Hole depth: 53
Minimum distance: 1
INCLUDE IF MIN LENGTH 1
DH3 DH3_1 0 10
DH3 DH3_2 10 20
DH3 DH3_3 20 30
DH3 DH3_4 30 40
DH3 DH3_5 40 50
DH3 DH3_6 50 53
Hole depth: 53
Minimum distance: 7
INCLUDE IF MIN LENGTH 7
DH3 DH3_1 0 10
DH3 DH3_2 10 20
DH3 DH3_3 20 30
DH3 DH3_4 30 40
DH3 DH3_5 40 50
After the database is loaded, you will see a text file pop up with the results of loading the database. An
example report is shown below:
Page 78 of 79
This report indicates that the data was loaded successfully, and that any partial sample increments at the
end of the hole were disregarded.
07_blast_database.tcl
Page 79 of 79

Drill and Blast in Surpac 6.0: July 2007

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Drill and Blast in

Modifying Blast Design Defaults ............................................................................................. 11

Designing a Blast Pattern Using RMC Polygons ................................................................... 15

Load and Tie in a Firing Pattern .............................................................................................. 28

Create a Blast Boundary and Blast Solid ............................................................................... 38

Create a Blast Report ............................................................................................................... 41

Pre-split Holes .......................................................................................................................... 45

Blast Database Concepts ........................................................................................................ 66

Loading the Blast Database .................................................................................................... 70

Surpac 6.0 installed

Bearing - also referred to as azimuth.

Burden the distance between rows.

Collar - the starting point of a drill hole.

Dip the angle of a hole above or below the horizontal.

An example of a pattern is shown below. Each dot represents one blasthole.

Spacing the distance between holes in a row.

Subdrill distance - extra drilling length to add to each hole.

Charging parameters which are customisable include:

Charge depth - can be automatically adjusted to hole depth.

Charge interval - multiple charge intervals separated by stemming are allowed.

Delay time (in milliseconds) - defaults to 400 milliseconds.

Reports and Volume Calculations

Setting the work directory

where <installation directory> is the directory in which Surpac was installed.

Task: Setting the Work Directory

Task: Opening the Blast Design Profile

Setting up and adding to the blasting design defaults.

Drilling Defaults Tab

1. Choose Blast design > Drill and Blast Settings.

Charging Defaults Tab

Rock Classifications Tab

Firing Defaults Tab

1. Click the Firing defaults tab.

Rock Mass Classification (RMC) Polygons

3. Choose File tools > String maths.

Note: The data entered is case sensitive.

6. Press ENTER to accept the selected area.

9. Click the Hole Settings tab.

A blast pattern will be generated.

A detailed explanation of each field on this form follows:

Origin X The X coordinate of the origin of the grid.

Origin Y The Y coordinate of the origin of the grid.

Layout Either rectangular or staggered. Below is an example of each:

Order Either Regular or Zig-Zag. Below is an example of each:

Below are some examples:

Hole ID Hole ID Starting Pad Pad Pad

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

Task: Clip Blast Pattern to Area on the Top Bench

1. Choose Delete > Outside boundary.

3. Choose Database > Upload blast holes into database.

4. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

5. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

6. Press ENTER or F2 to accept the selected area.

7. Enter the information as shown.

10. Choose Delete > Outside boundary.

Task: Unload a blast pattern from the blast database

5. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

Task: Charge All Holes

1. Choose Charge > All holes.