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Minex 5: Getting Started Training Tutorial
Minex 5: Getting Started Training Tutorial
Getting Started
TRAINING TUTORIAL
Version 5.1B
July 2005
Table of Contents
1
Chapter 1 Introduction
This is an orientation session on Minex 5 computerized mine planning software. It is
designed to provide you with an extensive overview of what you can expect mine planning
software to provide for you, and specifically what can be accomplished using the Minex 5.
This orientation session is geared at all levels of personnel within the company. It is the
collective objective of the Surpac Minex Group to have a wide range of personnel use Minex
5 so as to promote the engineering use of Minex Software throughout the organization at all
levels.
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Chapter 2 Overview - Mine Planning with Minex
Seam Modelling Drill and blast Earth Works tutorial Spoil Regrade
The steps involved in computerized mine planning are not very much different from the steps
involved in manual mine planning. The ultimate objective in mine planning is to determine the
net worth or net present value (NPV) of the mineral reserve. In order to do this, you must first
build two models: A geological model, and an engineering model. The geological model
defines the mineral resource, as it exists in the ground. The engineering model defines that
portion of the mining resource, which can be economically mined. Within either of these
processes Minex allows for Pit Optimisation and the application of Maximiser NPV software to
fully evaluate the mineable resource.
In order to build the geological model, you must first collect all the raw data and other
information necessary to do your analysis. Second, you decide which portion of that data is
reliable enough to use in your evaluation. Third, you construct a geological model, which is
your interpretation of the configuration, amount and quality of the resource you believe to be
present in the ground.
The first step in building the engineering model is to determine which layers of the geological
model you will mine. Layers can include such things as overburden, interburden, coal seams,
etc. The second step is to select a mining method and place a mine design for this method on
the engineering model in the location you believe is best to make a mine. Third, you select
equipment, which you believe will cost-effectively mine the area. Fourth, you schedule the
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equipment through the design over the life of the mine. Fifth, you run financial analyses and
see if the rate of return is acceptable.
If it isn't, you begin the process again using different designs, schedules, equipment
selections and possibly even a different model to see if there is a better method that brings a
higher return on investment while most completely recovering the resource.
Because the process of mine planning is iterative, generally requiring constant re-examination
due to changing mine design, equipment selections, schedules and constantly changing
economics, computerized mine planning is essential to speed up the process of constant re-
evaluation.
Minex models ore-bodies using grids. A grid is a surface that has been created that
represents a geological interface, such as a seam floor or roof, or a geological quality such as
ash or sulphur or any other variable that changes over the x,y plane. User defined quality
grids are assigned to geological grids during modelling generating reserves in a much more
data efficient (faster) manner than block modelling.
1.3 Triangulations
Triangulations are surfaces that are created by joining adjacent survey points together in a
series of triangles. Surveyors upload point data daily and maintain a pit triangle that can be
used by other people at the mine site. Triangulations are helpful in quickly determining
surfaces, from which engineers can design on current pit data.
Geometry data is information relating to the location of points of interest. This data
incorporates all strings and points. These points could be imported GPS data, design lines,
boundaries etc. This data is stored in a geometry file in a hierarchical filter to organise data
into their respective groups. This data can be triangulated to form a surface from which
volume calculations can be undertaken.
There are various geological models that get stored in different file locations. These are
merge, cut and uncut. The uncut model projects the coal seam through the topography, the
cut model either cuts the seam off on topography or on base of weathering and the merged
model merges the topography with the coal seam in order to calculate volumes. It is important
to know which model you are working with or some calculations can be meaningless.
Let us begin our orientation on computerized mine planning using Minex 5 by looking at the
basics.
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Chapter 2 Getting Started Tutorial
Seam Modelling Drill and blast Earth Works tutorial Spoil Regrade
1.6 Introduction
This tutorial is aimed at first time users who need an orientation of Minex before getting into
the more technical facets of the software. It focuses on users setting up projects and
displaying and navigating their way through data. Once this tutorial has been completed the
user will be able to undertake the three data manipulation tutorials that follow.
1.7 Requirements
The user must have Minex installed and set-up on their computer with the tutorial data
provided on the install disk.
1.8 Objectives
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Starting Minex 5.1
If you have successfully installed Minex 5 on your system you should have a Minex 5 Icon
displayed on your Desktop.
This Icon displays the current Minex 5 version you are running and finishes by opening the
Standard Minex 5 Graphical User Interface (GUI) as shown below in Figure 2.
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The Minex 5.1 GUI
Menu Bar
Toolbars
Action Panel
Status Bar
Minex
Minex Graphics Windows
Explorer Window
Note the “Project Explorer” on the Left Hand Side and hover help as you pass the mouse
over the various options.
The Explorer is used extensively during the “Tutorial” process. The procedure of “highlighting”
a file and using Right Hand Mouse (RH Mouse) – Contextual Options demonstrates the ease
of use and simple action operations of Minex 5.
The Project Manager is activated from the File Menu Option as shown below in Figure 3.
Open the File Menu and use the LH Mouse to display the additional Contextual Option to the
right of the Project option.
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Creating a Project in Minex 5.1
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Creating a Project in Minex 5.1
After selecting the “New” button you will be prompted to enter the name of your Project in the
field as shown below in Figure 5. Simply type in the name and click OK
Note this input field is in overtype mode as shown by the darkening of the existing text, so
simply type over the existing text
Congratulations, you have successfully created your fist Minex Project Area. To finalise the
Project Set-up we will link this project name to an actual directory on your system.
To link this project name to your tutorial data area, return to the Minex explorer and browse
through using the explorer key symbol to open the directories and highlight your tutorial
directory. If you have downloaded the Minex tutorial data with the Minex5 software installation
and is located in the directory then the path to this folder is:
C:\Minex5\etc\Tutorials\Getting_Started_with_Minex5
If you have down loaded the tutorial data sets to a different location, use the Minex
explorer to locate this directory and highlight the directory as shown in Figure 6.
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Creating a Project in Minex 5.1
Once at this stage you can either right click on the highlighted folder and select “set project
directory” or go back to the project option under the file menu, shown in Figure 3, and select
“set project directory”.
This procedure can be repeated to set up any number of projects. The project tab in the
explorer window will now be given your project name and will contain all files from the
prescribed directory as shown in Figure 7.
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Creating a Project in Minex 5.1
You have now set up a project and linked it to a directory. You are ready to start displaying
and using data
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Displaying Geometry Data
The first step to display data is to open the geometry file from the explorer window. It’s called
MAP.GM3 and is represented by the symbol. A red tick will appear beside the file to
indicate that it is open as the primary geometry file as shown in Figure 8. This file can now be
viewed and edited. Secondary geometry files can be open and are represented by blue ticks.
Secondary geometry files can be viewed but not edited. Open Title.GM3 as a secondary
geometry file by right clicking and selecting “open as secondary”.
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Displaying Geometry Data
Now go to the “plot geometry data” dialogue window accessed from the shortcut menu shown
in Figure 9 or the string menu shown in Figure 10 or using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl D. In the
first two cases it is represented by the symbol.
The plot geometry data dialogue window will appear shown in Figure 11. It is now necessary
to select the locations of the strings you wish to display. The geometry file is organised
through a hierarchical data filter. Groups represent the highest form of data. Contained within
individual groups are a series of maps. Contained within individual maps is a series of idents
that contain classes. The user can plot and edit individual classes or they can choose to
operate on a higher level and edit and plot a group that contains its respective classes and so
forth.
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Displaying Geometry Data
Select the field labelled data type and select structure from the drop down menu. Secondly
put your curser in the field called map and select the Map button (located underneath the
input fields). A list of potential maps will be displayed as shown in Figure 12.
Select SURVEY and then click ok. Select the F button on the plot geometry data dialogue
window. Geometry data will be displayed immediately in your graphics window as shown in
Figure 13.
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Displaying Geometry Data
You have now plotted your first data into the Minex graphics window. It is now necessary to
determine the projects real world co-ordinates. Select the graphics query button located in the
short-cut bar, and under the graphics menu represented by the symbol. Alternatively you
can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl Q. Select the snap-to-line mode shown in Figure 14 and
click on a line.
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Displaying Geometry Data
Once you have selected a line you will notice the output window open in the bottom of the
graphics screen with information on the point you have selected shown in Figure 15.
Figure 15: Output window giving x,y and z co-ordinates of the point selected
The x and y co-ordinates here should be noted to the nearest 1000. In this case
x=2000, y=9000 is noted and will be used when setting the local origin explained in
the next section.
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Setting the Local Origin
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Setting the Local Origin
The left side of this window contains variables that can be changed. The right side of the
window contains the fields to be changed in order to change the respective highlighted
variable. Select the local origin variable from the left side of the window and change the x and
y co-ordinates in the right hand window as shown in Figure 18.
Once you have done this, hit enter and you will get the warning/information dialogue shown in
Figure 19.
Now you must exit from Minex by selecting exit from the file menu. Restart Minex and re-plot
the survey data.
Congratulations. You have now created a project, set its directory and set its local origin. It’s
now possible to start using Minex for design purposes.
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Displaying Triangles
Highlight the File SEOVB.TRI3 in the Explorer with the Left Hand Mouse Button, (Note the
triangle icon beside the file indicating it represents a triangulated surface). Now use the
RH Mouse button to show the Contextual Options available for this file type. Select the
“display” option from this list by using the left mouse button.
Your 3D Design window should display the selected Triangle file as shown in Figure 20.
For more detailed Triangle Display functions go to the Error! Reference source not found..
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Displaying Triangles
Similarly Minex 5 has an active Drag & Drop function for displaying various file types quickly
and efficiently.
Choose the same Triangle File SEOVB.TRI3 with the Left Hand mouse button by “clicking” on
the Triangle Icon and holding the Left Hand Mouse button down at the same time “dragging”
the mouse icon into the 3D Design Window. You should now observe the same Triangulated
Surface displayed BUT with a different colour.
Minex 5 toggles through a series of Minex standard colours for the same file displayed.
To check this colour sequence go to the Graphics menu on the Minex Menu bar and choose
the Colour Map option to display the Minex Standard Colour Map shown in Figure 21.
Figure 21: Drag and drop function and the colour map
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Displaying Grids
Minex convention uses a 2 character suffix to describe the Structural AND/OR Quality
attribute of each of these surfaces. For example the seam A1 will have both a Structure Floor
(SF) and a Structure Roof (SR). Obvious variations of this naming convention are Structure
Thickness (ST), Interburden (IB), and Quality Attributes ranging from Relative Density (RD),
Ash (AS), Specific Energy (SE), Stripping Ratio (SR) etc.
NOTE: As the Structure Thickness (ST) grid represents a “thickness” it is not generally
displayed as a surface in the 3D Design window, however using the thickness as an attribute
of the Seam, the SEAM Roof AND/OR Floor can be plotted showing the variations in
thickness using various colour combinations described in the Error! Reference source not
found..
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Object Control Panel
Display several grids with the current triangle. Selectively switch these objects on and
off in the object control panel to get familiar with the functionality.
Zoom Zoom to 3D
in extents Navigation
Zoom Pan
last
There are two methods of altering the perspective of the data in the graphics window. One is
via the 3D navigation window and the zoom and pan buttons (highlighted above in red) in the
action panel. The other is via the Interactive 3D Navigation button that allows the view to be
manipulated via mouse control.
Zoom In allows you to zoom in on the area selected in the graphics window.
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3D Navigation & Display
Pan allows you to pick a reference point in the graphics window, then the position to look
at the new viewpoint.
The 3D Navigation dialog box is accessed via the 3D Navigation button and is shown in
Figure 25. It allows you to control how a 3D object is displayed in the graphics window.
The Normal button can be used to reset the display to the original view (azimuth 0).
The Dip scroll bar allows you to adjust the dip angle using a scroll bar. The viewing dip angle
is taken from the horizon.
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3D Navigation & Display
The Precision fields allow you to specify the Azimuth, Dip and Z-Amp in exact values.
Z-Amplification allows you to "exaggerate" the graphics display. A value of '1' in this field is
the standard view.
Upon selection of the Interactive 3D Navigation button (highlighted below) the cursor goes
into a mode where you can alter the dip, azimuth, pan and zoom via mouse control. It also
opens up an array of zoom functions in the action panel shown in Figure 26.
The azimuth, dip tilt and z amplitude can all be altered by typing the required value in their
respective field. The view can be changed so you look at the image from the north, south,
east or west by selecting N, S, E or W and the normal button can be selected to quickly snap
back to the top view. The normal button is important, as some digitising modes will only let
you digitise if you are viewing the object from the normal position. The adv button brings up a
red circle around the objects allowing the user to dynamically change the dip and the azimuth
depending on if the user is moving the curser within or outside the red circle. Fast is used
when there’s a lot of geometry information on the screen and the computer has trouble
rotating all the information. Fast will allow all the information to be taken off the screen
temporarily while the user tilts the geometry area. The X-Y, Y-Z and X-Z buttons are all
controls for quickly viewing information from their respective plane of reference. The button on
the far right allows the user to set a centre of rotation, which is very helpful when trying to
rotate around a small area when a large amount of information is displayed.
Become familiar with all these functions before moving onto the next section. Good skills in
this area will ensure a much higher efficiency in the operation of Minex 5.
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3D Navigation & Display
Graphics functions are used to change the way you view data.
View – Is used to select the mode of navigation as discussed in the previous section.
Define 3D Area – This button is used to define the area in which you are working. It can
be automatically set (based on the viewed data) by selecting reset or the user can define the
working co-ordinates by selecting digitise from the dialogue window shown in Figure 28.
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3D Navigation & Display
Reset 3D Area – This is used to reset the 3D area to the one specified in the “define 3D
working area” dialogue box from Figure 28. Try changing the fields in this dialogue box and
then selecting this button.
Query - Select this button and choose the snap to solid option as shown in Figure 14. LH
mouse click on the triangle surface displayed and look at the information displayed in the
output window. This button is useful for determining elevations of surfaces or the distances
between reference points.
Clip scene – This button is used to view and rotate a small portion of the displayed
information. Select the button and digitise the bottom left and top right of a thin rectangle
above the graphical data you wish to view. You should get a result similar to Figure 29.
Toggle black/white – Lets say you want to capture the current image and print it out.
You don’t want a black background as it uses up too much ink. Select the black/white toggle
to change the background to white as in Figure 30.
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3D Navigation & Display
The colour map options show the current pallet that you are working with as in Figure 21,
and allow you to change the properties of the map you are working with. The graphics capture
option will be explained later in Error! Reference source not found..
Dynamic clipping – Is used to “step” through an object in user defined sectional stages.
It is accessed from the Minex action panel. This very useful graphical tool is used to see how
a seam/surface varies with displacement over a specified section.
Select the dynamic clipping button and you will notice the dynamic clipping buttons appear in
the action panel as shown in Figure 31. These are to specify the parameters of the section
you wish to view. The first of the four buttons will clip the section in the north south
direction, the second will clip the section in the east-west direction, the third button will
clip on a pre-determined sectional plane (this will be discussed when the Error! Reference
source not found. is undertaken) and the fourth button is used if you wish to digitise the
orientation of the section.
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3D Navigation & Display
Now choose the dynamic navigation button shown in Figure 26 and move the object around
on the screen by holding down the LH mouse. Your graphics window should now look
something like Figure 33.
Select the Display bounding box button. A box of the cutting plane around the object
will appear as shown in Figure 34.
Select the Display corner co-ordinates button and the co-ordinates at the corner of
the clipping plane will be displayed as shown in Figure 34.
Select the Display Mid-plane button and a thin translucent grey section will be displayed
at the centre of the section you have defined as shown in Figure 34.
Figure 34: Dynamic section with mid-plane, annotation and bounding box
The Change view normal to section button will change from a plan view to a section
view at the location of the dynamic section.
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1.18 Summary
Congratulations! You have now gained the skills necessary to display and navigate your way
through Minex 5 data. You have:
Created a new project and set its local origin
Displayed grids and triangles
Displayed geometry data
Navigated your way through the data
Modified the data display
Used the object control panel to switch objects on and off.
Interrogated surfaces by visualising them on dynamic sections
You are now ready to continue to the following specialised tutorials that will teach you how to
edit surfaces and strings.
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