SURPAC Model Filling

Model Filling
Overview
 What You'll Learn

 Assign Value
 Display Exercise
 Inverse Distance
 Ordinary Kriging
 Assign Value
 Anisotropy Ellipsoid Parameters
 Review
 Where To Next
Overview
What You'll Learn
The next step in the block modelling process is to fill the Block Model with values. The Estimation menu
gives you several choices as to how block values will be assigned or interpolated. This section will
investigate some of the more commonly used methods:
 Assign Value
 Nearest Neighbour
 Inverse Distance
The data to be used for the interpolation/assigning of values will most commonly be in the form of a
string file, with northing, easting and elevation stored in the Y, X and Z fields and the values to be
interpolated stored in the description fields.
Frequently sample data would have been stored and then extracted from the Surpac Geological Database.
You should take care to use the appropriate function to create a string file for use when filling a block model.
For example, if your sample data results from sampling of drill holes (ie. samples have a length and are
stored in an interval table) then you should use either:
 Composite Downhole or,
 Composite By Elevation
to create your string file. This will ensure that the composites have an equal length. If you wish, you can
constrain your composites by geology.
You should not use the Extract Sections for Grade Calculations function. The reason why are as follows:
 The samples (potentially) will not have an equal length

 You cannot constrain by geology
 The description field(s) for the first point is blank.
Also, you should not use any of the other Compositing or Extract Sample Data Functions to prepare string
files to be used as the input for block modelling. The results from these functions are not equally length-
weighted and therefore should not be used as an input for statistics or geostatistics.
Extract Sample Data functions can be used you need to import point type data.
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The choices you have when filling a Block Model are:
 Nearest neighbour (Assign the value from the closest sample point to the block centroid)
 Inverse distance (Interpolate block values using an inverse distance estimator)
 Assign value (Assign an explicit value to blocks in the model)
 Ordinary kriging (Interpolate block values using Kriging with Variogram parameters
developed from a geostatistical study)
 Indicator kriging
 Assign from string (Assign to all blocks falling within a closed segment, the value from a
description field in that segment.)
 Import centroids (import block-centroid based data from a text file directly into the current
block model)
In the following exercise you will use the Assign Value to assign Specific Gravity values to waste and ore.
Assign Value
Objective
To use the Assign Value fill option to assign air blocks a specific gravity of zero.
1. Make sure you have loaded your training.mdl. If this is active, there will be an icon on the status bar at the
bottom of your screen. You may open the model by clicking and dragging it from the navigator bar.
The simplest tool you have to fill a block model is the Assign Value function. This function allows
you to assign discrete values to attributes, within defined constraints. In the following exercise, you
will assign air blocks a specific gravity of zero.
2. Choose Assign Value from the Estimation menu.
You must now nominate the attribute you wish to assign a value to. This attribute must have
previously been added to the model using Attributes - New.
3. Enter the attribute as shown below.
As you have nominated to constrain the blocks to be interpolated, the Constraints form is displayed.
This means that you can make and save constraints at the same time as filling the model.
4. Enter the constraint, to constrain the assigning of values to air blocks only.
Once the assigning of the value is complete, you will be prompted to save the updated model. Only if the
model has been changed will you be prompted to save the model. This is a good check on your model filling.
You are not prompted to save the model if no blocks have been changed.
5. The Assign Value step just preceding this has assigned an SG of 0 to the air blocks. The default value for
all the other blocks is now the background sg of 2.8 (from the create model exercise).
The process of assign value can be used to apply different SG's to different weathered zones, or geological
zones. This is done by CONSTRAINING the blocks which are used for the assignment.
This is obviously quite a simplistic way of looking at specific gravity. If this were a real scenario we would
probably assign different specific gravities in the fresh and weathered rock zones.
Now that you have filled the model with values for specific gravity, it would be useful to visualise the results.
Objective
View the results of the fill operations in Graphics.

1. Choose Display - Display block model.
2. Add a New graphical constraint so that you can see the blocks inside the qpy and the bif.
3. From the Display sub-menu, choose Colour model by attribute.
This function enables you to colour blocks based on a numerical attribute.
4. Enter the parameters shown below and Apply the form.
Don't worry about the choice of colour - that is entirely up to you.

5. Using the 3-D viewing tools, view the model.
Sometimes a 3D Grid can help visualise 3D orientation.
6. Find the 3-D grid icon on the main toolbar and accept the defaults.
When viewing block models graphically, a perspective view can often look better than an orthographic view. A
perspective view is more pleasing to the eye as parallel lines appear to get close together with distance. This
is akin to the way people see things in the real world.
7. From the View menu, choose Surface view options - Perspective.
You should be able to see the two discrete geological zones, as shown in the following image.
Next we will try rendering this with a light source to see if we can get it looking even more three
dimensional.
8. Choose the render icon from the main icon bar
For a block model to appear three dimensional with the edges off, once the light is applied you want
to see a different shade of colour on a block for each of the three face orientations. This light source
is from due west. A white light works best on a coloured block model as the white light does not
affect the colours of the blocks.
Now that the model is rendered, visualize it further in 3D using the on-screen 3D viewing tools. You should be
able to obtain an excellent understanding of the shape of the ore body.
Often, Surpac Vision users wish to `import' a block model from other mining software packages
for use in the Surpac Vision Block Model functions.
Another function specifically designed for filling a Surpac Block Model with block model centroid data is the Import
Centroids function.
This function allows you to import block-centroid based data from a text file directly into the current block
model. Each line of the input file must contain one point (with x, y and z coordinates). The block that this
point falls in will be calculated and the specified attributes for this block filled from the data. This is currently
the best method for importing block models from other mining software packages.
To import centroid data from another software package, follow these instructions. This will only work if the
model sub-cells in the same manner that a Surpac block model currently sub-cells ie by half in each
dimension. It is not possible to import a model where blocks are subcelled by different proportions in the
different dimensions, as is sometimes the case with Datamine block models. This method will work well with
regularised data.
1. The first thing to do is create an empty block model with the same origin, extents and cells sizes as the
model to be imported. Make the new model in Surpac with the smallest block size from the centroid data.
Usually Datamine and Vulcan give the origin coordinates and the extent. Ensure the centroids match up - it is
a common mistake to match the block edges of one model with the centroid of the new model
2. Create the attributes in the new Surpac model by using Attributes - New. The header record of the data to
be imported should let you know what these attributes are called.
3. The easiest format to use is a comma delimited file, rather than space delimited. There are a number of
ways of creating this comma delimited file including importing the raw data through Excel and saving as a
CSV. You can also use the File - Import - Data from one file option in Surpac to create a comma delimited
Surpac string file. This will also aid in visual validation of your data.
4. From the Block model menu chose import text file. Chose the virtual block size that represents the biggest
block size in the data to be imported.
5. Fill in the columns according to the attribute names and the fields in the import file. A log file will inform
you whether or not the action has been sucessful.
6. If you have blocks of varying size in the data to be imported run Step 4 again, chosing the next size down
for virtual block size. eg if the parent cell was 10 x 10 x 5 and the smallest cell was 5 x 5 x 2.5 the first pass
would have filled the bigger blocks.
7. Most importantly run some reports to check volumes against the original model
For an exercise using this function please see the Advanced Fill chapter at the end of this manual.
Inverse Distance
The Inverse Distance method of filling a model, allows you to interpolate block values based on the values of
the sample points closest to the block centroid. The weighting of the surrounding samples is calculated
based on the inverse of their distance to the block centroid raised to a specified power.
Objective
To use the Inverse Distance method to fill the block model with gold grades within the BIF zone.
Down hole composites for the BIF are stored in `cmpb1.str'. We will use inverse distance squared and the
search parameters as shown below.
1. Choose Inverse Distance from the Estimation menu. Fill in the form as follows:.
2. We do not need to constrain the string data at this stage, as this string file was already constrained by
geology when it was composited from the database. As such, it is already only composites for the BIF type of
geology.
3. Enter the Search Parameters as shown below.
This search parameters form differs slightly to that seen already in that there are two more fields to
be input:
 The minimum number of samples to select is a number below which no estimate is made ( in
this case no estimate would be made if only one sample were found within the search
ellipsoid. )
 The maximum number of samples is a means of restricting the estimate to the nearest ``n''
samples ( in this case 10 )
4. Enter the Inverse Distance Parameters as shown below.
 Descretisation points.
If you leave these fields at 3, 3 and 3, each user block in the model is subdivided into 27 sub-blocks and the
grade estimated is at the centroid of each of the sub-blocks. The mean of the grades for the 27 sub-blocks is
then calculated and this is the grade assigned to the block. This obviously increases processing time
compared to x,y and z being set to 1).Using inverse distance there is often no appreciable benefit in making
these extra calculations
5. Constrain the interpolation of Blocks to BIF only.
Once processing is complete, save the updated model. The output file will contain a summary of the
estimation parameters.
6. Use the Inverse Distance method to fill the block model for the QPY zone. Down hole composites of QPY
only are stored in `cmpq1.str'. Enter the data specifications as shown below after selecting Estimation -
Inverse distance.
Note the data in the string file is already constrained by the geology.
7. Enter the Inverse Distance Parameters as shown below
8. Constrain the interpolation of blocks to QPY only
An interesting exercise would be to compare the results with all parameters equal except for
descretisation. Try running the descritisation at 3 x 3 x 3 and then compare the results. To do this
you could create different attributes to store the results of different block model estimations and then
use Block maths to subtract the results of one from the other. (The Block maths function is detailed
in a later chapter).
Objective.
View the model using the Viewer Tools in Graphics to validate that the gold values have been correctly filled.
1. Choose Display - Display block model.
2. Choose Display - New graphical constraint and nominate to view all blocks with a gold value >1.
This is an example of a Block constraint where you constrain on the value of blocks in the model. This is
another powerful method of constraining the model and it is important to understand its application.
3. Use the View tools to interrogate the image.
Ordinary Kriging
Another method of filling a model is using the Ordinary kriging function. This will be discussed in a later
section. A necessary pre-requisite is the development of an acceptable variogram. However, the use of the
function is similar and as simple as the other methods you have already covered.
The only variation when using this function is that the user may create an attribute to which the kriging
variance is stored. This may be used to help classify resource categories for reporting purposes.
Assign Value
Objective
To use Assign Value to fill a new attribute called ``material''.

1. Choose Attributes - New to add a character attribute called material.
2. Choose Assign Value to assign the material values in the following manner:
Answer in Appendix 1. Save the Block model.
When creating character attributes, it is a much better technique to enter a background value of
unassigned as opposed to leaving the background value blank. The reason for this is that later on,
when reporting on the model by this character attribute, if any blocks have not had this attribute
assigned, this will be very evident as ``unassigned'' will show up in the report. If no background
value is entered a blank space will show up in the report next to the reported values. This still
signifies that these blocks have not had a value assigned, but it is much easier to miss this than if
these blocks were clearly tagged unassigned.
It takes no more memory or storage space to have a background value of unassigned as opposed to a blank
background value, as the actual text is just stored once in the model file and then referenced.
Anisotropy Ellipsoid Parameters
At this point, we will step back and look at the issues and requirements of the Anisotropy Ellipsoid
Parameters.
Objective
To create an anisotropy ellipsoid for visual validation of geostatistical search ellipsoid inputs.
1. Choose Block model -- Estimation -- Ellipsoid visualiser and enter the form as shown.
2. Select the "Save now" button on the form to save a ellipsoid string file at the specified coordinate origin.
The result is a string file representing the orientation and dimensions specified in the form. When exported at
a specified coordinate origin it can be recalled into graphics in close proximity to the data and thus be used
for visual confirmation.
3. Recall the file ellipsoid_qpy1.str into a graphics layer of the same name and then recall
cmpq1.str into a different layer.
Tip: dragging a string file into graphics from the navigator pane automatically places the data into a layer of the
same name.
3. Modify the styles of the cmpq1 layer to display the samples as markers instead of lines (alias sss = styles
string) .
It should now be possible to determine if the anisotropy ellipsoid is sufficient in range in each of
the three dimensions (major, semi-major and minor) to find sufficient samples to inform the block
model. It is also valuable to determine if the ellipsoid is correctly oriented as it is a common
mistake to rotate the ellipsoid in the wrong direction.
Note that it is also possible to invoke the ellipsoid visualiser on all of the relevant estimation forms such as inverse
distance and ordinary kriging and the rotation parameters specified will populate subsequent forms.
Review
This section has covered some very important concepts relating to populating the Block Model with data. It
would be advisable to consult the Online Reference Manual at this stage to ensure that these concepts are
clearly understood.
Where To Next
A later section will cover some more advanced filling methods. The next section involves the generation of
Block Model Reports.

SURPAC Model Filling

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Model Filling

 What You'll Learn

What You'll Learn

 The samples (potentially) will not have an equal length

View the results of the fill operations in Graphics.

Don't worry about the choice of colour - that is entirely up to you.

4. Enter the Inverse Distance Parameters as shown below.

To use Assign Value to fill a new attribute called ``material''.

Anisotropy Ellipsoid Parameters

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