MineSight For Underground Mining

MineSight® for Underground Mining
Mintec has recently improved the underground mining tools available in MineSight®. This paper will cover various
new tools, such as the autoslicer used for scheduling; as well as enhancements to the existing underground mining tools
in Minesight® like ring design.
In this paper the following drill and blasting techniques will be covered:
• Fan Drill Design

• Ring/Radial Drill Design
• Parallel Drill Design
There will then be presented a discussion of the “autoslicer” tool, MineSight® Planner, and MineSight® Reserves
underground mining tools in MineSight®.
The Ring Design Tool

The Ring Design tool is used to create drillholes or blastholes for underground mining. A file call rd_Default.txt is
required to use the Ring Design. A default file is included with the MineSight® programs and it is located in the
WINEXE directory. Copy the rd_Default.txt file from WINEXE into your project directory, inside the _msresource
folder. The file contains information about the type of explosives used, the drillhole diameters and spacing. The rig name
and size. The materials mined and its specific gravity or tonnage factor. The data can be modified to meet each mines
needs.
The Ring Design dialog has a number of tabs used in a specific sequence to create the drillhole or blasthole design.
Before beginning the design, create a geometry object and place it in Edit mode. This object will hold the drillhole data.
The first tab is the Planes tab used to select the plane (plan or section) where the holes will be designed. The plane
can de digitized before opening the Ring Design Tool. To create the plane, first select “from Polygon” or “from Edit
Grid”, click on the “New” button and select from the viewer the Polygon or the Edit Grid. A boundary around the plane
will indicate where the boundary is selected. Click on Apply to save the plane.
The heading is the second tab. The heading is the drift, raise, or area where the drill rig is located. The heading can be
selected from an existing polyline or it can be digitized directly from the ring design.
The Region tab is used to create the area where the drillholes or blastholes will be designed. The region boundary can
be selected from an existing polyline or it can be digitized directly from the ring design. If an existing polyline is used
select the option “From Polygon”. If a new polygon will be digitized then select the option “By digitizing”.
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The Rig tab is used to select the rig location in the heading (drift, raise). MineSight will check the rig size specified in
the rd_default.txt file against the heading size.
The Drillhole tab is used to create the drillholes inside the region. The length and angle can be displayed on the viewer.
The Charge tab is used to charge each blasthole with explosives specified on the rd_default file. The length and collar
distance of the explosives in the blastholes can be displayed on the viewer.
The Number tab is used to specify the name of each hole by entering a prefix, suffix and increment for the holes.
The Reports tab is used to create a report for the blastholes created. It is also used to create a template title block for
plotting.
Fan Drill Design
A typical mining method to use fan drilling is Sublevel Caving. The Ring Design tool will be used to create a fan drill
design. The bottom drift will be used as the header in the Ring Design Tool. It can be digitized before using the Ring
Design or when using the Ring Design.
1. Create a Geometry object to store the design and place it in EDIT mode.
2. Open the Ring Design tool.
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3. Go to the Plane tab, and click on the plane you created or if using the Edit Grid, select “from Edit Grid”.
Click on NEW then APPLY.
4. Go to the Heading tab and select the drift or x-cut. The heading is where the drill rig will be located to create
the blasthole.
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5. Go to the Region tab, Select the Region from a Polygon by clicking on New, if the region does not exist then
digitize it by using the option “By Digitizing”. Click on New, digitize the region, then click on Apply.
6. The blastholes will be created from 2 positions. Each position will be 2.5 m from the wall.
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7. To create the first Rig position, go to the Rig tab. On top of the MineSight Menu, go to Snap => Line Snap and
then Snap => Set Snap Offset. Enter 2.5 for the snap offset box.
8. Click on New in the Ring Design Tool and use the left wall to create the Rig at a distance of 2.5m.
9. Go to the Drillhole tab, select manual to create the blasthole manually. Select the diameter of the blasthole. The
angle and length of the hole can be activated so they can displayed on the screen. Click on New and on the view
or create the hole at the angle desired. The angle and blasthole will refresh as the mouse is moved on the viewer.
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10. Click on Apply when done and create a second hole at a right angle (90 degrees).
11. Go to the Charge tab and select the type of explosives to use on the holes. ANFO will be used with a minimum
distance of 3m from the collar. The length of the charge will be displayed.
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12. Go back to the Rig tab and create the second Rig location. Use the snap offset option along with line snap.
13. Go to Drillhole tab and create two more holes again. Go to the Charge tab and charge the new holes with the
explosive type desired.
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14. Go to the Numbers tab, enter the prefix, suffix and the start value desired. Select the holes and click on New to
add the blasthole name.
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15. The Fan drill design can be plotting and a report can be obtained using the Reports tab. Go to the Reports tab
and click on Generate Reports. Enter the name of the report. The output will be similar to the following report.
The report includes the rig coordinates, hole name, angle, direction, length, minimum distance to collar of charge and
charge type.
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A template can also be created to complete the design and send it to the plotter. The template is also known as the title
block. Generate a new template by clicking on the Edit Template button. The template editor will allow you to change the
color, size and alignment of the text. The cells can also be adjusted with background colors and the borders of the cells can
be changed, similar to a Microsoft Excel® worksheet.
To enter information on the cells, simply type in the desired cell. A menu can be used to help or modify the table.
Simply click right in the desired cell and choose the option from the pop up menu. It is also possible to have certain
information stored with the drillhole pattern displayed, through the use of Tokens. To see the Tokens available, select Set
Token from the pop up menu then click on the down arrow to select from the list.
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The result of the template attached to the viewer:
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Ring / Radial Drill Design
The sublevel stope method is an example where the Ring or Radial Drill Design is used. The Ring Design Tool is also
used to create this design. Only one rig is used and the blastholes are in a radial design around the raise.
The steps to create the design are similar to those used in the previous steps. First, open a Geometry object and place it
in Edit mode. You can either digitize the region to create the blastholes, the plane and the raise before starting the ring
design, or they can be digitized during the use of the ring design.
Select the plane were the design will be created by using an Edit Grid or a Polygon. Go to the Heading tab and select
the raise where the rig is located or digitize one if needed. Go to the Region tab and select or digitize the region where the
blastholes will be created.
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Go to the Rig tab and place the new rig inside the heading or raise. Go to the Drillhole tab and select the manual
design first.
Create your first drillhole, to start the radial design, then create the second drillhole or the end of the radial design.
Select the Fan Internal option in the Drillhole tab. The select the right drillhole first, click right, then the left
drillhole and click right again. The results are previewed on the viewer. The toes have a 7 m spacing. Click the Apply
button when done.
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Go to the Charge tab and select the explosive type for each drillhole by rig, heading or by drillhole. In the Number tab,
enter the prefix, suffix and/or starting number of the drillholes. Create a Report in the Reports tab and a template with the
desired information.
Parallel Drill Design
A parallel design will be introduced from a cut-and-fill mining method. The parallel design will need the rig placed at
the start of each blasthole.
Create a new geometry object and place it in Edit Mode. Open the Ring Design Tool.
Select the Plane where the parallel drill design will be created and a heading where the rig will be located. Digitize the
Region where the blastholes will be created.
Go to the Rig tab and select the manual design. Use the Line Snap and Snap Offset. Each blasthole will be separated
by 1.5 m.
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Once the Rig has been placed, set the snap offset distance back to 0 and go to the Drillhole tab to design the first
blasthole. Select the diameter of the blasthole and design the first one.
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Go to the Charge tab and select the explosive to use on the blasthole. Enter the name of the blasthole in the Names tab.
Go back to the Rig tab to design the next blasthole. Another rig has to be placed now 3.0 m from the left wall. Use the
Snap offset and line snap to get the Rig correctly placed.
Continue with the Drillhole, Charge and Numbers tab until all the blastholes are created. A report can now be
exported and a template created.
Underground Survey
The underground survey can be imported into MineSight® and a surface created. The survey can also be used to
calculate volumes, reserves, or update the underground mine design.
This function is located under Surface => Create Solid => From Survey Data and the 4 methods available are shown
below.
Connecting the Floor, Back along with the Left and Right Walls
Import the Survey data. Create and place a geometry object in Edit mode. Select the 4 polylines. Go to Surface =>
Create Solid => From Survey Data => Connect floor/back gradelines w/ wall outline.
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Follow the directions on the messenger window and click the right mouse button when done.
Using the 4 Wall Edges

The 4 wall edges are needed for this function. Use the lower left and right walls and the upper left and right walls.
Follow the instructions on the messenger window. Select the polylines in the order the solid is to be built. The result
will be the surface of the drift.
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Similarly, the 2 walls, 2 backs inset and back centerline can be used.
Example: 2 walls and 2 backs inset
Example: 2 walls, 2 backs inset and centerline
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Scheduling
Autoslicer for Scheduling
The autoslicer is a new tool for scheduling drifts, stopes, ramps and other underground design solids. It can schedule
by volume, distance, elevation, nodes or by using a grid. For instance, when scheduling by distance, the solid is sliced in
such a way that the distance along a selected (“lead”) polyline, or a selected direction, is equal to a given target value.
The autoslice is similar to other tools in MineSight® where the tabs are followed from left to right. The Main tab is
used to select the solid or polygon to schedule. The Target tab is used to select the volume, distance or elevation used for
scheduling. The Direction tab controls the mineable direction by using a polygon or a direction arrow. Each scheduled
slice can be named (attributed) so the slices are color coded by schedule and saved by period.
The following drift will be mined at a distance of 5 meters per day. The arrow shows the direction in which it will be
mined. The drift is a solid to be sliced into periods.
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The drift was mined in 9 periods. It is color coded by period starting from February 1st to February 9th. Now the new
geometry object contains these sliced solids. The volume of each solid or the tonnage can then be calculated in MineSight®.
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MineSight® Planner
MineSight® Planner is used to manually schedule the underground workings and stopes. It uses a database to store the
information of each cut scheduled. It works with 2-D or 3-D cuts. The volume and tonnage will appear immediately after
creating a cut, along with a summary of all the scheduled cuts in the period. The reports can then be modified for each
site using Python Scripts.
MineSight® Planner is the new tool used to schedule the stopes shown above. Once a MineSight® Planner project has
been setup, open the Interactive Planner Object. A new window should appear with the setup for MineSight® Planner. CU
is the primary grade item reported by ZONE type. Four Zones have been coded in the block model; Zone 1 is a proven
ore, Zone 2 is a probable ore, Zone 3 is a possible ore, and Zone 4 is the waste.
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Click on Design Cuts and a new window to schedule a cut will appear. Click on File => New or on the icon for a new
cut.
Digitize the cut on the screen and click the right mouse button when done. The reserves report will appear on the screen.
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The report on the screen can be modified for each mine. The standard report is being displayed. The reserves are
divided by zone types, total tons, volume and average grade.
Save the cut; it will be stored on the database. The information can also be imported directly into a spreadsheet,
another database or exported into an ASCII file.
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More On MineSight® Reserves

To perform reserve calculations in MineSight® 3-D, two things must be present:
1. The 3-D Block Model must be attached to a MineSight® 3-D project.
2. An executable batch file called msrunres.bat must exist in your project directory.
A block model view needs to be attached in MineSight® 3-D.

A. Create a folder called MODEL. Highlight folder MODEL, click right, and go to NEW Model View. Name the
view CU.
B. Click Select PCF, and select the file 10(PCF). Click OK.
C. Change the Primary display item to CU in the Display tab.
D. Click the Range tab, select the level or section you want to view.
E. Add cutoffs to your grade item.
The batch file msrunres.bat runs the MineSight® underground reserving program (which is a M708V1 user
subroutine), summarizes the results, and displays the reserve report on the screen.
Open MineSight® Compass and go to:
Group: 3D Modeling
Operation: Data Convert
UG1SET.dat - setup u/g reserves for MineSight
This procedure creates the necessary run file to run reserves in MineSight®. A parameter file is needed to run the
procedure.
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Select the procedure ug1set.dat. Create a parameter file before running the procedure, and call it param.ug.
The following is an example of a parameter sample parameter file.
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In the procedure, enter the following information:
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Reserves can be obtained directly from Minesight®. A reserves procedure has to be setup from compass
before running reserves in MineSight®. For instance, PITRES.dat can be used by running the procedure
using a partials file and naming it MSPART.OUT. MineSight® uses this MSPART.OUT file by default.
Open a DOS prompt, and in your project directory, copy file mxpert.bat to msrunres.bat
This takes care of the preparation work prior to running reserves directly from MineSight® 3-D. This prep
work only has to be done once, unless you want to change the report or the item information.
Generate Reserves for the Orebody Solid 6550-1S.
A. Go to MineSight® 3-D in your project directory.
B. Open your Model View of CU in your model directory, and the solids to calculate the volume.
Note: If using the OCB option, the solid does not have to be open.
C. Select Surface => Calculate Reserves. In the Calculate Reserves window, click the icon on the right
of Model View, and select your model CU. Then click the first icon under Solid, and select your solid
from the viewer. Click Apply, and the reserves will be calculated.
D. You can also calculate reserves for the other solids.
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MineSight® for Underground Mining

MineSight® for Underground Mining

• Fan Drill Design

The Ring Design Tool

Fan Drill Design

The result of the template attached to the viewer:

Ring / Radial Drill Design

Parallel Drill Design

Using the 4 Wall Edges

Example: 2 walls and 2 backs inset

Example: 2 walls, 2 backs inset and centerline

More On MineSight® Reserves

A block model view needs to be attached in MineSight® 3-D.

C. Change the Primary display item to CU in the Display tab.

E. Add cutoffs to your grade item.

In the procedure, enter the following information:

Generate Reserves for the Orebody Solid 6550-1S.

A. Go to MineSight® 3-D in your project directory.

D. You can also calculate reserves for the other solids.

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