Introduction to MineSight

2012 Dr. B. C. Paul

Note This presentation refers to trademarked mine design software products
and includes screen shots from the program MineSight by Mintec. Credit for
the products so referenced or shown is given to the developers.
Why Design Software
Mine layouts have long needed to be
drawn out
Today computer drafting predominates
over manual
Mine optimization and evaluation
requires large numbers of redundant
calculations
Best done by computer
What is MineSight?
MineSight is a suite of mining tuned computer
programs
Heart is a 3D CAD graphics program called
MineSight
Has a wide array of mining calculations programs that
link production planning to the graphics functions in the
3D CAD program
MineSight development started with first computer
routines in the 1970s and list has grown since
Collection includes everything from old fortran routines
to modern python program language routines
MineSights Visually Linked
Calculation Routines
MineSight Compass
A windows like user interface built over a bunch
of old Dos, Fortran and Unix Programs
Collection of over 400 routines
Have the feel of old mainframe batch programs
Thats because they are old mainframe routines and
subroutines with a modern windows like graphical
interface to feed them
Looks new but has you do some things to set up
runs that are like old mainframe batch routines
New Kids on the Block
Built a Suite of New Programs that run in Python
visual language
Economic Planner
State of the Art Open Pit Metal Mining Optimization and
integrated together
Activities Planner
Microsoft Projects Gant Charts set up for Mining
Data Analyst
Ore Reserves Statistics and Geostatistics
Interactive Planner
Link between databases and 3D graphics for planning
Strategic Planner
Other procedures constantly being prepared
Editorial Commentary
Lack of Consistency
A 40 year collection and operating systems have run in fundamentally
different ways over the years
Made to look windows like but cant always hide the architecture
underneath
Has bugs in it
Most bugs are triggered by assuming people will input in a certain way
and you dont
Mining has lots of local terms in it so wording can encourage you to
do unexpected things
Most bugs are operator error triggered but it is rather unforgiving
Very computer and graphically intensive
Pushes hardware and designs to the limit and a lot of hardware and
system components misbehave when they are at their limit
Its wonderful to have so much integrated power and routines all in
one semi-coherent package
One of a Limited Set of
Programs
MineSight (master of the open pit metal mine)
Probably most overall advanced and complete
Vulcan (very good 3D CAD for hardrock
underground)
Gemcon/Mincom
Serve CAD / Carlson
Really an autocad add on for graphics and design
Quite popular with underground applications not
demanding heavy 3D visualization and manipulation
Well liked in coal
Lets Start this Puppy Up!
Look for the Desktop Icon for
MS3D and Click on It

Ok I Dont Have One Cause I Dont Start

That way but some people do.
Programs Front Icon Opens
Mines or designs
Are kept as
Projects
It can default
Start where the
Program lives

Or be sent to
Where you store
A project

If you have a
Project or design
Already you can
Have it loaded
And ready to go.
I Can Click on An Arrow and See
a List of Recently Worked
Projects
 I Can Browse

This lets me see my directory or existing projects or

Create a new project with Make New Folder.
I Can Purge Old Files

The weird X is the delete command for

Deleting a selected project.
After I Get My Project Selected I
Click on Ok
The Program Starts
If you are starting a
Whole new project
It will ask about
Permission to write
System files in the
Project area and
Possibly what the
Coordinates are
For the project
It has typical Windows drop down
menus
Not all options may be
Available at any one
Time. As typical non-
Available options
Are grayed out.
Lots of Things are Drawn With
Lines
They are found
Under the
Polyline Menu

Polyline is
A continuous
Series of line
Segments.
Most Common Commands are
Accessed with Icons

(again note that ones not available

Are grayed out)
If I Cant Remember what an icon
is I can put the curser over it and
it will spill its guts
The Big Gray Area is the Drawing
Window

A box that appears at the

Bottom gives you
Instructions or information
The Data Manager
Data Manager is
A two tiered
Windows
Exploring

Select a
Subdirectory up top

You see the

Contents of that
Subdirectory down
Below.

MineSight works
In an overall
Directory dedicated
To each project.
Types of Files
Main file is called a Geometry Object
It is information describing some geometric
shape that can be brought up on the
viewer
Most other files are various type of view
control files
Place the Curser Over
Something You Would Like to
See and Right Click

The item turns blue

Left Click to Pop-Up A Menu for
the Item
Just Moving the Curser Over the
Second Menu Turns Things Blue
A Simple Right Click Turns the
Object On in the Viewer
You Can Play with the Surface
View

Push and hold the left and right keys

On your mouse as you move it to
Rotate your object in 3D (so you can
Look at it from different directions).
You Can Move Your Surface Up
and Down (Pan Around)

Hold the right click button and the

Center button down (often the center
Button is a roller) and move the mouse
Around.
You Can Zoom In and Zoom
Out

Hold the left click button and the

Center button down (often the center
Button is a roller) and move the
mouse around.
I Can Also Rotate Views with
Keyboard strokes
More Keyboard Rotation
More Keyboard Rotation
You May Want to Create Your
Own Directory or Files

Select the root directory by

Highlighting and Right clicking
Drop Down the Menu and Pick
New and then Folder
It Asks You For the Name of the
Folder

I typed experiments

I will then click Ok

The New Folder Name Appears
Now Select the Experiments
Folder Drop down the menu

Pick new

On the submenu pick new

Geometry object (a file that
Contains geometric
Information).
It Asks the Name of the
Geometry Object

Type it in and click Ok

The New Geometry Object
Appears in the Lower Part of the
Data Manager
In Order to Draw Things in the
Geometry File I Need to Put it
Into Edit Mode Highlight the geometry
object (put the curser over
It and right click)

Now left click the menu

Drops down

Move the curser to

Highlight Edit

Left click to go into Edit

Mode.
The Geometry Object is Now
Marked With a Gold Open Box
What you draw will go into that
Geometry object.
 The X Box You can close the
Whole program

The little red

X box closes
Things.

You can close You can close a 3D

The Windows Visualization
Explorer like window
Data Manager
 General Quirks and
Observations
MineSight does not have an escape key function
You right click to finish a function which gets you out of it (but might also
finish a goof)
MineSight has a more enforced save structure
Some drawing functions will not let you move on until you save you last
group of edits
It is not consistent in when this happens but if the program stops taking
orders a right click to finish what ever it thinks your doing and then a save is
a good guess.
MineSight has limited Undo functionality
You can save the last set of edits and then go back and undo it.
It does not keep a step by step undo list that lets you go back and undo
the last 20 things one at a time
Undo function often requires you to save before it becomes available
If you really goof it keeps back-up copies of everything and you can go
in and fetch a back up copy of what you screwed up.
Some Rigidity in Menu and Icon
Structure
Microsoft Office allows you to pick groups
of icons, call them toolbars and dock
your favorites in a certain position
Vulcan has created some tool bar dockability
MineSight has not
MineSight does allow you to right click
and pull up an on the spot menu of
recently used and custom chosen
functions
So Why Should I Learn
MineSight
CAD like mine design packages are rapidly
becoming an industry standard knowing one
increases your marketability
There is enough similarity in packages that
knowing one will allow you to learn any other with
greater ease (in case your employer didnt make
the same choice for basic package as we did or
if your employer changes his/her mind later).
We are using it in this class and you dont want to
even think about life without it.
A Term You Need to Know for
Homework
Screen Shot
You can copy the screen to the
clipboard with
Control-Print Screen
You can paste the screen shot into a
word document.
Assignment #1
Get a copy of a starter file from the website
Take a screen shot of you selecting the
starter file from your thumb drive as you open
MineSight
Open Geometry Object Topo Surface
Take a screen shot
Zoom out on object
Take a screen shot
Assignment #1 Continued
Zoom in on object
Take a screen shot
Zoom back to a convenient view
Take 3 screen shots of different rotated position
Close Topo Surface
Take a screen shot
Create a geometry object called shapes
Take screen shots of creating it
Take a screen shot for putting it in edit mode
Draw a line
Take a screen shot
Draw a circle
Take a screen shot
Draw a 6 sided closed polygon
Take a screen shot