Underground Ring Design in Surpac 6.

0
July 2007

www.gemcomsoftware.com

Copyright 2007 Gemcom Software International Inc. (Gemcom).

This software and documentation is proprietary to Gemcom and, except where expressly provided otherwise, does not form part of any contract. Changes may be made in products or services at any time without notice.

Gemcom publishes this documentation for the sole use of Gemcom licensees. Without written permission you may not sell, reproduce, store in a retrieval system, or transmit any part of the documentation. For such permission, or to obtain extra copies please contact your local Gemcom office or visit www.gemcomsoftware.com.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this manual, we assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damage resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

Gemcom Software International Inc. Gemcom, the Gemcom logo, combinations thereof, and Whittle, Surpac, GEMS, Minex, Gemcom InSite and PCBC are trademarks of Gemcom Software International Inc. or its wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Contributors Rowdy Bristol Phil Jackson Kiran Kumar Product Gemcom Surpac 6.0

Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................... 4 Workflow .................................................................................................................... 5 Ring Design Concepts .............................................................................................. 6 Setting the Work Directory ....................................................................................... 7 Creating a Centreline ................................................................................................ 8 Slicing Objects ........................................................................................................ 13 Setup ........................................................................................................................ 19 Moving the Mast ...................................................................................................... 26 Creating and Reporting Holes ............................................................................... 32 Plotting ..................................................................................................................... 44

Introduction
Ring design is the term given to drilling a fan of holes from an underground drive for the purposes of blasting ore. Although there are numerous requirements for each design, Surpac can assist you to create and report practically any type of underground ring design.

Requirements
Prior to proceeding with this tutorial, you will need: Surpac 6.0 installed. The data set accompanying this tutorial. A basic knowledge of Surpac string files and editing tools as covered in the Introduction to Surpac manual.

Objectives
The objective of this tutorial is to allow you to understand the process of creating, editing, saving, reporting and plotting underground ring designs.

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Workflow
The process of performing underground ring design with Surpac in this tutorial is typical, although there are many variations in the design of any one ring, or fan of holes.

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Ring Design Concepts

Overview This section will cover some terms used in this manual, some basic concepts of ring design and the files you will use during ring design. Requirements Prior to performing the exercises in this tutorial, some experience in ring design is helpful but is not required. Terminology Centreline a single string segment used in the function Centre line slice to create slices from solid models. Real World Coordinates a concept where the information in a string file is stored with the coordinates representing a plan view of the data. In other words, the coordinates represent the mine grid northing, easting, and elevation. Slices of solid objects to be used for ring design must be saved in real world coordinates. Section Coordinates a concept where the information in a string file does not represent a plan view. Data created using the ring design function Save for plot are saved in section coordinates. Underground Drive a tunnel, or opening in rock where the drill rig will be positioned. Stope a 3-dimensional area (usually ore) which is to be mined out by blasting a series of long holes or ring design holes. Ring Design Concepts and Files In the most common cases, you will need three things to perform ring design: 3D solid models of surveyed underground drives 3D solid models of designed stopes A string segment to be used as a centreline for slicing solid objects

For stopeless design, such as for cable bolt holes and "sludge" (or sample) holes, you will need only a 3D model of the drives and the centreline string. If you have a Surpac block model, you may also slice it at the same time you slice the 3D solid models of drives and stopes. You may also append DTMs representing other features, such as fault surfaces to the drives and stope designs prior to slicing. After slicing, and prior to enabling ring design, you may append any other string files (in real world coordinates) to the string files created from slicing. The purpose of this tutorial is to expose you to one way of using most of the tools within Surpac to create a ring design.

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Setting the Work Directory

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\underground_ring_design

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

Task: Setting the Work Directory

1. 2. In the Surpac Navigator, right-click the underground_ring_design folder. 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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Creating a Centreline

Task: Setting the Profile and Viewing the Data

Creating a Centreline
Overview The function Centre line slice will be used to create slices through one or more solids. A centreline string is required to slice the solids. In this chapter you will prepare a string file to act as a centreline, maintaining a pivot point a given distance above the surveyed floor.

Task: Setting the Profile and Viewing the Data

1. 2. Right-click in the empty space at the top of the Surpac interface. Select Profiles, and then ringdesign as shown.

The top of the Surpac window appears similar to the following image.

The interface now contains a new set of menus and toolbars that cover the functionality for processing data from a ring design.

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Creating a Centreline

Task: Setting the Profile and Viewing the Data

3. 4. 5. 6.

Open cl1.str. Open floor1055.str. Choose Display > Point > Markers to display markers. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

You will now look at the data in section view, which is defined in Surpac as looking north at the XZ plane. 7. Click the icon.

The floor and centreline strings are displayed as shown.

You will create a set of sections perpendicular to the centreline through several solids. The origin (0N, 0E) of each section is set at the pivot point of the drill rig, at a height of 2 meters above the floor. To do this you will need a centreline for slicing which is 2 meters above the floor for the entire length of the centreline.

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Creating a Centreline

Task: Creating a DTM of a Floor String

Task: Creating a DTM of a Floor String

1. 2. 3. 4. Click the Reset graphics icon . Open floor1055.str. Choose Surfaces > Create DTM from layer. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

5. 6.

Choose File > Save > string/DTM. Enter the information as shown below, and then click Apply.

7.

Click Yes on the following form.

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Creating a Centreline

Task: Draping a Centreline String over the DTM of the Floor

Task: Draping a Centreline String over the DTM of the Floor

In this example, the input centreline string is a straight line and has only two points. To set these two points to the elevation of the DTM, and to have the string follow the contour of the floor, you will drape the centreline string over the DTM of the floor. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Click the Reset graphics icon Open floor1055.dtm. Open cl1.str. .

Click the icon to view the data in section view. Choose Surfaces > Drape string over DTM. Follow the prompt at the bottom of the screen and click the centreline string. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

Note:

The option to Interpolate New points must be ticked in order to create new points on the centreline wherever it crosses a triangle edge. If Interpolate New points was not ticked, we would get an output file with only two points.

You will see the string draped to match the DTM surface. 8. Save cl1.str.

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Creating a Centreline

Task: Raising the Centreline String Above the Floor

Task: Raising the Centreline String Above the Floor

In this example, it is assumed that the pivot point of the rig will remain a constant two meters above the floor. You will use string maths to set the centreline to this elevation. 1. 2. 3. 4. . Click the Reset graphics icon Open cl1.str. Choose Edit > String > Maths. Enter the information as shown below, and then click Apply.

5. 6.

Click the string. Press ESC to terminate the function.

The centreline has been raised 2 meters vertically. 7. Open floor1055.dtm.

Spin the data around to see that the centreline string is now 2 meters above the floor DTM.

8.

Use the layer chooser to make cl1.str the active layer.

9.

Save cl1.str.

If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run 01_create_centreline.tcl
Note: You will need to click Apply on any forms presented. If you want to run manually through the task again, you will need to copy cl1_original.str to cl1.str.

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Slicing Objects
Overview The function centre line slice will be used to create sections of a DTM file comprised of several threedimensional solid objects. The function uses the centreline created during the previous exercise.

Task: Viewing the Data

1. 2. 3. Click the Reset graphics icon . Open ringex1.dtm. Spin the data around to get a feel for the solids models.

4. 5. 6.

Choose Display > Hide everything. Choose Display > Surface or Solid. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

Object 3 represents the ore zone. Notice that it contains holes where the drives pass through it. Now you will display objects 1 and 2 individually. 7. 8. Choose Display > Hide everything. Choose Display > Surface or Solid.
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Slicing Objects

Task: Viewing the Data

9.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

10. 11. 12.

Choose Display > Hide everything. Choose Display > Surface or Solid. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

Objects 1 and 2 are the drives, created from survey data. Object 3 was created by outersecting the solid of the ore zone by the solid of the drives.

Objects 1 and 2

Object 3 (outersected by objects 1 and 2)

It is generally a good idea to use outersected solids for creating ring design slices, since the toe (or end) of the hole will be located at the point where the hole intersects the stope. As shown below, if the 3D solid of the stope were not outersected by the drives, you may not achieve the desired result.
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Slicing Objects

Task: Viewing the Data

Hole drilled in stope outersected by drives

Hole drilled in stope NOT outersected by drives

The object numbers are important because the string numbers created in the resultant slices will be equal to the object numbers in the DTM file. Also, when starting ring design, you must supply the string numbers representing the drives and the stope.

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Slicing Objects

Task: Slicing the Solid

Task: Slicing the Solid

1. 2. 3. 4. Click the Reset graphics icon . Open ringex1.dtm. Open cl1.str. Use the layer chooser to select ringex1.dtm as the active layer.

5. 6.

Choose View > Surface view options > Hide triangle faces. Click the Zoom all icon .

You will use the southwest endpoint of cl1.str as the point from which the first ring will be created. In this example, the rig will start from the southwest end of the stope and work toward the northeast, numbering the rings 1,2,3,4, etc. 7. 8. Choose Solids > Solids tools > Section using centreline. Click a point below and to the left of the southwest end of the centreline, as shown below.

Surpac will choose the nearest location on the line. 9. Click the other endpoint of the centreline by positioning the cursor northeast of the northeast endpoint of the line.

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Slicing Objects

Task: Slicing the Solid

10.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

11.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

In this example we are setting the ID numbers to be sequence numbers. With this option, the output files will be created as follows: 1055sec1.str (slice at first point selected) 1055sec2.str (slice 2m from first point selected) 1055sec3.str (slice 4m from first point selected) 1055sec4.str (slice 6m from first point selected) ........ 1055sec50.str (slice 98m from first point selected)

The string files created can be in either section or real world coordinates. Sections used for ring design must be created in real world coordinates.
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Slicing Objects

Task: Slicing the Solid

The sections will be created as individual string files in the work directory. Sections will also appear in the ring slices layer. 12. Select the icon to change to a section view.

The sections are as shown.

13.

Click the Reset graphics icon

To verify that the sections have been created in real world coordinates, you will now display one of the 1055sec string files created, as well as the original solid objects. 14. 15. 16. Open 1055sec25.str. Open ringex1.dtm. Spin the data around to verify that the section has been created correctly. It should match the solids exactly as shown.

If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run 02_slice_objects.tcl
Note: You will need to click Apply on any forms presented

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Setup
Overview There are several default rig and drilling parameters that are used each time you use ring design. These are stored in the text file SSI_ETC:rings.ssi.

Task: Performing Rig Setup

You will first set up parameters for a new drilling rig.

1. 2. 3.

. Click the Reset graphics icon Choose Ring design > Start ring design. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

Note:

The default value of ssi_etc:rings.ssi would read values from a file in the ssi_etc: directory. In this example, you will store the data in a file named rings.ssi in the local data directory.

At the bottom of the Surpac frame, the name of the default rig will be displayed. If you are using ring design for the first time, it will display OLD DEFAULT RIG:

Rather than compiling and continuously updating a database containing all the specifications on the numerous manufacturers and models of drill rigs, Surpac asks you to define the mast of your drill rig. You are prompted to enter the shape, size, movement limits and angle definition method of the mast. 4. Choose Setup > New rig.

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Setup

Task: Performing Rig Setup

5.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The rig parameters are shown below:

Note:

6.

The minimum height of the pivot point cannot be less than the feed-pivot distance. If you set a minimum height to a number that is less than the feed-pivot distance, you are inferring that the bottom of the mast can be below the floor. Choose Setup > Select rig.

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Setup

Task: Performing Rig Setup

7.

Click the tutorial rig radio button and then click the Default button.

The tutorial rig is set as the default rig the next time you invoke ring design. 8. Click Apply. The rig name tutorial is displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the Surpac frame.

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Setup

Task: Setting up Drilling Parameters

Task: Setting up Drilling Parameters

Next, you will enter default parameters to be used when creating holes. To do this, you need to first load at least one section for drilling. 1. 2. Choose Ring design > Open section files of stopes and openings. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The first section is displayed.

3.

Click the next section

icon until you get to section 9.

Notice that the information on the status bar at the bottom of the screen changes each time next section is clicked.

Note:

When using the next section and previous section icons be perpendicular to each section.
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, the view presented in graphics will always

Setup

Task: Setting up Drilling Parameters

4. 5.

Choose Setup > Rig position. Click near the lower drive, then near the stope. The rig is positioned in the lower drive as shown.

When you are selecting a drive to drill from, it is not necessary to click precisely on the drive segment, but only near the segment. Also, when you are selecting a drive, only those strings which you have nominated as survey opening strings above are selectable. The string numbers which you have nominated as stope outlines are not selectable. When you are selecting a stope string, the survey opening strings are not selectable. In this case, when you select the new rig position, you could double-click anywhere near the lower drive. The first click will select the drive, and the second click will select the stope. 6. 7. Choose Setup > Drilling parameters. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

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Setup

Task: Setting up Drilling Parameters

Toe spacing algorithms are displayed below. The toe spacing is a unit of measure (meters or feet) for all algorithms except for angular. When the angular toe spacing algorithm is selected, the toe spacing is in defined in degrees.

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Setup

Task: Setting up Drilling Parameters

The tolerance is used with the function Create holes - Between two holes. When fitting holes with this function, you are asked to select two holes that have been drilled from the same pivot point, with the assumption that additional holes will fit between the two selected holes. When Surpac attempts to fit additional holes with a given toe spacing, invariably the last hole to be fitted will be too close to the second hole chosen. The tolerance value is used to allow the toe spacing of holes fitted between the two holes to change by up to this amount. Surpac iterates a given number of times, varying the toe spacing up to the specified tolerance, until an acceptable toe spacing is found to allow the new holes to fit between two holes. The minimum collar distance does not allow holes to be drilled where the distance between the centres of the holes is less than this distance. Overdrill allows you to create holes that are drilled past or short of the stope outline. For example, if you set overdrill to 0.5, the holes would be drilled 0.5 units (meters or feet) past the stope outline. If you set overdrill to 1, the holes would stop 1 unit of measure (ie. 1 meter or 1 foot) before the hole would intersect the stope outline.
Note:

Nearly all functions and concepts in Surpac are unitless that is, it does not matter if you are using units of feet or units of meters.

The hole diameter is the diameter of the hole in units of measure (0.05 meters in this example). The diameter can be used for reporting and for blast powder factor calculations. The direction of the ring is used when drilling normal holes. For example, if the direction of the ring is set to clockwise, and you create two normal holes from a vertical hole, they will be rotated clockwise from the vertical hole. The view-only hole colour is assigned to holes drilled from other rings. It is sometimes convenient to view the holes from a previous ring so that holes in the current ring can be staggered. The break-through tolerance is used to control the length of holes which have the potential to be drilled into surveyed drives. If the hole is to be drilled to the edge of a surveyed drive, set the break-through tolerance to a very small number, such as 0.001. If set to zero, holes will pierce through drives. In our case, we want holes to be stopped 0.75 meters before they break through a drive. For more information on the fields, click the Help button to display the online reference manual, and/or review the field and form help. 8. 9. Choose Ring design > Save ring design settings. Enter the information as shown below, and then click Apply.

In practice, you would normally use the default file of ssi_etc:rings.ssi. You are saving rings.ssi in the local directory for training purposes only. You have now completed setting up a drill rig and its drilling parameters, as well as storing the information in the ring design defaults file.

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Moving the Mast

Overview The drill mast may be moved and rotated inside a surveyed opening to position it for drilling holes. Often the distance left or right of a single pivot point of the rig or the distance of collar positions from a centreline are required in a report. To do this, we need to open the centreline file in a new layer and let Surpac know that we want all holes drilled to be reported relative to this centreline.

Task: Using a Centreline String as a Reference Line

1. Open cl1.str.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

From the Ring Design menu bar choose View > Zoom to extent of current section. Zoom in on the drive where the rig is positioned. Choose Move mast > By graphics. Practice moving the mast by clicking and dragging it around. Press ESC to terminate the function.

If you attempt to position the mast so that the pivot point is outside the dotted line, or any part of the mast is outside the drive, you will get an error message, and the mast will be moved back to its original position. Although you can move the mast around, none of the holes drilled from these new positions will be referenced to the centreline until we explicitly select the centreline.

7. 8. 9.

Choose Setup > Select reference line for offsets. Click the centreline string. Click and drag the mouse on the screen to view the data as shown:
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Moving the Mast

Task: Using a Centreline String as a Reference Line

After selecting the reference centreline, the point where the centreline intersects the plane of the section will be marked with a small red triangle. A reference distance and direction will now be stored for every hole drilled on this section. If the centreline you are using is a straight line perpendicular to the section, when you are zoomed to the extent of the current section, the line will appear as a single pixel and may be difficult to select. In this case, it may be preferable to rotate the view in order to clearly select the reference line. It does not matter if you are viewing th45e data perpendicular to the section or are in an oblique view when you select the reference line. 10. From the Ring Design menu bar choose View > Zoom to extent of current section to return to a view perpendicular to this section.

Once the reference line has been selected, it is not necessary to keep it displayed. When we are finished creating holes on this section and continue to the next section, the reference point for that section will automatically be recalculated at the point where the centreline intersects the section plane. 11. 12. Choose Display > Hide strings > In a layer. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

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Moving the Mast

Task: Moving and Rotating the Mast

Task: Moving and Rotating the Mast

You will now examine several functions that allow you to move and rotate the mast. These functions are presented to demonstrate various options and are not in a specific order. 1. 2. Choose Move mast > By coordinates. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The mast is moved so that its pivot point is on the centreline. By selecting a reference line, we have set up a coordinate system within the plane of the section whose origin is at the point where the centreline pierces the section. This coordinate system is only used for positioning the rig, and for reporting the rig pivot point position relative to the centreline.

3. 4.

Choose Rotate mast > To angle. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The mast is rotated to an angle of 300 degrees as shown.

The value "angle" in the function Rotate mast - to angle is a value from 0 to 360, with the origin being vertically up the section. 5. Choose Rotate mast > By angle.

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Moving the Mast

Task: Moving and Rotating the Mast

6.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The mast is now set at an orientation of 345 degrees.

Note the differences in the two functions: Rotate mast To angle sets the orientation of the mast to the value specified, using a convention of 0 to 360 degrees, with zero defined vertically up the section view. Rotate mast By angle rotates the mast clockwise from the current orientation by the specified amount.

7. 8.

Choose Rotate mast > By graphics. Click and drag the mast around, then release the mouse. Notice how the mast follows the cursor around the screen.

9. 10. 11.

Press ESC to end the function. Choose Rotate mast > To point Click once with the mouse. The mast is positioned towards the point where you clicked. This can be useful when you want a drillhole to pass through a specific point.

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Moving the Mast

Task: Moving and Rotating the Mast

In preparation for the next chapter, you will position the mast to drill a vertical hole near the right edge of the stope. 12. 13. Choose Move mast > By coordinates. Enter the information as shown and then click Apply.

14. 15.

Choose Rotate mast > To angle. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The pivot point of the mast is now located on the centreline. The mast is oriented vertically up the section. Next, we will move the mast a specified distance from this point. 16. 17. Choose Move mast > By distance. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

Although this is close to the right edge of the stope and drive, we will use another function to get it closer. 18. Choose Move mast > From wall. Note that the distance shown will change when you select the left or right radio button. This is the horizontal distance in the plane of the section from the pivot point to the point on the wall. 19. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

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Moving the Mast

Task: Moving and Rotating the Mast

The mast is now in the following orientation:

Leave the mast in this position for use in the next chapter, Creating and Reporting Holes.

If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run 04_move_mast.tcl
Note: You will need to click Apply on any forms presented

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Creating and Reporting Holes

Overview Holes may be created, moved and rotated inside a stope, or without a stope. In this chapter, you will create and edit holes inside a stope.

Task: Creating and Editing Holes

In the last chapter, the rig named tutorial was positioned in the lower drive of section 9, from the file 1055sec9.str, 0.6m from the right wall, as shown below:

1.

Choose Create holes > At current mast orientation. This will create one hole at the current mast orientation. Notice that the toe or end of the hole is positioned exactly at the stope outline. In the Define Rig Parameters form, you specified an overdrill distance of zero. Had you specified an overdrill of 0.5, the hole you just created would extend 0.5 meters past the stope outline. An overdrill of 0.25 would have stopped the hole 0.25 meters short of the stope outline.

2.

From the Ring Design Menu choose View > Hole IDs four times (until you see the number "1" for the second time). This option toggles the hole id as a number, a letter, or no id.

3.

Choose Create holes > Parallel to an existing hole.

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Creating and Reporting Holes

Task: Creating and Editing Holes

4. 5.

Click hole number 1. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

Two holes are drilled parallel to hole number 1. Note: A negative horizontal spacing indicates that the holes are drilled to the left of the selected hole. A positive spacing would mean that holes are created to the right of the selected hole.

You will now see three holes, as shown.

Assume that after looking at this result, we decide that we would rather drill hole number 3 and all remaining holes with the rig at the centreline point. We will first delete hole number 3 and then re-create it with the pivot at the centreline and a toe spacing of 1.5 meters from hole number 2. 6. 7. From the Ring design menu choose Edit > Delete one hole Click hole number 3. Hole number 3 is removed. Next, you will move the mast back to the pivot point.
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Creating and Reporting Holes

Task: Creating and Editing Holes

8. 9.

Choose Move mast > By coordinates. Enter the following information and then click Apply.

You will create one hole to the left of hole number 2. To do this, you need to check the drilling parameters and ensure that the ring direction is anti-clockwise. 10. 11. Choose Setup > Drilling Parameters Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

12. 13. 14.

Choose Create holes > Offset from existing hole. Click hole number 2. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

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Creating and Reporting Holes

Task: Creating and Editing Holes

Hole number 3 will be created to the left of hole number 2, using the AECI algorithm, and a toe spacing distance of 1.5.
Note:

See the online help for more information on toe spacing algorithms

Next, you will drill another hole along the footwall contact, and then a fan of holes between these last two holes. 15. 16. Choose Create holes > At selected location. Click a location on the left stope wall to create a hole similar to that shown.

You will now rotate this hole to the lower stope limit, or footwall.

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Creating and Reporting Holes

Task: Creating and Editing Holes

17. 18. 19.

From the Ring design menu choose Edit > Rotate hole. Click hole number 4, then release to select hole number 4. Click hole number 4 again and drag it to the lower stope limit, or footwall as shown.

It is not necessary that the holes fall entirely within the stope design. The decision to drill this hole slightly outside of the stope is purely a judgement call. In this case the hole extends beyond the stope, and you will now adjust the length of the hole. 20. 21. From the Ring design menu choose Edit > Edit hole length graphically. At the prompt, click and drag the toe, or end of the hole to the new position.

When you release the mouse, the length of the hole will be reset to that position. This function is not an exact means of setting a hole length.
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Creating and Reporting Holes

Task: Creating and Editing Holes

Following is an exact method of setting a hole length. 22. 23. 24. From the Ring design menu choose Edit > Set length of one hole, Click hole number 4. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

25.

Press ESC to terminate the function.

You will now drill a fan of holes between holes 3 and 4. 26. 27. Choose Create holes > Between two holes. Click hole 3, and then hole 4.

Remember that you previously set the direction of the holes to be created as anti-clockwise. As a result, you must select hole 3 first, and then hole 4. If we selected hole 4 first and then hole 3, Surpac would attempt to create holes anti-clockwise from hole 4 to hole 3. As described previously in Setup, the value entered for tolerance on the Drilling Parameters form is used with the function Create holes.

When fitting holes with this function, you are asked to select two holes which have been drilled from the same pivot point, with the assumption that additional holes will fit between the two selected holes. When Surpac attempts to fit additional holes with a given toe spacing, invariably the last hole to be fitted will be too close to the second hole chosen. The tolerance is used to allow the toe spacing of holes fitted between the two holes to move by up to this amount. Surpac iterates a given number of times, with slightly varying toe spacings, given that the toe spacing does not vary by more than the tolerance given here, until an acceptable toe spacing is found. When the tolerance is used to fit holes between two holes, it attempts to keep the toe spacing as close as possible to the original. To do this, it must make several attempts with different toe spacing distances.
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Creating and Reporting Holes

Task: Creating and Editing Holes

The number of attempts or iterations it makes to fit the holes is set on the next form. For most cases, 5 iterations are acceptable. The greater the number of iterations, the longer it may take to fit holes between the two selected holes. 28. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The holes will be created between holes 3 and 4. Notice that several holes which came near, or would have intersected the upper drive, were shortened. When holes would normally terminate at a surveyed opening, they are shortened by the break-through tolerance value. In our case, this was set to 0.75m on the Drilling Parameters form.

The hole numbers reflect the order in which they were created. However, we assume that all holes need to be numbered in a clockwise manner, starting on the footwall. 29. 30. From the Ring design menu choose Edit > Renumber holes. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

31.

Click hole number 4.

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Creating and Reporting Holes

Task: Saving Holes

The holes are renumbered clockwise from 1 upwards, starting at the footwall.

Task: Saving Holes

You have now completed the ring design, and will save the holes. If you were attached to a ring design database, the holes would be stored in the database. However, for this example you will store the holes in a string file. 1. 2. Choose Ring design > Save holes. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

3.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

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Creating and Reporting Holes

Task: Saving Holes

4.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The string file 1055_4nw_holes9.str will be created in the work directory.

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Creating and Reporting Holes

Task: Reporting Holes

Task: Reporting Holes

1. 2. Choose Reports > Drilling report. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

3.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

4.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

Note:

To add rows to the table, right click in the blank area beneath the table, and select Add. The fields can then be selected from a drop down list.

5.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

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Creating and Reporting Holes

Task: Reporting Holes

The drilling report will be written to the file 1055_4nw9.not, which may then be displayed in a text editor.

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Creating and Reporting Holes

Task: Saving Default Values

Task: Saving Default Values

You have now set several values which need to be stored in the ring design defaults file. Before continuing further, you will save these default values. 1. 2. Choose Ring design > Save ring design settings. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

Note:

In practice, you would normally want to use the default file of ssi_etc:rings.ssi. You are saving rings.ssi in the local directory for training purposes only.

It is strongly recommended that you do NOT modify this file with a text editor, as a simple modification to the format of the file could result in the loss of default parameter data. If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run 05a_create_holes.tcl 05b_report_holes.tcl
Note: You will need to click Apply on any forms presented.

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Plotting
Overview Holes may be created, moved and rotated inside a stope, or without a stope. In this example, we will create and edit holes inside a stope. In this section you will learn how to save holes for plotting, and how to generate a plot of holes.

Task: Saving Holes for Plotting

The diagram below shows holes created after completing the chapter Creating and Reporting Holes. Ensure that the holes have been created as shown below.

1. 2.

Choose Ring design > Save holes and sections for plotting. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

3.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

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Plotting

Task: Saving Holes for Plotting

The file 1055_4nw9.str is saved to the work directory. String files saved with Save holes and sections for plotting will contain: Data Drill Holes 1,999 String Numbers

Drives

Drive string number + 1000

Stopes

Stope string number + 2000

Rig Pivot Points

32000

The following string numbers will be used in plotting. In this example, 1055_4nw9.str will contain: Data Drill Holes 1,17 String Numbers

Drives

1001, 1002

Stopes

2003

Rig Pivot Points

32000

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Plotting

Task: Creating a Plot

Task: Creating a Plot

See the Plotting section of the Introduction to Surpac manual or the Plotting in Surpac tutorial for a more detailed explanation of plotting concepts. Some map and entity definitions have been set up and saved in the files map.txt and entity.txt, which you will import. 1. 2. Choose Plotting > Entity > Import. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The results of the function will be written to the file map_entity_load.log. You should see the following: Entity load log =============== Loaded _RIG PIVOT Loaded _RING BLAST HOLE Loaded _RING HOLE Loaded _RING NOTE 3. 4. 5. Close the log file. Choose Plotting > Map > Import. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The results of the function will again be written to the file map_entity_load.log. You should see the following: Map load log =============== Loaded RING BLAST EX1 Loaded RING EX1 6. 7. Close the log file. Choose Plotting > Map > Edit.

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Plotting

Task: Creating a Plot

8.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

View the contents of the map we will be processing (ring ex1), and then click Apply.

9.

Choose Plotting > Entity > Edit.

View the contents of the entities _rig pivot, _ring blast hole, _ring hole and _ring note. 10. 11. Choose Plotting > Process > Map. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

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Plotting

Task: Creating a Plot

12.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

13.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

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Plotting

Task: Creating a Plot

14.

Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The Plot Preview window opens, and the plot is displayed.

This is only one manner of presenting ring design holes. You can also edit the entity and map definitions provided, or create your own to customise your plots. If you want to see all of the steps performed in this chapter, run 06_plotting.tcl
Note: You will need to click Apply on any forms presented.

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