MS9 1

MineSight 2 Only
Introduction to
General Applications
O c t o b e r 2000
MineSight is a registered trademark of Mintec, inc.

1994, 1978 Mintec, inc. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Section 1Starting a MineSight 2 Project
Learning Outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Creating a New Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Data Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Section 2Navigating MineSight
Importing VBM Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Object Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Object Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Viewer Set up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Viewer Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Volume Clipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2-D Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Section 3Editing Polylines
2-D Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Selecting and Saving Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Converting Data to 3-D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Editing 3-D Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Exporting VBM / 2-D Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Section 4Triangulation
Preparing an Object to Hold New Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Exporting DTMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
More Details on Object Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Triangulating Using a Boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Contouring a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Merging Surfaces with the Surface Intersector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Checking Your Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
Creating a Solid with the Surface Intersector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
Getting Volumes From a Solid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
Getting Volumes Between Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Section 5Grid Sets

Learning Outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Unattaching a Grid Set From the Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating Grid Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Grid Set Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Moving Grid Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating a Non-Orthogonal Grid Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating an Edit Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Non-Orthogonal Plane Naming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exporting Non-Orthogonal Data to a VBM File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using Multiple Viewers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Section 6Linking Solids and Surfaces

Create a Solid From Polylines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Polyline Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Checking the Solid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Fixing Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Linking More Complicated Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Simple Linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Breaking a Polygon into Substrings for Complex Linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
Closing the End of a Surface by Dissipating to a Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
Closing the End of a Surface With an Extrusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Partial Linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
Slicing Solids into Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
Slicing the View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
Using the Solids Intersector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
The Intersector Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Create a Pit Clipped to Original Topo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621
Section 7Drillholes
Attaching Drillhole Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Drillhole View Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Drillhole Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Spearing Drillholes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Creating Points From Drillhole Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
Exporting the Point Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
Triangulating the Data into a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
Section 8Models
3-D Block Model Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3-D Display Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Exposed Ore Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Gradeshells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
2-D Display Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Model Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Non-Orthogonal Grids and Model Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
2-D Surface Model Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811
Preparing Your Materials for Coding the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816
Coding File 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816
Gridding File 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 818
Section 9Plotting
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Plotting with the Printer Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
The Plot Layout Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Editing your Plot Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Plot Page Settings (Plot Layout) or Plot Settings (Printer Icon) . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Adding Labels to your Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Element Attribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910
Section 10Pit Design in MineSight 2
Learning Outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Preparing the Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Using the Pit Expansion Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Merging the Pit with Topo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Calculating Reserves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Checking ORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1012
Setting up pitres.dat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014
Section 11Dump Design and Volume Determination
MineSight Approach Exercise 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Section 12Cut and Fill for Road Design
Design a Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Attach Templates to Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Obtain and Balance Cut & Fill Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Merge the Road with Existing Topo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Section 13Survey Data

Learning Outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Survey Parameter File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Importing Survey Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Master Folder Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bringing in the Days Pickups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Merging the New Pickups With Current Months Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Triangulating the Data to Create Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Calculating Volume of Material Removed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Plotting Survey Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gridding Survey Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Triangulating Stockpile Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Section 14Blast Pattern Editor

Learning Outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Create a New Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blast Pattern Editor Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Section 15DXF Files

Import DXF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Export as DXF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Section Appendix
Underground Applications with MineSight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a1
Stope/Pillar Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a1
Layout of Primary Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a6
Block Caving Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a14
Reserves Calculations from MineSight & MineSight Compass . . . . . . . . a22
Scheduling Using M821 Scheduler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a26

Learning
Objective
Creating a New
Project
When you have completed this section, you will know how to:
A. Create a new MineSight 2 project and import PCF limits.
B. Understand the various types of icons that appear in the Data Manager
window.
C. Organize your project into folders.
D. List the four data types available in MineSight 2.
Bring up MineSight 2 by typing ms2 at a command prompt.
This window allows you to specify your project directory.
MineSight 2 Only Workbook May 2000
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This window only comes up when you specify a directory that does not have
a MineSight 2 project already started. The resource folder is a subdirectory
off the main project directory that contains all the MineSight 2 files. This
subdirectory is always called _MSRESOURCES. Click Yes.
Since this is a new project, the first thing we need to do is initialize it. The
easiest way to do this is click on Initialize from an Existing PCF. The PCF
we want is msop10.dat. After you select the correct PCF, click OK.
Now we are all set to begin our project. Lets start by taking a look at the
MineSight 2 interface. The MineSight 2 interface consists of three
windows. The main window contains the Viewer, the icons for display
options, and different pull-down menus. The Data Manager window contains
the file structure. The Messenger window comes up whenever there is a
message.
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Data Manager
Notice that the Data Manager window floats on top of the Viewer.
This window can be closed so that the entire Viewer can be seen.
You can open and close the Data Manager window with the icon
shown here.
The Data Manager lists all the objects in our MineSight 2 project. These
objects are organized into folders. This is patterned after Windows NT
Explorer. Only folders are shown in the top half of the Data Manager
window; folders and objects are shown in the bottom half. Some default
objects and folders are created when a project is initialized.
Two objects, called Project Settings and Viewer 1, are created in the New
Resource Map folder. Project Settings contains the project limits, units and
similar information. Double click on Project Settings.
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The project limits are inactive because once a project has been set up, the
limits cannot be changed. However, in MineSight 2, you are not restricted
to working within the project limits, as you are in some of our older
programs. Now click the Properties tab. The option Show Bounding Box
displays a wireframe box around the project area. The option Show Axes
displays x, y and z axes.
Viewer 1 is your Viewer window. This is listed as an object because you can
have several viewers at a time and have different properties in each viewer.
The two folders that are created underneath the New Resource Map folder
are Items and Materials. The Items folder contains the item cutoffs. The
Materials folder contains all the material types for the project. No other
objects should be in these two folders.
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The row of icons along the top of the Data Manager window represents the
different data types used in MineSight 2.
These buttons serve as filters. The default is to show everything. However, if

you dont want to see a particular data type listed in the Data Manager, then
click on the corresponding icon and those objects will be filtered out. Click
on the icon again to deactivate the filter.
FOLDERS
Folders are used to organize data. They can be created within MineSight 2
or from outside the program. To create a new folder while in MineSight 2,
click New Resource Map in the Data Manager window. Click right, then
click New $ Folder.
The new folder will be created in the folder that is highlighted. MineSight 2
will provide default names for all new folders and objects. For this folder,
replace the default name with Training and click OK. A new folder called
Training will appear in the Data Manager window.
It is also possible to add folders from outside of MineSight 2. To do this,
first close down MineSight 2 by clicking File $ Quit. Click Yes in
response to Exit MineSight 2? and No to Save project map?
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Now create a new folder in the _MSRESOURCES directory called

Composites. Bring MineSight 2 back up. The Composites folder will be
shown in the Data Manager window. This is possible because MineSight 2
maps the Data Manager each time the program starts up. The file structure is
not kept in memory anywhere.
DATA TYPES
There are four data types in MineSight. They are geometry, grid sets, model
views and drillhole views. Geometry includes Survey, VBM, 3-D Geometry
and text. Model views include File 13 and 15 models as well as Gradeshells.
As we will see later, objects are all created in a similar manner as folders.
Instead of choosing to create a new folder, choose whichever data type is
appropriate.
To add new data into a geometry object, it must be in edit mode.
To put an object into Edit mode, highlight the object in the Data Manager
Window, click right and select Edit. The picture next to the name will
change from a red box to an open yellow box.
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Learning Outcome
A. Import VBM data.
B. Navigate the MS2 interface, and use the mouse chords to display data as
desired.
C. Understand how object properties control display attributes.
D. Query MineSight objects.
E. Set viewer properties, including 2-D mode and 3-D mode with volume
clipping.
Importing VBM
Data
We will use folder Training to store our VBM data.

Lets import from our File 25. To do this, highlight the Training folder, click
right and select Import $ VBM file. This brings up the VBM Selection
window. First click Select PCF and choose msop10.dat. Select msop25.top
as the VBM file to import. Click OK.
MineSight 2 Only Workbook October 2000
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This brings up the VBM Import window. Here you can select the planes and
features to import. Planes can be chosen individually from the list or
specified with a minimum, maximum and increment. The easiest option is
probably just to choose All Planes. Features can also be chosen one at a time
or with a wildcard selection. An example of wildcard selection is 8*, which
would select all feature codes beginning with an 8. To import the planes and
features youve selected, click Apply.
Import all the planes, and feature codes 804, 807, and 901. In the Data
Manager window, you can see three new Geometry Objects. These are 804,
807, and 901. Also created, is a Grid Set called msop25.top_gridset, which
follows the naming convention VBMfilename_gridset. These Grid Sets will
contain a grid for each plane present in the VBM file, MSOP25.TOP in this
case. Close the VBM Import window.
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Object Properties
Now that we have imported some features as objects, lets look at the object
properties. Double click on feature 804 in the Data Manager window. Notice
that this object has material type pit ramp. That happens because material pit
ramp has VBM code 804 on its Material tab. Therefore, any time VBM
feature 804 is imported, it will have this material. Since object properties
override material properties, we can change properties at the object level.
The General tab allows you to turn different types of data on and off. For
instance, if you don't want to see polylines, just uncheck Show Polylines.
The Global Color can also be set on this tab. This will set the color of all the
different types of data (nodes, polylines, surfaces, etc) in this object at the
same time.
The Points, Polylines, Surfaces and Labels tabs have options to change the
display properties of these data types.
The Info tab has information about the object in which the VBM
information is stored. There is also space for any notes you wish to
make.
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Object Query
You can use the query icon to find out where a polyline belongs. Query
some of the polylines on the screen. Since they are 2-D data, in which the Zvalue is constant for all points on the polyline, a plane will be associated
with the polyline in the MineSight Query window.
Click right in the viewer to exit Query mode.

Exercise
Viewer Set up
Change the properties of the different Geometry Objects to become familiar

with them. Changing the color of the Node elevation level does not
automatically refresh.
Now that there is something in the Viewer, lets take a quick look
at the Viewer properties. The Viewer Properties window can be
accessed by clicking on the Viewer Properties icon (shown here).
Double clicking on the name of the Viewer in the Data Manager
window, which is Viewer 1 in this case, will also access this window.
Click on the Grids tab.
Use the pull-down menu to change the grid style to Labels and Lines. A grid
will appear in the Viewer. The grids controlled here are just for reference.
They will automatically adjust with changes to the azimuth and dip, as well
as when you pan or zoom in or out.
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There are several different types of grids available. Labels and lines seem to
be a good option, especially for plotting. Change the Grid Style to see what
the other options look like.
Notice that if the Grid Style is Marks or Labels and Marks, the Grid Marks
Style pull-down menu becomes activated. Marks are the grid intersections.
There are also options for changing the color of the grid and the size of the
grid labels. Try the different options. Click OK when finished.
Now lets take a look at how to adjust the view. The azimuth and dip are
adjusted using the controls at the top of the Viewer.
The azimuth and dip can also be controlled with the mouse buttons. Hold
down both the left and the right mouse buttons while moving the mouse
around. Or with a three-button mouse, hold the middle button while moving
the mouse.
The mouse can also be used to zoom in and out. With a three-button mouse
hold the middle and left mouse buttons and drag. With a two-button mouse,
continuously press the Alt key and both mouse buttons, and drag the mouse.
Panning left, right, up, and down is also done with the mouse. With a threebutton mouse hold the right and middle mouse buttons and drag. With a twobutton mouse, hold the Shift key and both mouse buttons, and drag the
mouse.
There are several icons at the top of the Viewer that are very useful in
adjusting the display.
It is possible to have more than one Viewer. To create another Viewer,

highlight New Resource Map. Click right, then click on New$Viewer.
Accept the default name by clicking OK. Now you should see both viewers
listed in the Data Manager window.
Page 25
Viewers can be used one at a time or together. To tile the

Viewers, click on the Tile Windows icon. Notice the properties of
each Viewer are different. They can have different azimuths and
dips. Anything in the Viewer Properties window can be different
in each Viewer. However, the data displayed will always be the same in each
Viewer.
If you want to cascade the Viewers, click on the Cascade
windows icon.
Viewer Modes
Click the Viewer Properties icon. On the View Options tab, by

default, the viewer is in 3-D mode. In this mode, all data that is
open and within the area of the viewer can be seen. If you would
like to limit your view in 3-D mode, you can use Volume
Clipping.
Volume Clipping
Open 901. Close anything else that is displayed in the Viewer.

For volume clipping, the first thing you have to do is choose a
Grid Set. To do this, click the green Grid icon to the right of the
Installed Grid Set box.
Choose Grid Set msop25.top_gridset. Click OK. Now check the
option, Volume Clipping. Click OK. Use the pull-down list of planes on the
Viewer Properties window to change to plane 2900.
Immediately you can see a difference. You are viewing only the data around
plane 2900 in the installed Grid Set. Use the plane controls at the top of the
viewer to step through the data. You can also use the pull-down list at the
top right-hand corner of the viewer to pick specific planes.
Page 26
Click the Viewer Properties icon again. Click on the Clipping tab.
The Volume Clipping Range controls the amount of data shown. The way
volume clipping works is that only the data within a certain range of the
desired plane is displayed. Here is where the range is set. It can be equal or
unequal on either side of the plane.
Change the distance to 15.1 and click Apply. This changed the total area
being reviewed from 15 meters (7.5 on either side of the plane) to 30.2
meters (15.1 meters on either side of the plane.
One of the big advantages of volume clipping is the ability to change the
azimuth and dip. This is not the case with 2-D mode. 2-D mode forces the
view normal to installed Grid Set. The view can be changed 180o but thats
it. Lets take a look at 2-D mode.
2-D Mode
Click on the Viewer Properties icon. Uncheck volume clipping

and click on Change to 2-D mode. Click OK.
2-D mode displays only the data which intersects the plane.
To see more than one plane at a time go back to the Viewer Properties
window Clipping tab. The Plane Filter Range controls how many planes you
view in 2-D mode. Notice that you can see a different number of planes on
either side of the desired plane.
If data is selected, you can use the plane filter range for selected planes
independently, so that you can see more or fewer selected planes than
unselected planes.
Page 27
Quick Viewer
Movement Mode
The Quick Viewer Movement Mode is useful when displaying complex data
with surfaces, labels, and block model or drillhole information. With the
Quick Viewer Movement Mode activated, the labels and faces will not be
visible and the polyline thickness will be set to a minimum when rotating,
zooming in or out, or panning the data. After the rotation, zoom, or pan is
finished, the whole data set is displayed again.
Bring the Object Properties window for the Geometry Object 804, under the
tab Line Labels click on Z Value. The elevation for the pit outlines is now
displayed.
Under the Labels tab, increase the Label Height to 6.
Page 28
Now close the Properties window and use the mouse chords to rotate, zoom,
or pan the data. The polyline elevation labels are always visible. Now click
Tools $ Quick Viewer Movement. Rotate, zoom, or pan the data again, and
notice that now the labels are turned off during the movement.
Go back to the Object Properties window for Geometry Object 804, and turn
off the Z Value labels.
Viewer Pop-up
Menu
To increase productivity most of the commands available on MineSight

menus can also be activated using the Viewer Pop-up Menu. This menu is
activated by right clicking in any point of the viewer. The top portion is a
static list of selectable MineSight functions, the bottom portion is a
dynamic list of the most recently used functions.
Click the Query icon. Now click on any polyline
displayed on the viewer. A MineSight Query window with
information about the polyline will be displayed. Right click in
any point on the viewer once to deactivate the Query Element
function. Right click again to bring up the Viewer Pop-up Menu. The
Query Element command is listed as one of the most recently used
commands.
Click Tools $ Viewer Pop-up Menu Properties. You can disable the Popup menu by unchecking the box Enable Pop-up Menu. The number of
commands to be stored on the Viewer Pop-up Menus dynamic function list
can also be set. Click Add Point on the Available Functions list. Click the
right-pointing arrow. The function Add Point has been added to the Viewer
Pop-up Menus static function list. To confirm that, click OK and right
click anywhere on the viewer.
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Page 210

Learning
Objectives
2-D Data
It is best to edit 2-D data in 2-D mode, to ensure that data remains on the
original plane. All data that has been imported from VBM files is 2-D data.
In preparation for data editing, open object 901 and close any other objects
that might be open. Verify that msop25.top_gridset is attached to the viewer
and go into 2-D mode. Choose plane 2660, and set the plane filter range to 1
plane in the negative direction. This actually allows one plane above the
current plane to show up in 2-D mode, so that data on both planes 2660 and
2675 will appear.
Selecting and
Saving Data
There are several ways to select data:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Understand the difference between 2-D and 3-D data.

Select and save data using several methods.
Convert 2-D data to 3-D, and 3-D data back to2-D.
Use various methods to edit 3-D data.
Use the Point Editor and Snap modes to constrain your edits.
A. Click the Selection icon, a yellow box with two triangles

pointing to it. Then draw a rubber band box around all the
polylines visible on planes 2660 and 2675. Click right to end
the selection, or
B. Choose Selection$ Make New. Then draw a rubber band box around
the objects in the viewer to be selected, or
C. Highlight an object in the Data Manager. Click right for the menus and
choose Select$ All Elements.
Similarly, there are several ways to save data:
A. Click the Save selection edits icon. This is a blue box with
two blue triangles. Data will be saved and unselected.
B. Click the Save selection edits and continue icon. This is a
yellow box with two blue triangles. Data will be saved, but
the object(s) will remain selected.
C. From the Selection menu, choose either Save same results
as A., or Save and continue same results as B.
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Converting Data to
3-D
If the data is really 3-D data, it cannot be edited in 2-D mode. 3-D data
shows up as transient in 2-D mode; this means that while you can see it, any
edits you make will not be saved to the actual object. To see how this works,
do the following exercise:
A. Unselect and save any selected data in 901. Go into 2-D mode, with one
plane selected on the planes box on the Clipping tab of the Viewer
Properties window. Then select the Eastern polyline in object 901 on
plane 2675. It is the darker polyline in figure 1 below.
B. Use the query icon to query this polyline. Notice that it has a
plane assigned, and that Transient is False. That means that
this data is editable in the current mode, which is 2-D. Click
right to exit Query mode.
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C. Now Choose Polyline $ Convert 2D to 3D. Select the polyline and click
right. Then save the data. In 2-D mode, it will disappear. Change to 3-D
mode. It is visible again. Change back to 2-D mode and query this
polyline. It now has no assigned plane, and Transient is True. That
means that, while an image of this polyline appears when you are in 2-D
mode, the actual polyline is not visible. It cannot be selected, either, as it
is now 3-D data.
Try to select data in 2-D mode. You will see that, while the 2-D polyline on
plane 2660 can be selected, the 3-D polyline on 2675 can no longer be
selected in 2-D mode. Unselect and save when you are done.
7LSVDQG7ULFNV
Edit 2-D data in 2-D mode only.

Edit 3-D data in 3-D mode only.
Page 33
Editing 3-D Data
Now that you have created one 3-D polyline on plane 2675, lets experiment
with editing in 3-D mode.
Change to 3-D mode, with volume clipping set to equal, and current plane of
2675. Select the one polyline that you changed to 3-D. Thats the darker line
in the figure below.
Choose Point $ Move. Then click on one point and drag it

around to move it. Notice that you can easily move it outside the
view volume. Use the Clipping icon to turn volume clipping off.
See that the point can be anywhere in 3-D space.
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Click right to get out of Point Move mode. Then click the Undo
icon to undo your changes.
Using the Point Editor

to constrain 3-D
editing
The Point Editor can be used to keep edits within realistic limits.
Use the Clipping icon to turn volume clipping back on. With the
3-D polyline still selected, bring up the Point Editor. This can be
done in two ways. You can either choose Tools $ Point Editor,
or click the Point Editor icon.
Initially, this dialog has all functions disabled. You must choose a point or
polyline function to enable the functions in the dialog. Choose Point $
Move again. Then click on a node in the viewer to select the node to be
moved. At this point, the Point Editor functions will be enabled. At the top
of the Point Editor dialog, the current x, y, and z values for the selected point
will be displayed in the last x, last y, and last z boxes.
By default, the relative x, y, and z check boxes are checked. Move the point
20 feet in x and y: enter 20 in the relative x and relative y boxes, and select
Apply. Notice that the absolute x and y have now changed. The values
previous to this change are still shown in the last x, last y and last z boxes.
These boxes always contain the x, y, and z values prior to the last change.
Click Apply again, and see the results in the absolute and last x, y and z
boxes.
Now check the absolute x, y, and z check boxes. In the fill-ins to the left,
you can enter the desired values for x, y, and z. Enter some test values, then
select Apply. You may have to turn clipping off to see the results, if you
have changed the z-value by more than 7.5 m. Vary the dip of the view to see
the changes. When you have finished moving the point using the absolute
and relative values of x, y, and z, click the Undo icon to undo your changes.
Point $ Group move
This works in a very similar way to Point Move, except that you will specify
a group of points to be moved and a reference node. All points will move as
a group, and the distance will be based on the reference node.
A. Choose Point $ Group Move.
B. Draw a rubber band box around the points to be moved, then click right.
Click on one node to make it the reference node.
Page 35
C. Move the group of nodes as above, using the relative and absolute x-y-z
methods. If you move the z-value beyond the clipping limits, only the
nodes will be visible. Click Undo when you are done.
Point Editor - Azimuth

and Dip
Page 36
This part of the Point Editor is useful when creating new polylines, if you
already know the direction and dip of the line. In folder Training, create new
Geometry Object Test1 and put it in Edit mode. Leave the Point Editor up.
Choose Polyline $ Create $ Polyline. Turn Point snap on and digitize one
point, snapping to the 3-D feature on plane 2675. Now turn Point snap off
and, in the Point Editor dialog, check the check boxes for absolute azimuth
and dip. Enter 270 for the azimuth, 10 for the dip, and 500 for the distance.
Select Preview to see the results. You can continue to digitize more points
along the polyline using this method. Adjust the dip of the view to verify that
the dip you chose has been honored.
When you are done, save your edits, but leave object test1 in Selection
mode.
Element $ move
With the Point Editor still up, Choose Element $ Move. Click on polyline
test1 to select it. Then click on one of the nodes of the polyline to choose it
as a reference point. The Point Editor can be used to move the whole
polyline based on the reference point. Then save and close test1.
Element $ Move can be used without the point editor, with one of the snap
modes ON to control where the object is moved.
7LSVDQG7ULFNV
This is also a handy way to normalize data. Just

use Element $ Move, choose the reference
point, and in the Point Editor remove the high
order coordinates from the X- and Ycoordinates.
Exporting VBM /
2-D Data
Converting the 3-D
data back to 2-D
Close the Point Editor. Then select the 3-D polyline on plane 2675 and
choose Polyline $ Convert 3D to 2D. Select the polyline again, and click
right. Click on the radio button to Match polyline to closest plane in gridset,
and choose Grid Set msop25.top_gridset from the Select a grid set dialog.
Select Apply and Save. Use the Query icon to verify that you have changed
the data back to 2-D.
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Exporting the data
Page 38
Turn clipping off so you can see the entire object 901. Highlight 901 and
choose Export $ Medsystem VBM file. Choose msop10.dat as the PCF, and
msop25.to2 as the VBM. This VBM file is completely blank, so we dont
have to worry about overwriting any features. In the VBM Export dialog,
choose all planes and all features. On the Export tab, choose Append. Then
select Apply. If there were already feature 901 polylines in this VBM, the
new polylines would be added on.

7LSVDQG7ULFNV
Be careful when exporting to a VBM that

already has features on the desired planes. The
Export tab has an option to Overwrite planes,
which will wipe out any existing features on the
planes that are imported. Overwrite features
will erase all features of the same feature code
on the planes that are being imported. And
Overwrite VBM will erase all data in the VBM,
except for what is being imported.
Exporting to ASCII files works in a similar manner. The only difference is

that you must choose Export $ VBM files (ASCII). The standard extension
of .vbm should be used for these files.
Exercise
Export object 804 to an ASCII file called 804.vbm.
Page 39
Page 310
Learning Outcome
When you have completed this section, you will be able to:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Preparing an
Object to Hold
New Data
Understand the significance of the edit object.

Triangulate raw data into surfaces.
Control triangulation using material properties.
Limit triangulation using a boundary.
Contour a surface, using the Object Contents Browser.
Intersect surfaces.
Get volumes for solids and between surfaces.
Raw data can be brought into MineSight as points or polylines. In this

section, we will learn how to create a surface from this data, first adding
crests to the existing data to make a more natural-looking pit.
Create a new folder called Pits. Highlight 804 in folder training. Click Edit
at the top of the Data Manager. Choose Copy. Then highlight folder Pits.
Choose Paste. This will copy 804 into folder Pits.
Open object 804 in folder Pits. Then double click on it to bring up the
Properties Window. Change the name to 804CT and press the Tab key to
accept the change. Click OK.
Edit Mode
You can edit existing data by putting it into Selection mode. You
can change, add, delete, or move polylines, substrings, and points.
But an object must be in Edit Mode to receive new data. If you wish
to add polylines, create a surface by triangulating polylines, or
otherwise create new data, the results will be stored in the Edit
object. In MineSight 2, the Edit object is shown as an open yellow
box, indicating that it will store any new data that is created.
Select the 804CT polylines by clicking the Selection icon and

drawing a box around the contours. Click right in the Viewer to
complete the selection.
Click Surface $ Create Solid $ Using Extrude Tool. Since no object is in
Edit mode (making it able to receive new data) we have to specify where the
results of this operation will be stored. We want to store everything back into
804CT. So, in the Open a Geometry File window, highlight 804CT and click
Open.
MineSight 2 Only Workbook
October 2000
Page 41
Click on any one of the VBM features. This will bring up the
Extrude/Expand window. It will also bring up a blue arrow on the feature
you clicked. This indicates the direction of the extrusion.
In the Extrude/Expand window, set the mode to Distance and Slope.
Change the Extrude Distance to 15 meters which is our bench height.
Change the Expand Slope to the appropriate bench face angle, which is 70
degrees in this case. Check the option Entire Selection.
Click Apply.
The new features will not be selected so they will be in the default color for
Geometry Objects.
Unselect the original features, then select all the features. Create a new
Geometry Object called tri804ct, and put it in Edit mode. Then click Surface
$ Triangulate Surface $ with Selection. Send the results to the Open Edit
Object.
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October 2000
Save your selection and close 804CT. Double click on tri804ct to bring up
its properties. On the Surfaces tab, turn off Show lines and turn on Show
Faces to display it as a surface. Click OK.
EXERCISE
Exporting DTMs
Copy 807 in folder Training to folder Pits, and triangulate it into new
Geometry Object TRI807.
Lets export TRI804CT. To do this open TRI804CT by clicking on it in the

Data Manager, clicking right and choosing Open.
Click, Surface $ Export $ MEDSYSTEM DTM. Then click on the
surface. Name the file TRI804.DTM. Click OK.
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Page 43
More Details on
Object Properties
Open Geometry Objects tri804CT and 804CT, and close all other objects.
Double click on tri804CT to bring up its properties. On the General tab,
check the box to Show surfaces as wireframe. Notice that none of the
triangles which make up object tri804CT extend beyond the original
polylines. You may have to go into the properties of 804CT and set the
thickness up on the polylines to see this.
Triangulation is controlled by the material associated with the object.

Double click on object 804CT to bring up its properties. On the General tab,
click the radio button to the left of the Material type. A new tab becomes
available, called Material. Click on it. Notice that the survey type for
material Pit Ramp is breakline. Look at the drop-down list of survey types.
Three types are available: point, breakline, and boundary.
Points can be triangulated in any order. Because points have no orientation,
triangulation must be constrained, either by choosing to triangulate in plan,
or by triangulating with an Edit grid.
Triangulation cannot occur across Breaklines. The breaklines define a
preferred orientation for triangulation.
If a Boundary polygon is included in the objects selected for triangulation,
triangulation will be limited by the boundary.
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October 2000
Triangulating
Using a Boundary
To illustrate the use of a boundary, we will triangulate topography with and

without one.
Close all open objects and open object 901 in folder Training. Create a new
object called tri901. In its properties on the Surface tab, turn off Lines but
show Faces. Then put it in Edit mode. Select all elements of 901, then
choose Surface $ Triangulate $ With Selection. Send the results to the
Open Edit Object. A triangulated topography surface will have been created
from the polylines of object 901.
Now close tri901 and make a new Geometry Object in folder Training
called bnd, with a material type of boundary. Bring up its properties, and
click the radio button beside Material Type on the General tab. Note that
the survey type for material boundary is also boundary.
Put object bnd in edit mode. Choose Snap $ Point snap. Choose Polyline $
Create $ Closed Polyline. Digitize a boundary just inside the limits of
topography by clicking on five or six points near the corners of the data.
Click right when done. Save the selection.
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Page 45
Create another new Geometry Object in folder Training called

tri901bnd. Put it in Edit mode. Then use the Multi-object
Selection icon to choose both the boundary bnd and all the
polylines in object 901. Click right to complete the selection.
Then choose Surface $ Triangulate Surface $ with Selection. Send the
results to the Open Edit Object. Because you snapped the boundary to points
on 901, there will be intersecting breaklines and you will see this message:
Click Yes and allow the triangulator to proceed. Because object

bnd has survey type boundary, the triangulation will be limited
within this object. When the triangulation has finished, click on
the icon to clear highlights, then set the properties for object
tri901bnd to show faces and not lines.
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October 2000
Contouring a
Surface
Once a surface or solid has been created in MineSight, we can contour it at

different intervals than the original data. The contouring tool works only in
plan; however, another function called Slice view can be used to contour at
any azimuth and dip. In this section, we will use the Contouring tool to
create new contours from this surface.
The Contouring tool makes use of a new tool called the Object Contents
Browser (OCB). This browser will allow you to select any Geometry Object
in your project, regardless of whether it is open or closed. Sometimes a
computers performance can degrade when a large surface has been loaded.
The Object Contents Browser allows you to operate on large data without
having to have it open in the viewer.
A. Save edits and close all objects.
B. Create new Geometry Object 901 contours in folder training, and put it
in Edit mode.
C. Choose Polyline $ Contour Surface.
D. To the right of the box labeled Surface, in the Contour Surfaces dialog,
there are two icons:
1. Click on this icon to choose the surface from the viewer,
or
2. Click on this icon to choose the surface from
the Object Contents Browser (OCB).
E. Click on the OCB icon.
F. A new dialog, named MS2, comes up. Click on the red block to select a
Geometry Object. Choose tri901bnd.
G. In the left-hand window, the contents of tri901bnd are shown. In this
case there is only a surface. However, we could have stored several
surfaces, polylines and points in a single object. In the OCB, we can
select only one if desired. Click on the surface in the left-hand window
to select it. When it has been selected, it will show up in the right-hand
window.
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Page 47
H. By default, the contourer will be set to contour at all the bench toes. To
get mid-bench contours, we will use the settings in the figure below.
Check the box to Smooth contours with spline. Then select Apply.
The resulting contours will follow the surface. See the figure below.
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October 2000
Texture Surface
Tool
A picture, such as an aerial photograph, can be draped over a surface in

MineSight using the Texture Surface Tool.
Close all objects and open tri901bnd. Click Tools $ Texture Surface Tool.
Click Add and select the file aerialphoto.jpg. Fill in the fields as in the
picture below. The X and Y values are the project coordinates where the first
picture pixel will be draped. The X pixel size and the Y pixel size are the
size in project units for every pixel on the picture.
Click Texture Surface and then click the tri901bnd surface on the viewer.
The aerial photography will be draped over the surface.
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Page 49
Merging Surfaces
with the Surface
Intersector
Now that we have several surfaces, we can intersect them to form solids or
combined surfaces. First, we would like to merge pit 804 with the
topography.
A. Close all objects and open tri804ct in folder Pits, and tri901bnd in
folder Training. Note that tri804ct must fully intersect with topography
for satisfactory results. If the topography is above the pit surface in some
areas so that there is not a complete intersection, there may be openings
in the merged surfaces at those points.
B. Create a new folder called intersection. In this folder, create new
Geometry Object merge804 and put it in Edit mode.
C. Choose Surface $ Intersect Surfaces.
D. Use the blue surface icons to pick the surfaces from the viewer. Choose
tri901bnd as the primary surface, and tri804 as the secondary.
E. Choose Cut surface (secondary below patched into primary).
F. Click Preview to verify that the resulting surface is the correct merged
surface.
G. Click Apply and send the results into Open Edit Object merge804.
H. Set the properties of merge804 to see the surface with faces on.
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October 2000
Checking Your
Results
Whenever you create a new surface or solid, you should do two things to
verify its integrity:
1. Choose Surface $ Check for Openings. A surface should have only
one opening, all around its edges. A solid should have no openings.
2. Choose Surface $ Check for Self-Intersections. Self-intersections are
crossing triangles in the triangulated surface and should not appear.
In this case, neither problem is present. In Section 6 we will investigate the
techniques for cleaning up these problems.
Creating a Solid
with the Surface
Intersector
Now we will create the solid that represents the difference between topo and
pit804ct. This solid can be used to calculate the volume of material that has
been displaced.
A. Close all objects and open tri804ct in folder Pits, and tri901bnd in
folder Training.
B. Create a new object in folder intersections called pit804solid.
C. Put pit804solid in Edit mode.
D. Choose Surface $ Intersect Surfaces.
E. Select tri804ct as the primary surface, and tri901bnd as the secondary
surface.
F. Click Fill solid (secondary above/primary below), and select Preview.
G. The result should be the solid between the pit and topo. If it is, select
Apply.
H. Send the results to Open Edit Object pit804solid.
I. Close the Surface Intersector dialog, and close objects tri804ct and
tri901bnd.
J. Adjust the properties of pit804solid to view it with faces on and lines
off. Check it for openings and self-intersections. It should have neither.
Getting Volumes
From a Solid
Now that you have a solid, you can get volumes.

A. Choose File $ Project Settings.
B. On the Volumes tab, check the box to Display results in the viewer,
then click OK. Results always show up in the message window, but this
display is in larger text, and in the Viewer window.
C. Now choose Surface $ Calculate Volume. Check the In a
solid option. Click the blue ribbon icon.
D. Click pit804solid in the viewer to select it. Click Yes to verify
that it is the correct solid. Now click Apply.
E. The volume of the solid will appear in the viewer, and also in the
Message window.
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Page 411
F. When you are done, click the icon to clear highlights to

clear the volume from the viewer.
Getting Volumes
Between Surfaces
It is not necessary to build a solid between surfaces if all you want is the
volume between them. To illustrate this, we will get volumes between the
original surfaces.
A. Close pit804solid and open tri804ct in folder Pits, and tri901bnd in
folder Training.
B. Choose Surface $ Calculate Volume. Choose the option Between
surfaces.
C. Select topography in tri901bnd as the top surface.
D. Select the pit tri804ct as the bottom surface. Click Apply.
E. Click Yes to confirm.
F. In this case, since the two surfaces intersect, we do not have to limit by a
boundary polygon, so uncheck that option.
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October 2000
G. Cut and fill volumes will show up in the message window. A check of
the results from the two different methods shows less than a .05%
difference.
If the two surfaces did not intersect, then it would be necessary to digitize a
polygon to represent the boundary of the area of interest. In this case, the
boundary would be used to define the limits in East and North directions,
and the limits would extend vertically through the two surfaces.
October 2000
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Page 414
October 2000
Section 5Grid Sets
Section 5Grid Sets

Learning
Objectives
When you have completed the section, you will know how to:
Unattaching a Grid
Set From the
Viewer
For the past few exercises, Grid Set msop25.top_gridset has been attached to
the viewer. Bring up the Viewer properties to see the current state of the
viewer.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
Create Grid Sets with various orientations.

Attach a Grid Set to the viewer to constrain the view in 2-D mode.
Change Grid Set properties; add, rename, and remove planes.
Create and edit an Edit grid.
Move a Grid Set to a desired location using an Edit grid.
Use multiple viewers to view data at various orientations.
Notice in the above figure that, although msop25.top_gridset is attached, the

viewer is in 3-D mode with volume clipping and plane filtering unchecked.
In this mode, the view is unconstrained. However, if for some reason you
wish to unattach a Grid Set from the viewer, do the following steps:
A. Click the green grid icon to bring up the Select a Grid Set window.
B. Click Cancel.
The viewer will have no Grid Set attached. Clipping and Plane filtering
modes will be unavailable.
Page 51
Section 5Grid Sets
Creating Grid Sets
Create a new folder called Grids. Highlight Grids, click right,

and select New $ Grid Set. Name the set EWSECT. This will
bring up the Grid Create window.
Notice that, by default, the project origin will be the grid origin. Select the
plane orientation as E-W. Set the number of planes to 30, and the plane
interval to 50. Click OK.
Open object 807CT in folder pits. Click the Camera to View Plan
icon.
The Grid Set will appear green in the Viewer. If you set the
azimuth to 0 and dip to 90, you will see that the Grid Set isnt in the right
place.
Highlight Grid Set EWSECT in the Data Manager window, click right, and
select Edit.
Page 52
Sept 2000
Section 5Grid Sets
In the Move along Normal box, enter +500, and click Apply. This will
correctly place the grid around the data. Close the Edit Grid window.
Now lets use this Grid Set to view our data in 2-D mode.
Change the installed Grid Set by clicking on the Set a Grid Set
icon, and choosing EWSECT.
Click Change to 2-D. Step through the planes. The
points which appear on some planes are the
intersection of those planes with the planar
polylines.
When you are done, return to 3-D mode using the 3-D icon.
Page 53
Section 5Grid Sets
Double click on Grid Set EWSECT to bring up the Properties window. The
Grid Set Properties window look much the same as the Geometry Object
Properties window. The only difference is the addition of the Planes tab.
Grid Set
Properties
The Planes tab contains a list of all planes in the Grid Set. As changes are
made, this list is automatically updated.
There are options on this tab to copy and rename planes, as well as to add,
remove and edit planes.
Exercise
Create a N-S Grid Set called Test, in folder grids, and experiment with the
options on the Planes tab of the Properties window.
Note:
Most actions which require Grid Sets (such as 2-D mode) do not require the
set to be open.
Moving Grid Sets
Often when Grid Sets are created, they are not in the right place. Fortunately,
they can be moved. Highlight the Grid Set Test that you created in the
previous exercise. Click right then click Edit.
Grid Sets can be moved in a few ways. Move along normal allows you to
type in a distance on project units to move the set. The distance can be
positive or negative. We used this earlier to adjust the position of Grid Set
EWSECT.
Page 54
Sept 2000
Section 5Grid Sets
Moving Grid Sets parallel to the planes is a little different. This is done by
clicking the Snap To button, and choosing the Coordinates option. Change
the appropriate coordinates and click OK.
The coordinates shown are the coordinates of the Base Point. Click the
option Show Base & Axes to see where this point is located. The location of
the base point can be changed as well.
Grids in the Grid Set can be made larger or smaller using Grid Length.
Non-orthogonal Grids Sets can be moved along an azimuth and dip or
rotated.
Page 55
Section 5Grid Sets
Creating a NonOrthogonal Grid

Set
This is similar to the exercise above, except that once we define a grid set as
non-orthogonal, it has more variable parameters than a Grid Set in one of the
three orthogonal directions.
Highlight folder grids, and choose New $ Grid Set. Name the Grid Set
nonortho. If you click the radio button for Non-orthogonal plane
orientation, the orientation portion of the Grid Set Creation window is
enabled. Here you can enter a strike azimuth of 135, and a dip of -90. Allow
30 planes at 50 m intervals. Then click OK.
Sometimes you dont know the azimuth and dip, but instead want to align
the non-orthogonal Grid Set to existing data. We would like to align this
Grid Set to a plane on the side of pit807solid. To do that, we will have to
learn about the Edit grid.
Creating an Edit
Grid
The Edit grid is a single grid, similar to one of the grids in a Grid Set. It can
be oriented in many different ways, and it can be snapped to the current
plane when a Grid Set is attached to the viewer.
The simplest way to create an Edit grid is to snap it to something in the
viewer.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Open pit807solid. Close all other objects.

Choose Snap $ Face Snap.
Choose Edit Grid $ Snap to 3 Points.
In the viewer, snap to three distinct points on the west slope of the pit
solid.
E. An Edit grid will appear at the specified location.
Page 56
Section 5Grid Sets
F. You may adjust the Edit grid to a larger size using Edit Grid $ Edit.
Set the major and minor grid lengths to 2500 and the corresponding grid
intervals to 250.
Now open Grid Set nonortho. Highlight it, click right, and choose Edit.
Choose Snap to $ Edit grid.
Page 57
Section 5Grid Sets
The non-orthogonal Grid Set will have the same azimuth and dip as the Edit
grid. The origin of Grid Set nonortho will be snapped to the center of the
Edit grid. This is because the Edit grid, by default, has its base points at 50%
along the major and minor axes.
Choose Edit Grid $ Edit. Change the base points of the Edit grid to 100%
along the major axis, and 0% along the minor axis. Then highlight Grid Set
nonortho, click right, and choose Edit. Choose Snap To $ Edit Grid. See
how the non-orthogonal Grid Set aligns against the Edit grid in this case.
This is a method of adjusting the placement of a non-orthogonal Grid Set
using an Edit grid.
Non-Orthogonal
Plane Naming
Double click on Grid Set nonortho to bring up its properties. On the Planes
tab, notice the way the planes are named. The names are based on the "Dvalue" from the plane equation:
Ax + By + Cz + D = 0
If you prefer to name them in a different way, use this method:
A. Highlight all the planes by clicking left and dragging the mouse over
them.
B. In the Rename Planes dialog, enter prefix nonortho, start value 100, and
increment 50.
C. Click Rename. All planes will be renamed.
To see these plane names in the viewer, you must re-attach the Grid Set.
A. Click the Set a Grid Set icon in the upper right corner of the
viewer.
B. Select Grid Set nonortho.
Page 58
Section 5Grid Sets
In the upper right-hand corner of the viewer, you will now see the new plane
names. This is just for convenience in choosing planes, however. Any data
that is digitized on these planes will be associated with the actual plane
name, and any data that is exported in VBM ready format will also have that
plane name.
Exporting NonOrthogonal Data

to a VBM File
If you are planning to create non-orthogonal data to export to a VBM file,

you should create the non-orthogonal VBM first. Digitize a sample polyline
on one plane of the VBM, and copy to every plane you will use in
MineSight. In MineSight2, import the VBM. You can then close the
sample polylines. All the planes on which data existed will have been
imported. Use this as your non-orthogonal Grid Set.
Features digitized on these grids will have a VBM number in addition to the
Plane. This number is used when exporting the data back to the VBM.
7LSVDQG7ULFNV
Never move a Grid Set that has been imported

with a VBM. If you move it, data that you
export afterwards will not be in the correct
place.
Using Multiple
Viewers
Now that you have several Grid Sets, you can see your data at different
aspects by creating multiple viewers. A viewer is just another object that you
can create in MineSight2. To prepare for this section, close all Grid Sets
and open tri901bnd in folder Training, and tri804CT in folder pits.
Creating a new viewer
A. Highlight the top folder, called New Resource Map.

B. Click right on it, and choose New $ Viewer.
C. Name it E-W Viewer.
The new viewer will appear in Full Screen mode. Click the icon
to Tile windows. The original viewer, Viewer 1, and your new
viewer, E-W Viewer, will be side by side.
Attaching a Grid Set

to the new viewer
A Grid Set does not have to be open to be attached to a viewer.

A. Click on the header bar of E-W Viewer to make it the active viewer. The
header bar will turn blue.
B. Now click the icon to Set a Grid Set. Choose Grid Set
EWSECT. This Grid Set will be attached to the current
viewer.
Page 59
Section 5Grid Sets
C. Bring up the Viewer Properties, and set Volume clipping on. On the
Clipping tab, set the clipping to equal at 25m.
D. Choose plane North 5000. Then close the Viewer Properties dialog.
You should see a strip of topo and a strip of the pit tri807CT in E-W Viewer.
Setting Viewer 1
to 2-D mode
Click on the header bar for Viewer 1 to make it the active viewer. It should
have Grid Set nonortho attached. If not, click the icon to Set a Grid Set, and
attach Grid Set nonortho. Bring up the Viewer Properties, and change to 2-D
mode. Select plane Nonortho 600.
You can see that each viewer has a different view, and you have used these
steps to attach a different Grid Set to each viewer. Every viewer can have its
own attached Grid Set, its own current plane, and its own choices for 2-D or
3-D mode, clipping, and all other options in the Viewer Properties dialog.
These properties are linked to the viewer.
Exercise
In the data Manager, close E-W Viewer, then reopen it. Verify that all your
settings are still active.
When you are done, close E-W Viewer and make Viewer1 Full Screen again.
Put Viewer1 back into 3-D mode.
Page 510

Learning
Objectives
Create a Solid
From Polylines
In this section, we will create a solid from polylines, using the linker. First,
we need to import some polylines from VBM msop25.ew.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
Prepare polylines for linking.

Link polylines into solids using various methods.
Fix problems with solids and surfaces.
Close ends of a linked solid.
Slice solids and surfaces to form polylines and polygons.
Intersect solids and surfaces with the Solids Intersector Tool.
A. Create a new folder called alteration, under folder New Resources Map.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Beneath this folder, create a folder called E-W Section.

Highlight this folder, and choose Import $ VBM file.
Choose PCF msop10.dat, and VBM file msop25.ew.
The VBM Import dialog will come up. On the Planes tab, choose All
planes.
F. On the Features tab, choose All features. Then click Apply.
G. Close the VBM Import dialog, so that changes made in MineSight2 are
not immediately updated to the VBM.
Eight new Geometry Objects and one Grid Set will appear in folder E-W
Section. Close all objects except 101, 102, and 103.
In the Materials folder, double click on material 101 to bring up its
properties. On the General tab, set its global color to light blue. Set the
color of material 103 to light purple.
7LSVDQG7ULFNV
Set display attributes in the material associated

with an object. Then when you create another
object and assign the same material, the new
object will have the same display attributes.
Polyline
Preparation
Set the viewer properties to 3-D mode without clipping. If the polylines are
properly prepared, linking is much easier. It does take some time to prepare
the polylines, but fixing the links takes much more time.
Open object 101 in folder E-W Section, and close anything else that is open.
MineSight 2 Only Workbook June 2000
Page 61
Select the polylines by clicking the Selection icon and drawing a

box around the polylines. They will turn orange. Click right in
the Viewer. This will turn the polylines red. They are now in
active Edit mode.
Close polylines
Page 62
First, all the polylines must be closed. If you created the polylines with
Polyline $ Create $ Closed Polyline, then all of your polylines are
automatically closed. Otherwise, you need to make sure they are closed. An
easy way to see whether the polylines are closed, is to change the properties
of the object so that Polygon fill on the Polylines tab is checked. All closed
polylines will fill with color. Any open polylines will look the same as
before. To close a polyline, make sure it is selected, then click on Polyline $
Close. When you are done, turn off Polygon fill.

Check Polyline
Direction
Next, make sure the polylines were digitized clockwise. To do this, click
Polyline $ Redefine Direction. Little blue arrows will appear on the
polylines. You can make these arrows larger by increasing the arrow size in
the Redefine window.
The easiest way to make sure all the polylines are clockwise, is to uncheck
Reverse Directions Only in the Redefine window. Then, under the Polygons
tab, check Clockwise, and click Apply to Entire Selection. Click right to
finish.
Densify Polylines
Next we need to make sure the polylines have enough points to link
successfully. Generally, you want a similar number of points on each
polyline, and to have the points evenly spaced. We can use the densify
operation to do this.
Click the Selection Nodes icon. Click Polyline $ Densify. Enter
a 50 meter point spacing, check Entire Selection, and click
Preview. This looks like a good spacing, so click Apply. Click
right to finish.
Page 63
Densify can create duplicate points, which isnt good for linking. To get rid
of any possible duplicates, use the Thin operation.Click Polyline $ Thin. In
the Thin Strings window, check Duplicate Points Only, and Entire
Selection. Click Apply. Click right to finish. Turn off Selection nodes.
7LSVDQG7ULFNV
When using Thin for removing more than just

duplicate points, always preview the results
first. This will prevent you from removing
more points than you wish. Thin can easily
change the shape of your polylines.
Page 64

Check Polyline
Endpoints
Linking
Finally we have to make sure all the endpoints are in similar places on all the
polylines. This is because the endpoints are the basis for linking. To do this,
click Polylines $ Redefine All Endpoints. If you click anywhere in the
Viewer, the endpoints will move. Place the endpoints on similar positions on
all the strings. Click right to finish.
Create a folder in Alteration called solids. Create a new Geometry Object in

solids called 101solid with a material type of 101. Highlight 101solid. Click
right, and choose Edit. This allows the object to accept new data.
Make sure all the polylines are selected. Click the Link Editor
icon. Notice that the Link Editor icon remains inactive if no
polylines are selected.
Check Close First End.
Page 65
Click Link. Click on the first contour. It will turn yellow. Click Yes to
confirm. Click on the second contour, and it will turn blue. Click Yes to
confirm. Define some strong node pairs between the contours. If you click
right, a preview of the link will be visible. If the results look good, click
Apply. If not, click Cancel.
For more complex data, you have to add more strong nodes. Strong nodes
are guidelines that help in the linking process. To add these, click on the first
(yellow) contour, then click on a corresponding place on the second (blue)
contour. A yellow line will appear, connecting the two contours. Add a
couple of strong nodes.
When youve finished adding strong nodes, click right and the link will
appear. This is just a preview. If the link looks good, click Apply. If not,
click Cancel and begin again.
For many of the similar looking polygons in the middle of object 101, you
can use the Quick Link option. Quick Link allows you to click sequentially
on a series of polylines and to see an immediate preview, then click Apply to
link the polygons. Auto Link is similar. You can draw a rubber band box
around a series of polygons to auto link, then click Preview to see the results.
If you like them, click Apply. Try both of these methods.
Page 66
Uncheck Close First End and continue linking. When you get to the last two
contours, check Close Second End. These two options are the easiest way to
close the ends of the solid. However, you can use the Extrude tool on the
end contours as well.
It is much easier to redo links at this stage than to wait until later, so if any
links look bad then redo them now. A few examples of bad links are shown
below.
An example of a bad link caused by one polyline being digitized in a

reverse direction to the other.
Page 67
Another example of bad linking. In this case, the point density of one
polyline is much greater than the other.
To redo a link, you have to delete it then re-link it. To delete a link, click
Delete Link/Node then click on the link. The link will turn yellow. If you
clicked on the wrong link, just click on the right one and it will become
highlighted. When the correct link is highlighted, click right.
When you redo a link, the old strong nodes will be used unless you delete
them. Delete a strong node the same way you delete a link.
7LSVDQG7ULFNV
If you have bad links, make sure the polyline

preparation was completed. This is the most common
cause of bad links. If the polylines are okay, then add
strong nodes to try to create a better link.
When all links have been completed, choose Surface-Check for selfintersecting and Surface-Check for Openings to see if each link is okay.
There should be openings at each end. Any other openings or any selfintersections are a reason to delete and redo the link. When you are satisfied
with all the links, click Merge Links. Close the Link Editor window. Save
and close the polylines in 101 in folder E-W Section.
Page 68
Checking the
Solid
Double click on material 101 in the Data Manager window to bring up the
Properties window. On the Surfaces tab, uncheck Show Lines, and check
Show Faces.
There are two things to check for in solids. The first is openings. To check
for this, click Surface $ Check for Openings. Then click on the solid. Any
openings will be highlighted in yellow, and reported in the MineSight
Messages window.
The other thing we need to check for is self-intersecting triangles. To do this,
click on Surface $ Check for Self-Intersecting. Then click on the solid.
Any self-intersecting triangles will be highlighted and reported in the
MineSight Messages window.
Fixing Solids
If any openings or self-intersecting triangles exist, they have to be fixed

before the solids can be used. Openings have two common causes. First, if
you didnt use Close First End or Close Second End when linking to close
the ends of the solid, you will get openings. In this case, select the end
contour and click Surface $ Triangulate SurfaceInside Polyline
Boundary. Then click on the contour. Bring up the Link Editor window
again, and click Merge Links.
The other common cause of openings is not merging the links. In this case,
each link will be separate. So when you check for openings, it will only
check one link at a time, and both ends of the link will be open. All you need
to do here is bring the Link Editor window up, and click on Merge Links.
Self-intersecting triangles are a little more difficult. These generally result
from problems with the polylines. Check all the things listed in the
preparation section first. Then redo the link. However, since you have
already merged the links, redoing the link is a little more difficult.
Start by selecting the solid. Make sure it is the solid that is selected, not the
polylines.
Now we have to delete the existing link. One way to do this is click Point $
Group Delete. Draw boxes around the points you want to delete. Points on
the solid are located where VBM contours were. When all the points are
chosen, click right. This will delete two links, one on either side of where
the VBM feature was.
Page 69
The other way to delete a link is by clicking Surface $ Delete Face. Then
select all the faces in the link you want to delete. Click right.
When the link is deleted, unselect the solid and select the VBM features.
Open the Link Editor and redo the link. In order avoid more self-intersecting
triangles, add more strong nodes. Make sure the existing strong nodes match
well.
Page 610
Make sure you click Merge Links after redoing the links.
Any time you change a solid, always recheck it for openings and selfintersecting triangles.
Linking More
Complicated
Polygons
Although simple linking was sufficient to build a solid from the blocky
polygons of object 101, more complicated polygons require other linking
options.
A. Close all open objects, and open object 102 in folder E-W Section.
B. In folder solids, create a new Geometry Object called 102solid with
material 102.
C. Put it in Edit mode.
D. Attach Grid Set msop25.ew_gridset to the viewer. Go into 3-D mode
with equal clipping at 25 m on plane 4790.
On plane 4790, there is only one feature 102. Step forward to plane 4840 and
see that on that plane there are two features representing feature 102. To link
one polygon into two requires some additional steps.
Use the Clipping icon to toggle clipping off.
Exercise
Preparing the data
Use the steps in the above section on Polyline Preparation, to prepare the
data in object 102 for linking.
Simple Linking
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
Select all elements of object 102.

Bring up the Viewer Properties icon.
On the View Options tab, check the box for Volume Clipping.
On the Clipping tab, set the clipping to unequal, 25.0 in the volume+
direction, and 65 in the volume direction, then click OK.
Select plane 4790.
You should be able to see the first two planes of data. Query the
polylines to make sure you see the features on planes 4740 and 4790.
Use the Linker icon to bring up the linker.
Toggle on Close first end, and use the link option to link the first two
polygons, as before. Then toggle off Close first end.
Step to the next plane at 4840. Because of the unequal clipping, you
should see a bit of the linked solid. This helps you to orient yourself to
the direction you are linking. You may want to use the Clipping icon to
turn off clipping briefly from time to time as well, to see where you are
in the linking process.
MineSight 2 Only Workbook Sept 2000
Page 611
Breaking a
Polygon into
Substrings for
Complex Linking
On plane 4840 there are two polygons. We will have to subdivide the
polygon on plane 4790, and then link each half to one of the polygons on
plane 4840.
A.
B.
C.
D.
From the linker, choose Subdivide Polygon.

Select the polygon on plane 4790.
Digitize a division line down the center.
Click right to complete the division.
The two subdivided segments can then be used as individual polygons and
linked to the two polygons on plane 4840 using the Link command. If the
wrong polygon is highlighted when it is selected for linking from the
subdivided string, you can just click NO in the window that asks, Is this the
correct choice? until the correct polygon is highlighted.
Page 612
Now choose the second polygon. Define strong nodes and link as before,
stepping forward a plane each time a pair of polygons has been linked. To
change a strong node, just click again on the first contour at the start of the
strong node. You can then attach it to a different point on the second
contour.
Link all the polygons through plane 5490. On plane 5540 use Subdivide
polygons to break the polygon into two parts. Then link to the two polygons
on plane 5490. Finish up linking the solid. Dont click on Close second end
when linking the last two polygons. We will use another method to close this
end. Exit the linker and merge the shells on the way out. Then save your
edits, and close object 102. Check solid102 for openings and selfintersections, other than the one open end, and fix if necessary.
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If you are unable to resolve crossing triangles

due to complex linking, it may be necessary to
put in intermediate control planes and digitize
polygons on them. This smooths the transition
of the features from one plane to another.
Closing the End of

a Surface by
Dissipating to a
Point
Step 1
Save your edits. Close object 102.
Step 2
Choose Surface $ Check for openings, then click 102solid.
Step 3
Leave the highlights on. Close 102solid, open 102, and select the polyline
that matches the highlights. Click right, then click the icon to Clear
highlights.
Page 613

Step 4
Turn Point snap on. Choose Edit Grid $ Snap to 3 Points. Snap it to the
edges of the selected polygon. Choose Edit grid $Edit. Enter a value of 25
in the box labeled Move along normal, then select Apply. The direction it
moves should be away from the polylines in object 102. Once you have the
Edit grid in the right location, change the grid length to 100 and the grid size
to 20 meters along both axes. This will place a small Edit grid in a central
position. Select Apply.
Close the Edit Grid window.

Step 5
Put object 102solid, in folder solids, into Edit mode. Set its properties to
view it as a wireframe.
Step 6
Turn Grid snap on.
Step 7
Choose Surface $ Create Solid $ Dissipate Boundary to a point. Click on

the polygon that defines the opening, and drag the mouse to the Edit grid in a
central location.
Alternative Method
Page 614
An alternative to steps 4 through 7 is this method:
Step 4-alt
On the properties of the polylines, turn Polygon fill on.
Step 5-alt
Turn Face snap on.
Step 6-alt
On the Snap menu, set the Snap offset to 25.
Step 7-alt
Choose Surface $Create solid $Dissipate boundary to a point. Click on

the desired polygon, and drag until the small offset line extends outward
from the solid in a central location.
Closing the End of

a Surface With an
Extrusion
Another method of closing an end of a linked solid is to extrude and close

the opening. Since you have not yet merged the closure you made with the
Dissipate function, select and delete it. This will leave one end of 102 solid
open.
Closing the solid
Now follow these steps to close the solid.
Step 1
Check the solid for openings. Put 102solid in Edit mode. Choose Tools $
Utility Markers $ Copy to edit object. This saves the polygon that defines
the opening to the object.
Step 2
Highlight 102solid, click right, and choose Select $Polylines

$All. Click right to complete the selection. Click the Clear
markers icon so you can see the selection.
Step 3
Choose Surface $ Create solid $ Using extrude tool. Select the polyline
and confirm.
Step 4
In the Extrude/Expand window, set the mode to Distance + Slope. Set the
Extrude distance to 25ft, half the distance between the planes, and set the
azimuth and dip to 0. Connect the polylines and close end Along.
Step 5
Set the Expand slope to -70 and click Apply. The opening will be extruded
and closed.
Step 6
Delete the selected polygon and save your data.
Step 7
Select all elements of 102solid and choose Surface $ Merge selected to

merge the cap with the rest of the solid.
Page 615

Step 8
Click right. A new surface will be created which closes the opening.
Step 9
Do the same thing to close the other end.
Step 10
Save your edits, and close object sample in folder E-W Section. Select all
elements of object sample solid in folder solids. Click right and choose
Surface $ Merge Selected. Save edits.
Step 11
Check your solid for openings and self-intersections as before. If any are
found, fix them.
Exercise
Create a new Geometry Object called 103solid with material 103 in folder
solids. Link object 103 in folder E-W Section into this object.
Partial Linking
Another method of linking two polygons to one, is to use Partial linking.

This method is useful when one polygon is very complex, and it is being
linked to a simpler shape. For this exercise, close all open objects. In folder
E-W Section under folder alterations, choose object 202. It contains a series
of polylines.
A. Create a new object in folder solids called 202surface with material 202.
Put it in Edit mode.
B. Select all the polylines in object 202.
C. Click the icon for a N-S sectional view.
D. Click the Link icon, and choose Auto link. Link all the
polylines until you reach the area where one polyline links to
two.
Page 616
E. Choose Partial link.

F. Choose a starting node at the top of the last full length polyline. Then
select an ending node near the center of the full length polyline. Select
starting and ending nodes at the beginning and ending of the partial
polyline. If you need to change the strong nodes, redefine them.
G. Use Partial link any time there are a different number of polylines to be
linked between two planes.
When working with partial links, make sure you choose the same node to
begin the next partial link as you used to end the previous one. Otherwise
there may areas that did not get linked. Use Link or Partial link to link the
rest of the polygons, depending on whether you need to split a polygon.
When you are done, merge shells, and check the surface for openings. The
only openings should be around the outside of the surface, and in the areas
where you expect holes.
Slicing Solids into

Contours
Now that we have some solids, we can slice them in plan. In folder solids,
open 101solid, 102solid, and 103solid. Close all other objects.
We must revisit the materials folder to set things up for the correct results.
The VBM code of the material associated with an object is used to name the
results of the Slice View function.
Double click on the materials folder to show all the materials. Double click
on material 101. On the Material tab, make sure that its VBM code is 101.
Similarly, verify that material 102 has VBM code 102, and material 103 has
VBM code 103. Since we imported these materials along with imported
VBM data, they will all be properly set up.
Now double click on 101solid and make sure it has material 101. Check
102solid, and 103solid for materials 102 and 103 as well.
Page 617
We can create new materials in the materials folder. Newly created

materials will have the default VBM and model codes of 999. If we were
slicing several objects and all had the same VBM code, the results would be
combined in one object 999.
Slicing the View
A. Create a new folder, called plan contours, under folder alteration.

B. Highlight the folder, click right, and choose Slice View.
C. Choose Grid Set msop25.top_gridset from folder Training to define the
planes on which slicing will occur. Click OK.
D. Folder plan contours will now hold horizontal polygons on each plane
in msop25.top_gridset that intersected the three solids. Close all objects
in folder solids to see this. The objects should be named 101, 102, and
103. If you have an object 999, you neglected to correct the material
associated with one of your solids.
Page 618
Note that, in flat areas where the solid coincided with the slicing planes,
there are features that will need to be cleaned up. If the solid was sliced on
different planes than those on which flat areas occur, this problem could be
solved.
A. To fix this, make a copy of msop25.top_gridset, and move the copy
along the normal by 1 meter. Recall that you should never move an
original Grid Set that was imported with VBM features.
B. Then delete all objects in folder plan contours, and redo the exercise to
slice the view, using this adjusted Grid Set. The results will be more
satisfactory, as in the figure below:
Using the Solids

Intersector
The solids Intersector Tool in MineSight will take any given solids and
surfaces, and generate new surfaces defining the pieces of the intersection.
This exercise gives an overview of the solids Intersector Tool.
In this exercise we will demonstrate the options available with the
Intersector Tool, using two, rudimentary closed solids.
A. Create a new Geometry Object in folder Intersection called results, and
put it in Edit mode.
B. Highlight the folder Intersection, click right and choose Import $
DTM. Select the file Prism.dtm from the file chooser.
C. Repeat the procedure to import the file Box.dtm.
D. Change the properties of the object Prism.dtm, so that the color is pink.
Page 619
The Intersector
Tool
Click Surface$Intersector Tool. The Intersector Tool will appear on your

screen.
Solid A - The first set of solids chosen to be used with the

Intersector Tool. After selecting the A solid, or group of
solids, click right to end the selection.
In our case Solid A is the Prism.
Solid B - the second set of solids chosen to be used with the
Intersector Tool. Click right after making the selection.
In our case Solid B is the Box.
All Components - all the separate components created by the
intersection of the two solids will be saved as separate pieces.
Intersection of A and B - Only the portion of the solids
which intersect each other are saved.
Union of A and B - The portions of each solid which are
unique are saved and merged together. (i.e., everything except
what was saved for the intersection option).
Solid A - Solid B - Solid A with the portion defined by the
intersection of A and B removed.
Solid B - Solid A - Solid B with the portion defined by the
intersection of A and B removed.
Lines of Intersection - between the two solids.
Using the Intersector Tool, click on the Solid A icon. In the

Viewer, select the Prism, and then click right. A blue box appears around
Solid A.
Now click on the Solid B icon. Select the Box, and click right. A grey box
appears around Solid B.
Select the icon representing All Selections (the first one). Use the Preview
icon to check the results, then click Apply.
The Open a Geometry File window will appear. Highlight folder Intersector
and name the object All and click New.
Close objects Prism.dtm and Box.dtm.
Page 620
Close object All.

Open objects Box.dtm and Prism.dtm.
Repeat the steps given above for any or all of the other options given in the
Intersector Tool.
Create a Pit
Clipped to Original
Topo
Now we will use the Intersector Tool to create a pit clipped to the original
topography.
Open TRI807 in folder Pits, and tri901bnd in folder Training. Create a new
Geometry Object in folder intersection called merge807. Put it in Edit
mode.
Bring up the Intersector Tool by clicking Surface $ Intersector Tool.
Click on the blue surface in group A, then click on the Topography. This
function allows you to choose from the viewer or with the OCB. Click right,
then click on the blue surface in group B, then click on the Pit. Make sure
boxes come up around the surfaces. Click right to complete group B
selections.
Select the A-B option, which is the fourth from the left. Click Preview.
The result of the intersection will be highlighted in gold. This should be the
section of topo outside the pit and the section of pit below topo.
To save this result, click Apply. Save the results to the Open Edit object,
merge807.
Close the Intersector Tool window.
Close TRI807 and tri901bnd.
Page 621
Double click on merge807 to bring up the Properties window. On the

Surface tab, uncheck Show Lines, and check Show Faces.
If your topo surface and your pit surface were both triangulated from
polylines on the same planes, the resulting surface may have holes. To avoid
this problem, enter an offset of 0.1 in elevation, in the Intersector Tool
window before clicking Apply. Another solution is to triangulate inside the
openings. To do this, click Surface $ Check for Openings. Then click on
the surface. Yellow highlights will appear around the edges of the holes.
Click Tools $ Utility Markers $ Copy to Edit Object. This will save these
highlights as polylines in merge807.
Page 622
Sept 2000
Click the Clear Markers icon to remove the yellow highlights.

Now select just the polylines in merge807. Do this by clicking on
merge807 in the Data Manager. Then click right, and click Select
$ Polylines $ All. Click right in the Viewer to complete the selection.
Next, click Surface $ Triangulate Surface $ Inside Polyline Boundary.
Click on each of the selected polylines.
Finally, we need to merge the triangulated holes into the rest of the surface.
Start by deleting the selected polygons, then save the data. Now select the
entire surface. Click Surface $ Merge Selected.
Check the surface for self-intersecting triangles as well.
Unselect and close merge807.
Page 623
Page 624
Section 7Drillholes
Section 7Drillholes
Learning Outcome
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Attaching Drillhole
Data
Set up drillhole views and all their properties.

View drillholes in 2-D mode with strips and histograms.
Query and edit drillholes.
Spear drillholes based on a 3-D solid.
Generate points for the top surface represented by drillhole data.
Create a new folder under New Resource Map called assays.

In the Data Manager window, click on the assays folder. Click right, then
click on New $ DHView. Name the view CU.
The DHView Data Selection window will appear. Click Select PCF, and
choose msop10.dat. A list of all the assay and survey files in the PCF will
appear. The default is to list assay files, however, composite and blasthole
files are accessible as well. Click on msop11.dat for the assay file, and
msop12.dat for the survey file. Click OK. Notice that the OK button is not
activated until both files are chosen.
October 2000
Page 71
Section 7Drillholes
Next, a window will appear with the option to limit the items available in the
Drillhole View. Clicking Yes brings up a list of items in the assay file. Items
can be selected or unselected. Only selected items can be used in the
Drillhole View. Clicking No allows access to all the items in the assay file.
Now the Drillhole View Properties window will appear. Go to the Intervals
tab.
Page 72
October 2000
Section 7Drillholes
First the display item must be selected. Click the Intervals tab. In
the bottom left corner, click the Item Selection icon.
Select the item CU from the list and click Apply. Now click the Cutoffs
button. Click the Intervals button.
Set the minimum to 0, the maximum to 2, and the increment to 0.2. Click OK
and the cutoffs will appear. However, all the cutoffs are now the same color.
To set the colors, select all the cutoffs, and click the Properties button. The
Object Properties window will come up.
October 2000
Page 73
Section 7Drillholes
Click on Set Color by Range.

This option allows you to specify a range of the color spectrum to use in
coloring the cutoffs. Use the slider bars to choose a section of the spectrum
and click OK. Click OK on the Object Properties window. Now the cutoffs
will be colored. Close the Cutoffs Window.
Now that the display item is set up, the drillholes must be loaded. To do this,
click the Selection tab. Click Select All, and then click Load Selection. The
drillholes will appear in the Viewer. Click OK to shut down the Drillhole
View Properties window.
Drillhole View
Options
Selection Tab
Now, lets take a closer look at the drillhole options. Double click on CU in
the Data Manager window to bring up the Drillhole View Properties
window.
The Selection tab controls the loading and unloading of individual drillholes
within the drillhole view. On the left side of the window is a list of all the
drillholes in the File 11. All the drillholes with a check next to it are loaded.
In this window, selecting a drillhole means highlighting it on this list. Once
the drillhole is selected, it can be loaded by clicking the Load Selection
button or unloaded by clicking the Unload Selection button.
There are several ways to select drillholes. We already used the Select All
button. Select by grade allows you to specify a range of values for any item.
Any drillhole which has at least one interval in that range will be selected.
Select by location will check collar locations against a user-specified area.
Select by ID allows you to type in specific drillhole IDs. Reset before Load
unloads all the drillholes, and then loads only the selected drillholes.
Page 74
October 2000
Section 7Drillholes
Intervals Tab
The Intervals tab controls the display properties of the individual assay
intervals. Along the top of the window is where the listing of assay values,
called Labels, is set up. Click on Add Label to display assay values. Then
click on the Item Selector icon to choose a value to display. Lets display
CU. Click Apply. Zoom in and youll see the CU values displayed for each
assay interval.
To color the item labels according to the cutoffs, choose Coloring by Cutoff
under Item Label Style. The height of the numbers and their positions within
the interval can be changed here as well.
Several item labels can be used on either side of the drillhole trace. Just click
Add Label each time. The thick black line indicates the drillhole trace. Just
click the arrows next to Move Label to change the position of the labels.
There is a 2-D label offset factor, and one for 3-D mode, if you dont like the
default offsets provided.
The Interval filtering option allows the selection of individual intervals for
displaying based on an item value. Integer and floating point data can be
entered as single values separated by commas, as a range separated by a
colon, or as a combination of the two.
Display Tab
The Display tab has some general display options. The Trace options refer
to the survey trace. This does not display color cutoffs, just the position of
the trace.
The ID label is the drillhole ID.
The Projection Volume controls how far the DH will be projected in 2D
mode.
Strips / Histogram Tab
Strips and histograms are an option that only shows up in 2-D mode. Put
your viewer in 2-D mode using Grid Set msop25.ew-gridset. Click the button
to Add strip. Choose CU as the color item. View the results.
A histogram can be made by adding a histogram item and adjusting the
maximum value; a value that is appropriate for the item. Instead of a
histogram, you can choose a pattern item. There is a different pattern for
polygon fill for each cutoff.
Info Tab
The Info tab contains information on the files used in this Drillhole View.
Under System Notes, there is a list of all the items in the File 11, along with
their minimum, maximum and number of decimals. User notes is a place
where you can record your own notes about the Drillhole View.
Click OK to shut down the Drillhole View Properties window. If you want to
bring it back up, either double click on CU or highlight CU, click right, and
select Properties.
October 2000
Page 75
Section 7Drillholes
Drillhole Editing
Viewing Items
It is possible to edit your drillholes in MineSight 2. Remember that editing

here does change the File 11, so be careful. To edit, highlight CU in the Data
Manager window, click right, and select Edit.
This window always comes up in browse mode to guard against accidental

edits. To limit the items displayed click View $ Items. This allows you to
display only the items you want to see. Another beneficial display option is
View $ Use Cutoff Color. All items for which cutoffs have been set up will
use these cutoffs on the table.
The drillhole pull-down list on the right allows you to pick a drillhole to
view, or you can click on a drillhole in the viewer.
Before going into Edit mode, it is a good idea to make a backup. This can be
done by clicking File $ Backup file.
Edit Mode
To switch to Edit mode, click Edit $ Edit Drillhole. Notice that REF#,
FROM, TO, and AI are not editable. This information is protected.
To save the changes as you go along, just click the Apply button. This
permanently saves the changes to File 11.
Edit mode only allows you to edit one interval at a time. To change several
intervals, use the Select Intervals mode. To get into this mode, click Edit $
Select intervals. Draw a box around the intervals you want to edit. The
selected intervals will be highlighted in yellow. The assay data for the entire
hole will be listed in the Edit window with the selected intervals highlighted
in blue. Choose the item you wish to edit and enter a value for that item.
Then click Options $ Fill Selected Intervals. Then, to save these changes to
File 11, click Apply.
Page 76
October 2000
Section 7Drillholes
Composites
There are two composite options in MineSight 2. Lets

look at composite intervals first. Click Edit $ Composite
Intervals. Now, draw a box around the intervals you want
to composite. They will be highlighted in yellow and
listed in the Edit window. Click Composite in the
Composites window. MineSight will calculate the
composite values for all the items listed in the Edit
window.
While this option does not affect File 9, notice that the
results are available afterwards. You can enter a value in
the Value fill-in, and an item name in the Item pull-down
list. Then choose Options $ Fill selected intervals. Thus,
you can use the results of the compositing function as a
guide to code those intervals.
The other composite option is Dynamic Composites. To
get into this mode, click Edit $ Dynamic Composite.
Pick a drillhole to composite by clicking on it in the Viewer, or choosing it

from the pull-down menu in the Edit window. Next, choose a display item in
the Dynamic Drillhole Composite Window. You can also add a comment,
which will appear as a label. Click the Composite button. Now, click and
drag on the drillhole to select a portion of it to composite. As you drag
downward on the drillhole, the composite values will automatically change,
as will the color of the composite in the Viewer.
October 2000
Page 77
Section 7Drillholes
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While Dynamic Compositing can be done in 2D mode, highlights dont show up for this
function in 2-D mode. Additionally, unless the
resulting Geometry Object is exactly on your
current plane, it will not be visible in 2-D mode,
so 3-D mode is recommended.
The Apply button will save your composite as a Geometry Object. If there is
no open Geometry Object, a window will come up allowing you to select or
create one. This will include the composite values as text. The text will be in
N-S vertical section so you might have to change your dip to see it. The
Reset button allows you to start over. The composited values are saved in the
new object.
EXERCISE
Page 78
Create a drillhole view of composite data. Use files msop12.dat. Place the
view in the Composite folder. Make the display item ROCKX. Copy the
cutoffs for ROCKX from item ROCK. The cutoffs are 0, 1, and 2.
October 2000
Section 7Drillholes
Spearing
Drillholes
Drillholes can be coded based on a solid that has been created in

MineSight. We will use pit807solid to code those intervals that are within
the pit.
A. Close all objects except drillhole view CU in folder assays.
B. Open object pit804solid in folder intersection. Set its properties to view
it in Wireframe mode.
C. Double click on drillhole view CU to bring up its properties.
D. On the Spear tab, click the red block to select a Geometry Object.
E. From the Select a Geometry Object window, select pit807solid in folder
intersection. It will show up in the white box labeled Selected geometry.
F. Choose ROCKX as the code item. Code items MUST be integers; that is,
they must have a precision of 1.0.
G. In the Options area, choose to code intervals if they are 50% inside the
solid.
H. Click Preview. You should get this warning window.
October 2000
Page 79
Section 7Drillholes
Do not proceed. The warning window is telling you that the material
associated with pit807solid has a default model / DH code which is higher
than the maximum value of item ROCKX. Note that on the Spear tab, the
range of ROCKX was 0 to 10. Since object pit807solid has the default
material geometry, its model / DH code has the default value of 999.
We will make a new material, and associate it with pit807solid to get the
desired range.
A. Highlight the materials folder, click right and choose New $ material.
Name it code1.
B. Double click on this new material, choose the Material tab, and set its
model code to 1. This code is used, as it says in the panel, to code either
models or drillholes.
C. Set the VBM code also to 1. Press the Tab key to set your changes, then
click OK.
D. Now double click object pit807solid in folder intersection, to bring up
its properties.
E. Use the drop-down list to change its material to code1. Click OK to close
its Properties window.
F. Re-do the spearing process.
1. Choose the geometry object, pit807solid.
2. Set the item to be coded to ROCKX and code when intervals are
50% inside the solid.
3. Click Preview. All intervals that will be coded will show up with
highlights.
4. Now click Update to actually do the spearing.
G. On the Intervals tab, temporarily change the display item for drillhole
view CU to ROCKX to verify your results. You will need to set intervals
to 0-5 by 1. Set cutoff colors for item ROCKX on the same tab. Click
Apply to see your changes. Drillhole intervals inside the pit should be a
different color than those outside. In the figure below, the intervals that
were coded with a value of 1 also have thicker lines, to make it easier to
see the difference. Object tri807 has been loaded as well.
Page 710
October 2000
Section 7Drillholes
When you are done examining the results of spearing, set the display item
for drillhole view CU back to CU on the Intervals tab of the Drillhole
Properties window. Close all open Geometry Objects.
Creating Points
From Drillhole
Data
The Points tab can also produce valuable information. Double

click on drillhole view CU to bring up its Properties window.
Choose the Points tab. On this tab, choose the option for Top
occurrence, choose item CU using the Item selection icon.
Choose a minimum value of 0.2 and click Generate.
Since you have no Edit object, the Open a Geometry Object window will
come up. Click folder assays, give the new Geometry Object the name cu
points, and click Open. A point will appear in each drillhole that contains a
value for CU greater than 0.2. All these points are stored in object cu points.
Close the drillhole view to see the points that you created.
Exporting the
Point Data
This data can be exported as x-y-z data or as survey data. Highlight object cu
points, click right, choose Export, then choose 3D points (ASCII) file.
Supply the name cu.xyz, and click Save. Similarly, choose Export, then
choose Survey (ASCII) file. Supply the name cu.srv, and click Save. You
can look at these two files with Notepad or Kedit to see the difference in the
format.
Triangulating the
Data into a
Surface
A surface can be generated from these points as well. Create a new

Geometry Object called cu 0.2 surface in folder assays. Put it in Edit mode.
Then select all the points in the viewer and choose Surface $ Triangulate
surface $ With selection. Send results to the Open Edit object. In this case,
there will be no resulting surface. This is because the triangulator did not
know the direction of preferred triangulation with point data. Try again, but
this time choose Surface $ Triangulate surface $ With selection in plan.
Send the results to the Open Edit object. A surface should appear. Adjust the
properties of cu 0.2 surface to show faces.
October 2000
Page 711
Section 7Drillholes
Page 712
October 2000
Section 8Models
Section 8Models
Learning Outcome
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
Create model views, and adjust their properties in 3-D and 2-D modes.
View exposed ore on a surface in the model area.
Create gradeshells.
Query the model and view values for all model items.
Display the model on a non-orthogonal plane.
Create File 13 model views.
Code the File 15 model based on solids created in the project.
Grid a surface into File 13.
In this section we will look at how to display File 15 items. Close all open
objects.
3-D Block Model

Views
Create a folder called Models. In Models, create a new folder called

MSOP15.DAT.
Highlight MSOP15.DAT, click right, and select New $ Model View. Name
the view CU, and click OK.
Select MSOP10.DAT as the PCF and MSOP15.DAT as the model file. The
Model View Editor window will appear.
Set the primary display item to CU. Cutoffs have already been set for this
item.
Click the Range tab. There are two sets
of controls here. One is for 3-D mode
and the other is for 2-D mode. For each
set of controls there are slider bars for
the elevation, eastings and northings.
Adjust these to see the area you are
interested in. Click Apply to see the
changes take effect.
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Check Immediate Viewer

Refresh to make changes take
effect without having to click
Apply.
Use the slider bars to find a section of the model with some variety in the
grades.
Sept 2000
Page 81
Section 8Models
3-D Display
Options
Click on the Display tab. The default 3-D display style is Surface/Slab. This
shows the actual value in each block on a surface type view.
Change the 3-D display style to Filled Polygons, and click Apply. Zoom in
close to the model. You can see that instead of colors on a surface, the model
is shown as individual flat blocks. Only 90% of each block is shown. This
percentage can be changed on the Options tab.
Page 82
Section 8Models
Change the style to Contours, and click Apply. Zoom out so you can see the
difference. Instead of individual blocks the values are contoured. This is a
good style for grade items that change gradually but isnt appropriate for
code items which often change abruptly.
Change the style to Smooth Contours and click Apply. This is the same as
Contours, except the boundaries between the different cutoffs are indistinct.
The last display style is 3D blocks. Before changing to blocks, make sure
only a small portion of the model is being displayed. Blocks take a lot of
memory to display and can overload your computer.While using this, make
sure Immediate Viewer Refresh isnt checked.
Change to 3D Blocks and click Apply. Then click on the Cutoffs button.
Highlight the <0 cutoff, and click Properties. On the Surfaces tab, uncheck
Show Faces. Click OK. Do the same with the 0 cutoff. This allows you to
see only the blocks you are interested in. This works in 3D Blocks, Filled
Polygons, and Surface/Slab display styles.
Page 83
Section 8Models
When looking at model views, it is often helpful to turn the Lights off.
Lights allow us to see shading on 3-D objects. When looking directly at flat
objects, Lights can produce a glare that makes it difficult to see. MineSight
also performs better (quicker) with Lights turned off.
Lights can be turned off and on with the Light Toggle icon. More
options are available in the Viewer Properties window on the
Lighting tab.
Exposed Ore
Display
Lets see how to show model grades on surfaces, which is called an exposed
ore display.
Open Tri804CT in folder Pits.
Change the 3-D display style of model view CU back to Surface/Slab, and
click Apply.
Click on the Geometry tab.
Click on the Select button and choose Tri804CT.
Click Exposed Ore.
Close the Properties window for model view CU.
Page 84
Section 8Models
To get rid of the exposed ore display, open model view CU and bring up the
Properties window. Click the Geometry tab and click Clear Exposed Ore.
Gradeshells
Gradeshells are three-dimensional contours of File 15 model items. In this

section we will learn how to create and save Gradeshells.
Open model view CU by highlighting it in the Data Manager, clicking right

and clicking Open. Double click on CU to bring up the Properties window.
On the Display tab set the 3-D Display Type to GradeShell.
Click on the Range tab. Set the range so that the entire model is shown.
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Only the area of the model shown on the Range tab

will be used in computing the GradeShell. If you only
want a certain section of the model, adjust the Range
tab to reflect that area.
Page 85
Section 8Models
Click on the GradeShell tab. Set the

Gradeshell primary item to CU. Enter
0.6 in the Compute GradeShell above
box. Click Apply.
You can save the GradeShell to a

Geometry Object. Click Save
GradeShell, choose folder msop15.dat,
enter the name cu shell, and click Open.
A new object will be created which
holds the GradeShell. You can change
the properties on this object by checking
Show surfaces as solid, and turning lines
and polylines OFF.
The model view changes into a gradeshell. Notice that gradeshells may be
made up of several parts and all the parts are solids.
We will calculate another gradeshell, this time constrained by two items

instead of just one.
Page 86
Section 8Models
On the GradeShell tab, check the option to Limit by Secondary Item. Set
the item to ROCK. Set the greater than (>=) value to 2. Click Apply.
You can also create gradeshells of code items, but you must check the option
Item is an Integer/Code value.
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When you are done creating gradeshells, choose the

Range tab in the Model View Editor window, and
reduce the range to just a few benches. Also change
the 3-D display type on the Display tab to Standard
view. Make sure the display style is contours, then
click Apply. This will minimize the amount of
memory used the next time you load this model view.
Page 87
Section 8Models
2-D Display
Options
On the Display tab, the area labeled Display in sectional views controls the
display characteristics in 2-D mode.
A. In the Viewer Properties window, attach msop25.ew_gridset from folder
E-W Section to the viewer.
B. Change to 2-D mode. Choose plane 4740. Click OK.
C. Try out the different display styles in 2-D mode.
D. Step to plane 4890 and notice that only the current plane is visible.
If you step beyond the visible range of the model, you will see nothing. Also,
only the faces of the blocks are visible.
Text Items
In 2-D mode, with an orthogonal Grid Set along the model block faces, text
items can be displayed.
A. Choose plane 4740.
B. On the Model View Properties window, choose the Display tab, and set
the Sectional views display type to Filled polygons.
C. Choose the Options tab.
D. In the Text Items dialog, use the Item selection icon to
choose CU as a text item.
E. Check the box to the left of CU, and click Apply.
F. You can change the number of decimals that are displayed.
Page 88
Section 8Models
Uncheck the box by the text item when you are done.
Model Query
Although only one model item at a time can be displayed, the

entire model is in memory and can be queried. Use the Query
icon to query a model block. Use the slider bar on the right of the
CU window to view the values of all the items in the model.
Notice that there is an Edit option in this window. Choose Edit $ Edit. The
values for the model items are no longer grayed out and they can be changed.
IMPORTANT: consider carefully, how much work went into

interpolating the model before changing any values.
Non-Orthogonal
Grids and Model
Views
If you choose a Grid Set that does not line up with the model dimensions,
you will need to take a few more steps to see the model view.
A. With your model view open, open Grid Set nonortho.
B. Change to 3-D mode with clipping. Set the clipping range to equal at 25
meters.
Page 89
Section 8Models
C. Choose a grid that intersects the model view, as shown in the figure
below.
D. Now go into 2-D mode. The model view disappears. This is because
there are no block faces that are aligned with your non-orthogonal grid.
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To display the model view on a grid which is

not aligned with the model dimensions:

on the View Options tab of the Viewer
Properties window, check the box to
Snap Edit grid to current plane.

On the Display tab of the Model View
Properties window, check the box to
Display on edit grid, and click Apply.
The visible range of the model view
will be displayed on the edit grid.
Page 810
Section 8Models
2-D Surface Model

Views
Close model view CU, and change to 3D mode without clipping. Close Grid
Set nonortho. Create another folder
within Models called MSOP13.DAT.
Highlight MSOP13.DAT, click right,
and select New $ Model View. Call it
TOPOG.
The Model View Editor window will
appear. As the primary display item is
set to TOPOG by default, that doesnt
need to be set.
Click the Cutoffs button to set the
cutoffs. The cutoffs for TOPOG are
minimum 2600, maximum 2900 and an
increment of 50. Highlight the cutoffs,
and click Properties. Click Set Color by
Range. Click OK, then OK again. The
surface will appear in the viewer. Close the Cutoffs window.
Sept 2000
Page 811
Section 8Models
Click on the Range tab. Notice only one

level is listed here. The Northing and
Easting can be adjusted using the slider
bars. Make sure to Click Apply after each
change to see it take effect.
7LSVDQG7ULFNV
Click Immediate Viewer Refresh to make

changes take effect without having to use the
Apply button.
Click OK to close the Properties window.
Page 812
Section 8Models
Create another view in folder MSOP13.DAT. To do this highlight folder

MSOP13.DAT in the Data Manager and click right. Select New $ Model
View. Name the view PIT1.
Select MSOP10.DAT as the PCF and MSOP13.DAT as the model file.
Change the Primary Display Item to PIT1. Set the cutoffs for PIT1 to
minimum of 2200, a maximum of 2900, and an interval of 50. Click OK.
Set the colors by highlighting all of the cutoffs and clicking Properties.
Click Set Color By Range. Click OK then OK again. Close the Cutoffs
window. The surface appears in the viewer.
Item PIT1 contains a pit surface. Knowing this we can see that the color
cutoffs look correct, but the surface is the same as the topo we looked at
before. To see why, click on the GSM/Surfaces tab.
Page 813
Section 8Models
The Surface Elevation item is set to

TOPOG. So the item displayed using the
color cutoffs is PIT1 as shown on the
Display tab. However, the item which
determines the surfaces elevations is set
to TOPOG as shown on the
GSM/Surfaces tab.
Change the Surface Elevation item to
PIT1 and click Apply. Now the cutoffs
and elevations match.
Now look at the Default Elevation options on the GSM/Surfaces tab. These
options only affect the surface, not the cutoffs. These options are particularly
nice if there are unset values in your model item. In MineSight unset values
are actually large negative numbers. This causes cliffs in the surface. To
avoid this, enter a minimum elevation for the surface, and click Apply. This
creates a flat surface at the minimum elevation whenever the values go
below the minimum.
Page 814
Section 8Models
In this figure, the minimum elevation has been set to 2550.
If you dont want to see these areas, click Suppress Elevations Below Min.
MineSight has the ability to save File 13 model views as Geometry Objects.
This is also located on the GSM/Surfaces tab of the Properties window.
Page 815
Section 8Models
To do this click the Select button in the

Save Surfaces area. Select the folder in
which to save the surfaces. Lets save
this surface in folder MSOP13.DAT.
Click OK.
Click Save. Select the item which you
want to save. Lets save the surface we
are looking at which is PIT1. Click OK.
Close the Model View Editor window.
Close the model view by highlighting it
in the Data Manager, clicking right, and
selecting Close.
Now the wireframe of the surface should
be the only thing in the viewer. Notice
that the color cutoffs are not saved onto
this surface.
Preparing Your
Materials for
Coding the Model
MineSight can code both File 15 using solids, and File 13 using surfaces.
In folder materials, double click on material 101 to bring up its properties.
Choose the Material tab, and set the model code to 1. Press the Tab key, and
then click OK.
Similarily, set the mode code for material 102 to 2, and for 103 to 3.
Coding File 15
Lets use the solids we built earlier to code File 15 model item ALTR. Start
by opening Geometry Objects 101solid, 102solid, and 103solid in folder
solids under folder alteration.
Create another model view in folder MSOP15.DAT and call it ALTR.
Double click on Model View ALTR and set the primary display item to
XTRA2.
This item has a minimum of 0, a maximum of 5, and a precision of 1.0, so it
can be used as a code item. Set its cutoffs to 0 to 5 by 1, and set colors for
the cutoffs. On the Range tab, limit the range.
Click the Geometry tab.
Click the Select button. Highlight folder Solids and click OK.
7LSVDQG7ULFNV
The only way to select more than one solid for model
coding is to select the folder that contains the solids.
Any solids used for coding must be open.
Page 816
Section 8Models
Click Code Model. This will take you to the Code Model tab.
Set this window up as shown below. We will code on a whole-block basis
with a block being coded if 50% is inside the solid. The item we are coding
is XTRA2.
When the coding is complete, click the Range tab. Step through the model to
check the coding.
Change the properties of the solids so that they are displayed in wireframe
mode. This will make it easier to check the coding.
Page 817
Section 8Models
Gridding File 13
Close the three solids and the model view.

Open model view TOPOG. We are going to code TOPOG so that the pit
will be in that surface.
Open merge804 in folder intersection.
Double click on model view TOPOG to
bring up the Properties window. Click
the Geometry tab. Click Select and
choose merge804. This will activate the
lower half of this window.
The default model item to code (or grid
as it is also called) is TOPOG so that is
already set. Click Grid.
Close the surface merge804.
Page 818
Section 9Plotting
Section 9Plotting
Learning
Objectives
A. Do a quick screen capture using the printer icon.
B. Create a Plot Layout for more detailed plotting.
C. Create and customize title blocks.
D. Set up plot layout options, including setting up plot limits.
E. Add labels; use element attribution to change their display attributes.
Getting Started
There are two ways to plot in MineSight 2. The Printer icon will
create a plot of the current viewer. Plot layouts are more polished
plots that can have title blocks, more than one viewer and a userspecified scale.
We will start by setting up an interesting view to plot. Close all open objects
and open drillhole view CU, in folder assays, merge804 which is in folder
Intersection, and 101 and 102 in folder E-WSection.
Double click on drillhole view CU to bring up the Properties window. On
the Display tab, make sure that the Projection volume is +- 25m.
Set up the Intervals tab so that the CU grades will be listed on the left-hand
side of the drillhole traces, and will be colored by cutoff.
On the Strips/Histograms tab, set up a strip on the right-hand side of the
drillhole trace. Click Add Strip, then use the Book icon to set the color item
to CU. Uncheck the option to Show Interval Outlines. Click Apply, then
shut down the Drillhole View Properties window.
Go into 2-D mode using Grid Set msop25.ew-gridset. Go to plane 5040.
Page 91
Section 9Plotting
Your viewer should now look like the picture below. Now that we have this
nice section, lets print it.
Plotting with the

Printer Icon
The quick way to plot is to use the Printer icon. This will only plot
everything in the active viewer. To do this, click on the Printer
icon and choose where to send the plot. The options are the
Printer, an HPGL file, a Postscript file, or a Metafile.
The Printer option sends the plot through the Windows Print Manager. All of
the plotting options are specified there. For all the other options, a filename
must be specified as well as paper size and plot orientation.
Lets choose HPGL2 file. The name already has the directory specified.
Name the plot Sect. Leave the page size at A4 and change the orientation to
Landscape. Check the box to Display scale information. Click OK.
Page 92
Section 9Plotting
Now the Plane Selection window will come up. Since we are in 2-D mode,
we must specify which plane we want printed. Highlight plane 5040 and
click OK.
Use Explorer to see the plot file we just created:

sect_msop25.ew 5040.00.hpg
The plane name is just added onto the name we specified.
Plots created with the Printer icon will be scaled plots. The scale is
determined according to the paper size and the area displayed in the viewer.
Zooming in and out is the easiest way to adjust the scale. However, you can
choose to use the viewer grid limits. This is explained in the next section.
The Plot Layout

Option
More detailed plots can be created with the plot layout option. Create a
folder called Plots. Click Plots, click right, and select New-Plot Layout.
Call it Section, and click OK.
Plot layouts are set up by default to plot what is in the current viewer.
However, title blocks and multiple viewers can be plotted as well. A title
block must be created before it can be added to a plot. Highlight folder Plots
in the Data Manager window, and click right. Select New $ Title Block.
Accept the default name and click OK.
Page 93
Section 9Plotting
To adjust the look of the title block, double click on it in the Data Manager
window. Notice in the top right corner of the Title Box Editor, the total
width and total height is listed. The total width and total height can be
changed by adding or removing columns or rows. The height and width of
the individual rows and columns can also be adjusted. When adjusting row
heights, make sure to adjust the font height accordingly. In the bottom right
corner is a list of variables that can be used to set up title blocks.
Notice when you change the size of the title block, the display in the Title
Box Editor stays the same. It is a good idea to plot just the title box before
using it to make sure it looks good in print.
Enter Sample Project in the second column on the top row, and press the
Tab key. Then click Apply. Click Preview to see how the title block will
look. In preview mode here, a default scale and plane are supplied. Close the
Title Block Editor window.
Title Block Notes
Since the size of a title block is not variable, it is usually best to create a
series of title blocks, one for each standard size plot you will create. Adjust
the text size, column widths and row heights to the desired size in the Title
Block Editor window, then click Apply, and Preview to see the results.
When they are satisfactory, close the Title Block Editor window.
When HPGL 2 plots are created, font sizes may be different, as HPGL fonts
are not True Type fonts. Because of this, the Title Block Preview may show
all the text inside the title block, but the printed output may not look as good.
If you are planning to create HPGL 2 plots, it will be best to make a plot
layout that includes ONLY the title block, and print it out. When you have
the title block sized correctly for HPGL 2 plots, you can go on to produce
plots
with this title block using the plot layout method.
Page 94
Section 9Plotting
Editing your Plot

Layout
Double click on the plot layout object in folder plots. The Plot Layout
Editor window will come up. By default, the current viewer will be plotted.
It is represented by the red block in the yellow square. On the Page tab, the
default page size is set to 8 x 11, and the default orientation is portrait.
Use the pull-down box to set the orientation to landscape, and to look at the
other options for page size.
Choose the Area tab. To activate the options on this tab, click left on the
current viewer image.
Page 95
Section 9Plotting
By default, the viewer is placed with a 5% margin on each side of the page,
taking up 90% of the page in each direction. Choose Print $ Preview, and
accept the current plane as the plane to preview.
The plot would look better with grids. Click on the Viewer
Properties icon, choose the Grids tab, and choose a grid style of
labels and lines. Close the Viewer Properties window.
We would also like to use the title block. Click the Plus icon to
add a new area. Click left on the area to activate it, then choose a
type of title block. The first title block in your project will be
found, and it is the one we just created. Click Apply to save your
changes to the plot layout, then click Print $ Preview again. A better
looking plot will be created.
Page 96
Section 9Plotting
If you had multiple title blocks, you could highlight the title block area, then
click on the red Block icon and choose the desired title block. If you want to
use named viewers for additional viewers in the plot layout, click on the
viewer to activate, then on the Area tab change the type to viewer. The red
block will be activated and you can select a different viewer. For now, use
the current viewer.
Plot Page Settings

(Plot Layout) or
Plot Settings
(Printer Icon)
If you would like to specify the origin and plot limits of your plots, there are
two methods: you can either use the viewer grid set limits, or you can
specify the limits. These options are under the Plot Page Settings button of
the plot layout, or the Plot Settings button of the Printer icon.
If you want to set exact limits in your plot layout, there is some preliminary
setup to be done first.
A. On the Area tab, click left on the main viewer, then check the box to
Use grid set limits.
B. In the Area Configuration section of the Area tab, choose the two
middle icons so that only the left and right margins will be specified.
This allows the size of the plot to expand and contract based on your
specified limits. Use a value such as 5% for the left, right, top, and
bottom margins. If you choose percentages, then the plot size will stay
the same, relative to the plot area as you change the scale.
Viewer Grid Set Limits
Now click the Plot Page Settings button on the Page tab. By default, the plot
is set to use the viewer grid set limits. The size of the drawing will be
controlled by the scale set on this page, and by the limits of the Grid Set. On
the Page tab of the Plot layout editor, observe how the custom plot page size
varies as you vary the scale. Click Apply in the Plot Settings dialog. With
this particular Grid Set, a scale of 15000:1 is needed to bring the page size
down to less than 36 in one dimension, so that it can be printed on standard
plotter roll paper.
Click Save set at the bottom of the plot settings dialog. Save this set as
Ewgridset. You can use it again in a later session to plot with the same
origin and plot limits.
Page 97
Section 9Plotting
User-Defined Limits
If you prefer to set limits other than those of the Grid Set, and you are
working with a plot layout, you must still execute the two preliminary steps
above. Then when you bring up the Plot Settings dialog, click on the radio
button to Use Defined Limits. Enter limits which will be more suitable to
this data:
Easting 2000-3500
Elevation 2150 to 2850
Scale 1:5000 in horizontal and vertical
directions
Keep your orientation from the viewer Grid Set. In this case, all the planes in
the Grid Set are available for plotting. If instead, you use orientation in one
of the orthogonal views, only the plane you specify will be available.
Click Apply, and preview the plot layout again.
Page 98
Section 9Plotting
Save this set as Defined Limits. It also can be invoked in future MineSight2
sessions by bringing up a plot layout, and choosing it from the pull-down list
for plot settings sets in the page settings dialog.
Adding Labels to
your Plot
Sometimes you would like to use a label to add information to a plot.

Usually the label needs to be a different color than what it is labeling. To
store a label with an object, yet display it in a different color, we must use
Element Attribution.
First, we will create the label. In folder E-W Section, put object 101 in Edit
mode. Choose Label $ Create. Click in the viewer at the bottom of object
101, and type in the label, feature 101. Then click OK.
Notice that the label is quite small. Double click on object 101 in folder E-W
Section, and choose the Labels tab. Set the label height to 20 m. Tab and
click OK.
Page 99
Section 9Plotting
When this label is saved, it will be the same color as object 101. But we can
attribute it to make it different. Here are the steps:
Element
Attribution
A. In the Materials folder, create a new material called labels. Set its global
color to white. Set its label size to 20 m.
B. The newly created label should still be selected. Choose Element $
Attribute. Click on the center point of the label to select it from the
viewer. Use Shift+click to unselect if you chose the wrong element.
When you have selected it, click right. The element attribute dialog
comes up. From the pull-down list, choose material labels. Then check
the box to say the Name is the same as material name.
C. Click OK, then save the label. It should be white. Objects that are
rendered white on the screen are plotted in black, so this will be a good
color for labels.
Exercise
Page 910
Add, and attribute labels for object 102 and merge804.

Learning
Objectives
Preparing the Data
Usually an economic pit analysis has been done prior to pit design. In this
case, we have created a DIPPER pit based on M720V1, and created VBM
features representing the pit outlines in an ASCII file. We will bring these in,
and use them to design the pit bottom features.
A. Digitize pit bottoms based on existing data.

B. Expand a pit and build a surface using this data.
A. Under New Resource Map, create a new folder called pit design.
B. Highlight the folder, click right, and choose Import $ VBM (ASCII)
file. Choose dipper.vbm.
C. Feature 806 and associated Grid Set dipper.vbm_gridset will be
imported. Dipper outlines are not always closed polygons, and they are
not smooth. Since pit design works best with smooth polygons, we will
use feature 806 as a guideline to design some pit bottoms.
D. In folder pit design, create a new Geometry Object called pit bottoms.
Allow it to be of the default material geometry. Put it in Edit mode.
E. Attach Grid Set dipper.vbm_gridset from folder pit design to the viewer,
and go into 2-D mode. Choose plane 2240 as the current plane.
F. On the Clipping tab of the Viewer Properties window, check the box to
the left of Selected planes +, and choose five planes in this direction.
G. Choose Polyline $ Create $ Closed polyline. Turn Point Snap on, and
snap to the existing feature; digitizing a new, smooth, closed polyline on
plane 2240.
June 2000
Page 101
H. Digitize a pushback on plane 2285.
I.
Save your edits, close object 806, and go back into 3-D mode with no
clipping.
J. In folder pit design, create a new Geometry Object called pit806, and put
it in Edit mode.
Using the Pit

Expansion Tool
Page 102
You are now ready to create a pit using these digitized pit base features.
A. Choose Tools $ Pit Expansion. The Pit Expansion dialog will come up.
B. On the Expansion tab, in the Base strings area, the Copy radio button
should be marked. Click Add, then in the viewer, click on the first base
string. Click Add again, and add the second. Then close object pit
bottoms to get it out of the way.
C. In the Expansion options area, set the start level to 2240. Check the
radio button for Multiple expansion, and set the number of steps to 5.
June 2000
D. Choose the Required tab. Set the starting elevation to 2240. The bench
height for this project is 15 meters, so leave the step size as is. Accept
the default face slope, but change the pit slope to 50 degrees. Pit slope is
the overall slope of the pit. Set a 5m berm, and set the number of steps
per berm to 1, to create a 5m. berm on every bench.
E. On the Roads tab, add a road. Click on the road, and choose
Edit. Enter 2240 as the starting bench elevation. Click the
digitizing symbol at the top left of the screen to choose a
starting point for the road at the south edge of the lowest pit
bottom feature. Enter 2240 as the level for the road to start, and accept
the default road width, grade, and direction.
June 2000
Page 103
F. You have two options in the Expansion Type dialog. If you choose Face
Slope + Pit Slope, these will be the controlling variables. The berm
width may be wider than specified, if needed to get the required pit
slope. If you choose Face Slope + Berm, your overall pit slope will not
be exceeded, but the face slope and berm specifications will determine
the overall slope in any area of the pit. Choose Face Slope + Berm.
G. Leave the expansion directions at the default values of up and outward.
H. On the Parameter Set tab, enter set1 in the box to Save parameter set,
then click Save. This will save all the settings you have made thus far.
I. Click Preview. The pit looks pretty good. Click Apply to create the pit
features in object pit806.
J. At this point, you have merged with the pushback to the northeast.
Page 104
June 2000
K. This feature has some sharply convex areas and needs to be smoothed
out before we continue to expand the pit. Click Edit strings on the
Expansion tab. Choose the toe at elevation 2315, and click OK. Turn
selection nodes ON, and use a combination of Point move, Point delete,
and Point add to make a smooth contour with a more constant point
density, as shown in the figure below.
Once you save your edits, you will be back in Pit Expansion mode.
Click the radio button for Multiple expansion, set the number of
steps to expand to 30, and click Preview. If it looks good, click
Apply. At this time, you should have created a pit that extends to
elevation 2765. Create new Geometry Feature tri_pitdesign, and put
it in Edit mode. Then close the pit expansion tool, and triangulate
the pit. The final pit should look something like the figure below.
June 2000
Page 105
L. Turn on feature 806 from your dipper pit, and see how you compare.
For a real pit, there are always other considerations in addition to the
economic pit which control the pit design.
If you dont like the resulting pit, you can select all elements of pit806,
delete them, and start again. Your settings will be saved in set1, and you can
load it and use it again.
Merging the Pit

with Topo
Ultimately we want to create a new topography surface which includes our

design pit. Do the following exercise to merge the pit with topography:
A. Create a triangulated surface of topography.
1. Create a new folder called topo. Highlight this folder, click right,
and choose Import $ VBM file. Choose msop25.top. Import all
planes, but only feature 901.
2. The original topography 2-D polylines will appear in object 901.
3. Create a new Geometry Object in folder topo called bnd, with
material boundary. Put it in Edit mode. Material boundary is a
special material used for limiting triangulation.
4. With Point snap ON, choose Polyline $ Create $ Closed polyline,
and carefully snap to the edges of the 901 polylines to digitize a
boundary at the edges of the topography.
5. Create a new Geometry Object called tri_topo in folder topo, and
put it in Edit mode.
6. Use the multi-element selection to choose both object 901 and object
bnd in folder topo, and choose Surface $ Triangulate $ With
selection. Store the results in the Open Edit object.
7. Save and close 901, close bnd, and set the properties of tri_topo so
faces are ON, and lines are OFF on the Surfaces tab.
Page 106
June 2000
B. Intersect the topography with the triangulated pit design.

1. Open objects tri_pitdesign in folder pit design, and tri_topo in
folder topo, and close all other objects.
2. In folder topo, create new Geometry Object merge806. Put it in Edit
mode.
3. Choose Surface $ Intersect surfaces.
4. Choose the topography as group A, and the pit as group B. Choose
the Cut surface option, which patches the secondary below into the
primary surface. Click Preview. If it looks good, click Apply.
5. Close tri_pitdesign and tri_topo, and set the properties of merge806
to view it as a surface.
June 2000
Page 107
Calculating
Reserves
Setting up a Code
Item
Calculating reserves from your pit design
Once you have the pit with topo and original topo surfaces created, reserves
can be calculated for all the area between the two, as long as it is also inside
the model. Reserves can be binned by a code item, which is set in the model.
A code item is always an integer item. For this example, we will set up a
code item in model item ORE, using program m612rp.
A. Choose MS Compass $ Open MS Compass from the menus. Since you
have not yet run MS2Compass, you will need to attach the PCF.
B. Click the Folder icon below the prompt to Create a new project from an
existing PCF.
C. From the MEDSYSTEM PCF window, highlight msop10.dat, and click
Open.
D. Your PCF and its path will be shown in the box below the prompt.
Page 108
June 2000
E. From the Menu tab, select:

Group = 3D Deposit Modeling
Operations = Calculation
Procedure Desc. = User Calcs Model p61201.dat.
Panel 1
On the first panel all we have to specify is the type of model file we are
using, which is a File 15.
June 2000
Page 109
Page 1010
Panel 2
On this panel we have to specify which items we will be using in our

calculation. The items we need are CU and ORE.
Panel 3
This panel allows us to limit our calculation to a range of values of any

model item. We want to range on item CU.
Sept 2000
Panel 4
Here we write our calculation. We want to set ORE equal to 1 where CU is

between 0 and .4. The range command we just did takes care of the CU
requirement.
Panel 5
Choose to store item ORE into msop15.dat.
Now run M612RP again to set ORE equal to 2 when CU is between 0.41 and
2.
June 2000
Page 1011
Checking ORE
It is always a good idea to check any coding to make sure it completed

correctly. We will run statistics to check the coding we just did.
Use M608V1 (Statistics Model) to do this.
It is located under:
Group = 3D DEPOSIT MODELING
Operation = Calculation.
Page 1012
Panel 1
On the first panel, we just have to specify what type of model file we have,
which is a File 15.
Panel 2
On this panel we have to specify the item on which to run statistics.
June 2000
Panel 3
This panel contains the specifications for the histogram.
This is the last panel you have to fill out. Just click Next until the program
runs.
A report file will come up. Scroll down until you see a histogram. This
should show that there are ones and twos in this item.
When you are done, minimize MS Compass.
June 2000
Page 1013
We need a partials file to run reserves on our pit. A partials file contains a
listing of all blocks within the area of interest, and their percentage within
the area.
A. Open objects tri_pitdesign in folder pit design, and tri_topo in folder
topo.
B. Choose Surface $Generate partials. Click the radio button for partials
Between surfaces.
C. In folder msop15.dat under folder models, open model view CU.
D. In the Generate partials window, use the Model view icon to choose the
open model view. Then choose tri_topo as the top surface and
tri_pitdesign as the bottom surface. Click Apply.
E. Partials will be sent to partials file mspart.out.
F. Close the Generate Partials window and restore MineSight Compass.
Setting up
pitres.dat
We will be using pitres.dat to get our reserves. This procedure is located in:
Group = STRIPPER MINE PLANS
Operation = Report
We ignore the first panel on this first run.
Page 1014
June 2000
Panel 2
The second panel is where we specify the pit we want reserves on. For
checking purposes we are going to run reserves on the partials file we just
created.
Panel 3
On this panel we indicate which grade items we want reported. Here also,
item ORE is specified as the zone item.
Sept 2000
Page 1015
Page 1016
Panel 4
Enter the cutoff grades to report.
Panel 5
On this panel all we need are the densities of the ore and waste.
June 2000
Panel 6
On the last panel, all we need is the item which contains the topo
information. Also check the box that Pit is clipped at TOPO.
After this runs, check the report file to make sure you are getting reserves.
This indicates that our setup is OK and is ready to transfer over to
MineSight. The first thing we need to do is rerun pitres.dat with the box on
the first panel checked. This sets everything up for use in MineSight.
Panel 1
June 2000
Page 1017
Now we need to copy mxpert.bat to msrunres.bat. Mxpert.bat was created

by pitres.dat and has all the setup information that MineSight needs.
However, MineSight looks for a file called msrunres.bat so we just copy
one to the other. The reason MineSight uses msrunres.bat is that mxpert.bat
gets overwritten every time a procedure is run. The different name preserves
the information MineSight needs.
Once this is done, we are ready to close MineSight Compass and run
reserves directly from MineSight. This time, close the two surfaces and
open 101solid in folder solids, under folder alteration.
Now click Surface $ Calculate Reserves. Set up the Calculate Reserves
window the same way you set up the Generate Partials window. Click Apply.
A report file will come up with the reserves listed for the volume inside
101solid.
Page 1018
Sept 2000
Now click Surface $ Calculate Reserves. Set up the Calculate Reserves

window the same way you set up the Generate Partials window. Click Apply.
A report file will come up with the reserves listed for the volume inside
101solid.
June 2000
Page 1019
Page 1020
June 2000

Learning Outcome
A. Design a dump starting from a crest contour, using the Extrude tool.
B. Use the Intersector tool to create a solid between the dump and topo.
C. Calculate volume for the dump.
MineSight
Approach &
Exercise 1
This section will aid the user in building a side-hill dump that has a top
elevation of 2900m, an angle of repose of 45 degrees, and expands down
with one continuous slope to intersect existing topography.
Finished project with dump in NW quadrant.
Dump Design and Volume Determination

Step 1
Load topography and set up a Dumps folder.
A. In folder Training, open Geometry Object 901.

B. Under New Resource Map, create a new folder called Dumps.
All new objects dealing with dump design will be stored here (optional).
Step 2
Digitize the top of the dump contour at elevation 2900 in the NW area of
the pit.
A. Create a new Geometry Object

called D2900 in folder Dumps and
set it to Edit mode.
B. Open the Viewer Properties
window. In the View Options tab,
install grid set msop25.top_gridset
(located in folder Training), select
plane 2900, check in 3-D Mode,
and Volume Clipping. Fill in the
Volume Clipping window as
shown.
Viewer Properties windows Clipping tab
October 2000
Page 111
Section 11 Dump Design and Volume Determination
C. Then click Snap Edit Grid to Current Plane in the Viewer Properties
window, and choose plane 2900.
D. Zoom into the NW area of the topography, and digitize contour elevation
2900 of the dump. Click Snap $ Plane Snap, then Polyline $ Create $
Closed Polyline.
E. With Geometry Object D2900 still selected, choose Tools $ Point

Editor to bring up the Point Editor window.
1. Then choose Element $ Move and check the box for Entire
selection.
2. Choose a reference point on polygon D2900. The Point Editor
window will be enabled. Verify that the relative Z check box is
checked, and enter 0.1 in the relative Z value box.
3. Click Apply to move the polygon up 0.1 in the z direction. Click
right, and close the Point Editor window.
Coplanar points, and nearly coincident points, pose a problem when
intersecting solids, so this is done to move the dump crest slightly off the
plane of topography and avoid problems. Then save your data.
Page 112
October 2000
Step 3
Constructing a 3-D dump solid, and a 3-D dump surface from the
digitized contour elevation.
A. Highlight Geometry Object D2900 in the Data Manager window, and

copy to a new Geometry Object called D2900 solid.
D2900 $ Copy
D2900 $ Paste
Copy (1) of D2900 $ Open
Copy (1) of D2900 $ Properties
Resource name: change to D2900 solid
Press the Tab key, and click OK
B. Close D2900 and set D2900 solid to Edit mode. Then place the digitized
dump contour into Selection mode.
C. In folder Training, open Geometry Object tri901bnd. This will be used
as a limiting surface to create the dump solid.
D. Select Tools $ Extrude/Expand Tool, and pick the D2900 dump crest
contour.
E. Fill in the two Extrude windows as shown below. Note that the extrude
direction, given by the azimuth and dip, should be set to 0 and 90
degrees, respectively. The blue arrow indicating this direction should
point straight down. We will use the distance + slope option with an
expand slope of 45 degrees. Also check the options to connect polylines,
and close ends against and along the direction of the arrow.
On the Advanced tab, check the box to Limit by Surface /
Solid. Use the blue Surface icon to select surface tri901bnd,
and click on the radio button for Fill.
October 2000
Page 113
F. Click Preview to see how it looks. You should have the new dump solid,
limited on the bottom by the topo surface. If you get the message Failed
to extrude 1 string, you may have digitized your line clockwise. In this
case, use an expand slope of -45 degrees.
G. If it looks right, click Apply, and send the results to the Open Edit
Object, D2900 solid. Then close the Extrude window. The solid that has
been created is the dump clipped by topo. Check this solid for openings
and self-intersections and fix them if necessary.
H. To create the final topography surface, we will need a surface that
extends through the topography. Create a new Geometry Object in folder
dumps called D2900 surface, and put it in Edit mode. Then verify that
the polygon D2900 is still selected. Close D2900 solid in folder dumps
and tri901bnd in folder Training.
Page 114
October 2000
I.
Choose Tools $ Extrude / Expand Tool, then click on polyline D2900.

Your last settings in the Extrude / Expand window will be remembered.
On the General tab, uncheck the box to Close ends: Along the
direction of the arrow. On the Advanced tab, uncheck the check box to
limit by a surface. Click Preview. Then click Apply.
J. The results of this extrusion will be a surface that is closed at the top and
open at the bottom. We will use Geometry Object D2900 surface later to
make the final topography surface.
October 2000
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Step 4
Computing the Volume of the Dump.
A. Close D2900 and D2900surface. Open D2900solid.

B. Click Surface$Calculate Volume. Select the option In a solid, click the
blue ribbon icon and select Geometry Object D2900Solid. Click Apply.
The volume of the dump is displayed in the MineSight Messages
window. The following shows the dump solid to be checked.
Step 5
Clipping the dump into the final pit topography.
A. In folder Dumps create a new Geometry Object called D2900Merge and

put it in Edit Mode.
B. Close object D2900Solid, and open objects D2900surface and
merge806 from folders Dumps and topo respectively.
C. Click on Surface$Intersector Tool and do the following:
1. Click the blue surface icon in Group A, select the dump then click
right. A blue box will appear around the dump.
2. Click the blue surface icon in Group B, select the topography then
click right. A gray box will appear around the topography.
3. Click on the icon to Return B-A, and click Preview.
Page 116
October 2000
4. If the entire top surface of the topography and the dump turn yellow,
then click Apply. Send the results to the Open Edit Object. Close the
Intersector Tool window and close Geometry Objects D2900solid
and merge806. The only object showing in the viewer should be
D2900Merge. Turn on the faces and turn off the lines for
D2900Merge. The following figure illustrates the final project.
Step 6
Getting Cut and Fill by Levels
Once we have an old and a new surface, we can calculate the volume
between them by level.
A. Close all objects except D2900merge in folder Dumps and merge806 in
folder topo.
B. Choose Surface $ Calculate Volume. Select the option Between
surfaces.
C. Choose D2900merge as the top surface and merge806 as the bottom
surface.
D. Dont limit by polygons, as the surfaces are coincident at their edges.
Check the Levels option.
E. Select Grid Set msop25.top_gridset in folder topo as the controlling
Grid Set.
F. File Cut_Fill_Volumes.txt will be brought up in Notepad. This files lists
the cut and fill for each level of the Grid Set.
October 2000
Page 117
Page 118
October 2000

Learning Outcome
A.
B.
C.
D.
Create a road over existing topography.

Smooth the road using Polyline $ Smooth.
Determine cut and fill volumes between the road and the topo.
Merge the road with existing topo.
In this section, you will design a road and calculate cut and fill volumes for
it. The road that will be designed in this exercise initiates at the west exit of
the pit haul road, elevation 2675, and terminates at the northeast side of the
dump, elevation 2900. The figure illustrates the cut and fill volumes as a
finished project.
Finished project with cut and fill volumes in triangulated

topography background.
To guide us in the design of the road, we will use the surface with the
merged pit and dump surfaces that we created in Section 11, in conjunction
with contours of that surface.
A. Close all other objects, and open the object D2900merge in folder
dumps. Set the Object Properties so faces are visible. Set Transparency
to 50%.
B. Create a new folder under New Resource Map called Road Design.
C. In the Road Design folder, create a new Geometry Object called
Contours D2900merge. Put it in Edit mode.
October 2000
Page 121
D. Choose Polyline $ Contour surface. Click the blue Surface

icon in the Contour Surface window, then click on the
surface in the viewer to select it.
E. Set the contour intervals to start at 2210 and end at 2960, with
a 15-meter increment. Click Apply.
F. Set the viewer to Plan View using the icon, and set the zoom
so that you can view the starting and ending points of the road
(see figure below).
Design a Road
Click on the 3-D Mode icon to go into 3-D mode. Make sure no clipping has
been set.
Create a new Geometry Object in folder Road Design called Centerline. Put
this object into Edit mode.
Turn on Face Snap by clicking Snap $ Face Snap.
Click the Show Selection Nodes icon.
Click Polyline $ Create $ Polyline.
Page 122
October 2000
Using the semi-transparent faces and contours as guides, digitize a centerline

for your road design. Check the dip difference readout at the bottom of the
MineSight window to be sure that your road grade does not exceed 11%
from point-to-point. The last point of the road should be placed on the dump
surface.
Next we want to increase the number of points on the polyline. To do this,

click Polyline $ Densify.
Enter a 50m point spacing, and check Entire Selection. Click Apply.
October 2000
Page 123
Now we need to smooth the corners of the road. Click Polyline $ Smooth.
Set up the Smooth window to use the Spline method, and add 5 points when
smoothing. Check the boxes to Preserve end points and to use the Entire
selection. Click the Preview button; if youre satisfied with the results, click
Apply. Click right when you are done, unselect and Save the centerline
object.
Close objects Contours D2900merge, and D2900.
Attach Templates
to Road
Now we will create solids along the road centerline using our cut and fill
templates.
Create a new Geometry Object in folder Road Design called Surfaces.
Place this object in Edit mode.
Click on Tools $ Template Editor. We will use the
open template on the bottom row. For the fill, we
want the top of the template attached to the road
centerline so click on the radio button next to Top.
Set the width to 30, the height to 50, and the angle
to 45 degrees.
Now click on Surface $ Create Solid $ Attach
Template Along Polyline.
Click Entire selection, then click Apply. The fill
solid will appear in the viewer.
Repeat the above procedure to attach the open cut
template. However, this time make sure to click on the radio button next to
Bottom on the Template Editor window.
Page 124
October 2000
Check both surfaces for openings and self-intersections. Any selfintersections are probably in the corners. In that case, smoothing the corners
and re-attaching the templates is the best solution.
Obtain and
Balance Cut & Fill
Volumes
Close everything except Surfaces. Open D2900Merge in folder dumps.

Select All Elements of the Surfaces object.
Click Surfaces $ Calculate Volume. Select the option Between surfaces.
Using the blue ribbon icon, select D2900merge as the Top surface, and the
fill portion of Surfaces as the Bottom surface. Click Yes if the correct
surfaces are selected, and uncheck the Limit by Polygons check box. Click
Apply. The cut and fill volumes are displayed in the MineSight Messages
window.
To balance the cut and fill volumes, open the Point Editor. Then click
Element $ Move, check the Entire Selection box, and click on a reference
point on one of the selected surfaces. Using the relative Z option in the Point
Editor, move the cut and fill surfaces up or down as necessary to obtain cut
and fill volumes that are balanced. It is not necessary to save or unselect the
Surfaces object between volume computations.
Once the volumes are approximately balanced, we can merge the road
surface with the Triangulated topo to produce the final design surface with
the pit, dump, and roads all merged in.
October 2000
Page 125
Merge the Road

with Existing Topo
Close everything that is open. Open Surfaces in folder Road Design, and
D2900merge in folder dumps.
Create a new Geometry Object called TopoWithFill. Put this object in Edit
mode.
Choose Surface $ Intersect Surfaces. Select D2900merge as the primary
surface, and the fill portion (lower surface) of Surfaces as the secondary
surface. Choose the option for the Fill Surface. Click Apply, and send the
results to the Open Edit Object. Close object D2900merge when you are
done.
Finally, we will merge object TopoWithFill with the cut surface.
A. Create a new Geometry Object Final Topo in folder Road Design. Put it
in Edit mode.
B. Choose Surface$ Intersect Surfaces. Choose object TopoWithFill as
the primary surface, and the cut portion (upper surface) of Surfaces as
the secondary surface. Choose the option for the Cut surface. Click
Apply, and send the results to the Open Edit Object. Close objects
TopoWithFill, and Surfaces.
Page 126
October 2000

Learning Outcome
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Survey Parameter
File
Understand the use of the survey parameter file.

Import and export survey data.
Use the master file concept to control your data.
Get volumes based on updated survey data.
Plot and grid updated survey data.
When doing work with survey data using programs accessed from the
MineSight Compass menus, you must have a survey parameter file. This
file specifies how to display different kinds of survey data, and it contains
some keywords to identify special kinds of data like breakpoints. In
MineSight, display attributes are set by the material associated with the
data. We can create materials for all our different types of survey data by
importing the survey parameter file. All these materials will have the default
display colors and styles, but we can then customize them as desired.
A. Highlight the materials folder, click right, and choose Import $ Survey
Code File. Highlight file param.cod, and choose Open.
B. Now view the materials in this folder. You should see new materials like
CST, TOE, and TOPO.
C. Set properties for the above materials as follows:
1. CST % blue with dashed lines
2. ELEV % purple; set node size to .5
3. TOE % blue with solid lines
4. TOPO brown with solid lines
October 2000
Page 131
Importing Survey
Data
Create a new folder under folder New

Resource Map, called survey. Below
this folder, create a new folder called
Month1. Highlight folder Month1, click
right, and choose Import $ Survey
(ASCII) file. Highlight file current.srv,
and click Open. The Survey
Import/Export window will come up.
If you had non-normalized data, you

could normalize the values by checking
the box to Shift coordinates, and
entering values. If your survey file was
not in x,y,z order, you could check the
box to Interchange coordinates, and
choose the correct order.
If your data had no breakpoints, so that it is a long, connected string, you
could split the polylines in this window to make the data more manageable.
If, on the other hand, your data does have breakpoints and you prefer to
ignore them, check the box to Ignore break code character.
7LSVDQG7ULFNV
If you check the box to save point IDs, your

data will be forever point data, regardless of the
material you associate with it. This check box
should only be used for point data.
For now, just leave this window as is, and click OK. Four new objects will
be imported into folder Month1; CST, ELEV, ROAD, and TOE. This is the
survey data as it currently exists.
Create another new folder under folder survey called Month2. Highlight all
objects in folder Month1, click right, and choose Edit $ Copy from the Data
Manager. Click on folder Month2, and choose Edit $ Paste. A copy of all
the objects should appear in folder Month2. We will consider folder Month2
to be the master folder. Close the objects in the Month1 folder, and open all
the objects in the Month2 (master) folder.
Page 132
October 2000
Master Folder
Concept
A good way to keep your data from being corrupted is to keep a master
folder with the current data. Store the current months data in the master
folder, and import new data into a working folder for editing purposes. Then
merge all the new data into the master folder.
Use these steps to keep control of the data:
A. Set properties for each survey type in the material, not in the Geometry
Object. In that case, any new data imported with the same survey code
will have the same properties.
B. Keep each months data in a separate folder. This will be the master
folder for the month. On the first day of the month, create a new folder,
and copy all data from the previous month into this folder, using Edit
$Copy and Edit $ Paste from the Data Manager.
C. Create a working folder. Import the days pickups into the working
folder. Highlight all objects in the working folder, and use Global
Properties to set thicker lines. This will differentiate the new data from
the old.
D. Do any updating of the pickups in the working folder, prior to merging
it with the master data.
E. When preparing to merge the days pickups with the current months
data, do a multi-object select of the objects in the master folder and the
objects in the working folder.
F. If doing a join, always choose the element from the master folder first,
then the element from the working folder. MS2 will then save the results
to the object in the master folder.
G. When you have merged all the pickups with the data in the master
folder, close all objects in the working folder and verify that no data has
been missed. Then delete all objects in the working folder.
Bringing in the
Days Pickups
Highlight folder survey, click right, and choose New $ Folder. Name the
folder working. Highlight folder working, and choose Import $ Survey
(ASCII) file. Highlight pickup.srv, and click on Open. Leave the import
window as is, and click OK. Objects CST, TOE, and ELEV will be imported
to folder working.
Highlight all three objects in folder working. Click right, and choose
Properties. On the Polylines tab, choose the next thicker line type. On the
Points tab, choose a node type of X. Click OK. The new data in the CST and
TOE objects will have a thicker line type, and the new ELEV data will have
a different node type.
October 2000
Page 133
Merging the New

Pickups With
Current Months
Data
Merge the pickup into the master folder by doing a multi-object select of
both the master (Month2) and the pickup (working) folders (use the CTRL
key to select across folders).
Keep the selected data in its regular color by using Selection $ Properties
$ No highlighting.
The old ELEV shots from the master folder should be deleted using
Element Delete. Click Element $ Delete, and simply click on the existing
ELEV points (crosses) in the area where the bench has been pushed back.
After completing, do a Save and Continue.
Next, do a Polyline $ Split on the old part of the CST, deleting the middle
portion, as this part has been replaced with the new pickup. Do the same for
the TOE but keep the middle part, as it can now be treated as random floor
shots. Note that the Split function will make a new node with an interpolated
elevation from the node either side.
Page 134
October 2000
Now do a Polyline $ Join for the CST and then the TOE, making sure to
always pick the master folder string (thinner linetype) first. After
completing this, do a Selection $ Save.
Then, from the Data Manager, click Select $ All elements for the ELEV
object of the pickup folder (working). Click Selection $ Move to Object,
and move them to the master folder (Month2). Click Selection $ Save.
Finally, to convert the old TOE shots to random floor shots, click Selection
$ Make new, and pick the old part of the TOE. Click Selection $ Move to
Object, and move it to the ELEV object of the master folder. Click
Selection $ Save, change the properties of ELEV to show Nodes, but not
Lines, and the merging is completed.
Triangulating the
Data to Create
Surfaces
This data can be triangulated to form an updated surface. We would also like
to have the surface from the previous month for comparison.
A. Open all objects in folder Month2, and close all other objects.
B. In folder Month2, create a new Geometry Object called pit bnd. Assign
the object material boundary, which has survey type boundary.
C. Select the outermost CST polygon on elevation 2675. Choose Selection
$ Copy to object. Choose object pit bnd in folder Month2. Then save
the data. This creates a boundary that can be used to limit the
triangulation.
D. Create a folder under survey called volumes. In this folder, create a
Geometry Object called surf_month2, and put it in Edit mode.
October 2000
Page 135
E. Select all the objects in folder Month2 using the Multimember select icon. Click right to complete the selection.
F. Choose Surface $ Triangulate surface $ With selection.
Send the results to the Open Edit Object, surf_month2. Set the objects
properties to Show faces on surfaces.
G. Create another new Geometry Object in folder volumes called
surf_month1, and put it in Edit mode.
H. Close all objects in folder Month2 except pit bnd. Then open all objects
in folder Month1.
I.
Select all objects in folder Month1, plus object pit bnd in folder
Month2. A good way to do this is to use the option to highlight the
objects and choose Select $ All elements from the Data Manager. Dont
click right until you are done highlighting and selecting objects.
J. Choose Surface $ Triangulate surface $ With selection. Send the

results to the Open Edit Object, surf_month1. Set the properties of
surf_month1 to Show faces on surfaces. Also change its global color.
K. Close all objects in folders Month1 and Month2. You should have only
the two surfaces visible in the viewer.
Calculating
Volume of Material
Removed
ELEV.
======
2660.00
2645.00
2630.00
2615.00
2600.00
2585.00
2570.00
2555.00
2540.00
2525.00
2510.00
2495.00
2480.00
2465.00
2450.00
Page 136
The volume of material removed can be easily calculated, once we have

created surfaces. Choose Surface $ Calculate Volume and select the
Between Surfaces option. Choose surf_month1 as the top surface, and
surf_month2 as the bottom one. The surfaces are coincident at the edges, so
you dont have to limit by polygons. Check the option Levels. Select Grid
Set dipper.vbm_gridset from folder pit design. The resulting report will give
tons by level.
CUT
CUMULATIVE
CU METER
CU METER
========= =========
0
0
269
269
920
1189
1359
2548
2355
4903
340
5243
478
5721
295
6016
279
6296
1419
7714
615
8330
336
8665
8534
17200
937906
955105
1101
956206
FILL
CUMULATIVE
CU METER
CU METER
========= =========
10
10
404
414
664
1078
924
2002
1278
3280
298
3579
1435
5013
751
5764
1236
7000
1261
8261
922
9183
51
9234
683
9916
11236
21152
2280
23433
NET
CU METER
=========
-10
-135
256
435
1077
42
-956
-456
-956
157
-306
285
7852
926670
-1179
CUM. NET
CU METER
=========
-10
-145
111
546
1622
1664
708
252
-704
-547
-853
-568
7284
933953
932774
October 2000
Plotting Survey
Data
Recall that whatever is in the viewer may be plotted in MineSight 2. We

will set up a few things to make a better-looking plot.
A. Close all open objects. In folder Month2, open objects TOE, CST,
ROAD, and ELEV. Zoom in until they fill the Viewer window.
B. Click on the Viewer Properties icon. On the Grids tab,
choose a style of labels and lines. Click on the Plan view icon
so the grids line up correctly.
C. In folder plots, double click on plot layout1 to bring up its
properties. Choose Print $ Preview. If the view is
satisfactory, you could print the image at this time. You could
also use the methods explained in Section 9 to achieve a plot with a
specified beginning and end point, and scale.
Gridding Survey
Data
The surface that we have created may be used to produce a file of points for
each block in the East-North direction in our project limits. This file can be
used as input to other programs.
A. Close all objects and turn the grids off in the Viewer
Properties.
B. Open object surf_Month2 in folder Month2.
C. Choose Point $ General gridder. Click on the blue Surface icon, then
choose the surface from the viewer. Or click on the OCB icon, and
choose the surface using the Object Contents Browser (OCB), as
explained in Section 4.
October 2000
Page 137
D. By default the cell size specified in the project limits will be used.
However, the boxes on the General Gridder window can also be used to
specify a different cell size.
E. Choose the option to send points to a 3-D point file, then click Apply.
Specify filename pit.xyz. Close the General gridder window, and
examine the output file with Kedit or Notepad. By default, it will be
stored in the project directory. The file is composed of x-y-z coordinates,
one set to a line, suitable for import to MineSight 2 as a 3-D points file.
Triangulating
Stockpile Data
This exercise demonstrates the effects of different triangulation options

when working with a combination of string and point survey data. We will
triangulate a stockpile initially using just base and crest data, then by using
manually inserted breaklines, and finally, with elevation shots included as
well.
In the folder survey, create a new folder called stockpile. In this new folder
create two additional folders, base and pile. Highlight the folder base, click
right, and choose Import $ Survey (ASCII) File; import the file base.srv.
Similarly, import the file stkpile.srv into the folder pile. Close the object
ELEV in the folder pile. Also close the base folder.
Create a new object in the pile folder called tri_bnd_cst and put it in Edit
mode. Select the objects BND and CST in folder pile, using multi-object
select. Click Surface $ Triangulate Surface $ with Selection, sending the
results to the Open Edit object. Note the manner in which the data is
triangulated around the base of the stockpile, where the triangulation has
created flat spots. One method to correct these flat spots is to use the
Surface $ Swap Faces function. Select the surface and click Surface $
Swap Faces; click on the triangles in the area that you want to change, and
click right when finished.
Page 138
October 2000
Another approach to correcting these flat spots is to manually digitize

breaklines between the base and crest of the stockpile data prior to
triangulation. Create a new object in the folder pile called breaklines, using
the default material type of Geometry. Put it in Edit mode.
Using the function Polyline $ Create $ Polyline, digitize a few breaklines
from the crest of the stockpile down to the base outline in the areas that have
the flat spots. Unselect and Save after youve created the breaklines.
Now create a new object in the folder pile called tri_bnd_cst_brk and put it
in Edit mode. Using Multi-object select, select the ELEV, BND, and
breaklines data, and the triangulate with Surface $ Triangulate Surface $
with Selection.
October 2000
Page 139
Page 1310
October 2000
One additional method that can be used to improve the triangulation of

stockpile data is to include some stockpile survey points; open the ELEV
object in the pile folder. Create a new object in the pile folder called
tri_bnd_elev. Using Multi-object select, select all objects in the ELEV,
BND, and CST objects, and then triangulate the data using Surface $
Triangulate Surface $ with Selection.
October 2000
Page 1311
Page 1312
October 2000

Learning
Objectives
When you have completed this section you will know:

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
Capabilities
Conventions
The basics of the Blast Pattern Editor.

The numbering and layout options.
How to use a clipping boundary.
How to shift the collars to a surface DTM.
How to project blastholes to a fixed depth, a fixed elevation, or a surface
DTM.
How to work with partially surveyed patterns.
How to create trim shots.
How to create ramp shots.
How to export the pattern.
How to plot the depth values.
With the Blast Pattern Editor in MineSight 2, you can create floor, trim, or
ramp shots, and calculate the drilling depth of each blasthole. You can
design the shots in advance, or you can import partially surveyed shot
patterns and calculate the location of the missing holes. Triangular or
rectangular shots can be used, adding a numbering offset, or with a prefix or
suffix added to each shot ID. The shot can be clipped by a polygon with the
numbering being applied prior to or after the clipping. Individual blastholes
can be added using the mouse or added along a polyline. The number of
holes is controlled by a count, distances between holes, or the increment
between the first blasthole number and the last.
Each mine will have its own convention for naming shots. In this project we
name the shots with an s for shot, then the bench reference number mm, and
a sequential shot ID nnn, e.g., s22010 for the tenth shot on bench 22.
Normally, the file with the assays for the blastholes will have the extension
.asy. The location of the blasthole collars will have the extension .grd, and
the merged assay and collar location file will have the extension .bhs.
Limitations
In the standard BH system, the maximum number of blastholes per shot is

8,189, with a total number of blastholes per File 9 of 524,285. There is an
expanded limit blasthole File 12 that allows 4,194,301 blastholes in File 9,
but reduces the number of blastholes per shot to 1,021. You specify which
File 12 and 9 you want when you initialize your blasthole project.
June 2000
Page 141
Create a New Shot
Click the survey $Month2 folder. Highlight and open the TOE and CST
objects. We will use the survey data to locate the blast pattern.
Create a folder under New Resource Map called Blast Patterns. Click the
menu bar choice Tools $ Blast Pattern Editor. In the Open a Geometry File
window, choose the folder Blast Patterns. Enter s22010.grd for Name, and
Blasthole for Material.
Blast Pattern
Editor Window
Page 142
Since we are creating a new shot, there are no blastholes in the MineSight
Blast Pattern Editor (BPE) window. The BPE window has four tabs that
control the creation and modification of the blast patterns.
Sept 2000
Click the Defaults tab.
Defaults
The Defaults tab is used prior to defining the Prefix and/or suffix of the
blasthole numbering, and to toggle the display of the blast pattern Limit Box
and arrows. After a blast pattern has been created, the Export table data to
ASCII button allows the export of the blasthole collar locations, with either
the blasthole depth or the coordinates, at the bottom of each blasthole.
Make sure that the Show row/column axes box is checked, and click the
Grid tab.
Grid
The Grid tab has four parts:

1. Origin/Orientation - This is where you define the starting
point, either by typing in the coordinates, or by clicking
on the mouse input button. Select the starting point on
the 2465 elevations in the southern part of the pit. Make
sure that the Elevation box has 2465 in it.
You can also adjust the Angle using keyboard or mouse input. When you
enter the point, the Show row/column axes appear.
Sept 2000
Page 143
2. Extent - Where you define the length of the row/column axes and
optionally select a clipping boundary. If you are using a clipping
boundary, you can apply the numbering before or after the clipping. Use
the mouse-input button to adjust the Blast Pattern limits.
Clipping Boundary
Lets use a clipping boundary. Since you can only select one
boundary line, we will want to digitize a new polygon connecting
the toe and crest lines at elevation 2465. Create a new object in
Blast Patterns called shot limits. Accept the default material type.
Put shot limits into Edit mode.
Select Snap$Polyline Snap from the menu bar. Select
Polyline$Create Planar$Closed Polyline. Digitize along the 2465
elevation lines. Turn Snap off to digitize the last point to make the
shot boundary.
Page 144
June 2000
Save the polygon, then highlight the s22010.grd object. Click the
right mouse button, and select Edit, then Tools $ Blast Pattern
Editor. Notice how the starting location, angle and limits are
retained. Click the Clip before numbering box. The effect of using
the clipping boundary will be to limit the creation of the blastholes
to within both the pattern limit box and the polygon box. Also check
Clipping Boundary, and select the polygon you just created.
3. Size % This is where you define the distance between columns and rows.
To create a rectangular pattern, leave the Offsets at 0. To create
triangular patterns, enter an offset in the Column, Row or both boxes.
Change the value to 10 by 10 with 0 offsets.
4. Numbering % This is where you define the starting number and the
increment along the columns and rows. The Row Inc: box lets you
increment each row by a set amount, e.g., 100. The Odd Row Inc: box
allows you to number along the diagonals for an equilateral pattern. Set
the column offset to half of the spacing, and number rows as 100,99 and
101,100 for left to right, and right to left diagonals respectively. The Up
and Back on rows check box lets you implement boustrophedonic
numbering. Lets accept the defaults numbering scheme. Click the
Preview button.
June 2000
Page 145
Effects of Width, Offset and Numbering Increments
Change the column width and click Preview. Change the Row width and
click Preview. Now change the offset and click Preview. Enter a value
such as 100 in the Row Inc: box and click Preview. Check the Odd Row
Inc: box and click Preview. Check the Up and back on rows box and
click Preview.
Make sure that the Clipping boundary box and the Clip before
numbering box are checked, and the Column, Row widths are set to 10,
with no offset, the Start Column is set to 1, the Row Inc: is set to 0, the
Column Inc: is set to 1 and only the Up and back on rows box is
checked. Click the Apply button.
Adjust
Page 146
June 2000
Once you have created the locations of the blastholes in the pattern, the Blast
Pattern Editor lists the ID, the Easting, Northing, Elevation, and the Depth of
the blastholes in the MineSight Blast Pattern Editor window, and switches
to the Adjust tab. Here you can adjust the collar elevation and calculate the
depth of each blasthole in the pattern.
First however, you must select which blastholes to adjust. Click right in the
list and choose select all to quickly select all the blastholes.
Project collars to current surface.
In Data Manager, go to the volumes folder under survey. Highlight and open
the surf_month2 object. Click the Project collars to surface(s) box inside
the Adjust box. Pick the surface, then click Apply. Note how the elevation
values change in the MineSight Blast Pattern Editor list.
Calculate the blasthole length
Check the Set the blasthole length box.

There are three choices:
1. Use a fixed depth.
This is the traditional method of calculating blasthole lengths, which is to
enter the bench toe elevation, and any sub-grade depth. Enter the length to
use, e.g., 7, and click Preview.
2. Calculate depths to a surface.
You need to have a DTM surface loaded in order to choose the surface.
Click the surface and the length from the collar to the surface will be
calculated, and any sub-grade depth. This option might be used to calculate
the length of the blastholes when designing a ramp shot.
June 2000
Page 147
3. Calculate depths to a fixed elevation.

This option is used to calculate the length of blastholes when designing a
pattern from a non-planar surface. The collar elevations vary with the
surface and the length is calculated to a fixed elevation. Click Calculate
depths to a fixed elevation, enter 2455 as the elevation, and click Apply.
This shot is now finished. The shot has standard, full depth blastholes. You
could export the location and depth of each blasthole to an ASCII file, using
the Export option under the Defaults tab. However, we will first illustrate
other MineSight 2.0 Blast Pattern Editor options.
Edit Partial Shots
If your mine surveys the end row blastholes of each pattern, you can import
the survey file. MineSight 2 can fill in the non-surveyed holes based on the
width, offsets, and numbering criteria you defined in the Grid tab. The
numbering will be between the IDs of the surveyed blastholes.
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June 2000
Section 15DXF Files
Section 15DXF Files

Learning
Objectives
Import and export DXF files.
MineSight has the ability to import and export DXF files. These files can
be AutoCad release 9 through 14. However, MineSight doesnt recognize
all types of data available in AutoCad. The recognizable data types are:
3-D Polyline, open or closed

Extruded Polyline
PolyMesh
3-D Face
3-D Mesh
Line
Solid
Points
Text
Import DXF
To import a DXF file, highlight the desired folder in the Data Manager.
Click right, and select Import $ DXF. Choose the correct file, and click
OK. A list of the layers in the file will appear. Highlight the layers you wish
to import and click OK. One Geometry Object will be created for each layer.
Export as DXF
MineSight can also export Geometry Objects as DXF files. Just highlight
the objects you want to export in the Data Manager, click right, and select
Export $ DXF File. Name the file, and click OK. Polygons and polylines
are exported as polylines. Meshes (surfaces, shells) are exported as 3-D
Faces.
MineSight is the best tool for bringing DXF data into the system. The other
programs that handle DXFs require AutoCad release 9 through 12, and dont
handle as many types of data as MineSight.
May 2000
Page 151
Section 15DXF Files
Page 152
May 2000
APPENDIX
Underground Applications
With MineSight 2
notes:
This workshop is intended to show the tools available for the design of underground mines
using MineSight 2 (MS2). Reserves estimation and scheduling will be calculated using various tools available in MineSight and MineSight Compass (MS Compass). The CAD functions available in MineSight make it ideal for a mine operation to design and update the
underground mine information. The examples covered in this workshop will be:
1) Stope/pillar design from geologic orebody.
2) Layout of primary access (ramps, shafts, cross-cuts, haulage levels).
3) Block caving layout and drill pattern design (fan or parallel).
4) Reserves calculations from MineSight 2 and MineSight Compass .
5) Scheduling using M821, and Whats Best! Spreadsheet add-in solver.
Stope/Pillar Design
The design of stopes and pillars can be done from digitized or imported geologic contours. In
this example, we have digitized the ore zones from composited drillholes.
Page 1
Underground Applications With MineSight
notes:
The geologic zones are in plan and will be linked in MS2 to create a solid. The crown pillars will
be linked into one object, while the stope and rib pillars will be linked into a second object.
Make sure the polygons are in the same directions (i.e., clockwise) and the strong nodes start
in the same position. After linking, check the solid for openings and self-intersections.
The finished solid with crown pillars linked separately from the stope and rib pillars.
Page 2
A sectional Grid Set will be created to slice the solid. The solid will be sliced in 5 m increments.
Create a Folder called Grids. Highlight the folder Grids, click right, and go to NewGrid Set.
Enter the name xsec. Fill in the xsec window as shown below, and click OK.
notes:
The Grid Set can be used to slice the object. Close the Grid Set view and create a folder called
xsec-ore to store the sliced ore. Make sure the linked Objects crowns and stp/ribs are the
only objects in the viewer. Highlight the Folder xsec-ore, click right, and select Slice View.
Click on xsec for the Grid Set, and then click OK. The VBM Set xsec-ore now contains crowns
and stp/ribs outlines every 5m along the strike, in a Geometry Object called 999. The Geometry Object created has the name of 999 because the default material type for an object is
Geometry. Geometry material type has a VBM and model code of 999 in the materials folder,
so the slice creates an object with the VBM code specified.
Page 3
notes:
Make orebody solids for the individual stopes, rib pillars and crown
pillars
Specifications:
Stopes: 140 ft along strike by 75 ft vertical, with width dependent on orebody thickness
Rib pillars: 25 ft along strike by 75 ft vertical, with width dependent on orebody
thickness
Crown pillars: 160 ft along strike by 25 ft vertical, with width dependent on thickness
The orebody will be separated into individual solids with the sliced polygons. Determine
the number of equal length stopes (including rib pillar) along the strike. (For an 875ft
strike length, you would have five at 160ft each). Because of irregular boundaries,
check the stope lengths on each level, and adjust them if necessary. Use Volume
Clipping and Current plane adjust to check the outlines on every plane.
Page 4
The stopes will have a naming convention of the plan # with extension of the stope #
(6550.1S). The rib and crowns will have a similar naming convention plan # (rib or
crown) # .
notes:
For Example:
6550-1C would mean the solid of the Crown portion of stope number 1 on level 6550.
6550-1S would mean the solid of the Stope portion of stope number 1 on level 6550.
6550-1R would be the Rib on level 6550 for stope number 1.
We will have three levels which are at 6550, 6450, and 6350. Link the Stopes, rib, and
crown pillars to create the solids. Make sure the polygons are in the correct orientation,
and that the strong node starts in the same orientation. This can be checked using the
PolylineRedefineEndpoints and direction.
The solids should be checked for openings and self-intersections. If they are fine, then
volumes and reserves can be calculated from the solids.
Page 5
notes:
Layout of primary access (ramps, shafts, cross-cuts,

haulage levels)
Specifications:
Shaft:
20 ft. diameter circular shaft (vertical) down to 6250 elevation.

Stations at 6650, 6550, 6450, and 6350 levels.
Locate on F/W side of the orebody with a 100ft. minimum distance to the
F/W.
Shaft X/cuts: 10 ft. by 10 ft. openings connecting shaft and F/W haulage drift.
30 ft. turning radius on connections to F/W haulage drifts.
F/W Haulage Drifts:
10 ft. by 10 ft. openings on 6550, 6450, and 6350 levels.
Locate 50 ft. back from F/W of orebody.
Vent Shafts:
Circular (10 ft. diameter) vertical shafts down to 6300 elevation.

Locate in F/W at orebody limits in strike direction.
Connections to ends of F/W haulage drifts.
Ramp:
10 ft. high by 15 ft. wide opening from 6650 shaft X/cut down to 6350 level
Orient along strike with connections to each shaft X/cut.
-10% grade with flat switchbacks and flat connections at shaft X/cuts.
20 ft. turning radius on switchbacks.
Shafts and Vents

The design will start as centerline polylines, then a template
will be used to create a solid of the polyline. Start with a
shaft 100 ft behind the footwall. Open the Point Editor Tool
and set your view to plane with the orebody displaying. It is
easier if a planar Grid Set is attached to the viewer and used
at elevation 6650. One contour will display at elevation 6650.
Digitize a point at the center of the orebody, and with the
Point Editor, tell it to go perpendicular to the body 100 ft
back. This will create a reference line 100 ft back from the
orebody. The reference line will be deleted once the shaft is
created.
Page 6
Now, use the Point Editor to create a vertical line which will be
the shaft. It will have four stations, including the level in which
the line starts. Enter the information at right for a vertical (-90
dip) shaft, and stations at 6650, 6550, 6450, 6350. It will create
three, 100 ft segments starting at station 6650.
notes:
Now open your topo contours and place your view in plan. Measure the distance from the 6650 station to the top of the topo,
and create a line with the distance found. The vents can be
created using the same method as the shaft or they can be
copied from the shaft and edited to reach the topo at their corresponding locations. The Point Editor can be used to enter a
precise location or a relative distance to move the shaft (vent).
Page 7
notes:
Cross-Cuts
The x-cuts will be in four levels. They will start in level 6650, and end in level 6350 every 100
ft. The levels should end 50 ft from the orebody F/W. We can create a planar Grid Set that will
be on the elevations we will be working on. To create a Grid Set, select the folder to store it in,
click right, and go to NewGrid Set. Enter the name of the Grid Set and click OK. Enter the
information required as shown below.
Attach the Grid Set to the viewer so you can change between 2-D and 3-D, or
use the plane filter and volume clipping options. Click the Viewer properties
icon. Select a Grid Set by clicking on the green icon to the right of Grid Set. An
Edit grid can also be selected.
Page 8
Use Volume clipping and go to the Clipping tab in

the Viewer properties table. The volume viewed can
be changed on this tab. Go to elevation 6650, and with
the Point snap and Plane snap ON, digitize your xcut starting at the shaft (6650). It might be easier to
use the Point Editor to create the x-cut using the exact
or relative coordinates, azimuth and dip you require.
notes:
Once the x-cut is created, move to the next level and

start the next x-cut. To make sure you end at a distance of 50 ft from the F/W, use the Scalable cursor
under Tools. It helps see the position of the line in relation to the F/W. Finish all four levels.
Page 9
notes:
Haulage Level Design

F/W haulage drift on 6550 with 30 ft. radius curved connections to the shaft X/cut. Attach the
Grid Set 66.vbm_gridset. (It was created when importing the geology data named 66.)
A. Set the Volume Clipping ON with Grid Set 66.vbm_gridset to 6550. Toggle ON
the Snap Edit Grid to Current Plane in the Viewer properties dialog. Open
the Point Editor. Set the view to Dip = -90.
B. Select the X-cut at level 6550. Densify shaft X-cuts with 30 point spacing, using
PolylineDensify. Save the selection edits.
C. Create Geometry Object clfwhaul1 in folder pridevt, and set it on Edit mode.
D. Click PolylineCreatePolyline, and with Point Snap and Plane Snap ON,
click on the shaft X/cut point where the curve will start.
E. In the Point Editor window, select FileRamp editor. In the Ramp Editor
window, click Options Curve Ramp and Clockwise. Set up the Ramp
Editor window as shown below. Click Preview, and if it looks ok, click Apply.
F. Repeat steps D. and E. to make a 30 ft. radius curve Counterclockwise from

the same shaft X/cut starting point.
G. Select Polyline Append and click the end point of one of the curves. Now
add points (using the scalable cursor with click/hold/drag/release) to fix the
position of the haulage drift 50 ft. back from the F/W of the orebody.
H. Continue digitizing the haulage level on the south and north side in levels 6450
and 6350.
Page 10
Internal Ramp
notes:
A. Select CLXCUTS on level 6550. Check if a point exists back 25-30 ft from the
end of the X/cut on level 6550. Toggle ON the Show nodes and measure the
distance. If a point exists, go to step C.
B. Open the Point Editor. Select Point Add, and select the last segment on the xcut. On the Point Editor, enter Absolute AZM=260, DIP=0, and DIST=25, to add
the point. Click right and save selection.
C. Create Geometry Object CLRAMP in folder PRIDEVT, and set it to Edit mode.
Make sure you have the following objects open: CLFWHAUL, CLSHAFT, and
CLXCUTS.
D. Turn on Volume Clipping, and go to plane 6650.
E. In the Viewer Properties window, go to the Clipping tab. Set the volume
clipping to unequal and the range to 12.5 volume+ and 101 volume-, so levels
6650 and 6550 will show up.
F. Select Polyline Create Polyline, and click on the 6650 Shaft X/cut end
point (Point Snap should be ON).
G. Create a 500 ft on-strike portion using the Point Editor.
a. In the Point Editor window, select File Ramp Editor, then click Options,
and turn off Curve ramp. Select percent% as slope units.
b. Then set up the Ramp Editor window as shown in the picture. Click
Preview, and if it looks ok, click Apply.
Page 11
notes:
H. Add a flat switchback with a turning radius of 20.

a. In the Ramp Editor window, click Options, and turn on Curve Ramp,
counterclockwise. Then set up the Ramp Editor window with AZM=170,
Dip=0, Interval=10, Radius=20, and Sweep=180. Click Preview, and if it
looks ok, then click Apply.
b. Click Save selection edits to save the ramp. Now select the ramp and the
X/cut at level 6550 and Show nodes.
I. Measure and write down the azimuth between the end of the switchback, and
the ramp intersection point on the 6550 shaft X/cut (e.g. PT 1 to PT 2
AZM=342.9). Save Selection edits. (Note: Click off Snap Plan Snap to set an
accurate azimuth.)
Page 12
J.
Select the ramp for editing. Click Polyline Append, and click on the end of
the switchback. In the Ramp Editor, turn off Curved Ramp and enter the
azimuth measured in step I (e.g., 342.9) with the rest of the information as
shown in the picture. Click Preview, and if it looks ok, then click Apply.
notes:
K. To finish this portion of the ramp, click on the intersection point on the 6550
shaft X/cut. A flat segment will be created.
L. Continue with the ramp until reaching elevation 6350.
Page 13
notes:
Block Caving Layout

The block caving design starts with creating a temporary edit grid. Designing the draw raises,
transfer raises, grizzly drift, and haulage level using the edit grid in 2-D. Moving them to their
corresponding elevations and attaching a template to create the 3-D design.
Step 1
A. Create a new folder called Block Caving.

B. Import a DXF file called solid.dxf in the Block Caving folder. The solid will be
used to create a block caving design layout.
C. The draw raises, transfer raises, grizzly drift, and haulage drift will be created in
a 2-D grid. They will be copied and moved to their correct elevations. Change
the azimuth to 325 and dip to 35. Go to Snap Point Snap. Create an Edit
Grid using EditGrid Snap to 1 point. Click on the bottom of the solid, and a
planar Edit Grid at elevation 6350 should be created.
D. The grid needs to be edited in the following order. Go to EditGrid Edit and the
Edit Grid panel will appear. Click Show Base & Axis. Change the base point to
Major = 0 and Minor = 100. Click Apply.
E. Click Snap to Coordinates and enter x=62031, y=38523, and z=6350. Click
OK. Change the Azimuth to 350, and click Apply.
F. Change the Axis length and cell spacing:
Major 70 length
1 cell spacing
Minor 50 length
1 cell spacing
Click Apply.
G. Close the Geometry Object Solid, and place

your view at AZM = 350, Dip = 90.
Page 14
Step 2 Creating the 2-D Block Caving Design.
notes:
A. In the Block Caving folder create a Geometry Object called 2Ddesign. Place it
in Edit mode.
B. Zoom into the right lower corner of
the grid. Turn on the snap function in
Snap Grid Snap and Plane Snap.
Go to Polyline Create Planar
Closed Polyline. Click right to end
edits and Save selection. We have
just created the start of the draw
raises.
C. We want to create another draw raise 7 m on the x-direction of the current one,
but the grid is at a 350 azm. Check the difference of the X and Y by clicking on
the corner of the draw raise, and moving 7 cells in the x-direction. Check results
at the bottom right side of the MineSight 2 window (I.e., x= -6.89, y= -1.22).
D. Open the Point Editor and select the square for editing. Go to Element
Copy and click on the draw raise. Enter the X and Y difference from above, X= 6.89 and Y= -1.22 (relative coordinates). Click Apply. Save the results.
Page 15
notes:
E. We will create a transfer raise with the existing draw raise. Select the draw
raise digitized (left draw raise). With the Point Editor open, go to Element
Copy and click on the draw raise. Enter the coordinates, X = -3.89 and Y =
0.69 (relative coordinates). Click Apply.
F. The transfer raise will be 1.5 m x 1.5 m
so we need to scale it; But the raise
needs to be a 3-D object. Go to Polyline
Convert 3D to 2D and click on the
transfer raise. Click right to end. Go to
Element Scale and click on the
transfer raise again. Enter the scale as
shown:
G. We need to copy the transfer raises three more times North of the current one.
Save the selections and select only the transfer raise for editing. The Point
Editor should be on the screen. Go to Element Copy and click on the
transfer raise. In the Element Copy window, enter 3 for the count. In the Point
Editor window, enter the azimuth = 350, dip=0, and distance = 7. Then click
Apply.
Page 16
H. Save selection. Create a Grizzly drift by clicking Polyline Create Planar

Polyline and digitizing the line passing through the middle of the transfer drifts.
Start at one end of the Grid Set, and end the line at the end of the Grid Set.
Save the selection.
I.
Page 17
notes:
Create the haulage drift by creating a line between the second and third
transfer raise. To make it easier and correct, start the line with a point in the
bottom right corner of the Grid Set by selecting Polyline Create Planar
Polyline. In the Point Editor window enter Azm=350, Dip=0, and distance =
12.5. Then click Preview and Apply if it looks correct. This is a reference line
and will be deleted after we create the haulage drift.
notes:
J.
The haulage drift is perpendicular to this line of 50 ft. In the Point Editor enter
azm=260 (350-90), azm=0, and distance = 50. Click Apply, and click right to
end the edits. Delete the reference line created.
K. Since all the strings created are in the undercutting level elevation, it is
necessary to move them to their appropriate elevation using the Point Editor
and the Element Move option. Select the four transfer raises, and open the
Point Editor. Go to Element Move, click on Entire Selection, and enter
6.1 in the Z relative area. Click Save Selection.
L. Select the grizzly drift and move it down 6.2 units. Save the edits. Select and
move the haulage drift 23.8 units down. Save selection when done.
Page 18
Creating a 3-D layout from the Underground

Design
notes:
A. The draw raises will be extruded down until it reaches

the grizzly drift. Create a new Geometry Object
called draw raise in the block caving folder. Put it in
Edit mode. Select the two draw raises, and go to
Surface Create Solid Using Extrude Tool.
Select the draw raise on the left, and use the
distance + offset option. Enter 6.3 for distance,
azimuth=80, and dip = -61. Connect the
lines Along and Against. Click Preview, then Apply.
B. Go to Surface Create Solid Using Extrude Tool, and select the draw
raise on the right. Enter the same information as above, except make the
azimuth = 260. Save the selection, and add faces to the object draw raise.
C. A template will be used to create a solid for the grizzly drift. Create a Geometry
Object called grizzly drift and place it in Edit mode. Go to Tools Template
Editor. Adjust the template so that it will be in the center between the two draw
raises. Select a template, and try entering the information as shown below.
Then attach the template to the grizzly drift by going to Surface Create
Solid Attach a template along Polyline. Click Entire Selection. Click
Preview, and if it looks okay, click Apply.
Page 19
notes:
D. Similar steps will be used for the Transfer Raises and Haulage drifts to create
3-D layouts.
E. Copy the Draw Raises along the Grizzly Drift, every 4.5 m using the Element
copy command with the Point Editor on. Copy the Grizzly drift with the draw
raises 10 m perpendicular to the direction of the grizzly drift.
Page 20
F. The transfer raises and Haulage level will be copied along the grizzly drift a
distance of 23 m.
notes:
G. M650ED can be used to create a drill pattern. The pattern can be fan or
parallel. The tool used is the Ray generator in Menu 3, and the result for a fan
drill pattern can be similar to the one below.
Page 21
notes:
Reserves calculations from MineSight and MS Compass

To perform reserve calculations in MineSight 2, two things must be present:
1.
The 3-D Block Model must be attached to a MineSight 2 project.
2.
An executable batch file called msrunres.bat must exist in your project directory.
A block model view needs to be attached in MS2.
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 Mine10.dat. Click OK.
C. Change the Primary display item to CU in the Display tab.
D. Click the Range tab, select level 18 (6575-6550), and click Apply.
E. Add cutoffs of min = 0, max = 4, with increments of 0.2. Add colors.
Look at each one of these items in a Model View to become familiar with how the
model is coded. Overlay Geometry Object 66 in the PLN-ORE folder to check the
positioning of the orebody in relation to the model.
The batch file msrunres.bat runs the MEDSYSTEM underground reserving program
(which is a M708V1 user subroutine), summarizes the results, and displays the reserve
report on the screen.
Open MS Compass and go to:
Group: 3D Deposit Modeling
Operation: Data Convert
Page 22
Select the procedure UG1SET.DAT. A parameter file needs to be created before running
the procedure, and we can call it PARAM.UG. The following is an example of a
parameter sample parameter file.
notes:
In the procedure, enter the following information:
Page 23
notes:
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 2.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 MS2 in your project directory.

B. Open your Model View of CU in your model directory, and the solids 65501S,6550-1r, and 6550-1C in your STOPES directory (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 6550-1S from the
viewer. Click Apply, and the reserves will be calculated.
D. You can also calculate reserves for the other solids.
E. Unnamed shell is used by default if a solid has no attribution. To name
(attribute) a solid, select Element Attribute. Select the solid 6550-1R
(RIB), and click right. In the box, name it 6550-1R and click OK.
Page 24
F. Now, in the Calculate Reserves window, select the solid 6550-1R to

calculate reserves, and the name will appear on the dialog box.
Page 25
notes:
notes:
Scheduling using M821 and Whats Best! Spreadsheet addin solver

M821 Scheduler
To use M821V1 for underground scheduling, reserve files reflecting the overall
extraction sequence for the developed reserves must be set up. For example, in our
case we will exploit the mine in a top-down fashion, beginning with the 6550 line of
stopes. The extraction sequence within the stope line can also be specified. In our
example, we will commence at the southern limit of the orebody, and retreat to the
north. Rib and crown pillars associated with a stope will lag behind the stope extraction,
but will also proceed to the north in an echelon with the stopes.
The following longitudinal section shows the extraction sequence (in numerical order)
for the 6550 line of stopes. The resultant reserve file (in M821V1 format) containing
tonnes of ore and copper grade (including any dilution) for each stope, rib pillar, and
crown pillar segment in order of extraction is listed immediately below the section.
The first step before creating the reserve files is to create partials files of the solids
from MineSight 2. The partials files contain the percentage of the solid inside each
block in the block model.
A. In MS2, go to the stopes folder and open all your stopes, ribs and crowns at
6550 line of stopes.
B. Make sure the solids have no openings or intersections by using the
Surface Check for opening and Check for self-intersections.
C. In your model file, open the CU model view.
D. Go to Surface Generate Partials and the Generate partials panel will
appear.
E. Click the icon to the right of the model view option, and select the CU
model view. Click the first icon under Solid, and select the 6550-1S solid.
Page 26
Change the partials file (cut/fill) name to 1-S.out, and click Apply.
notes:
Follow the steps for the rest of the stopes, ribs, and crowns, and change the partials
file name to a there corresponding number and name.
Run procedure UG1RES from Ms Compass using a multi-run to get reserve files. The
reserve files will be used for procedure UG1SUM.dat to summarize reserves and
create a summary table for M821V1.
Below is a sample of UG1RES.dat in a multi-run. Change the name of the input partials
file created in MS2 by using ?01.
Page 27
notes:
The reserve files created need to be combined. The summary of reserves can be
done in one step using procedure UG1SUM.DAT. Enter the information required and
the reserve files in the following order. The extraction sequence (in numeric order) will
be followed in the summary file.
The output files need to be converted into M821V1 format. The results of the .123 or
.rpt files can be used to create new files for the scheduling program. The files should
be as follows:
(Stope#, Ore type, Total ton(nes), Grade.) They can be edited in EXCEL, then
exported as ASCII files. The format used is: 2I4,10F10.2. The top two lines will be
skipped.
Page 28
The file above will be named line1.dat for level 6550. The same method will be used
for levels 6450 and 6350. They will be named line2.dat, and line3.dat, respectively.
notes:
M821V1 is Mintecs long-range scheduling program for open pit mines. The program
has sufficient flexibility to allow its use for some types of underground scheduling as
well. The files created can be edited for use in the M821V1 program.
Six-month ore requirement: 80,000 tonnes
Production rate:
640 tons/day on a five-day week
Schedule objective:
Maximize contained metal
Panel 1
Output file names.
Panel 2 Includes ore

information (type, location,
objective).
Panel 3 Operating times,

costs and reserve input format.
Panel 4
We are using M821V1 only for
its ability to tell us where we will
be mining in each period, if we
want to maximize the contained
metal each period, and satisfy the
80000 ton ore call. We will schedule eight, six-month periods.
Specify the three lines of
stopes and one mill. There is no
need for any other destination.
The revenue and mill cost figures
can be fictitious, and the results
generated from them ignored.
Page 29
notes:
Panel 5
One class reserve specified.
Panel 7
Specify a maximum daily
mining rate along each line of
stopes.
Since total production requirements can come from one line
in any period, the maximum rate
is 640 tonnes/day, plus a 100
tonne tolerance, or 740 tonnes/
day. The 35-minute cycle times
between the stoping lines and
the mill are ignored.
Panels 10, 14, 16
Truck, shovel and loading information.
Panels 17, 18
Specify the 80,000 ore tonnage
requirement for each six-month
period. All material will go to the
mill. The rest of the inputs can
default to 0 or some other value.
Page 30
Panel 24
notes:
Specify that LINE1 must stay ahead of LINE2, and LINE2 must stay ahead of LINE3.
Panel 28
Specify the Total Capacity and Period Capacity for the mill. The second lift is for a direct mill
feed stockpile, and provides some overflow capacity for the scheduler.
Page 31
notes:
The standard report file from M821V1 will tell us which stopes, ribs, and crown pillars are
being mined in each six-month period, by comparing the tonnes with the reserve file tonnes
(line1.dat). It will also indicate the tonnes, grade, and the amount (lbs) of metal produced.
The table below shows the results for Period 1.
This printout tells us when stopes 1 and 2 are completed, stope 3 has been started during the
first six-month production period, and the rib and crown pillars from stope 1 have been
recovered.
The objective of this schedule was to maximize the contained metal. This can result in
multiple stoping lines being active in one period, if such a situation produces more pounds of
copper.
Underground scheduling using Whats best.

In an effort to provide a more specific stope extraction scheduling tool, Mintec has written a
set of Excel macros in visual basic that use a linear programming engine called Whats best.
Whats best is an Excel add-in that solves linear, non-linear, and integer problems. It is developed by Lindo Systems inc. (www.lindo.com).
In this example, we will repeat the stope extraction scheduling problem solved in the previous
example using m821v1.
The reserve files, scheduling requirements and constraints are the same.
Using the Import Reserve Files option, the user is prompted to enter the number of lines of
stopes corresponding to the number of reserve files to be imported.
Page 32
The files contain sequencing, material type, tonnage and grade information.
notes:
The Schedule option will prompt the user to enter the number of periods for which the schedule should be optimized.
Tonnages for each stope and period are calculated in order to meet the period requirements
and to optimize the grade. The program generates a table showing the results. The numbers
are identical to the ones obtained using M821V1.
The table is also a visual check of how well the precedence constraints are respected.
As it can be seen below, line 1 is always mined ahead of line 2 which is also mined ahead of
line 3.
Page 33
notes:
So far the options available with our underground scheduler are:
One scheduling class

One grade reporting
Precedence requirements : They can be input in the program to distinguish
between independent groups of stopes.
Variable mining rate by line and by group of stope. Setting a mining rate of 0 for
any period would result in the line not being mined for that period (equivalent to
the Dont mine option in M821V1).
Variable tonnage target per period.
Reserve files can be imported from different directories.
Future enhancements will be considered based on users suggestions. Some of the ideas
being considered are:
Stand alone windows interface where the user will be able to switch back and
forth from and to Excel.
Two scheduling classes (i.e., ore-waste or oxide ore-sulfide ore).
Reporting of multiple grades.
Minimum and/or maximum number of stopes to be mined by period.
Page 34

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MineSight 2 Only

MineSight is a registered trademark of Mintec, inc.

Section 5Grid Sets

Section 6Linking Solids and Surfaces

Section 13Survey Data

Section 14Blast Pattern Editor

Section 15DXF Files

Section 1Starting a MineSight 2 Project

Section 1Starting a MineSight 2 Project

This window allows you to specify your project directory.

MineSight 2 Only Workbook May 2000

Section 1Starting a MineSight 2 Project

MineSight 2 Only Workbook May 2000

Section 1Starting a MineSight 2 Project

MineSight 2 Only Workbook May 2000

Section 1Starting a MineSight 2 Project

MineSight 2 Only Workbook May 2000

Section 1Starting a MineSight 2 Project

These buttons serve as filters. The default is to show everything. However, if

Section 1Starting a MineSight 2 Project

Now create a new folder in the _MSRESOURCES directory called

MineSight 2 Only Workbook May 2000

Section 2Navigating MineSight

Section 2Navigating MineSight

We will use folder Training to store our VBM data.

MineSight 2 Only Workbook October 2000

Section 2Navigating MineSight

MineSight 2 Only Workbook October 2000

Section 2Navigating MineSight

MineSight 2 Only Workbook October 2000

Section 2Navigating MineSight

Click right in the viewer to exit Query mode.

Change the properties of the different Geometry Objects to become familiar

MineSight 2 Only Workbook October 2000

Section 2Navigating MineSight

It is possible to have more than one Viewer. To create another Viewer,

MineSight 2 Only Workbook October 2000

Section 2Navigating MineSight

Viewers can be used one at a time or together. To tile the

Click the Viewer Properties icon. On the View Options tab, by

Open 901. Close anything else that is displayed in the Viewer.

MineSight 2 Only Workbook October 2000

Section 2Navigating MineSight

Click on the Viewer Properties icon. Uncheck volume clipping

MineSight 2 Only Workbook October 2000

Section 2Navigating MineSight

Under the Labels tab, increase the Label Height to 6.

MineSight 2 Only Workbook October 2000

Section 2Navigating MineSight

To increase productivity most of the commands available on MineSight

MineSight 2 Only Workbook October 2000

Section 2Navigating MineSight

MineSight 2 Only Workbook October 2000

Section 3Editing Polylines

Section 3Editing Polylines

There are several ways to select data:

Understand the difference between 2-D and 3-D data.

A. Click the Selection icon, a yellow box with two triangles

MineSight 2 Only Workbook May 2000

Section 3Editing Polylines

MineSight 2 Only Workbook May 2000

Section 3Editing Polylines

Edit 2-D data in 2-D mode only.