Introduction to MineSight

2012 Dr. B. C. Paul

Note This presentation refers to trademarked mine design software products
and includes screen shots from the program MineSight by Mintec. Credit for
the products so referenced or shown is given to the developers.

Why Design Software

Mine layouts have long needed to be
drawn out
Today computer drafting predominates
over manual

Mine optimization and evaluation

requires large numbers of redundant
calculations
Best done by computer

What is MineSight?
MineSight is a suite of mining tuned computer
programs
Heart is a 3D CAD graphics program called
MineSight
Has a wide array of mining calculations programs that
link production planning to the graphics functions in the
3D CAD program

MineSight development started with first computer

routines in the 1970s and list has grown since
Collection includes everything from old fortran routines
to modern python program language routines

MineSights Visually Linked

Calculation Routines
MineSight Compass
A windows like user interface built over a bunch
of old Dos, Fortran and Unix Programs
Collection of over 400 routines
Have the feel of old mainframe batch programs
Thats because they are old mainframe routines and
subroutines with a modern windows like graphical
interface to feed them

Looks new but has you do some things to set up

runs that are like old mainframe batch routines

New Kids on the Block

Built a Suite of New Programs that run in Python
visual language
Economic Planner

State of the Art Open Pit Metal Mining Optimization and

integrated together

Activities Planner

Microsoft Projects Gant Charts set up for Mining

Data Analyst

Ore Reserves Statistics and Geostatistics

Interactive Planner

Link between databases and 3D graphics for planning

Strategic Planner
Other procedures constantly being prepared

Editorial Commentary
Lack of Consistency

A 40 year collection and operating systems have run in fundamentally

different ways over the years
Made to look windows like but cant always hide the architecture
underneath

Has bugs in it

Most bugs are triggered by assuming people will input in a certain way
and you dont
Mining has lots of local terms in it so wording can encourage you to
do unexpected things
Most bugs are operator error triggered but it is rather unforgiving
Very computer and graphically intensive
Pushes hardware and designs to the limit and a lot of hardware and
system components misbehave when they are at their limit

Its wonderful to have so much integrated power and routines all in

one semi-coherent package

One of a Limited Set of

Programs
MineSight (master of the open pit metal mine)
Probably most overall advanced and complete

Vulcan (very good 3D CAD for hardrock

underground)
Gemcon/Mincom
Serve CAD / Carlson
Really an autocad add on for graphics and design
Quite popular with underground applications not
demanding heavy 3D visualization and manipulation
Well liked in coal

Lets Start this Puppy Up!

Look for the Desktop Icon for

MS3D and Click on It
Ok I Dont Have One Cause I Dont Start
That way but some people do.

Programs Front Icon Opens

Mines or designs
Are kept as
Projects
It can default
Start where the
Program lives
Or be sent to
Where you store
A project
If you have a
Project or design
Already you can
Have it loaded
And ready to go.

I Can Click on An Arrow and See

a List of Recently Worked
Projects

I Can Browse

This lets me see my directory or existing projects or

Create a new project with Make New Folder.

I Can Purge Old Files

The weird X is the delete command for

Deleting a selected project.

After I Get My Project Selected I

Click on Ok

The Program Starts

If you are starting a
Whole new project
It will ask about
Permission to write
System files in the
Project area and
Possibly what the
Coordinates are
For the project

It has typical Windows drop down

menus
Not all options may be
Available at any one
Time. As typical nonAvailable options
Are grayed out.

Lots of Things are Drawn With

Lines
They are found
Under the
Polyline Menu
Polyline is
A continuous
Series of line
Segments.

Most Common Commands are

Accessed with Icons

(again note that ones not available

Are grayed out)

If I Cant Remember what an icon

is I can put the curser over it and
it will spill its guts

The Big Gray Area is the Drawing

Window

A box that appears at the

Bottom gives you
Instructions or information

The Data Manager

Data Manager is
A two tiered
Windows
Exploring
Select a
Subdirectory up top
You see the
Contents of that
Subdirectory down
Below.
MineSight works
In an overall
Directory dedicated
To each project.

Types of Files
Main file is called a Geometry Object
It is information describing some geometric
shape that can be brought up on the
viewer

Most other files are various type of view

control files

Place the Curser Over

Something You Would Like to
See and Right Click

The item turns blue

Left Click to Pop-Up A Menu for

the Item

Just Moving the Curser Over the

Second Menu Turns Things Blue

A Simple Right Click Turns the

Object On in the Viewer

You Can Play with the Surface

View

Push and hold the left and right keys

On your mouse as you move it to
Rotate your object in 3D (so you can
Look at it from different directions).

You Can Move Your Surface Up

and Down (Pan Around)

Hold the right click button and the

Center button down (often the center
Button is a roller) and move the mouse
Around.

You Can Zoom In and Zoom

Out

Hold the left click button and the

Center button down (often the center
Button is a roller) and move the
mouse around.

I Can Also Rotate Views with

Keyboard strokes

More Keyboard Rotation

More Keyboard Rotation

You May Want to Create Your

Own Directory or Files
Select the root directory by
Highlighting and Right clicking

Drop Down the Menu and Pick

New and then Folder

It Asks You For the Name of the

Folder

I typed experiments
I will then click Ok

The New Folder Name Appears

Now Select the Experiments

Folder
Drop down the menu
Pick new
On the submenu pick new
Geometry object (a file that
Contains geometric
Information).

It Asks the Name of the

Geometry Object

Type it in and click Ok

The New Geometry Object

Appears in the Lower Part of the
Data Manager

In Order to Draw Things in the

Geometry File I Need to Put it
Highlight the geometry
Into Edit Mode
object (put the curser over
It and right click)

Now left click the menu

Drops down
Move the curser to
Highlight Edit
Left click to go into Edit
Mode.

The Geometry Object is Now

Marked With a Gold Open Box
What you draw will go into that
Geometry object.

The X Box

You can close the

Whole program

The little red

X box closes
Things.

You can close

The Windows
Explorer like
Data Manager

You can close a 3D

Visualization
window

General Quirks and

Observations
MineSight does not have an escape key function

You right click to finish a function which gets you out of it (but might also
finish a goof)

MineSight has a more enforced save structure

Some drawing functions will not let you move on until you save you last
group of edits

It is not consistent in when this happens but if the program stops taking
orders a right click to finish what ever it thinks your doing and then a save is
a good guess.

MineSight has limited Undo functionality

You can save the last set of edits and then go back and undo it.
It does not keep a step by step undo list that lets you go back and undo
the last 20 things one at a time
Undo function often requires you to save before it becomes available
If you really goof it keeps back-up copies of everything and you can go
in and fetch a back up copy of what you screwed up.

Some Rigidity in Menu and Icon

Structure
Microsoft Office allows you to pick groups
of icons, call them toolbars and dock
your favorites in a certain position
Vulcan has created some tool bar dockability
MineSight has not

MineSight does allow you to right click

and pull up an on the spot menu of
recently used and custom chosen
functions

So Why Should I Learn

MineSight
CAD like mine design packages are rapidly
becoming an industry standard knowing one
increases your marketability
There is enough similarity in packages that
knowing one will allow you to learn any other with
greater ease (in case your employer didnt make
the same choice for basic package as we did or
if your employer changes his/her mind later).
We are using it in this class and you dont want to
even think about life without it.

A Term You Need to Know for

Homework
Screen Shot
You can copy the screen to the
clipboard with
Control-Print Screen

You can paste the screen shot into a

word document.

Assignment #1
Get a copy of a starter file from the website
Take a screen shot of you selecting the
starter file from your thumb drive as you open
MineSight
Open Geometry Object Topo Surface
Take a screen shot

Zoom out on object

Take a screen shot

Assignment #1 Continued
Zoom in on object

Take a screen shot

Zoom back to a convenient view

Take 3 screen shots of different rotated position

Close Topo Surface

Take a screen shot

Create a geometry object called shapes

Take screen shots of creating it

Take a screen shot for putting it in edit mode

Draw a line

Take a screen shot

Draw a circle

Take a screen shot

Draw a 6 sided closed polygon

Take a screen shot