Using MineSight for to Explore Open Stoping

©2009 Dr. B. C. PaulNote- This slide set uses views taken from Mintec’s MineSight

software program and utilizes files created for Mintec Underground training or from their seminars for demonstration purposes.

What is MineSight?

• It is a mine planning and design computer software package– It works in true 3D Cad making it suitable for

complex underground metal mines and structures

• This slide set and following assignment are intended to orient you only to basic operations of views and visualizing within the program.

Why a Computer Package?

• Most mines today use one or more computer packages to speed the engineers design process and productivity– The ability to do computer aided design will

increase your marketability and speed of orientation to engineering jobs in industry

Why MineSight?• There are multiple packages out there

– MineSight– Vulcan– Datamine– Gemcon– Carlson

• Each has a following– SIU has MineSight and Carlson

• Knowing one makes picking up another easier since they do similar things with varying ease and efficiency.

Limitations Comments• Carlson is easiest to learn

– Has very limited 3D visualization (its an autocad overlay)

– Was built for underground coal with simple deposit bedding

• Applications are very focused on day to day cad mapping– Planning Optimization functions and routines are limited

• Has the best survey input connectivity in the business– Very good for using surveys to keep up mine maps or advance

operations• About 90% of coal industry in U.S. uses

– Performance for true 3D metals, industrial minerals or more complex coal is poor

True 3D Packages

• Datamine came out of a computer graphics company– Has some remarkable visual tricks including

3D movies– Allows variable size blocks to be used for

deposits• Very helpful for underground vein deposits

– Does not have the add on features of for mine planning

• Was developed to capitalize on graphics more than mining

More True 3D• Gemcon

– Functions highly broken down by modules– Little simpler than some true 3D but lacks versatility

and forces assumptions and approximations.• Vulcan

– Part of a more comprehensive software company– Prob better underground than surface– Prob one of most windows like

• Software design not strictly mine focused• Prob most like MineSight• Reputed to be one of the most unfriendly and hard to use

MineSight• Was born out of software development in Mining

in the 1960s– Built up an independent 3D interface– Prob the most comprehensive set of optimization

programs in the business– Still a Mining focused software company– Built for and dominates open pit metal– (We also have a number of alums there and get really

good service)– For flat 2D bedded deposits the flexibility (and

required decision making that comes with it) resembles nuking an ant hill

Starting Up MineSight

Click Start Select All Programs Pick MineSight Select MS3D

(of course you canDo this from aDesktop icon too).

MineSight’s “Splash Screen” comes up

Click browse toWork your wayTo the directoryWhere yourAssignment filesAre located

If you have beenWorking a lot ofProjects recentlyYou can pickFrom a drop downList (since thisWill be a first timeFor you this won’tHappen now)

The Browse Screen Comes Up

The browseScreen works justLike windowsAnd windowsexploring

Pick the Starting Directory and Click Ok

The Directory Comes Up in the Screen

Click Ok

MineSight Will Start Up(your opening a completed project)

The viewer isWhere youSee you image

Data ManagerIs a twoTiered WindowsExplorer

The top levelShows whereThe folder is

The bottomShows whatsIn the folder

More FeaturesDrop downMenus at the topBring up optionsAnd function

Icons provideShort cuts to manyOf the most usedFunctions

The information lineShows coordinatesAnd distances etc.

The messageWindow tells youWhat MineSight isLooking for next.

Lets Experiment with Data Manager and See How it Works

Use a click of yourLeft mouse buttonTo pick 2007Seminar in theData Manager

Note the plusBeside it – left clickThe plus

(Ok this is just likePicking things inWindows – not soHard for peopleWith computerExperience)

Note Clicking the Plus Expands and shows the files below

(Yes this works just like Windows Exploring)

Left click on theCompletedDevelopmentFolder to pick it(it turns blue)

Note that theBottom part ofData ManagerNow shows youWhat files areIn the folder.

We Can Close Everything

Left click 2007Seminar toPick the folder

Right click – upComes the pop-Up

Move the curserOver close untilIt turns blue

Left click it toClose everythingIn that folder.

We Are About to Examine an Underground Open Stoping Mine

Move your curserOver 3ddevp inThe upper part ofData Manager andLeft click it.(yes it turned blueAnd all the files inIt appeared inThe lower windowOf Data Manager.

Lets Take a Look at How Our Mine is Accessed

Move your mouseOver 3DshaftsAnd X cuts inThe lower part ofData Manager.

Left click withYour mouse. TheSelection willTurn blue.

Now withoutMoving yourMouse right click.This will bring upA Pop-Up Menu

Move Your Curser Up the Menu to Open (note that options turn blue as the curser

moves over the top)

When you getTo open leftClick it with yourMouse.

We See Our Shaft Coming from the surface and going down to 4 different shaft stations

From eachStation on the shaftThere is a cross-cutThat moves towardThe orebody

The shaft continuesDown below theBottom station toAn ore pocket at theBase where oreCan be collected andHoisted to the surface

Note What Happened in Data Manager

The 3D Shaft &Xcuts file turnedRed. (This meansThe file is openIn the viewer)

I Wonder How the Ore Gets Down to that Ore Pocket at the Bottom of the Shaft

Move your curserTo 3Drockpass inThe lower windowOf Data ManagerAnd left click (pickIt so it turns blue)Now right click forThe pop-up menu

Move your curserTo open andRight click it

There is the Rock PassEquipment in theUnderground mineCarries ore toThe rock passAnd dumps itDown the shootWhere it goes toThe ore pocket.

LHD Moving Ore

Use the Same Procedure To Open 3Dfwhaulage

Equipment drivesAround undergroundIn the haulageDrifts.

Note that theCross-cuts fromThe shaft stationsProvide accessTo the haulageDrifts.

Note also that theHaulage drifts goOver to the orePass.

Miners and Equipment Like to Breath

We can use ourObject openingProcedure to open3Dvents.

We can see thatThe undergroundHaulage waysGo to air shaftsWhere fresh airCan be circulatedInto the mine.

One Problem With Underground Equipment is Moving it from One Level to Another

Many mineShafts are notBig enough toAllow fullyAssembledEquipment toMove from oneLevel to anotherSo the oftenBuild ramps forEquipment toDrive from oneArea to another

We used ourOpen procedureTo open3D ramps.

Our View is Now Getting A Little Hard to See

Move your mouseOver to the viewer.

Depress and holdBoth the left andRight mouse keysAnd move themouse

Note that you can rotate the angle you view the mine from

Now hold downThe left mouseButton and theCenter button orRoller

Move the mouseDown.

Note that you Zoom Out – That didn’t help us see much

Holding the sameLeft and centerMouse buttons downMove your mouseup

Note That You Zoom In

Now hold downThe right andCenter mouseButton and moveYour mouse

Note that you can pan around the screen

Move yourMouse aroundAnd try to lookAt things toHelp you betterUnderstand howThe undergroundMine works.

Here is Another View

When Things Were Rotten

Sometimes youAre trying to panAnd rotate aroundAnd you can’t keepYour objectCentered and itRotates right offThe screen.

You Are Suffering From a Poorly Placed Viewing Camera

To fix things, panYour view backOnto the screen

Left Click the Pretty Camera Icon

Then left clickA spot near theCenter of theObject you areLooking at.

Now the cameraIs close to yourObject andYour rotationsWill stay onscreen

Much Better

We Know They Are Mining Ore But Where is it?

In the top ofData ManagerLeft click onPlnore

Now in the lowerPart of DataManager useYour openingProcedure andOpen 66-solid.

Note that in most Underground Mining the mine working are put in underneath the

orebodyWe say that weAre putting ourDevelopment inThe footwall.(you can imagineWhat wouldHappen if wePut them in the“hanging wall”And then minedOut a holeUnderground thatThings cavedInto later – ieDropped out fromUnder you).

When We Rotate Around to Look At Things we find some views kind of blocked

Lets try someTricks

Move your mouseOver to 66 solidAnd make sure itIs blue (ie – hasBeen picked byLeft clicking). NowRight click to getThe pop-up menu

Highlight and Select Properties

The Object Properties Window Opens

We can changeThe waySurfaces areDisplayed.

Point your mouseTo wireframeOnly and leftClick the radioButton.

Well I Can Definitely See Through that but Wireframes confuse some people

Ok – I’m going toLeft click facesOnly and looseThe wireframe

I might like to playWith the colorJust for grins andA little detour –Left click theGlobal Color icon

Up Comes My Color Pallet

I think I will pickA light yellowBy left clickingIt and thenLeft clicking Ok

(this looks prettyMuch like theStandard colorPallet stuff mostWindowsPrograms have)

Hmm – I wonder what I can do for solid gold.

One thing I kindOf dislike aboutSurface is that itStill looks likeA rough web ofTriangles(it was made byTriangulatingBetween contourLines of the oreBody)

Left click on theSurfaces tab ofThe ObjectProperties

If I Left Click on the box by Smooth Shading it Smoothes those rough edges

Hay I Found a Cure to My Orebody Hiding My Mine Works

I left clicked theTransparent Faces box andThen increasedThe numberBeside it – theHigher the numberThe more see-Through (this is75)

I’m going toLeft click ok toGet out of thisFor now.

I Think I Will Get My Surface showing too

I picked Topo onThe upper partOf Data ManagerAnd then used myOpening procedureOn the tri-topoFile.

MineSight lets youSet up and nameFiles and folders forThings as you likeSo the namingScheme for thingsCan very with theDesigner.

These Views are Nice But How Do We Know What to Mine?

Computer modelsDivide orebodiesUp into stackedBlocks. TheAverage grade ofEach block asWell as otherInformation aboutThat part of theOre is stored inThe program.These are calledBlock Models.

Lets take a look at our block modelLeft click on thePln-ore folderIn the top ofData Manager

This time Right Click the Folder After it is Picked

A pop up menuAppears hereToo

Move the curserOver close soThat it turns blue-Then left click it

(The trick here isThat I can openOr closeEverything in a Whole folder thisWay)

Go to Data Manager and Left Click on Model

Now go to UG66In the lower partOf Data ManagerAnd use yourOpeningProcedure.

Now We See A Block Model ofOre Body

The block colorCoding actuallyRepresents howRich the ore is.

Now Lets Think About Planningan Open Stope Mining Sequence to Get

This Good Stuff

Often When We Mine We Plan to Go After the Best Ore First

I like the looks ofThis stuff

Open Stoping Takes Ore Out of the Ground leaving an open void behind

Here you seeThe first stopeOf ore I dugOut. You canAlso see it hitsSome of theJuiciest ore blocksAround

(Ok you alsoNoticed that IMade my blockModel partlyTransparent soYou could seeWhat I wasWacking out)

I Think I Will Go After the Next Best Ore on the Top Level

Next I think I willGo to the bestOre on the levelBelow.

MineSight Has a Part Called Activity Planner that Can Keep Track of My Ore Grades from Stopes as

I Mine them.

I think I will tryGoing in herenext

The View Shows all My Underground Support Workings

In practice asI see where IWill go first IMay developAll theUndergroundWorkings in theOrder neededTo stay aheadOf mining.

(The fact thatThe productionShaft lined upWith the first oreI would mineWas not anAccident)

And So I Continue to Sequence for the Best and Most Profitable Ore

Eventually We Are Left With a Series of Hollow Open Stopes in the Ground

The ground isNow supportedBy pillars that runAcross the top ofThe open stopes(Called CrownPillars)

A pillars betweenOpen stopes(sometimes calledRibs or RibPillars)

And Pillars Between StopesThese areCalled ribs,Or rib pillars

The Value of the Ore Remaining in Pillars Determines What Happens Next

If the ore in thePillars is valuableEnough the openStopes areFilled with mixturesOf sand (or millTailings) andCement

With the Stopes Backfilled Mining of the Pillars Can Begin

The Pillars Can Be Mined(Frequently some backfilling will be required)

Wow!Wait a minute –The backgroundWas black –What happened?

The Funny Little Blue List is the Viewer Properties

Left click on theViewer properties

Up Comes the Viewer Properties Window

The backgroundColor is controlledFrom the littleColor palletDown here

Left click on it

Pick Your Color With a Left Click

Then left click ok

Hmm – Ok Hot Pink is a Little Over the Top

The Lighting Tab lets you Adjust Lighting Effects on Your Mine Drawing

I bet you figuredOut that I leftClicked myViewer propertiesAnd changed theBackgroundColor back beforeGoing here toPlay with theLighting.

I Can Go for the Spot Light

Left click the littlePull down arrow

Move the curserOver the spot lightTo turn it blueAnd then left click.

You Can Experiment with Lighting Effects

With Spot Light With Distant Light

I Can Also Change the Color And Brightness of the Lights

Ok – Maybe that light effectKind of stinks.

Of Course We Still Have Not Explained How We Got the Rest of the Way Over to the Ore Body to

Mine It

Cross Cuts Are Developed From the Foot Wall Haulage Drifts to the Orebody

You Then Develop A Drill Drive Down the Center of the Deposit

From the drillDrive drillingWill be doneUp into theOrebody to blastDown ore.The ore can bePulled out usingLHDs workingFrom theCross-cuts intoThe orebody

(If you suspect ITurned off theRamp to clear upThe view youAre right)

Jumbo Drill Advancing A Drill Drift

Stopes Are Started By Putting UpSlot Raises from the Drill Drifts

In order to blastOre there hasTo be a placeFor the brokenRock to go.The first sliceOf ore will beBlown into theSlot raise.

Once A Slice Has been Cut Out all Across the Orebody Later Slices are Blasted into

that Void

There Are Variations of Open Stoping That Depend Mostly on Where the Drill Drifts are

LocatedSome varietiesPut the drill driftOn top of theStope.

Other have drillDrifts on theSides of theorebody

Your Assignment Opportunity

• In this assignment you will perform work and then document your work using screen shots that you will save to a Word document.

Get A View That You Want on Your Screen

On yourKeyboardDepress theControl andPrint screenKeys at theSame time

Go to Your Word Document and Left Click the Paste Icon

Now For the Things You Get to Show

• Start MineSight and Take a Screenshot of your “splash screen”

• When the Project Opens Take a Screen Shot.• Go to the 3D Development Folder and open the shaft

and crosscuts, footwall haulage drifts, Rock Pass, Vent shafts, and ramp – take a screen shot

• Rotate your view around and take another screen shot• Zoom in and take a screen shot• Zoom out and take a screen shot• Zoom to a convenient point and pan your view and take

a screen shot.• Change the background color of your viewer and take

another screen shot.

Continued Work• Go to the plnore folder and open the file 66solid – take a

screen shot• Rotate your workings around so you can see where they

are relative to your ore body – take a screen shot• Now adjust your ore body to have a smooth, semi-

transparent surface so that you can see your mine workings from the hanging wall side of the orebody – take a screen shot.

• Turn in your word document with your name and the required screen shots.

• Also go to the working directory for your project and find the file msAudit.txt and make a copy of this file to turn in.

• Note that this assignment is best submitted by e-mail attaching a word file and a copy of the msAudit.txt file.