1a Intro To Gocad 2009 2

Introduction to Gocad for Mining
data management and visualization
geological interpretation
geochemical interpretation
geophysical interpretation
targeting
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Copyright
2010 Mira Geoscience Limited. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer
Although an attempt has been made to ensure the veracity of the following material, no responsibility is assumed by the author or by Mira Geoscience Limited for any use, or for any consequences resulting from any use, of the information contained herein. No guarantee of suitability for any purpose is offered or implied.
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Before you begin
About this course
This training is an instructor-led course that provides an introduction to these modules of Gocad: Gocad Mining (3D Viewer, Foundation Modeling and Editing) and Mining (Mira Utilities).
The training will teach you techniques to visualize, import and manipulate data in a 3D environment. We will be using data from the San Nicolas deposit, provided by TeckCominco. It is a volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit discovered in 1997 located in southeastern Zacatecas, Mexico. The deposit consists of a high-grade polymetallic cap and a copper rich lower sulphide zone. Assay data is not real data.
The course includes the following topics: Section 1: Getting started Section 2: Importing data and saving projects and objects Section 3: Manipulating and visualizing objects Section 4: Preparing data for modelling.
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Who should attend
This one-day course is designed for geologists, geophysicists, engineers or other technical personnel, who have some experience in the concepts of 3D modelling and its benefits to the exploration community.
Prerequisites
Instructions in the document assume that the user has a background in geoscientific principals. Additional training is also available. Please contact us at info@mirageoscience.com if you have any questions or comments.
Contacting us
for inquires related to

licensing technical support general info or sales Toronto, Canada Brisbane, Australia our web address our mailing address
Email address
licensing@mirageoscience.com support@mirageoscience.com info@mirageoscience.com
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www.mirageoscience.com 310 Victoria Avenue Suite 309 Westmount, Quebec Canada, H3Z 2M9
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Table of Contents
Section 1 Getting started ................................................................................. 1
1.1 Start Gocad Suite and create a project ...............................................................................................1 Choose modules for a project....................................................................................................................2 Set units for a project ....................................................................................................................................3 1.2 Tour the Gocad window ...........................................................................................................................4 Basics of the Gocad window .......................................................................................................................5 Rotate, pan, and zoom in the Gocad camera .......................................................................................7 Resize areas of the window.........................................................................................................................9 Customising the Taskpane ....................................................................................................................... 11 Use ToolTips for toolbars and buttons ................................................................................................ 12 Customize the window by setting preferences................................................................................. 13 Use toolbars and menu bars ................................................................................................................... 15
Section 2 Importing data and saving projects and objects ........................ 21

2.1 Import data from external sources .................................................................................................... 22 Import Fixed Format XYZ ASCII files e.g. digital elevation data (DEM) ................................ 23 Import SHP files e.g. cultural data...................................................................................................... 25 Import DXF files e.g. section interpretations.................................................................................. 28 Import TRI files e.g. lithological interpretations .......................................................................... 31 Import ASCII drillhole data ....................................................................................................................... 33 Import Geosoft XYZ files e.g. geophysical line data .................................................................... 42 Import 3D ASCII data e.g. geophysical station data .................................................................... 45 Import Geosoft GRD files e.g. geophysical grids .......................................................................... 47 Import UBC-GIF geophysical inversions files ..................................................................................... 51 Other supported file formats................................................................................................................... 54 2.2 Load Gocad objects ................................................................................................................................ 55 2.3 Save projects and objects ..................................................................................................................... 57 Save an object ............................................................................................................................................... 57 Save the project ........................................................................................................................................... 58 About saving objects and projects ........................................................................................................ 58
Section 3 Manipulating and visualizing objects .......................................... 59

3.1 Manipulate the 3D Camera .................................................................................................................. 59 3.2 Display and modify graphic attributes ............................................................................................. 67 About modifying attributes ..................................................................................................................... 67 About the Attribute toolbar ..................................................................................................................... 68 Modify the graphic attributes of curves .............................................................................................. 69 Introduction to Gocad for Mining vii
Modify the graphic attributes of pointsSets ...................................................................................... 72 Modify the graphic attributes of surfaces ........................................................................................... 73 Modify the graphic attributes of drillholes ......................................................................................... 82 3.3 Display properties .................................................................................................................................... 84 Display surface properties......................................................................................................................... 84 Display drillhole properties....................................................................................................................... 90 Display block model properties ........................................................................................................... 100 3.4 Display regions ....................................................................................................................................... 107 3.5 The Gocad Slicer .................................................................................................................................... 108
Section 4 Preparing data for modelling .....................................................111

4.1 Edit a curve .............................................................................................................................................. 112 Examining and Simplifying Curves...................................................................................................... 113 Preparing section interpretations for modelling ........................................................................... 119 4.2 Edit a pointsSet and create a region .............................................................................................. 122 Use the Region Editor .............................................................................................................................. 127 Create a histogram ........................................................................................................................................ 133 Create a crossplot ..................................................................................................................................... 134
Appendix A1 Import ASCII Column File Formats .......................................137 Appendix A2 Import drillhole file formats..................................................139
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Section 1 Getting started
Overview This lesson introduces a few key concepts to help you get started in Gocad such as how to start the program, how to get around in the interface where you will visualize your data and do most of your modelling work, manipulating your data in 3D and how to customize Gocad. Notes
1.1 Start Gocad Suite and create a project

Launch Gocad Suite by double clicking on the Paradigm GOCAD 2009.2 icon on the Windows Desktop. After a few moments, the Open Existing or New Project dialog box appears. Note:
You will also see the Project Modules Selector when you select the Change modules before opening project check box in the Open Existing or New Project dialog box, or when you open a project created with an earlier version of Gocad.
1. Click on New Project. Notes 2. Navigate to the Gocad_Training/IntroToGocad folder. 3. In the File Name box, type Module1, and then click Save. Gocad creates a new project folder named Module1.prj and a file named Module1.gprj, which will contain the modules you select in the Project Modules Selector. The Project Modules Selector appears after a moment.
Choose modules for a project

Now that you created a new project, the Project Modules Selector opens. You will select the modules you want Gocad Mining Suite to load each time you open the project. Note:
Gocad saves the list of modules you load with the projects in the
.gprj file. Each time

you open the project, these modules load automatically.
1. Do the following to select modules for the new project: On the Basic Earth Modelling tab, select these check boxes: 3D Viewer. Loads the importing commands such as for importing 2D and 3D data, models, cross sections, drillholes, and logs; and viewing commands for displaying objects and models and manipulating the view. Introduction to Gocad for Mining
Foundation Modeling and Editing. Loads commands for performing modelling and editing operations on objects; creating histograms and crossplots; calculating properties; and using multiple cameras.
Notes
On the Mining tab Ensure that the Mining Utilities and 3D-GIS plug-ins are checked. These are included in Gocad Mining Suite Base Module.
2. When you finish selecting the modules, click OK. A splash screen appears as the project and the selected modules load. The Gocad window opens and displays the Initialize Project Units dialog box.
Set units for a project

Caution: Before you start working in the new project, you need to specify project units. Gocad saves the units with the project, so you need to define them only once.
You can only set the units once for a project and Gocad saves the information with the project (as a .gprj file). After you set the units, you cannot change them in the project. If you would like to make changes to any of the units, you must create a new project.
1. For Area unit, select Meters. Notes 2. For Depth unit, select Meters. 3. Leave Time unit as is (milliseconds). 4. For Depth axis positive values, select Upward. This means that the Z-axis is going upward, so Z values are increasing upward. 5. For Preferred z-axis, leave Depth. 6. Click OK. Gocad initializes the units and axis orientations for the project.
1.2 Tour the Gocad window

Now you will explore the Gocad window. With this interface, you have access to all of the basic commands. And, this is where you will access the additional functionality associated with the specialized modules loaded within the Project Modules Selector.
In this exercise, you will learn about or do the following: Learn about the general layout and basic elements of the Gocad window Learn how to manipulate objects in the Gocad camera Customize the window Use toolbars and menu bars
Basics of the Gocad window

The main Gocad window offers great flexibility and supports a fully configurable workspace. You can arrange the layout to suit your working habits. However, before you start rearranging the window, let's first learn the default location and function of each of the areas.
Notes
Docking Areas: The docking areas contain toolbars and menu bars and consist of the four sides of the window. Toolbar: A toolbar contains buttons and commands that operate in a common area or serve a common purpose. For example, the Main toolbar consists of commands affecting objects and projects, such as opening, saving, and deleting. Menu Bar: A menu bar consists of a series of menus, and each menu contains a series of commands. You can move a menu bar or toolbar to any location in the docking Introduction to Gocad for Mining 5
Notes
areas. However, you probably will not want to place menu bars in the right or left docking areas because this causes an inefficient use of space.
Task Pane: The Object Tree, Attribute Manager, a list of workflows, and the active workflow study are displayed as tabs in the Task Pane. You can detach the Task Pane and individual tabs or dock them anywhere within the main window.
3D Camera: The 3D Camera pane in the Gocad window is a viewer in which you visually examine and work with your model objects.
Command Terminal: By default, the Command Terminal area is hidden. You can display it by right clicking in the docking area and choosing Command Terminal or by navigating to the View menu and selecting Command Terminal. The Command Terminal can be hidden, detached or docked anywhere in the Workspace. Gocad records the commands you carry out in each session as well as error, warning and query information messages in an ASCII file called history.gsc. Gocad stores this file in the project folder. The information in this file also displays in the Command Terminal area.
Status bar: The status bar is at the bottom of the Gocad window. In this area, you will see instructions and the results of many operations. For example, if you carry out a command to find the area of a horizon, the result of the area calculation displays in the status bar, in the Command Terminal, and the history.gsc file for the project. In the next exercise, you will learn how to manipulate the view in the 3D Camera to look at objects from different angles, zoom in and out, shift the view, save views, and much more.
Rotate, pan, and zoom in the Gocad camera

Before we start doing anything with the Gocad camera, we need something in the camera!
Notes
Load an object into Gocad 1. Within the File menu, click Load Objects to open the dialog. 2. Browse to the folder IntroToGocad /data/Geology/Surfaces. 3. Select the Massive_Sulphide.ts file in this directory 4. Click OK. Gocad loads the object file into the project and automatically displays the objects in the 3D Camera. The object should appear as in the picture below.
There are 3 camera manipulations in Gocad that are easy to master. All three mouse buttons are used (the click-wheel acts as the middle button).
Notes Rotate the view in the 3D Camera
Move the pointer into the 3D Camera and drag in any direction to rotate around a point in the center of the view. Use the left mouse button and move the mouse.
Pan the view in
the 3D Camera
Move the pointer into the 3D Camera and, using the middle mouse button, drag in any direction to shift the view in that direction.
Zoom the view in the 3D Camera
Move the pointer into the 3D Camera and, using the right mouse button, drag: Toward the top of the window to decrease the size of objects in the view (zoom out). Toward the bottom of the window to increase size of objects in the view (zoom in).
Tip: Manipulate the view during a command

When you are working in the 3D Camera, there may be times when you want to change the view while you are carrying out a command, and you do not want to end the command just to change the view. For most commands that you carry out in the 3D Camera, clicking or dragging is interpreted as input for the command, such as selecting an object, digitizing a point or line, or even ending the command. In these cases, holding down SHIFT temporarily interrupts the command, changing the pointer to the camera movement tools (left mouse button = rotate, middle = pan, right = zoom). When you release the SHIFT key, the command resumes.
Resize areas of the window

In this exercise, you will resize the Gocad window and areas inside the window.
Notes
1. Move the pointer to an edge of the window. The pointer changes to the horizontal or vertical "resize" symbol or you can then drag the edge of the window to the desired location. 2. Click Maximize to enlarge the window to full-screen size.
3. Right-click anywhere in one of the docking areas (a shortcut menu opens), and then click Application toolbar.
Notes
A new toolbar appears in the in the docking area. The docking areas enlarge automatically when you show a toolbar or menu bar. You cannot control the width or height of the docking areas manually. 4. Hide the Task Pane by clicking on the x at the top right corner of the pane. The Task Pane can also be turned off by right clicking in the docking area and choosing Task Pane or by navigating the View Task Pane. The 3D Camera enlarges to the full width of the window. To show the Task Pane again, right-click anywhere in the docking area and choose Task Pane. 5. Move the pointer to the vertical divider between the 3D Camera and the Task Pane (the pointer changes to a ), drag the divider to the left or right to adjust the size of the areas manually. The size of the 3D Camera and Task Pane change to fit the new space. 6. Show the Command Terminal by right clicking anywhere in the docking area and selecting Command Terminal from the list. Drag the horizontal divider (above the Command Terminal area) to adjust the size manually (the pointer changes to a ). The Command Terminal area is detachable and dockable.
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Notes
Customising the Taskpane

The visible tabs in the taskpane can be displayed, hidden or rearranged but the user. By default, two Workflow tabs are present each time Gocad is launched. These can be removed and placed in their own task pane to be hidden or displayed as the user sees fit. To move tabs to a separate taskpane 1. Click and Drag one of the Workflow tabs into the camera to remove it from the active taskpane. 2. Click and drag the other Workflow tab onto the previously detatched one.
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Notes
The two are now in the same window and can be hidden by closing the window. The task pane can be re-opened by going to View in the Gocad menu bar and then selecting the appropriate task pane to view. Separated task panes can be merged by dragging one on to other.
Use ToolTips for toolbars and buttons

1. Rest the pointer over the handle of a menu bar or toolbar.
The pointer changes to the move symbol , and, after a moment, a ToolTip appears, showing the name of the menu bar or toolbar.
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2. Rest the pointer over a button on a toolbar. After a moment, a ToolTip appears with the name or the function of the command.
Notes
Customize the window by setting preferences

The Gocad window is extremely flexible; you can rearrange the layout to suit your working habits. However, during this course, you will need to follow the written instructions to find particular items. To do this quickly and easily, you should leave the toolbars and menu bars in their original locations. There are, however, some things that you might want to change about your window layout that could make things more comfortablefor example, the size of toolbars and text. In the following exercise, you will adjust these settings in Preferences. And, while you are there, you will make some changes that will be helpful for later exercises in this course, such as changing the default working folder and the user level.
1. On the Gocad menu bar (in the upper- left corner of the Gocad window), click the Edit menu, and then click Preferences to open the Preferences dialog box.
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Notes
When the dialog box opens, the General tab is displayed. 2. Under User level, select Advanced to reveal all commands and options. This setting is necessary in order to see all the commands available. 3. To change the default folder for objects and projects, do the following: a Under Default working folder for finding and saving objects and projects, click to open the Browse for Folder dialog box. b Find and select the folder /IntroToGocad (your instructor will provide the complete path), and then click OK.
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Use toolbars and menu bars
Notes
In the default setup, there are seven toolbars and two menu bars showing, and others are hidden. Right now, you do not need to know the function of every button. You only need an overview of the options and where to find them.
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Toolbars
Notes You already learned that you can see the name of toolbars and buttons by resting the pointer over the item to see the ToolTip. The icons should help you remember the function of each toolbar.
Main Toolbar
This toolbar is for maintenance tasks, such as opening a project, deleting objects, and so on. The second button is Load Objects. The icon for this button looks like an open folder with a blue object.
Camera View and Camera Snapshot and Options Toolbars
These toolbars contain commands that affect the settings for the 3D Camera, such as setting the background color, switching from perspective to parallel view, and so on.
Digitization/Editing Toolbar
With this toolbar, you specify the type of objects you want to digitize or edit in the 3D Camera.
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With this toolbar, you can access tools specific to the type of object you select on the Digitization-Selection toolbar. In this particular case, this is the Digitization/Editing toolbar for a curve object.
Notes
Camera Tools Toolbar
With this toolbar, you can manipulate the view and work with objects in the 3D Camera. You can, for example, use the Get 2D and 3D Distances tool to find the distance between two points in the 3D Camera, or use the Get Angles tool (not pictured) to get the dip and dip direction between two points..
Note:
The Attribute toolbar is very handy. Remember this one; you will use it often.
Slicer Toolbar
The toolbar allows you to visualize slices through your model in any plane or rotated plane.
Attribute Toolbar
When you first start Gocad Mining Suite, this toolbar displays, "Nothing Selected." Later, when you have some objects and you select one in the Object Tree, the buttons and commands on the Attribute toolbar change with the type of object selected. In this particular case, this is the Attribute toolbar for a surface object. This toolbar will contain graphic attributes (such as display color, name, size, and so on) specific to the selected object. With this
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Notes
toolbar, you can easily change the appearance of an object in the 3D Camera. Coordinates Toolbar
This toolbar has only one function; it displays the coordinates (x, y, z) of the pointer in the 3D Camera when the Get XYZ Coordinate tool is in effect on the Camera Tools toolbar.
Menu Bars
At first glance, you will see two menu bars in the Gocad window: Note:
You cannot hide the Gocad menu bar.
Gocad menu bar
You will see the Gocad menu bar near the top of the Gocad window. It contains commands for managing files, some editing operations, opening windows or special Gocad applications, deleting or renaming objects, getting help and information about Gocad Mining Suite, and so on. The tasks you can perform using this menu are not specific to any particular type of object.
Commands menu bar
You will see the Commands menu bar near the top of the Gocad window. With this menu bar, you can access commands for creating and editing objects. The Commands menu bar is really several menu bars in one. Each one relates to a type of object or modelling activity. When you 18 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
select a menu bar (on the left), the menus (on the right) change to display commands specific to the object type or modelling activity selected. For example, below is the menu bar for Surface objects.
Notes
The default menu bar is the General menu bar. It has five menus that contain some of the most commonly used commands, relating to various types of objects.
Change the Commands menu bar Click General to expand the menu, and then click the Surface menu bar. The menu bar changes to display the Surface menu bar. It has eight menus containing commands that relate only to surface objects. For example, the New menu contains commands for creating a surface; it does not contain commands for creating a curve.
Move a toolbar or menu bar For a docked toolbar or menu bar, drag the handle (the pointer changes to the move symbol ) to a new location. or For a floating toolbar or menu bar, drag the title bar to a new location. Note If you drag a toolbar to the top, left, right, or bottom of the window, the toolbar "snaps" into place (docking). You can also dock menu bars at the top or bottom of the window.
Quickly dock or undock a toolbar or menu bar For a docked toolbar or menu bar, double-click the handle . The toolbar or menu bar changes to a floating toolbar or menu bar. Introduction to Gocad for Mining 19
Notes
or For a floating toolbar or menu bar, double-click the title bar. For a toolbar, it becomes docked at the top, left, right, or bottom of the Gocad window. Or, for a menu bar, it becomes docked at the top or bottom of the window.
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Section 2 Importing data and saving projects and objects
Overview Many types of exploration/mining data can easily be imported in Gocad whether your goal is 3D visualization, preparing images for a presentation, creating or querying a 3D model, etc. Furthermore, often times simply importing the data in Gocads 3D environment and having a look at it may draw your attention to discrepancies. Whether these are due to data entry errors (the dip direction of a structure was reversed 180 degrees) or inconsistencies on the continuity of a geological contact from one cross section to another, Gocad will help you become aware of such issues. The simple steps of importing your data in Gocad may highlight critical problems. In a Gocad project, the first elements you need are objects. During modelling, you may use many types of objects. In addition to creating objects, you can bring them in by loading existing object files or importing objects exported from other programs. After you create objects or bring them into your project, you can display and edit objects; create new objects by using existing objects; and save, export, search for, and organize objects. In this lesson, you will learn how to import, load, and save objects and open and save Gocad projects. In the following section, you will learn how to manipulate all the data you will import here. Notes
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Notes
2.1 Import data from external sources

You can easily import data files and objects from external sources into Gocad projects. Gocad Mining Suite comprises several import filters for importing numerous file formatsfor example, you can import your topography, data from your digitized cross sections, your drillhole database, geochem results, geophysical data from grids or line surveys, raw data files from other software products, etc. When you import data, you can create objects, change objects by overwriting them, or add or overwrite property data associated with objects. Importing data from an external source requires knowledge of the type of data you are importing and the application used to create the data. In other words, it is important that you are familiar with your data before bringing it into Gocad Mining Suite, because you will make choices that depend on the nature of the data. In this exercise, you will have an overview of how to import the following types of data: Digital Elevation Data (DEM) Cultural data Section interpretations Lithological interpretations Drillhole data Geophysical data
We will not go into great detail and try every import option available in Gocad. Instead, well go through various imports in order to give you an idea of how the import mechanism works so you are ready to tackle importing your own data once the training is over.
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Prepare the Workspace Notes To hide all empty object types, right-click an empty space in the Object tree, and then click Hide Empty Object Types.
Import Fixed Format XYZ ASCII files e.g. digital elevation data (DEM)
Quite often, some of the first data that is imported into a Gocad project is a Digital Elevation Model. One simple way to import DEM data is a file consisting of data only, with a header for the X, Y and Z columns. Most programs offer the option to output X,Y,Z information in ASCII format, so this is an easy way to bring in data from an external source. The ASCII file importer used in this exercise assumes a defined format, please refer to Appendix A1 for file format requirements. 1. In the File menu, navigate to Import Objects Mining Importers and point to Ascii Files, and then click Fixed Format Column File to open the dialog box.
2. Click to open the Select Text File dialog box, and then do the following:
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Notes
a Find and open the IntroToGocad/data/Topo folder, and then select the file DEM.txt. b Click Open. CSV, space and tab delimited files can be imported using this utility. The object will be named with the filename. 3. Click OK. The filter imports the data file. The new pointsSet appears in the Object list of the Object Tree under the PointsSet category.
View the pointsSet in the 3D Camera
Click on the Objects tab in the Task Pane and from the Object list, expand the PointsSet category. And then select the check box next to DEM. The pointsSet appears in the 3D Camera. The pointsSet should look similar to the figure. If so, you have successfully imported your topography as a pointsSet and displayed it in the 3D Camera.
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Import SHP files e.g. cultural data

You can import data files containing cultural data such as geographic maps and geometry representations. In Gocad, typical uses of this kind of information include identifying location information such as the boundaries of lease blocks, the location of rivers, roads, powerlines, etc. In this section, you will learn about the .shp file format and how to import cultural data from this format into Gocad Mining Suite. About importing a .shp file An ESRI shape file consists of a main file, an index file, and a dBASE table. All three files are necessary to import the data. With the SHP importer, you can use the data in a .shp file to create a PointsSet, a Curve or a Surface object. In the following exercise, you will import curves representing a river and some roads from a .shp file to create a Curve object in Gocad.
Notes
Prepare the 3D Camera To hide all displayed objects, hold down CTRL and right-click in the 3D Camera, and then click Hide All. 1. In the File menu, navigate to Import Objects Mining Importers, point to ESRI, and then click SHP File to open the dialog box.
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Notes
2. Click to open the Select Text File dialog box, and then do the following: Find and open the IntroToGocad/data/Topo folder, and then select the file: rivers.shp. Then, click Open. 3. Click OK. The filter imports the data file. The new curves appear in the Object list of the Object Tree under the Curve category. Repeat the above steps, this time selecting roads.shp.
View the curves in the 3D Camera
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Notes
1. Expand the Curve category in the Object Tree, and then rightclick the Curve category, and then click Show All. 2. On the Camera View toolbar, click . The display in the 3D Camera changes to show the curves roughly in the center of the view. Note: You will learn more about the Camera View toolbar later in "Manipulate the 3D Camera". 3. Click Change View (next to ), and then click View from North. The display in the 3D Camera changes to show the view of the curves from the north direction. 4. In the 3D Camera, drag with the left mouse button slightly down and to the right to rotate the view of the curves. The curves should look similar to the figure above. If so, you have successfully imported .shp files as curves and displayed them in the 3D Camera.
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Notes
Import DXF files e.g. section interpretations

Section interpretations created in other software and snapped to drillholes are most easily imported by using a .dxf file.
About importing a DXF file The DXF format is a tagged data representation of all the information contained in an AutoCAD drawing file. For importing into Gocad, you will typically use files that contain data in the form of data points, lines, or curves. With the DXF importer, you can use the data in a .dxf file to create a PointsSet, a Curve, or a Surface object. In the following exercise, you will import cross sections from a .dxf file to create curve objects in Gocad.
Import a .dxf file To hide all displayed objects, hold down CTRL and right-click in the 3D Camera, and then click Hide All. 1. In the File menu, navigate to Import Objects Mining Importers, point to AutoCAD, and then click DXF file to open the dialog box.
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Notes
2. Click to open the Select Text File dialog box, browse to the folder IntroToGocad/data/Geology, and then double-click the file Geology_Sections.dxf. The import filter fills in the File name box with the selected path and file name. 3. If there are layers in the .dxf file, you can select either all the layers, or just the ones you wish to import by highlighting them in the list. Note: Select the Gocad object creation strategy you need with the import layer(s) as radio buttons: Selecting import as PointsSet overrides the one-to-one conversion between AutoCAD entities and Gocad Objects and imports every object as a PointsSet. This applies to all entities on the selected layers. Selecting import Polygon/face mesh as Curve imports polygon and polyfaces meshes as Curves instead of Surfaces. To combine all entities of a given layer and type into one Gocad object, select single object from the import as method. If you prefer to keep each of the entities of a layer and type as separate objects, select multiple objects from the import as method. To gather all objects of a particular type on the selected layers under a general Gocad variable select object group from the import as method. Introduction to Gocad for Mining 29
4. Click OK. Notes The filter imports the data and creates a Curve object for each layer in the .dxf file. The new objects appear in the Object list of the Object Tree under the Curve category. The objects are named in the manner of Filename_LayerName_ObjectType.
View the curves in the 3D Camera 1. In the Curve category in the Object Tree, hold down CTRL and click on all the Geology_Sections curves, and then drag the selection into the camera.
2. On the Camera View toolbar, click Global View
The curve should look similar to the figure. If so, you have successfully imported section interpretations as curves and displayed them in the 3D Camera.
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Import TRI files e.g. lithological interpretations

On occasions, some geological modelling has been carried out prior to starting a Gocad project and the results of this previous work are to be incorporated into the model. Rather than export the file from an external piece of software to a .dxf file and then into Gocad, import utilities can be used to accomplish this task. In this case, a Gemcom .TRI file will be imported.
Notes
About importing a .TRI file There are many modelling packages available that allow the construction of triangulated surfaces with just as many file formats. They all have one thing in common 3 points in space that are connected to make triangles. In the .TRI file, each line in the file contains the three points that make up each triangle. In the following exercise, you will import a Gemcom solid from a .TRI file to create a closed Surface object in Gocad.
Import a .TRI file To hide all displayed objects, hold down CTRL and right-click in the 3D Camera, and then click Hide All.
1. In the File menu, navigate to Import Objects Mining Importers, point to Gemcom, and then click ASCII Triangle File to open the dialog box.
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Notes
2. Click to open the Select Text File dialog box, browse to the folder IntroToGocad/data/Geology, and then double-click the file Massive_sulphides.TRI. The import filter fills in the File name box with the selected path and file name. 3. Name the surface Massive_Sulphide. 4. Click OK. The .TRI file is imported and a surface object created in the Object list of the Object Tree under the Surface category.
View the surface in the 3D Camera Note:

Because there is already a surface with the same name in the object tree, the name of the most recently created object is incremented with a _0.
1. Expand the Surface category in the Object list, and then select 32 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
the check box next to Massive_Sulphide_0. Notes 2. On the Camera View toolbar, click Global View .
The surface should look similar to the figure. If so, you have successfully imported a Gemcom .TRI file as a surface and displayed it in the camera.
Import ASCII drillhole data

You can import several types of drillhole data, including paths, logs (property data), markers, deviations, and geology. In this section, you will learn about the requirements to import drillhole data into Gocad. Please refer to Appendix A2 for file formats.
Translator:
As Gocad has been originally written for the Oil & Gas industry, drillholes are called wells in the software. Dont be surprised to see the word well in the menus, and remember that they apply to your drillholes.
About importing ASCII drillhole data A minimum of two basic types of information are needed to import drillholes in ASCII format, 1) collar location 2) deviation/survey information Additional information like geological markers (formation intersections) or properties along boreholes (physical rock property logs or assays) can also be imported. Each type of information (location, deviation, geology, properties) is imported using an ASCII import option. All file formats share one common piece of information; the borehole ID (HOLE_ID). When importing drillhole geology information into Gocad, you are presented with an array of options as to how this information is supported on the drillholes:
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Notes
Markers Markers are disks that represent the contact between two units. They can be placed at the top of bottom of the interval, this is up to the user. Markers can be used to create a surface or to adjust the shape of a contact between section interpretations. Zones Zones colour the path of the drillhole with a colour that represents the lithological unit. Zones and markers generally have the same colour which are initially randomly assigned. The use of a classification (look-up table) affords the user control over the colours used. Classifications Classifications are most frequently used to identify lithologies and are an association between a discrete value and a name colour combination. Creation of a classification also creates a corresponding colourmap. Interval Log Interval properties are those properties that have a single value assigned the sample interval. Assays and lithogeochemical analyses are examples of interval properties.
Import drillhole data from ASCII To hide all displayed objects, hold down CTRL and right-click in the 3D Camera, and then click Hide All. 1. On the File menu, navigate to Import Objects Mining Importers point to Ascii Files, then click Drillholes to open the dialog box.
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Notes
Note:
An Interval Property has a constant value over a defined from-to interval. They are displayed as histograms coloured by the property colourmap. A Continuous Property has a value applied to a sepcifiec deth down the hole and is displayed as a line log. Physical rock properties are examples of continuous properties.
2. To load the collar file, click to open the Select Text File dialog box, browse to the folder IntroToGocad/data/Drillholes, then double-click the file collar.txt. 3. To load the deviation or survey file, click to open the Select Text File dialog box, browse to the folder IntroToGocad/data/Drillholes, then double-click the file survey.txt. 4. To load the lithologies, make sure Add Geology is checked, click to open the Select Text File dialog box, browse to the folder IntroToGocad/data/Drillholes, then double-click the file Introduction to Gocad for Mining 35
Notes
Geology.csv. Here, you have an option to load the geology markers as the tops or the bottoms of units. In this particular case, load them in as bottoms (i.e. uncheck the As tops box). Check Zones, Regions, Merge similar geology units and Apply classification. The classification will be created on import from the geology file, we will adjust the colours later. 5. To load assays, make sure Add Properties is checked then click to open the Select Text File dialog box for the Interval Property Files, browse to the folder IntroToGocad/data/Drillholes, then double-click the file assays.txt. 6. To load continuous properties like specific gravity data, click to open the Select Text File dialog box for the Continuous Property Files, browse to the folder IntroToGocad/data/Drillholes, then double-click the file specific_gravity.txt.
7. Turn on Show statistics before import. 8. Click OK. Before the import is executed, statistics for all the selected files are displayed; a very useful piece of information for quality checks. If the information does not correspond to what you had in mind, you should review your files before importing them.
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Notes 8. Click on OK. The drillholes are imported and placed in a group called drillholes. View the drillholes in the 3D Camera Drillholes are imported as a goup by default (the user can unselect this option on import or remove one/some/all of the objects from the group.
1. Expand the Group category in the Object list, and then right click on the drillhole group object. 2. On the Camera View toolbar, click Global View from South . and View
View and modify geology/property information on drillholes

Clicking on the + next to the group name will expand the group so that the user can access the information attached to the drillholes.
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Notes
For the moment, we will concern ourselves with markers, zones and logs. Turn on all the markers and zones by right-clicking on each label and selecting show all.
Colours applied to the markers and zones are randomly generated on import and applied from the classification. Generally, these randomly assigned colours are not the colours that you might want applied to your geological units. The classification created when the drillhole geology file was imported (and the resulting colourmap can be edited and then reapplied to the geological information used in the project. Editing the Classification At the bottom of the object tree are the Resources. The resources list contains object that are used in the modeling process to classify, analyse and check the quality of your Gocad objects.. Click on the + next to Classifications and then right-click on the Geology classification that was created when the geology file was read when the drillholes were imported. Select edit from the contectural menu. 38 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
The Classification Editor window opens.
Notes
The Code field is the discrete value assigned to the geology Name. This later becomes the geology colourmap. The colours can be changed by clicking on the geology swatches. The corresponding colourmap is updated at the same time. Do this now, clicking OK when done, the colourmap will update automatically. Note that the pattern options arent activated.
With the classification defined, all that is needed is to apply it to the zones and markers:
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Notes
Go to the Well menu bar, navigate to Tools Update Marker and Zone Colours On Well Group, select Geology from the classification pulldown, then click Apply to update the marker and zone colours on the drillhole objects.
Import ASCII drillhole logs

To add a property to drillholes that have already been imported, there is no need to re-import all your drillholes. Simply add the data to the already existing drillholes in Gocad. 1. On In the File menu, navigate to Import Objects Mining Importers and point to Ascii Files, then click Add Geology and/or Properties to Drillholes to open the dialog box.
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2. To add a property file (in this case, specific gravity), click to open the Select Text File dialog box on the Property Files line, browse to the folder IntroToGocad/data/Drillholes, then doubleclick the file SN_ddhgeochem.txt. 3. Click OK. To to list all the available logs on the drillhole, expand the the logs category for that drillholes group. 4. Check K2O. The log should appear. 5. Uncheck K20 and check Cu_percent.
Notes
Continuous properties are displayed as a line log which interval properties are displayed as coloured histograms.
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Import Geosoft XYZ files e.g. geophysical line data

One of the most commonly used pieces of software to import data collected along lines such as magnetic surveys is Geosoft. Importing such data into Gocad is straightforward, using File Import Objects Mining Importers Geosoft XYZ File.
Notes
About importing Geosoft XYZ data Respecting the Input file format, each group of connected-points corresponding to the same Geosoft line, are converted to a Gocad Curve portion if they are preceded by one of the following labels: line base tie trend test
The command supports both 2D and 3D input files. Simply select the appropriate radio button. The third column of a 3D file corresponds to Z coordinates and is read as a property in a 2D file.
Import Geosoft XYZ line data To hide all displayed objects, hold down CTRL and right-click in the 3D Camera, and then click Hide All. 1. On the File menu, navigate to Import Objects Mining Importers and point to Geosoft, and then click XYZ File to open the dialog box.
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2. Click
to open the Select Text File dialog box, and then do the following:
a Find and open the IntroToGocad/data/Geophysics folder, and then select the file Ground_Magnetics.XYZ. b Click Open. c Name the object Ground_Magnetic_Survey. 3. Click OK. The filter imports the data file. The object appears in the Object list of the Object Tree under the Curve category.
View the Curve object in the 3D Camera 1. Select the check box next to Ground_Magnetic_Survey in the Curve category. 2. The curve object appears in the 3D camera. 3. On the Camera View toolbar, click Global View .
The curves should look similar to the figure. If so, you have successfully imported a Geosoft .XYZ file as a curve and displayed it in the camera. Manipulating the data will come soon; in the next section.
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Notes
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Import 3D ASCII data e.g. geophysical station data

Data collected as individual stations rather than along lines such as gravity and surface geochemical surveys are often stored as delimited column data.
Notes
Import station data To hide all displayed objects, hold down CTRL and right-click in the 3D Camera, and then click Hide All. 1. On the File menu, navigate to Import Objects Mining Importers and point to Ascii Files, and then click Fixed Format Column File to open the dialog box.
2. Click to open the Select Text File dialog box, and then do the following: a Find and open the /IntroToGocad/data/Geophysics folder, and then select the file Gravity.txt. b Click Open. Introduction to Gocad for Mining 45
Notes
3. Click OK. The filter imports the data file. The new pointsSet appears in the Object list of the Object Tree under the PointsSet category.
View the pointsSet in the 3D Camera
1. In the Object Tree, in the Object list, expand the PointsSet category. Select the check box next to Gravity. The pointsSet appears in the 3D Camera. The pointsSet should look similar to the figure. If so, you have successfully imported your gravity station data as a pointsSet and displayed it in the 3D Camera.
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Import Geosoft GRD files e.g. geophysical grids

The most common way of displaying geophysical data from potential fields (gravity, magnetics) or radiometric surveys is through a gridded image of the data. By gridding data, typically using minimum curvature, gradients and contours can be examined. The most common program used to accomplish this is Geosoft, the grids of which are typically binary grid files (GRD).
Notes
About importing a .grd file With the Binary Grid (GRD) import filter, you can use the data in a .grd file to create a 2D voxet object which holds the gridded image. In the following exercise, you will import a .grd file from a gridded magnetic survey. Note: if you are working with a software system other than Geosoft, you can also import GXF files. GXF (Grid eXchange File) is a standard ASCII file format used for exchanging gridded data among different software systems. GXF import and export utilities are available on the File-Import/Export menus.
Import a .grd file To hide all displayed objects, hold down CTRL and right-click in the 3D Camera, and then click Hide All. 1. On the File menu, navigate to Import Objects Mining Importers and point to Geosoft, and then click Binary Grid to open the dialog box.
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Notes
2. Click to open the Select Text File dialog box, and then do the following: a Find and open the IntroToGocad/data/Geophysics folder, and then select the file mag_interpolated10m.grd. b Click Open. 3. Grid Object name: type Magnetics_Grid (see image). 4. Name the property of the grid Total_Field_Magnetics. 5. Click OK. The filter imports the grid file. The new voxet appears in the Object list of the Object Tree under the Voxet category.
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View the voxet in the 3D Camera Notes
1. In the Object Tree, in the Object list, expand the Voxet category. And then select the check box next to Magnetics_Grid. The voxet appears in the 3D Camera. 2. On the Camera View toolbar, click . The display in the 3D Camera changes to show the voxet roughly in the center of the view. 3. Click Show Top View . The display in the 3D Camera changes to show the view of the voxet from the top. If the camera looks similar to the figure above, you have successfully imported your magnetics .grd file as a voxet.
Import a second grid into the same voxet
When airborne data is processed, all the accompanying datasets are generally gridded with the same extents and cell sizes. The binary grid import tool allows the user to add multiple grids to the Introduction to Gocad for Mining 49
same voxet as separate properties. Notes 1. Open the Geosoft Binary Grid importer as before.
2. Click to open the Select Text File dialog box, and then do the following: a Find and open the IntroToGocad/data/Geophysics folder, and then select the file mag_elevation10m.grd. b Click Open. 3. Uncheck Create new. This indicates that the grid will be inserted into an existing voxet. a In the Grid Object Name select Magnetics_Grid from the pulldown. 4. Name the property of the grid elevation. 5. Click OK. The elevation property appears in the proeprties of the Magnetics_Grid voxet. 50 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
Import UBC-GIF geophysical inversions files

Inversion of geophysical data to create a 3D physical property distribution that explains the measured response has become a standard operating procedure in hard rock mining and exploration. The Mira Links tools allow to link todays most advanced geophysical forward modelling and inversion engines with Gocad, the worlds most advanced 3D geological modelling environment. Thus breaking down the traditional barrier between geological and geophysical data by communicating arbitrarily complex 3D geological structural and physical property models to 3D geophysical modelling routines. Much more than advanced visualization, this enforces quantitative consistency between geological and geophysical data - the foundation of the Common Earth Model.
Notes
About importing a UBC-GIF 3D inversion result The University of British Columbia Geophysical Inversion Facility (UBC-GIF) is a world leader in 3D geophysical inversion. Two files are needed to import the inversion results: an ASCII mesh file and ASCII model file. File formats are defined on the UBC-GIF website. http://www.eos.ubc.ca/research/ubcgif/ With a combination of the Import Objects Mining Importers menu and the MiraPotentialFields menu, you can import UBC-GIF files as well as write UBC-GIF files for use with the software. The mesh file is used to create an Sgrid, while the model file importer fills the sgrid with the inversion result. In the following exercise, you will import UBC-GIF mesh and model files to create an Sgrid object in Gocad.
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Import a mesh and model file Notes To hide all displayed objects, hold down CTRL and right-click in the 3D Camera, and then click Hide All.
1. On the File menu, navigate to Import Objects Mira Mining Importers and point to Grav3D/Mag3D/DCIP3D, and then click Grid from Mesh File to open the dialog box.
2. Click to open the Select Text File dialog box, and then do the following: a Find and open the IntroToGocad\data\Geophysics folder, and then select the file UBC.msh. b Click Open. 3. Check the Import Property from model checkbox. 4. Click to open the Select Text File dialog box, and then do the following: a Find and open the IntroToGocad\data\Geophysics folder, and then select the file UBC_model.den. 52 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
b Click Open. 5. Make sure the No data value is set to -1. 6. Name the Grid Object UBC_mesh. 7. Name the Grid Object property Halfspace_inversion_density. 8. Select the Sgrid option. 9. Click OK. The filter imports the mesh file. The new Sgrid appears in the Object list of the Object Tree under the Sgrid category.
Notes
View the sgrid in the 3D Camera 1. In the Object Tree, in the Object list, expand the Sgrid category. Select the check box next to UBC_mesh. The sgrid appears in the 3D Camera. 2. On the Camera View toolbar, click .The display in the 3D Camera changes to show the sgrid roughly in the center of the view.
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Notes
If the camera view is similar to that of the figure above, you have successfully imported a UBC-GIF inversion result. Displaying the magnetic grid data on a sgrid section is done the same way as for displaying a property on a voxet section. This will be covered in a later section of this training.
Other supported file formats

The above exercises have examined some of the more common file formats that are encountered. Others are: Datamine ascii and binary files UBC-GIF DCIP2D mesh and model files ESRI ArcInfo ascii grid files Geosoft GDB and GXF files Image files Georeferenced images and Geotiffs MapInfo TAB files Map3D INP files OLEDB database drillholes only 2D Segy Surpac String and surface files Crone PEM files Maxwell plates
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2.2 Load Gocad objects

After you have objects in a project, you can save them as Gocad object files that are saved separately from the project. Once you have some object files, you can load these objects into other projects. In the following exercise, you will load a surface from an object file. Note: You will learn how to save an object in the next exercise.
Notes
Prepare the Workspace and the 3D Camera Hide any objects displayed in the 3D Camera.
Load a Surface object from a data file 1. On the File menu, click Load Objects to open the dialog box or on the Main toolbar, click . 2. Browse to the folder IntroToGocad /data/Geology/Surfaces. 3. Holding down the CTRL button, select all the .ts files in this directory 4. Click OK. Gocad loads the object files into the project and automatically displays the objects in the 3D Camera. The new surfaces also appear in the Object Tree, in the Object list, under the Surface category. 5. On the Camera View toolbar, click . The display in the 3D Camera changes to show the surfaces roughly in the center of the view. They should look similar to the figure. If so, you have successfully
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loaded Surface object files. Notes
Load a Curve object from a data file 1. On the File menu, click Load Objects to open the dialog box or on the Main toolbar, click . 2. Browse to the folder IntroToGocad/data/Model Area. 3. Select the file Model_Boundary.pl. 4. Click OK. Gocad loads the object file into the project and automatically displays the object in the 3D Camera. The new curve will also appear in the Object Tree, in the Object list, under the Curve category. 5. On the Camera View toolbar, click . The display in the 3D Camera changes to show the curve roughly in the center of the view.
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2.3 Save projects and objects

In this exercise, you will learn what happens when you save objects and projects, what is saved in object and project files, and how to save them.
Notes
Save an object
To hide all displayed objects, hold down CTRL and right-click in the 3D Camera, and then click Hide All. 1. Turn on the Massive_Sulphide surface by clicking in the check box next to the Massive_Sulphide object. 2. On the File menu, click Save Objects to open the dialog box.
Note:
The Save Objects command automatically fills in the Objects box with the names of the objects displayed in the Camera.
The dialog box displays details about the file format, file name, and path used to save the object. Note The command automatically fills in the Object box with the names of any objects displayed in the 3D Camerain this case, Massive_Sulphide. You do not need to change the selection. 3. Click OK. The command saves the file in the /IntroToGocad folder with the Introduction to Gocad for Mining 57
file name Massive_Sulphide.ts. Notes
Save the project

On the File menu, click Save Project or on the Main toolbar, click . The command saves the project in the /IntroToGocad folder, updating the file Module1.gprj and everything in the project folder Module1.prj. These files were created when you started Gocad.
About saving objects and projects

We recommend saving your work as both objects as well as projects frequently in the unlikely event that the project becomes corrupt. A good tip is to create a new project everyday so you will have daily backups of your work - One can never have too many backups. The project saves all of your objects in binary files under a .prj folder with the same name as your project. You can import objects from saved projects into a new project. Most objects are saved in ASCII format which can be easily edited and loaded into Gocad one at a time as needed. Data organization is essential and becomes more important as your project and number of objects increases.
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3
Section 3 Manipulating and visualizing objects
Overview Now that you have some objects in your project, you will learn some basic skills for manipulating the 3D Camera to get a better view. You will also learn how to modify the graphic and property attributes of objects. Notes
3.1 Manipulate the 3D Camera
Use the Camera View and Camera Snapshot and Options toolbar
The Camera View and Camera Snapshot and Options toolbars appear near the top of the Gocad window when you start Gocad the first time. With these toolbars you can manipulate the view in the 3D Camera.
You will now learn how to use the commands on these toolbars.
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Notes Prepare the Workspace and the 3D Camera 1. In the Object Tree, expand the Well category (if necessary), expand the drillholes SAL_24 and SAL_25. 2. Display SAL_24 and SAL_25. Display all the markers for each drillhole. 3. In the Object Tree, expand the Surface category (if necessary) and display the Topography surface. Tip:
The Global View is helpful when your objects are far away from each other or significantly different in size.
Manipulate the view by using the Camera View and Snapshot and Options toolbars 1. Reset the zoom and orientation in the 3D Camera to include all the objects you have selected to show by clicking Global View . If you show an object that is outside the viewing area, this command resizes the view to include the object you added to the 3D Camera and any other objects that were already showing. 2. Click Change View (next to on the toolbar) to open a menu with several views, and then click View from Top to reset the view to top or map view, which is oriented as if you are viewing an x-y plane from the positive z-axis. 3. Click Change View again, and then click View from South. The button changes to and the view changes to point toward the north direction, which is oriented as if you are viewing an x-z plane from the positive y-axis. From the Change View menu, you can reset the view in the 3D Camera to the view from the Top, Bottom, North South, East or West. The menu also contains commands for saving and deleting custom views or switching to the Home View (You will learn more about the Home View later in this exercise).
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Notes
4. Display a compass rose showing the north, south, east, and west directions in the 3D Camera by clicking Orientation Symbol . When you rotate the view in the 3D Camera, the symbol also rotates to show the current orientation of the view. Hide the orientation symbol by clicking again 5. Display a set of planes surrounding all the objects displayed in the 3D Camera by clicking Orientation Planes . The planes are the x-y, y-z, and x-z planes, and those intersecting the x-axis are shown in red, those intersecting the y-axis are in green, and those intersecting the z-axis are in blue. Displaying these planes helps you determine the position of objects in your model relative to the x-, y- and z-directions. Hide the planes by clicking again.
6. Click Pick Center Point (the pointer changes to a ), click a point on an object (do not click a blank spot) in the 3D Camera such as a point on Topography. The view in the 3D Camera recenters on the point you select. The 3D Camera uses the centre point when you zoom or rotate the view; and the point you select remains the center point even if you hide the object. 7. Change the background color in the 3D Camera. Click Background Color to open a color palette, and then click the color white. 8. Switch the viewing perspective between parallel and Tip:
When you save images for printed material, you can conserve ink and toner by setting the background colour to white.
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perspective view. Click Perspective/Parallel View Notes
Tip:
Use Parallel View when you want to compare the dimensions of objects that are far away from each other.
The button changes to and the view changes to Parallel View, which displays objects isometrically without distortions of angle, length, width, or volume, and parallel lines appear parallel even from a distance. again. Switch back to the default (Perspective View) by clicking The button changes back to and the view changes to Perspective View, which simulates depth and relative distance by converging parallel lines at a distant point and showing similar objects as different sizes depending on the distance between them. 9. Click Stereo to switch the view between non-stereo view (the default view), and stereo view, which increases the realism of 3D scenes. In stereo view, the 3D Camera displays two versions of the objects, one for the left eye and one for the right. To see the effect properly, you need a pair of 3D glasses or special viewing hardware so that each eye sees only one view. When viewed correctly, objects appear to have depth, especially with respect to each other. Turn off stereo view by clicking again.
10. Change the z-scaling in the 3D Camera: a In the Z-Scale box, enter 5 for the scaling factor. The 3D Camera uses this value to scale the display of objects in the z-direction. Because most objects in geology are large in the x- and ydimensions (in thousands of meters) and small in the z-dimension (a few hundred meters), most of your models will, therefore, look 62 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
flat and hard to visualize. With z-scaling you can "stretch" the view (apply a vertical exaggeration) without actually modifying the objects themselves.
Notes
Tip:
Home View is very useful when taking snapshots to create images for a presentation. Being able to return to your predetermined settings each time you want to add images to those you already have without having to start from scratch becomes fast and easy.
b Click Global View 3D Camera.
to get a better view of the objects in the
Note: Each time you enter a new scaling factor, it becomes available in the list of common scaling factors for easy selection later in the current session. c Change the scale back to the default (1) by clicking next to the number, and then click 1. The scaling in the 3D Camera changes back to the default ratio for the x-, y-, and z-dimensions, 1:1:1. 11. Save the current view settings in the 3D Camera as a custom view called the Home View, click Save Home View . The saved settings include the viewing angle, the setting for parallel or perspective view, and the z-scale factor. Now, you can rotate the view or zoom in or out and then easily switch back to the Home View. 12. Reset the view in the 3D Camera to the view saved as the Home View by clicking Home View .
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Notes
Set up the 3D Camera and take a snapshot 1. Set up the view in the 3D Camera as follows: a Display only the Topography surface as well as the drillholes grou^p by clicking the check boxes for each object. b Set the background color in the 3D Camera to white. c Click Global View to reset the view, and then change the view to View from South . d Rotate the view to tip the surface slightly downward.
2. On the Camera Snapshot and Options toolbar, click Save Snapshot As to open the dialog box. Note: The command automatically fills in the Camera box, with Camera#0, which corresponds to the 3D Camera in the Gocad 64 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
window. There are other cameras; however, this course focuses on use of the 3D Camera. 3. Specify a path and file name for the snapshot as follows: a Next to the Snapshot file box, click to open the dialog box. Find and open the folder /IntroToGocad/Data. b In the File name box, type Topo_and_Drillholes. Click Save. 4. In the Image format box, leave JPEG (the default setting) selected. You can choose from several image formats to save your image file as. 5. Select the Resize snapshot check box. This setting prevents the command from including in the snapshot any open windows that overlap the view in the 3D Camera. For example, you do not want to include the Snapshot dialog box if it overlaps the 3D Camera. Click OK. The command saves the image file as Topo_and_Drillholes.jpg in the path you specified. When you make snapshot files from Gocad, you can view the images in an image processing program or import them into a presentation program, such as Microsoft PowerPoint. Here is a list of very useful keyboard shortcuts for the 3D Camera. Keys that you press simultaneously are separated by a plus sign (+).
Notes
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Home Page Up Page Down + or right, left, up and down arrows P
Switches the view in the 3D Camera to the view saved as the Home View. Switches the view in the 3D Camera to the View from Top. Switches the view in the 3D Camera to the View from South. Zoom in (+) or out (-), Pan.
Saves the view in the 3D Camera as a JPEG image. The "snapshot" is saved in the working folder as gocad_snap0000n.jpg. You must point to the camera whose contents you want to save. Note This shortcut also works for other views, such as 2D and 3D crossplots (in the Multivariate Statistics 2D and 3D windows), graphs in the histogram (Property Statistics window), and editable colormaps. However, graphs in the Property Statistics window must be copied separately.
CTRL + C
Copies the view in the 3D Camera to the Clipboard. You must first point to the camera containing the contents you want to copy. By using CTRL+V, you can then paste in other programs that support this operation such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Paint. Note These shortcuts also work for other views, such as 2D and 3D crossplots (in the Multivariate Statistics 2D and 3D windows), graphs in the histogram (Property Statistics window), and editable colormaps. However, graphs in the Property Statistics window must be copied separately.
Spacebar A CTRL + A F10 or F11 right or left arrow
Repeats the last command. Turns on or off the display of the orientation symbol. Turns on or off animation (spinning) in the 3D Camera. Turns on or off full-screen display of the 3D Camera. Moves the selected voxet section (see the Voxet Section toolbar) forward or backward within the voxet.
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3.2 Display and modify graphic attributes

How an object appears in the 3D Camera is called the style of the object. Individual items in the style are called attributes, such as the color of a surface or whether to show or hide the nodes for an object. In this exercise, you will learn about or do the following: Different methods for modifying attributes Graphic attributes of curves Graphic attributes of pointsSets Graphic attributes of surfaces Graphic attributes of drillholes
Notes
You will see how you can modify graphic attributes to make the geologic information more clearly visible. You will be using the objects you imported in Section 2.
About modifying attributes

In Gocad, there is more than one way to modify attributes. One method involves switching to the Attributes mode in the Workspace and using the Attributes Manager. From the Attributes Manager, you can access all the attributes for one or more objects, not just the graphic attributes. Another convenient way to access only the graphic attributes for objects is by using the Attribute toolbar. On the Attribute toolbar, you can access the most common graphic attributes for objects. The following exercises will only cover use of the Attribute Introduction to Gocad for Mining 67
Notes
toolbar. You will learn more about the Attribute Manager in "Display drillhole properties".
About the Attribute toolbar

The Attribute toolbar appears near the bottom-left corner of the Gocad window. Attribute toolbar default (with no object selected) When you first start Gocad and before you select an object in your project, the Attribute toolbar displays Nothing Selected. When you select an object in the Object Tree, the commands on the Attribute toolbar change with the type of object selected. For example, if you select a PointsSet object, the toolbar shows only the attributes that apply to pointsSets and, specifically, those that apply to the selected pointsSet.
Attribute toolbar for a PointsSet
With the Attribute toolbar, you can turn on and off the display of attributes in the 3D Camera, such as the bounding box, name, parts, and nodes for an object. You can also change the color that displays in the 3D Camera for many object attributes. The color strip across the bottom of many attribute buttons (for example, the Name attribute) indicates the active color setting for that attribute.
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Modify the graphic attributes of curves

Use the Geology sections and follow the text as closely as possible.
Notes
Prepare the 3D Camera 1. Hide all the objects displayed in the 3D Camera. 2. Display the curves in the 3D Camera: Geology_sections_Section1_curves_Curve Geology_sections_Section2_curves_Curve Geology_sections_Section3_curves_Curve Geology_sections_Section4_curves_Curve Geology_sections_Section5_curves_Curve
3. Change the background color in the 3D Camera back to black.
Access attributes from the Object Tree In the Object Tree, click on the name of the curve Geology_sections_Section1_curves_Curve. This action is called selecting an object. When you select an object in the Object Tree, the name of the object becomes highlighted in the Object list, and the Attribute toolbar updates to display the attribute commands specific to the selected objectin this case, the Geology_sections_Section1_curves_Curve.
Change the node color and curve (lines) color of curves
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1. Change the color displayed in the 3D Camera for the Section1 curves. a The curve Geology_sections_Section1_curves_Curve should still be selected in the Object Tree. If not, select it now. b Make the nodes of the curve visible by clicking Nodes toolbar. on the
c On the Attribute toolbar, click Node Color (next to Nodes on the toolbar) to display the color palette, and then select the color cyan. d Still on the Attribute toolbar, click Curve Color the color palette, and then select the color cyan. to display
The nodes and curve lines for the selected object change color in the 3D Camera. 2. Repeat step 1 making the nodes visible, changing the color of the nodes and the color of the curve lines for the rest of the displayed objects. Geology_sections_Section2_curves_Curve =forestgreen Geology_sections_Section3_curves_Curve =violetred Geology_sections_Section4_curves_Curve =darkorchid Geology_sections_Section5_curves_Curve =cornflowerblue
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With the view in the 3D Camera set to View from South and slightly tipped to the southwest, the curves should look similar to those in the figure. If so, you have successfully changed some of the attributes of the displayed curves.
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Modify the graphic attributes of pointsSets
Prepare the 3D Camera 1. Hide the objects displayed in the 3D Camera. 2. Display the pointsSets DEM and Gravity in the 3D Camera.
Access attributes from the Object Tree 1. In the Object Tree, select the pointsSet DEM. The Attribute toolbar updates to show attributes for the pointsSet DEM.
2. On the Attribute toolbar, click Nodes Color (next to Nodes ) to display the color palette, and then click the color green. The nodes for DEM change color in the 3D Camera. 3. In the Node Symbol Size box, select 2 from the list. The nodes for DEM change size in the 3D Camera. 4. In the Nodes Symbols box, change point to tetra. 5. Repeat step 1 step 3 changing the node color for the pointsSet Gravity to coral and the node symbol size to 4.
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With the view in the 3D Camera set to View from South and slightly tipped, the points should look similar to those in the figure. If so, you have successfully changed some of the attributes of the displayed pointsSets.
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Modify the graphic attributes of surfaces
Prepare the 3D Camera 1. Hide the objects displayed in the 3D Camera. 2. Display the surface Mafic_Flow in the 3D Camera. 3. Change the view in the 3D Camera to View from Top .
Access the attributes of an object type 1. In the Object Tree, select the Surface category. The Attribute toolbar changes to show the most common graphic attributes for Surface objects.
Selecting an object type (in this case, Surface) shows the generic Attribute toolbar for that type of object. And, you already know that selecting an object name in the Object Tree (such as Mafic_Flow) shows the attributes specific to that particular object. In both cases, updating the Attribute toolbar does not affect the display of objects in the 3D Camera (does not hide or show objects).
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Access the attributes of an object from the 3D Camera
Tip:
Access Attributes Toolbar of a displayed object by holding down CTRL and rightclicking on the object in the Camera.
2. In the 3D camera, hold down CTRL and right-click the surface Mafic_Flow (a shortcut menu opens), and then click Attributes Toolbar. The Attribute toolbar updates to show the attributes specific to the object Mafic_Flow. The Attribute toolbar updates to show the attributes specific to the object Mafic_Flow. You can see that this toolbar is very similar to the one for the Surface object type. However, now the status bar displays: Selection: Mafic_Flow.
Display basic information about a surface
1. Find the limits of the Mafic_Flow surface: a On the Attribute toolbar for Mafic_Flow, click Bounding Box . In the 3D Camera, an outline (with thin lines) appears around the surface. 74 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
b To get a better view of the bounding box, rotate the view in the 3D Camera. c To change the color of the bounding box, click Bounding Box Color to open the color palette, and then click the color blue. 2. Display the name of the surface in the 3D Camera by clicking Name . The name of the surface displays in the 3D Camera. If you cannot see it, change the view in the 3D Camera to View from East and then rotate the view slightly clockwise and downward.
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3. The surface Mafic_Flow is made up of 3 areas called parts. These parts represent where the orebody intersects the surface. To see the separate parts of Mafic_Flow, do the following: a Click Parts .
In the 3D Camera, each part changes to a randomly selected color, the bounding box splits into three boxes (one surrounding each part), and the name of the object appears once for each part. b To see a better view of the three parts, rotate the camera.
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4. When you finish examining the parts, turn off all three options by clicking each button again: , , and .
Modify the graphic attributes of a surface
1. Change the color of the Mafic_Flow surface, and reset the view in the 3D Camera: a On the Attribute toolbar for Mafic_Flow, click Surface Color (the color palette opens), and then click the color greenyellow. The color strip for the button changes to greenyellow and the surface changes color in the 3D Camera. b Click Global View on the Camera View toolbar, and then change the view to View from Top .
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2. Change the transparency of the surface: a In the Transparency box, replace 0 with 1 and press ENTER. The surface becomes invisible in the 3D Camera. b To help demonstrate transparency, display some of the drillholes in the 3D Camera. c In the Object Tree, select the surface Mafic_Flow again, and then, on the Attribute toolbar for Mafic_Flow, enter 0.2 in the Transparency box. The surface reappears, and you can see through it to see the drillholes. d Make the surface completely transparent (invisible) again, by changing the transparency value back to 1 in the Transparency box. e Hide the drillholes, and then access the Attribute toolbar for Mafic_Flow again.
3. View the mesh and nodes that make up the surface: a Click Mesh . You cannot see the mesh for Mafic_Flow in the
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3D Camera because it matches the black background. The mesh is sometimes referred to as the triangulation of a surface. This option is useful because it shows the connectivity of the points that make up the surface. b Change the Mesh Color to white. Now you can see the mesh in the 3D Camera. c Click Nodes , and then change the node color to green. The nodes (points) for Mafic_Flow appear in the 3D Camera. These points define the geometry of the surface.
d Turn off the nodes and mesh for Mafic_Flow by clicking each button again: and .
4. Show the borders and border extremities of the surface: a Click Borders , and then change the border color to blue. The borders for Mafic_Flow appear in the 3D Camera. b Click Border Extremities 78 . This command separates the Introduction to Gocad for Mining
borders of a horizon into multiple pieces so that you can isolate a portion to work with. Border extremities are those nodes designated as the point of separation between border segments. Even if a boundary is made of only one border segment, it still has one border extremity that marks both the beginning and the end of the border.
Notes
c Turn off the borders and border extremities for Mafic_Flow by clicking and again. The borders disappear from the 3D Camera. d Reset the transparency for Mafic_Flow to 0. Mafic_Flow reappears in the 3D Camera.
About constraint attributes for a surface The remaining attributes on the toolbar (to the right of Border Extremities ) are for displaying constraints for the surface. This exercise will not cover these commands.
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About the camera tools and coordinates toolbar

Notes When you start Gocad, by default, the Camera Tools toolbar appears on the right (vertical), and the Coordinates toolbar appears near the bottom of the window.
Normally, you use the pointer in the 3D Camera to manipulate the view (to rotate, pan, and zoom). However, with the tools on the Camera Tools toolbar, you can use the pointer in the 3D Camera to work with objects and manipulate the view in additional ways. These two toolbars also work together when you use the Get XYZ tool to track the location of the pointer in the 3D Coordinates Camera; as you move the pointer, the coordinates display on the Coordinates toolbar. When you finish using a tool on the Camera Tools toolbar, you can right-click to switch back to the pointer (default), or click another tool on the toolbar. Alternatively, you can click Camera Movements to return to the default manipulation mode. Note:
There is a new Get Angles tool on the Camera Tools Toolbar. This tool works in a similar manner to the Get Distances tool, however, instead of 2 and 3D distances, the dip and azimuth between the two points is returned.
Get the distance between two points on a surface 1. On the Camera Tools toolbar, click Get Distances pointer changes to a . . The
2. In the 3D Camera, drag a line between two points on the surface. The Information pane opens at the bottom of the Workspace, showing the coordinates of the points you selected and the Introduction to Gocad for Mining
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calculated distance in both 3D and 2D. Notes Note: The Map Distance is the 2D distance in the x-y plane.
3. View the distance between another set of points by dragging another line in the 3D Camera. The display in the Information pane updates to show the new coordinates and the recalculated distance. 4. When you finish checking distances, right-click in the 3D Camera to switch to the default pointer . The Information pane closes.
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Modify the graphic attributes of drillholes

Often, you will have many drillholes in a project, and you will want to modify the graphic attributes of all the drillholes to make them look similar. Editing the attributes of each drillhole individually would be time consuming. You can, however, save this time and effort by modifying the attributes of all the drillholes at once. And, there is more than one way you can do this. One method involves accessing the graphic attributes for the Well category. If all the drillholes listed under the category have the same attributes (for example you have not yet modified them), you change them all by modifying the attributes for the object type. Another method involves creating a Group object that contains all of your drillholes, and then modifying the attributes of the group. All of the drillholes inside the group take on the attributes of the group, and therefore, the drillholes look similar while part of the group. Because you have already learned how to access the attributes of an object type, in this exercise, you will learn how to create a Group object, add drillholes to it, and modify the graphic attributes of the group of drillholes. Prepare the Workspace and the 3D Camera
1. Hide the objects displayed in the 3D Camera. 2. Display the drillholes in the 3D Camera again by clicking the check box next to Drillholes. All the drillholes reappear in the 3D Camera at once. 3. In the Object Tree, under Drillholes, expand the markers category. You will see the MS marker you imported in "Import drillhole data".
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4. Display the marker massive_sulphide. This marker will display on all the paths in the group where it exists. Note: The category region is empty for now. Later, you will learn how to create regions in "Prepare and analyze drillholes".
Modify the graphic attributes of a drillhole group 1. Select the Attributes tab in the Task Pane then select drillholes from the Object pulldown. By default, the Graphic attributes are presented to the user. 2. Turn on the Name and change the color for Name to forestgreen. 3. In the Name Size box, select 3, notice the change in the 3D Camera, and then change the size back to 2. 4. Check Bounding Box to turn on the bounding box, notice the change in the 3D Camera, and then uncheck to turn it off. Note:
Access to the attribute toolbar for groups has been restricted with the release of 2009.1, all changes to object attributes for groups must be carried out in the attribute task pane.
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5. Turn on the derricks and change their colour to orange. Notes 6. Change the color for Path to green. 7. For the Markers, check the visible box and then select the ones you would like to make visible. The names can be made visible by checking the Name box. You will learn about log display in a few minutes.
3.3 Display properties

In addition to geometry or shape information, objects can carry property information (such as magnetics and gravity). In this exercise, you will learn how to display such properties. In later lessons, you will also see how to perform operations on properties. In Gocad Mining Suite, you typically display properties on objects by means of colormaps. When you display a colormap on an object, each colour represents a specific property value. Because property data comes in the form of data points and data does not exist between the points, interpolation is necessary to create a continuous display of properties across an object. In this exercise, you will see how interpolated properties make up the graphic rendering.
Display surface properties

In the following exercise, you will learn how to display properties on a surface using colormaps and how to refine the display of properties using clip values and transparency.
Prepare the Workspace and the 3D Camera 84 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
1. Hide the objects displayed in the 3D Camera 2. In the Object Tree, minimize all object types except Surface. 3. Display the surface Topography in the 3D Camera. 4. On the Camera View toolbar, click Global View to reset the view in the 3D Camera, and then change to the View from Top . Display a property on a surface 1. In the Object Tree, expand the object Topography, expand the category properties, and then click the check box next to Z. Notice all the other properties that are on the surfaces as well.
Notes
The Attributes toolbar displays the attributes for the Z property of Topography. Z is the geometric property that represents the elevation values of an object.
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2. On the Camera Snapshot and Options toolbar, change the value in the Z-Scale box (vertical exaggeration) to 5, and then change the view in the 3D Camera to View from West . You can see that the color red represents the lowest values and the color white represents the highest values. In this case, because you can see the elevation by simply viewing the object from different angles, displaying the Z property as colors does not provide much useful information. 3. Change the Z-Scale back to 1 and reset the view in the 3D Camera to View from Top . 4. The colormap displayed on Topography is the default colormap, rainbow1. To see what the property looks like with a different colormap, select rainbow in the Colormap box on the Attributes toolbar. In the rainbow colormap, the colors black and white represent the lowest and highest values, respectively.
Refine the property display using clip values One way to refine your property display is to adjust the minimum and maximum displayed values, also known as clip values. Normally, the high and low clip values reflect the natural range of the displayed property. However, sometimes you may want to show only a subset of the range of valuesfor example, to show only an area of interest.
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5 4
1. On the Attribute toolbar, replace the value in the Low clip box with 2130 and press RETURN. Much of the top half of Topography seems to disappear because it is displayed in the low-end color (black), which matches the background. 2. On the Camera Snapshot and Options toolbar, change the Background Color to white. Now, you can clearly see the lowend areas. 3. Click Make low clip transparent disappear. The low-end values
4. Next, change the value in the High Clip box to 2140. The highend values turn white, which matches the background. 5. Change the Background Color back to black. Now, you can see the high-end values (white) against the black background. 6. Click Make high clip transparent disappear. Introduction to Gocad for Mining . The high-end values
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7. To reset these settings, do the following: a Click Reset colormap to data min & max to reset the low clip and high clip to the minimum and maximum value of the property. b Click both transparency. and again to turn off the low and high clip
Refine the property display using transparency You can apply transparency on the entire color range. To do this, you need to edit the colormap on the Attribute toolbar for the property to create a transparency curve.
The transparency curve determines which values become transparent and by how much. For each colour in the colormap, the vertical position (height) along the curve indicates the amount of transparency for that colour. In other words, values near the top are totally opaque (0% transparent is the default) and values near the bottom are totally transparent (100% transparent). 1. Move the pointer into the Colormap on the Attribute toolbar. The pointer becomes a pen. 2. Draw a curve across the colormap by dragging (always using the left mouse button unless instructed otherwise) with a zigzag motion. Notice the change in the display of Topography. On the toolbar, a curved, yellow line appears across the colormapthis is the transparency curve. The portion above the yellow line becomes grey so that you can see how much
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transparency is set for each colour along the curve. The smaller the amount of colour showing below the yellow line, the more transparent the colour appears in the display.
Notes
3. Click the Colormap with the middle mouse button. The yellow line disappears from the colormap, and all the colours reset to solid, opaque (0% transparent). 4. Hold down ALT and drag the pointer from the left to the right end of the Colormap. This creates a horizontal line across the colormap.
This approach is helpful when you want the entire surface to be translucent, so you can see the information behind. 5. Hold down CTRL while you draw with a zigzag motion across the Colormap. The curve snaps to either 0% or 100% transparency depending on the position of the pointer on the colormap. If you draw with the pointer above the midpoint, the value snaps to 0% transparency (opaque). If you draw with the pointer below the Introduction to Gocad for Mining 89
midpoint, the value snaps to 100% transparency. Notes 6. Now, use the method in step 5 to snap the transparency back to 0% for all the colours in the colormap.
Display drillhole properties

In Gocad Mining Suite, properties for drillholes are called well logs. In this exercise, you will learn how to access the attributes for well logs and how to adjust the display of well logs.
Prepare the Workspace and the 3D Camera 1. Hide the objects displayed in the 3D Camera. 2. In the Object Tree, minimize all object types except Group. 3. Display the group Drillholes in the 3D Camera. 4. If markers are visible, hide them for the drillhole group: rightclick the markers category (a shortcut menu opens), and then click Hide All. 5. On the Camera View toolbar, click Global View to reset the view in the 3D Camera, and then change to the View from South .
Display properties for a drillhole group 1. In the Object Tree, expand the category logs for the drillhole group Drillholes. 2. Select the check boxes next to Ag_gt and Cu_percent. The properties Ag_gt and Cu_percent appear in the 3D Camera for all
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the drillholes at once. Notes
Remove an object from a group To examine the properties of drillholes more closely, isolate one drillhole from the group: 1. In the Object Tree, right-click the object Drillholes (a shortcut menu opens), and then click Remove From Group to open the dialog box.
In the Group box, the command automatically fills in the name of the group you want to use, Drillholes. Introduction to Gocad for Mining 91
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2. In the Remove box, enter the name of the drillhole, SAL_24. 3. Click OK. SAL_24 disappears from the drillhole group in the 3D Camera, and its name appears in the Object Tree, under the Well category. 4. Display SAL_24 in the 3D Camera, notice its appearance in the display, and then hide the group Drillholes. SAL_24 does not look the same as it did as part of the group. The logs are no longer displayed, and the colours changed. This is because graphic attributes set for a group affect the objects only while they are part of the group. If you remove an object from a group, the graphic attributes return to the default settings for that type of object. So, SAL_24 now appears with the default settings for well objects.
Next, you will learn how to adjust the well log display for SAL_24. To do this, you will need to work in the Attribute Manager.
Access the attributes of well logs 1. In the Task pane of the Workspace, click on the Attributes tab. The right side of the Workspace changes to the Attribute 92 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
Manager. Notes 2. In the Attribute Manager, select SAL_24 in the Object box. 3. In the box below the Object, select the attribute category Logs. The commands and options on the panel update to show the attributes specific to the logs for SAL_24.
From the Logs category of the Attribute Manager you can: Specify which logs to show Specify whether or not to cross-plot logs (overlay a log with another log) Set attributes for each log individually Set attributes for all the logs associated with a particular drillhole
Adjust the display of logs 1. On the Logs panel of the Attribute Manager for SAL_24, select the Visible check box.
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2. Under Select Logs, select the check boxes next to Au_gt and Cu_percent. The Au_gt and Cu_percent logs for SAL_24 appear in the 3D Camera. 3. Change the colour for Au_gt to magenta and Cu_percent to green by clicking the colour next to each property (a colour palette opens), and then clicking the new colour. 4. Move the display of one of the logs to the opposite side of the drillhole path in the 3D Camera: a Under Specific Log Attributes, click Au_gt in the list. b Drag the Azimuth slider from 0 to 180 (right). (180 corresponds to east, and 0 corresponds to west in the 3D Camera.)
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5. Now, change the view in the 3D Camera to the View from East . The logs seem to disappear at this angle. 6. In the Attribute Manager, under Global Log Attributes, select the Auto rotate check box.
7. Rotate the view in the 3D Camera manually to see the effect of the autorotate option. With autorotate, when you rotate the view in the 3D Camera, the logs rotate around the pathsuch that a log with an azimuth setting of 0 remains on the left side of the path, and a log with an azimuth of 180 remains on the right side.
Display a log with a secondary overlay 1. Under Select Logs in the Attribute Manager, clear the Au_gt check box to turn off this log.
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2. Under Select Property Overlay, select the Cu_percent check box, and then, in the box next to Cu_percent, select Au_gt from the list.
In the 3D Camera, Au_gt displays as a colour overlay on the Cu_percent log. 3. Turn off the overlay by clearing the Cu_percent check box under Select Property Overlay. The Cu_percent curve changes back to the green curve in the 3D Camera.
Change the log style 1. Under Specific Log Attributes, if Cu_percent is not already selected, select it now.
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2. In the Log style box, select each of the styles and notice the change to the log in the 3D Camera: Cross, Line, On Path, Ladder, Cylinder, and Lathe.
Cross
Line
On Path
Ladder
Cylinder
Lath
The styles On Path and Cylinder use colours instead of varying distances from the path to differentiate the property values along the path. This means that with these styles (On Path and Cylinder), you cannot display a second property as an overlay because a colormap is already in use to display the first log. 3. When you are finished looking at the differences in the styles, change the Log style back to Line. Adjust the size of the log display Introduction to Gocad for Mining 97
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1. Under Specific Log Attributes, if Cu_percent is not already selected, select it now.
Log Scale=10 Log Scale=20
2. Under Global Log Attributes, replace the value in the Log scale box (10) with 20 and press ENTER. Notice the increase in the width of the log displayed in the 3D Camera. Note Because this is a global attribute, this setting affects all the logs associated with SAL_24, not just Cu_percent. 3. To control the log scaling specifically for Cu_Percent, do the following: a Under Specific Log Attributes, in the Scaling Factor box, replace the value with 3 and press ENTER. Notice the change in the size of the log in the 3D Camera. The scale you see in the 3D Camera is the result of multiplying the scaling factor for the log by the log scale for the drillhole (set under Global Log Attributes). b To return the scaling factor to the original value, change the value in the Scaling Factor box back to 1. 4. Under Global Log Attributes, change the setting in the Units 98 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
box to each of the following, noticing the change to the log in the 3D Camera: World. Measures the log scale in real-world units (feet or meters depending on the units set for the project); uses an absolute scale to display the width of logs in the 3D Camera. This means that, when you zoom the view, the width of the logs changes along with the size of the well. Screen. Measures the log scale in pixels on your screen; uses a relative scale to display the width of logs in the 3D Camera. This means that the width of logs does not change when you zoom the view in or out. For example, if the log scale is set to five, the log appears to be five-pixels wide on your screen. Note: The range of values determined by the Low Clip and High Clip settings for the log also affects the width of the log display. Property values higher than the high clip extend beyond the distance specified in the Log scale, and values below the low clip display on the other side of the path.
Notes
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Display block model properties

In Gocad, there are two types of block models: the voxet and the sgrid. For this portion of the training, it is necessary to load a voxet with various properties. This exercise focuses on displaying the properties on a voxet model. Properties are displayed the same way on sgrids At first glance, a voxet appears to be an empty, rectangle-shaped object. But it contains properties. To see the properties in a voxet, you display a section. As with the other types of objects, the Attribute toolbar for voxets contains many operations you can use to change the appearance of voxets and voxet properties in the 3D Camera. In the following exercise, you will learn how to display a voxet, how to show a property within a voxet, and how to animate the view of a voxet property.
Load a voxet object from a data file 1. On the File menu, click Load Objects to open the dialog box. or On the Main toolbar, click .
2. Browse to the folder IntroToGocad/data/Voxet. 3. Click on SN_CEM. 4. Click OK. Gocad loads the object file into the project and automatically displays the object in the 3D Camera. The new voxet also appears in the Object Tree, in the Object list, under the Voxet category.
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Prepare the Workspace and the 3D Camera Notes 1. Click the Objects icon in the Workspace to switch to the Objects mode. 2. Hide the objects displayed in the 3D Camera. 3. In the Object Tree, expand the Voxet category, expand the object SN_CEM, and then expand the properties category. You will see the check box for the property Lithology_Code is already selected. When you import a voxet with property data, the import filter turns on a property by default. However, you will not see it in the 3D Camera until you display the voxet object. 4. Display the voxet SN_CEM in the 3D Camera. 5. On the Camera View toolbar, click Global View to reset the view in the 3D Camera, and then change the view to the View from South . Within the voxet, the multiple colours represent the Lithology_Code property. The voxet contains Lithology data throughout the volume, although, at the moment, only one section is visible. Other properties available include various geochemistry properties and a distance property. 6. To get a better view of the voxet, rotate the view slightly down and to the right, such that it looks similar to the figure. 7. Because you may want to return to this view more than once in the following exercises, click Save Home View to save this view.
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Access the attributes of a voxet property In the Object Tree, click on the property Lithology_Code (the name, not the check box). The Attribute toolbar updates to show the attributes of the Lithology_Code property.
You have already learned how to modify the attributes of a property in "Display surface properties". Although you now have a voxet rather than a surface, the attributes of properties work exactly the same way regardless of the object type. Lets now have a quick look at various attributes of a voxet.
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Modify attributes for a voxet Notes 1. Access the Attribute toolbar for the voxet, SN_CEM. This toolbar contains the most common attributes for voxets. 2. Click Name to display the name of the voxet, notice that the again to turn it name appears in the 3D Camera, and then click off. 3. Click Colored Axis to turn off the colored axes for the voxet (by default, these are normally on), notice the change in the 3D Camera, and then click again to turn them back on. The red line represents the Northing axis, the green line is the Easting axis, and the blue line is the Elevation axis. 4. Click Axis Label , notice the change in the 3D Camera, and then click again to turn the labeling off.
Display a voxet section Some of the commands on the Attribute toolbar for a voxet work together to control the display of a voxet section. You can select the orientation of the section, specify the location of the section within the volume of the voxet, and display it in the 3D Camera.
1. Click Elevation . This selects the section that is oriented perpendicular to the depth axis (z-axis). The other choices are Northing and Easting , which are oriented similarly to the Northing and Easting axes respectively. The section you select does not yet appear in the 3D Camera until you display it. 2. To display the section, click Section Visible . A plane appears across the bottom of the voxet in the 3D Camera, and the default Introduction to Gocad for Mining 103
section (Easting) remains visible. Notes 3. Drag the Section Selection slider on the toolbar to approximately the middle of the range. When you release the slider, the section moves to the middle of the voxet. 4. Enter 55 in the box next to the slider on the toolbar and press ENTER. The section moves to the position shown in the figure. 5. Now that you know how the section display works, adjust the displays for the other two sections as follows: Northing Easting : turn the display on and select section 60. : turn the display off.
Animate the section display 1. You should still see the Attribute toolbar for the voxet SN_CEM. If not, access it now.
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With the commands near the right end of the Attribute toolbar for the voxet, you can set the displayed section to move automatically along its axis from one end of the voxet to the other as if you are playing a movie. 2. For the Elevation Camera. 3. Select the Northing section, turn off the display in the
Notes
section.
4. Click Next a few times while you watch the movement in the 3D Camera. The section advances along the Northing axis one step at a time. 5. Click Previous . The section advances in the opposite direction by one step. 6. Click Start Movie Forward and watch the movement in the 3D Camera. The section advances automatically along the Northing axis. 7. Click Start Movie Backward . The section advances automatically along the Northing axis in the opposite direction. 8. To stop the movement, click Stop Movie .
View the coordinates of a point on a voxet Sometimes it may happen that you want to know the 3D coordinates of a point on a block model (a property displays a colour you didnt expect to see there, etc). Here is how to do this. 1. On the Camera Tools toolbar (on the right side of the Gocad window), click Get XYZ Coordinate . The pointer changes to a . Click anywhere on the displayed voxet section.
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The Information pane at the bottom of the Workspace opens, showing the coordinates of the point you select. It also shows some additional information about the voxet and the Lithology_Code property. Notice the Elevation, Northing, Easting, and property type information. The same information also displays in the status bar (at the bottom of the Gocad window).
2. The action also turns on coordinate tracking in the 3D Camera. Move the pointer around in the 3D Camera and watch the Coordinates toolbar (near the bottom of the window). The coordinates change in real time as you move the pointer.
3. To end coordinate tracking, right-click in the 3D Camera. The pointer changes back to the default pointer , the Information pane closes, and coordinate tracking ends.
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3.4 Display regions

Notes Gocad allows the user to create regions on objects which is essentially a subset or a collection of nodes or cells. They can overlap and scatter across different parts of an object. A cell or node can belong to one, several or no regions. The regions are alphabetically listed in the expandable tree of the object they belong to. To display the regions of an object, the object has to be in the camera. Simply check the regions names in the Object list.
Display regions of a block model and get their volume 1. Make sure SN_CEM is displayed in the camera. 2. In the Object Tree, expand the Voxet category, expand the object SN_CEM, and then expand the regions category. Select the Orebody region. 3. To get the Orebody regions volume, right-click on Orebody and select Compute and Region Volume. The volume will appear at the bottom of the Gocad window.
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3.5 The Gocad Slicer

Notes Now that you are at ease with the display of objects, experiment with the slicer tools. You will find them in the Slicer toolbar. These tools are a great feature of Gocad for Mining. They let the user explore any zone of interest by creating a slice or a subvolume of the displayed objects that can be oriented in any direction. For example, display your orebody (a closed surface) and slice it to see inside it. Slicer: Displays the outline of a box around the objects displayed in the 3D Camera and enables the Edit, Rotate and Reset Slicer Tools. The Slicer limits the view in the camera to the volume of the Slicer box. With the Slicer tools, you can manipulate the size and orientation of the box to examine cross sections of your objects by visually slicing into the objects. Edit Slicer: Changes the pointer to a crosshair so that you can drag the sides of the slicer box to increase or decrease the size and translate it along one of the axes by dragging with the middle mouse button. You can drag from a point inside or outside the limits of the box. Gocad selects the nearest side to the selected point. The selected side turns yellow and an axis appears as a guide to help you visualize the direction in which you can resize or translate the box. After you release the selected side, the Edit Slicer tool is still in effect and you can resize another side or move the box to a new position. Rotate Slicer: Changes the pointer to a hand so that you can change the orientation of the slicer box by dragging one of the edges. The Slicer highlights the side you select and displays an axis through the center of the box to help you visualize the direction in which you can rotate the box. Reset Slicer: Redraws the slicer box to fit the size of all the objects displayed in the 3D Camera.
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Notes
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4
Section 4 Preparing data for modelling
Overview In this lesson, you will continue to learn about visualization techniques and how these techniques help you better understand data and models. You will start with Curves and PointsSets and learn about the display attributes that help you better understand these object types. You will also learn a few operations that are commonly applied to PointsSets and Curves as part of the data preparation process. You will also learn how and why drillhole objects are different from all other objects because of the unique elements (path, markers, and so on). Drillholes are considered by many to be the only real data, because the information from a drillhole is actually collected at the data location. That is why you sometimes hear drillhole data being referred to as hard data (as opposed to soft datafor example: seismic data). Drillhole objects usually carry huge amounts of information and therefore have several display attributes that you will learn about in this chapter. Notes
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Notes
4.1 Edit a curve

In this exercise, you will learn how to analyze data imported from an outside source: looking for possible data problems, and learn how to prevent them. You will now learn about or how to do the following: Examine the parts of a curve Filter the degenerated segments of that curve Fuse the collocated extremities of that curve Bridge the gap in a curve with two end points (closing an open curve) Isolate curves needed for modelling in the future When you import curves created in other programs, they come, for example, in the form of fault polygons or horizon boundary outlines. Depending on the application that generates the line, a curve may be a closed loop (without extremity points), or it may be an open curve (with two or more end points). One of the most important graphic attributes for curves is Border Extremities, which indicate the end nodes of a Curve object. Displaying the extremities is the only way to tell whether a loop is closed or open. This is important because some modelling commands require a closed loop as input. If you have an open curve, the command will not accept it. In addition, a curve with a zero-length segment (a segment with two nodes at the same coordinates) presents a similar problem. Zero-length segments are common, because it is easy to doubleclick a point while digitizing a curve.
Scenario Display the previously loaded Curve object named Model_Boundary.
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Now you are going to work with this object, but first youll need to examine the characteristics of the data. There are various things wrong with that curve object.
Notes
Examining and Simplifying Curves
Prepare the Workspace and the 3D Camera 1. Hide all the objects displayed in the 3D Camera. 2. In the Object Tree minimize all the object types except Curve. 3. Display the Curve object Model_Boundary in the 3D Camera. 4. Click Global View View from Top . to reset the view and then change to the
Display parts of the curve object 1. In the Object Tree, under Curve, right-click on the Model_Boundary object name to open the shortcut menu.
2. Review the attribute information for the Model_Boundary object. Introduction to Gocad for Mining
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Notes
a Click Attributes to open the Attributes object name dialog box. b Select the Info. Here, you can see how many Nodes, Segments, and Parts the Model_Boundary object has. c When you finish reviewing the information in the dialog box, click OK.
3. In the Attribute toolbar, (usually found at the bottom of the Gocad window) turn on the Parts display button. Each part will display in a different color.
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4. In the Attribute toolbar, turn on the Extremities display button.
Notes
Filter the degenerated segments 1. In the 3D Camera, open the shortcut menu for Model_Boundary (hold down CTRL and right-click anywhere on the object).
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Notes
2. On the shortcut menu, in the Edit area, click Filter Degenerated Segments. This command eliminates duplicated and zero-length segments. Nothing changes in the camera, because the segments you are removing are not visible to start with. Re-examine the Info Attributes of the Model_Bounday in the workspace attribute panel. There are now only 80 Nodes connected by 48 Segments. All the bad segments that would cause trouble when modelling have been removed.
Fuse collocated extremities Keep the Workspace in Attributes mode. Remember that there are currently 32 parts. 116 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
Note: The Info panel can tell you how many parts you have, but displaying Extremities is the only way to tell whether a single-part loop is closed or open. 1. In the 3D Camera, open the shortcut menu and then in the Edit area click the Merge All parts command. This command fuses two collocated extremity nodes into a single node. Look at the Info. Now, you only have 1 Part (the number of Nodes is also reduced, to 49).
Notes
2. In the 3D Camera, the curve appears to be connected, but zoom in on the two extremities and you can see that there is a gap. The Merge All Parts command only fuses collocated extremities. When you have a gap, it means that the two extremities are not at the same location. When there is a gap, the Merge All parts command does not know whether the line is suppose to be opened or closed; so, the command leaves the line open. But, you Introduction to Gocad for Mining 117
can easily close the gap. Notes Bridge the gap 1. In the 3D Camera, open the shortcut menu for Model_Boundary (CTRL-Right click on the object in the camera), and in the Edit area click the Bridge Nodes command.
2. The pointer changes to a , indicating that the command is waiting for you to pick. The command knows that you will have two picks. Left-click one of the extremities; the pointer remains a , left-click the other extremity. The Bridge Nodes command creates a new segment between the two extremities and thus bridges the gap. If your picks were good, Model_Boundary is now a closed curve and should look similar to this.
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Notes
You have completed editing the curve. Save your work, and then move on to the next exercise.
Preparing section interpretations for modelling

Now that we know some of the general editing tools of Curves, we can continue to edit the section curves we imported in Section 2 in preparation of modelling the surfaces which we will be doing in the next module, Basic Geological Modelling. The premise of this exercise will be to take the section data and create new curves for each lithological unit.
Prepare the 3D Camera 1. Hide all the objects displayed in the 3D Camera. 2. Display the curves in the 3D Camera: Geology_sections_Section1_curves_Curve Geology_sections_Section2_curves_Curve Geology_sections_Section3_curves_Curve Geology_sections_Section4_curves_Curve Geology_sections_Section5_curves_Curve
Edit the section curves according to lithological units
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Notes
1. Turn on the Parts for each section and hide the nodes. The stratigraphic column from top to bottom of the sections is as follows: Topography Overburden Volcanic Breccia Mafic Flow Rhyolitic Flow SW Fault 2. Using the Curve Editing tools, isolate the curves for each lithological unit. Navigate to: Curve Mode New From Curves Curves Parts
3. Name the new curves Topography_curves and click on Apply to leave the dialog open. Tip:
Extended Selection. Hold down the CTRL key for as long as you have selections to make with the pointer.
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4. Using extended selection mode (hold down the CTRL key), click on all the curves that represent the Topography. 5. Continue this method for each of the other lithological units and the Fault naming each accordingly. The final result will be 6 new sets of curves in the curve object list. Each representing a different lithological unit.
Notes
Topography_Curves
Overburden_Curves
Volcanic_Breccia_Curves
Mafic_Flow_Curves
Rhyolitic_Flow_Curves
SW_Fault_Curves
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Notes
4.2 Edit a pointsSet and create a region

In this exercise, you will learn how to: Analyze data imported from an outside source. Look for problems with the raw data and learn possible ways to prevent those problems (a typical step in your everyday work). Examine a pointsSet object and isolate a portion of that object by creating a region.
A region is a set of points that are gathered together based on whatever criteria you may specify. A point (called a node) can belong to no region, one region, or multiple regions. There are also region-based operations; when you execute such an operation, only those points in the specified region are affected. The region is a powerful tool because it lets you isolate specific portions of an object to work with. Regions can be created on all types of objects.
Scenario Here is a scenario of what you will be doing in this exercise and why you are doing it. You have a curve object named Model_Boundary (created in the last exercise) that you want to use as your area of interest. You also have a pointsSet object named DEM which has many, many points outside the area of interest. DEM will be renamed DEM_Regional (because DEM is a regional dataset with extra points beyond our area of interest). A region will be created to include only the points inside Model_Boundary. Lastly, you will create a new PointsSet object (and name it
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DEM_Local) from the region. This object contains only the data points you require. Rename an object 1. In the Object Tree, under PointsSet, right-click on DEM to open the shortcut menu, and then click Rename to open the Rename Object dialog box.
Notes
2. In text box, type DEM_Regional. 3. Click OK to rename the object and close the dialog box. 4. Look at the Object Tree to make sure that DEM is gone and DEM_Regional appears as the new object name.
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Notes Create a region from a closed curve Now, you need to create the region. 1. In the Object Tree do the following: a Ensure that DEM_Regional is showing in the 3D Camera. b Click Model_Boundary under Curve .The image in the 3D Camera should look similar to the figure below.
2. In the Object Tree, expand DEM_Regional; you will see properties and regions. Notice that DEM_Regional has properties (indicated by the plus sign) but no regions.
3. Under DEM_Regional, highlight the word regions, right-click to open the shortcut menu, and then select Create from Closed 124 Introduction to Gocad for Mining
Curve to open the Create Region from Closed Curve dialog box. Notes
4. Notice that in the PointsSet box, DEM_Regional is automatically selected and in the Curve Closed curve box, Model_Boundary is displayed in the3D Camera. This is because those objects were already displayed in the 3D Camera before you opened the dialog box and those lines are expecting PointsSet and Curve topologies respectively.
5. In the Region name box, type the name of your new region. You can select any name, but in this exercise we will use RegionDEM. 6. Click OK to create the new region. After the command is executed, a + appears next to the Introduction to Gocad for Mining 125
DEM_Regional regions. Expand it and check RegionDEM on. Notes
The 3D camera should appear like this:
The default symbol for displaying the nodes in the region is tetra, which are heavy symbols to move around. 7. Open the Regions Attributes Toolbar by clicking on the region name RegionDEM. In the Attributes Toolbar (at the bottom of the Gocad window), change the symbol from tetra to point
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The image will change and will look like this:
Notes
8. Save the project. (Its just a good idea to save the project from time to time.)
Use the Region Editor

There are various ways to create a region on an object as you may have noticed on the right click shortcut menu earlier. We are going to use the very powerful Region Editor to create a new region on DEM_Regional which represents the points directly above the Massive Sulphide surface. This is a great way to manually lasso points of interest on objects. 1. With RegionDEM pointsSet and the Massive_Sulphide surface displayed in the 3D Camera go to a View from Top . 2. Open the Region Editor. Right-click on regions under DEM_Regional to open the shortcut menu, and then select Region Introduction to Gocad for Mining 127
Editor... to open the Region Editor dialog box. Notes
The Region Editor is a handy tool that you can use to create, edit, or delete regions. Before continuing with the exercise, take a look at the Region Editor features. Add a new Region. Use this command to add a new region. When you first open the dialog box, this is the only command available. If you have existing regions, you can click on the region name to activate the other commands. Add Node and Remove Node. Use these commands to edit region contents. Expand and Shrink. These commands require connectivity
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(for example, if you want to expand three layers of surface triangles from the current region boundary) and wont work on a pointsSet. Add nodes inside a polygon and Remove nodes outside a polygon. These draw-polygon commands are the most commonly used tools in the Region Editor. Use them to draw an outline to enclose the nodes you want to include or exclude. Intersect, Subtract, and Union. These are between-region commands. 3. When you open the dialog box, Add is the only command available. Click on the region name, RegionDEM, to activate the other commands. 4. Click on Add. A new region will be added called Region_2. Right click on Region_2 and select Rename from the menu. Rename Region_2 to Region_Massive_Sulphide.
Notes
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Notes 5. Click on Region_Massive_Sulphide in the list to activate the other commands. What you are going to do now is draw a polygon around the points you want to include in Region_Massive_Sulphide. 6. Ensure that RegionDEM is turned off in the object list. 7. Click Inside Polygon . This immediately puts the pointer into digitalization mode, as indicated by the shape of the cursor now a +. This command lets you digitize a polygon around the area of interest; all the points enclosed by the polygon will be placed into the highlighted region (Region_Massive_Sulphide). The goal is to digitize a polygon that will enclose all the points inside the area of interest and place them in the region. Digitize the polygon as shown, left-clicking each time until the last position and then right-click to end the action. Note: The right-click both digitizes and ends, so do not left-click the intended last point. When the target is a closed polygon, as in this case, the last point is automatically connected with the first point. At all times while digitizing, there is a "rubber band" showing you the current polygon outline. The middle mouse button will back up a step if the point you digitized is not in the correct location.
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8. Test the two tools below: Notes Switch lets you flip the region contents and see whether you have missed any nodes. If you mistakenly included any unwanted nodes, you can use Remove to remove individual nodes from the region. 9. Click to exit the Region Editor.
Create a pointsSet from object region Now, you can extract the points inside the region either by deleting those points outside the area of interest, or by creating a new PointsSet object from the points in the region. We will create a new PointsSet. 1. In the Object Tree, open the PointsSet shortcut menu (rightclick PointsSet). 2. In the New area, select From Object Region to open the Create PointsSet From Object Region dialog box.
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Notes
3. In the name box, type DEM_Local as the name of your new object. In the Object Object box, DEM_Regional already selected because it is the only PointsSet displayed in the camera, and in the region box, select RegionDEM. 4. Click OK to create your new PointsSet object.
Display the new object 1. In the Camera Snapshot and Options Toolbar, change the 3D Camera background display area to white. 2. In the Object Tree, under PointsSets, clear the DEM_Regional check box and select the DEM_Massive_Sulphide check box to display the new PointsSet. Well..., can you see the PointsSet in the 3D Camera? If you are working with the white background in the 3D Camera you will not be able to see anything. Why not? Look in the Attributes Toolbar and you will see that the nodes for the PointsSet are white. 3. Change the Nodes color to coral and the Nodes Symbol Size to 2. Now, the new PointsSet can be visualized. 4. Save the project.
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Create a histogram
Because the drillholes are all in a group, it is easy to create and export histograms that display statistics related to their property data. 1. In the Object Tree, Group, Drillholes, and logs are already expanded. Right click Cu_percent under logs to open its shortcut menu. Select Histogram to open the Property Statistics window.
Notes
2. View the information. You see two graphs. On top is the histogram, and on the bottom is the cumulative distribution function of the Cu_percent in Drillholes. What kind of analysis can you make of this result?
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Notes
3. When you finish viewing the graphs, click Property Statistics window.
to exit from the
You have completed the Create a histogram exercise. Next, you will learn how to create a crossplot.
Create a crossplot
Now lets create a 2D crossplot graph comparing the lead, zinc and silver values. 1. In the Applications Toolbar, click Show Crossplot 2D open the Multivariate Statistics dialog box. to
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Notes
In the Object box, Drillholes is automatically selected. 2. In the X-Axis property area, select Pb_percent from the Property list. 3. In the Y-Axis property area, select Zn_percent from the Property list. 4. In the Color property area, select Ag_gt. You should see a crossplot graph displaying the Pb_percent data for Drillholes along the X axis and the Zn_percent data along the Y axis. The plot is coloured with Ag values. 5. In the Joint Statistics area, look at the Correlation coefficient value.
You have completed the Create a crossplot task and your Introduction to Gocad for Mining.
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Appendix A1 Import ASCII Column File Formats

The Column File is a formatted ASCII file that contains the spatial coordinates of a data set of points and optional data values. The Column File must include one header line composed of one label for each column of the file. The first character of each label must be alphabetical. The only non-alpha-numeric character permitted within a column label is the underscore character "_". The Column File may contain blank or comment lines starting with "#" or "/". Each column can be delimited by a "space", a "TAB" or a "comma". A no data value, defined as -99999, should be associated with any missing values in a Column File. Gocad will recognize this no data value and will treat it as a missing value, excluding it from any statistical computation. A Column File may be either 3D or 2D. In the case of a 2D Column File, there is no column corresponding to a Z coordinate.
Column Number 3D Column File 1 2 3 4 ... N X coordinate Y coordinate Z coordinate Data Value 1 (optional) ...
2D Column File X coordinate Y coordinate Data Value 1 (optional) Data Value 2 (optional) ...
Data Value N-3 (optional) Data Value N-2 (optional
A.1.1: 3D Column file format example X 0 100 100 200 Y 100 100 200 200 Z 2001 2028 1987 2036 density 3.43 3.39 3.68 -99999 137
If imported into Gocad, this example 3D Column File would create a PointsSet containing 4 points, located according to the given 3D geometry. A property named "density" with associated data values would be created. In this case, Gocad would not assign any density value to the fourth point. A.1.2: 2D Column file format example X 0 100 100 200 Y 100 100 200 200 density 3.43 3.39 3.68 -99999
If imported in Gocad, this example 2D Column File would also create a PointsSet containing 4 points, located according to the given 2D geometry but Z values would be set as "0". The density property will be created exactly as for the 3D Column File.
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Appendix A2 Import drillhole file formats

A minimum of two basic types of information are needed to import drillholes in ASCII format 1) collar location 2) deviation/survey information. Additional information like geological markers (formation intersections) or properties along boreholes (physical rock property logs or assays) can also be imported. Each type of information (location, deviation, geology, properties) is imported using an ASCII import option. All file formats share one common piece of information; the borehole ID (HOLE_ID). A.2.1: Collar file format example The Collar file gives the position of the drillholes collars. The file may contain blank or comment lines starting with "#" or "/". Each column can be delimited by a single "space", a "TAB" or a "comma". HOLE-ID ddh_1 ddh_2 X 0 100 Y 0 100 Z LENGTH 2001 300 2010 250
A.2.2: Survey/Deviation file format example "Distance" is measured from collar. "Azimuth" and "dip" are in degrees, and "dip" is defined from the horizontal, the negative downwards. The Deviation File may contain blank or comment lines starting with "#" or "/". Each column can be delimited by a "space", a "TAB" or a "comma". HOLE-ID ddh_1 ddh_1 ddh_1 ddh_1 ddh_2 ddh_2 ddh_2 DISTANCE 0 100 200 300 0 100 200 AZIMUTH 80 80 180 180 180 179 177 DIP -60 -59 -58 -57 -80 -78 -76 139
A.2.3: Geology file format example "From" and "To" are distances measured from the corresponding collar location. "Lithology" is a string in which the first character must be alphabetical and where the only non-alphanumeric character permitted is the underscore "_". HOLE-ID ddh_1 ddh_1 ddh_1 ddh_2 ddh_2 ddh_2 FROM 0 13.6 158.5 0 14.9 176.0 TO 13.5 158.4 300.0 14.8 175.9 250.0 LITHOLOGY overburden basalt gabbro overburden basalt gabbro
A.2.4: Interval Property file format example "From" and "To" are distances from the corresponding collar location. "Property Names" must be defined by the user as a string in which the first character must be alphabetical. The only non-alpha-numeric character permitted within a column label is the underscore character "_". A no data value, defined as -99999, should be associated with any missing values in a Property File. Gocad will recognize this no data value and will treat it as a missing value excluding it from any statistical computation. The Property File may contain blank or comment lines starting with "#" or "/". Each column can be delimited by a "space", a "TAB" or a "comma". Hole_ID SAL_24 SAL_24 SAL_24 SAL_24 SAL_24 From 79.9 81.4 82 92.7 94.2 To 81.4 82 83.4 94.2 95.7 Au_gt 0.005 0.005 0.005 0.005 0.005 Ag_gt 0.340 0.340 0.340 0.340 0.340 Cu_percent 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.010 PB_percent 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.010 Zn_percent 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.010
A.2.5: Continuous Property file format example
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"Depth" is the distance from the corresponding collar location. "Property Names" must be defined by the user as a string in which the first character must be alphabetical. The only non-alpha-numeric character permitted within a column label is the underscore character "_". A no data value, defined as -99999, should be associated with any missing values in a Property File. Gocad will recognize this no data value and will treat it as a missing value excluding it from any statistical computation. The Property File may contain blank or comment lines starting with "#" or "/". Each column can be delimited by a "space", a "TAB" or a "comma". HOLE_ID SAL_24 SAL_24 SAL_24 SAL_24 SAL_24 SAL_24 Depth 79.9 81.4 82 92.7 94.2 95.7 SG 2.99 2.85 2.82 2.86 2.76 2.64
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Introduction to Gocad for Mining

data management and visualization

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

2010 Mira Geoscience Limited. All rights reserved.

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Before you begin

About this course

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Who should attend

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

for inquires related to

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Section 2 Importing data and saving projects and objects ........................ 21

Section 3 Manipulating and visualizing objects .......................................... 59

Section 4 Preparing data for modelling .....................................................111

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

1.1 Start Gocad Suite and create a project

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Choose modules for a project

.gprj file. Each time

Set units for a project

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

1.2 Tour the Gocad window

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Basics of the Gocad window

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Rotate, pan, and zoom in the Gocad camera

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Notes Rotate the view in the 3D Camera

Pan the view in

Zoom the view in the 3D Camera

Tip: Manipulate the view during a command

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Resize areas of the window

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Customising the Taskpane

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Use ToolTips for toolbars and buttons

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Customize the window by setting preferences

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Use toolbars and menu bars

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Camera View and Camera Snapshot and Options Toolbars

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Camera Tools Toolbar

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Gocad menu bar

Commands menu bar

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

2.1 Import data from external sources

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

View the pointsSet in the 3D Camera

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

Import SHP files e.g. cultural data

Introduction to Gocad for Mining

View the curves in the 3D Camera