05 Surface Production Short Term Schedule V70

SURFACE PRODUCTION SCHEDULING:
SHORT-TERM SCHEDULING
Version 7.00
January 11
Gemcom Software International Inc. Tel +1 604.684.6550

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Contributors
Aaron Loffler
Gemcom Software International
Perth, Western Australia
Products
MineSched 7.0
Surpac 6.1.4
Document release date

January 2011
Table of Contents
Overview ...................................................................................................................................5
Data storage and familiarisation .............................................................................................7
Task: Setup data management hierarchy.............................................................................................. 7
Task: Set your working directory ........................................................................................................... 7
Data review ............................................................................................................................................... 7
Short-term polygons .............................................................................................................. 13

Creating short-term polygons from the long-term schedule ................................................................... 13
Task: Create short-term polygons ....................................................................................................... 13
MineSched scenario management ........................................................................................ 15

Creating a scenario ................................................................................................................................ 15
Task: Create a scenario....................................................................................................................... 15
Define the geological model ................................................................................................................... 15
Task: Add the geological information for the schedule ........................................................................ 15
Mining locations .....................................................................................................................17

Polygon mining vs. Bench Polygon mining and polygon constraints ..................................................... 17
Examples of polygon locations ............................................................................................. 19

Polygon mining to a seam boundary ...................................................................................................... 19
Polygon mining a single bench ............................................................................................................... 20
Polygon mining a single bench by flitches .............................................................................................. 21
Polygon mining with different polygons on separate benches ............................................................... 23
Task: Create a simple schedule using the polygons created earlier ................................................... 23
Polygon sequencing...............................................................................................................28
Adding a polygon sequence ................................................................................................................... 28
Task: Add various polygon sequences and see how the results change ............................................ 28
Graphically sequencing polygons ........................................................................................................... 29
Task: Graphically sequence the polygons ........................................................................................... 29
Task: Apply the correct sequence for this schedule ............................................................................ 37
Precedences and parameters for group mining ................................................................... 38

Precedences ........................................................................................................................................... 38
BLOCK_PRECEDENCES_CONSTRAINED_BY_GROUP ................................................................. 38
GROUPS_IN_DEFINED_SEQUENCE ............................................................................................... 39
Parameters ............................................................................................................................................. 39
MAX_ACTIVE_GROUPS .................................................................................................................... 39
Ancillary activities ..................................................................................................................40

Drilling activity ......................................................................................................................................... 40
Task: Create the drilling ancillary activity ............................................................................................ 40
Blasting activity ....................................................................................................................................... 47
Task: Create the blasting activity ......................................................................................................... 47
Graphically animating the activities ........................................................................................................ 49
Task: Create graphical results for the activities ................................................................................... 49
Adjusting the schedule .......................................................................................................... 53

Task: Add another production resource to the schedule ..................................................................... 53
Reporting the schedule .......................................................................................................... 55

Custom reports ....................................................................................................................................... 55
Task: Create a detailed mining report ................................................................................................. 55
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Table of Contents
Task: Create a summary report of the activities .................................................................................. 56

Gantt chart .............................................................................................................................................. 57
Task: Create a Gantt chart of the schedule ......................................................................................... 58
Analysing the schedule performance ................................................................................... 59

Task: Check the schedule deliverables ............................................................................................... 59
Task: Add the stockpiles and MILL to the schedule ............................................................................ 60
Production activities (optional) ............................................................................................. 64

Task: Define a schedule using production activities ............................................................................ 64
Where to next?........................................................................................................................76
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Overview
Short-term surface production scheduling can be challenging because there are many options available
for moving resources around to various locations of the excavation at short notice. A short-term schedule
is usually designed to maximise the equipment utilisation while still honouring the overall requirements of
the schedule such as a constant grade or ore throughput.
This tutorial is designed to give beginners a working knowledge of short-term surface production
scheduling in MineSched without complex scheduling scenarios. This tutorial is an extension of the long-
term surface scheduling tutorials and is the final tutorial in the series for surface scheduling.
Requirements
This tutorial assumes that you have a reasonably advanced knowledge of Surpac. If you are a new
Surpac user, you should go through the Introduction to Surpac, Block Modeling, and the Mine Design
tutorials before proceeding with this tutorial.
This tutorial is the last in a series of tutorials designed to teach the common functionality within the
MineSched Production Module.
To complete this tutorial, you need to have an understanding of surface scheduling techniques.
Additionally, you must have completed and understood the concepts in the Surface Production
Schedule: Initialisation, the Surface Production Schedule: Material Movement, the Surface
Production: Targeting and Blending, and the Surface Production: Improving the Schedule tutorials
prior to attempting this tutorial.
You will also need:
Surpac V6.1.4 or higher installed on your computer

MineSched V7.0 installed into your version of Surpac
the data set accompanying this tutorial (you can use the data you finished with from the previous
tutorial or new data is supplied with this tutorial)
Objectives
The objective of this tutorial is to give you a basic understanding of how to setup a short-term surface
production schedule and report on it. This tutorial focuses on the parameters used in scheduling to make
the schedule more practical for mining. It is not intended to be exhaustive in scope, but will show the
workflows needed to achieve results. You can then refine and add to these workflows to meet your
specific scheduling requirements.
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Overview Data review
Workflow
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Data storage and familiarisation Data review
Data storage and familiarisation

There are four basic data requirements for completing the MineSched surface production schedule:
pit designs, dump designs, and topography

These are normally as DTMs. However, you can also perform scheduling with Whittle shells.
a block model containing grades and material class definitions
any data files created to complete the previous tutorial in this series
polygons for the short-term schedule
MineSched creates many files during the scheduling process, such as reports, parameter files, log files,
and animation files. Because so many files are created, it is important to manage your data so that you
can easily locate, access, and analyse it.
Some of the parameter options within MineSched allow you to store filenames using a relative path or an
absolute path. Using a relative path means that the schedule data will be transportable between various
data storage systems and that it can be operated from several different locations. This makes it very
important to store your data logically to facilitate this functionality as well as assisting other users to
understand and locate your data.
Task: Setup data management hierarchy

Unzip the tutorial data. The files required for scheduling are already contained in their designated
directory.
The dtm folder contains the dump, pit and topography dtms and string files.
The mdl folder contains the block models.
The polygons folder will contain various string files created for scheduling.
The Scenario folder will contain files for managing the MineSched production scenarios.
If you have your own files you can copy the files to the directory structure, or you can create the directory
structure yourself as shown below.
Task: Set your working directory

Change your working directory to the newly created Scenario folder. You may need to refresh the Surpac
Navigator to see the changes made in Windows Explorer.
Data review
The data was also reviewed in the previous tutorial; however, it is shown here again for reference.
1. Open the files pit_design1.dtm and pit_stage_a1.dtm
2. Using DTM properties, change the colour of the stage A pit.
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The files show a final pit design and an initial stage A for this pit. The Stage A subpit is developed
first to quickly establish cash flow for the project then the remainder of the pit is mined
3. Open the block model and display it.
4. Run a block model summary.
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The block model contains four attributes.
Attribute Description
grade The quality value of the commodity.

material The MineSched material class attribute.
sg The specific gravity or density of the block.
type The rock type, air, oxide, transition, or fresh.
5. Cancel the form when finished.
6. Graphically constrain the block model to show only the blocks where the grade > 1.
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7. To get an indication of grade distribution, colour the model by the grade attribute. Select a cutoff
range that corresponds to the mining grade ranges selected for profitability.
Grade Range Description
<1 Waste
1 to 3 Low Grade
>3 High Grade
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Short-term polygons Creating short-term polygons from the long-term schedule
Short-term polygons
Typically, when short-term planning, you divide the mining area into smaller areas to better model the
drilling, blasting, and mining sequence. By dividing the area into smaller polygons, you achieve greater
flexibility for allocating resources and can readily present the plan to mining crews.
Creating short-term polygons from the long-term schedule

You can create polygons from the long-term schedule. In the previous tutorial, you created bench plans of
the final schedule. The image below shows some of the benches.
Task: Create short-term polygons

In this task, assume that the schedule was developed as planned up to the end of period 6. The objective
is to add some detail to the plan for the next three months, that is periods 7, 8, and 9.
Note: This task has been completed. You can find the results in the polygons directory.
You can find the files from the long-term schedule in the polygons directory. They are prefixed with
results_by_elev. The benches that were worked on during those three periods are 355, 345, 335, and
325.
1. Open these files and create clockwise, closed polygons around the various periods 7, 8, and 9.
To facilitate mining, use your judgment if you need to move the polygon boundary slightly. As the
pit stages are still important, the polygons have been created to the boundaries of each of the
stages where appropriate.
Note: These polygons have been created and are stored in the files consolidated_polys<level>.str.
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Short-term polygons Creating short-term polygons from the long-term schedule
2. You can divide overall period polygons into smaller polygons to represent the boundaries for the
mining activities. These should be logical in terms of mining equipment moving around the mining
locations.
Note: You can find the results of this step in the polygons directory in the files short_term_polys<level>.str.
The string numbering has been added such that the strings for period 7 are between 71 and 79 (or 700+
if more are needed) and period 8 are strings 81 to 89 and period 9 are strings 91 to 99. The numbering is
not important, this is for a reference only, but it is important that each polygon has its own number.
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MineSched scenario management Creating a scenario
MineSched scenario management

MinSched provides you with the ability to create and manage many scenarios related to the same data.
Scenarios are typically slight variations of the scheduling parameters for the same dataset. This may
include a comparison between using one type of equipment to another or re-assigning the sequence of
mining.
You can access the scenarios through the Surpac interface or through the MineSched interface.
However, it is best practice to have a single directory to store your scenario files. You can then store
multiple scenarios in this directory. This allows you to keep file references the same between scenarios.
You only need to change the parameters that are applicable to method of scheduling.
When running MineSched, each scenario will create its own Results folder, which is also stored under
the Scenario folder. Each scenario stores a separate Results folder, so there will be no overwriting of
files relevant to each scenario.
Through this scheduling process, you will produce several scenarios as you build the schedule up to a
complete functional schedule.
Creating a scenario
For every schedule, there must be at least one scenario file.
Task: Create a scenario

1. In Surpac make sure your current working directory is set to the Scenario folder.
2. Choose Production > New production scenario, and name the new scenario
Surface_Production_Short_Term_1.
Define the geological model

For all scenarios, you must define the geological information. The material classes for this schedule have
already been defined in the previous tutorials and do not need to be reassigned here. You only need to
reference and define the material attribute.
Task: Add the geological information for the schedule

1. As in the previous tutorials, add the surface model information to this schedule.
2. Check the Model setup for errors, and validate the model.
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MineSched scenario management Define the geological model
You created a scenario that contains the information about the model. The next step is to define the
mining locations. The way you create polygons in this tutorial differs from previous tutorials. There are
many options when mining by polygon, and this is explained in the next section.
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Polygon mining vs. Bench Polygon mining and polygon
Mining locations
constraints
Mining locations
When performing short-term scheduling, you would normally define a mining location as only a few
polygons that will be mined during that short-term period. The polygons are normally managed as the
areas that require separate units of work such as drilling, blasting, and mining. Mining using polygons is
more manageable in terms of size than mining an entire bench. This provides more flexibility, so mining
can occur in a more sustainable sequence.
In short-term scheduling, there is normally a departure from block-by-block mining because the polygon
face needs to be advanced on a hole to make room for trucks and other activities to follow behind the
advancing face.
In some cases, polygons will be different on different benches to facilitate the mining constraints. In other
cases, the polygons may be the same for a series of benches.

constraints
The two mining methods that use polygons are Polygon mining and Bench Polygon mining. The main
difference between these two mining methods is that MineSched automatically applies the Z constraints
to Bench Polygons based on the bench values and heights; whereas in the Polygon method, MineSched
does not apply any Z constraints. If you are using the polygon method, you can still use Z constraints to
define a bench.
is the same as:

In most basic open pit situations, mining occurs on fixed benches. Hence, the Bench Polygons method is
the best method to use.
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Mining locations
constraints
The Polygons mining method is most useful when the bench that is mined does not have a constant Z
plane to which to mine, for example, mining to a seam boundary. In this case, MineSched can extend the
polygon in the Z direction within the polygon to find all of the blocks in the seam.
When using either the Polygons or Bench Polygons mining method, the defined polygons string file acts
as an additional constraint on the block model. As such, it is not necessary to add the polygons file as a
constraint to the list of constraints that define that location. There is, however, a case where this may be
desirable.
In some cases, MineSched may reference a master polygon file that may contain many polygons. In the
short-term, only a few of these polygons are used. If the polygon string file is not referenced in the list of
constraints for the location, then every polygon will be prepared when the location is evaluated. This is
done to speed up the scheduling process later. As in most cases, the evaluation of a location is the part
of the schedule that takes the longest to run. By preparing all of the polygons first, MineSched can
reference any polygons in the mining sequence without needing to evaluate the polygons since they have
already been prepared.
In most mining cases, the polygon sequence changes frequently when narrowing in on the final schedule.
Having to evaluate new polygons each scheduling run wastes time. This can cause a problem when the
master polygon file contains tens, hundreds, or even thousands of polygons and only a few are used in
the short-term schedule.
In this case, it is more efficient to add a constraint containing a subset of polygons to choose from. For
example, if a polygon file contains strings 1 to 10000, it would be inefficient to prepare all of these
polygons if only ten of the first twenty polygons are to be used in the schedule. As the sequence is
unknown but it is known that only strings 1 to 20 can be mined, it is more efficient to add a constraint that
will allow MineSched to only evaluate the first 20 polygons.
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Examples of polygon locations Polygon mining to a seam boundary
Examples of polygon locations

Polygon mining to a seam boundary
When mining to a seam boundary, the constraint is what defines the blocks that are inside the seam. This
defines the seam boundary. In a block model, you can accomplish this by using a block value constraint.
You can also define the seam boundary between two dtm boundary layers or, if scheduling with Minex
Grids, you can reference the grid files.
In the images above, you can see that the blocks that make up the mining location are first constrained
by the constraints listed. Further detailed constraining is done using the polygon string file. When using a
block model, the effect of partial percentages can be of importance and, as seen on the left, the partial
percentage refers to the Polygon, which is referenced in the String File field.
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Examples of polygon locations Polygon mining a single bench
Polygon mining a single bench

When mining a single bench, it is acceptable to define the mining location using either the Polygons or
Bench Polygons mining method. When using the Polygons method the Z Planes that define the bench in
the model need to be added.
TIP: A common mistake when using Bench Polygons for a single bench is to use the first bench, for example as 335
and the last bench as 325. This is really defining two benches and when combined with a second location that is
from 325 to 315, this will result in the 325 bench being defined twice and the tonnes will be counted twice. When
mining a single bench, the first bench and the last bench should be the same.
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Examples of polygon locations Polygon mining a single bench by flitches
Polygon mining a single bench by flitches

In MineSched, you can easily define a single bench to be mined by flitches. When mining by flitches the
same polygon sequence is mined; however each polygon is mined in 2, 3, or more layers. For example, if
the following polygons were defined for a single bench:
When scheduling the polygons by flitch, in the image above, you would first mine the top flitch of polygon
1, then the next flitch of polygon 1 before moving to polygon 2. The image above also shows the mining
direction.
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Examples of polygon locations Polygon mining a single bench by flitches
You can define mining by flitch by specifying a single string file, but multiple benches for that string file.
For example, if there was a 15m bench that was mined in three five metre flitches, the definition would
look like the following:
In the above definition, the 15m 330 bench of this mine has been defined to be mined in three 5m flitches.
In this case, the bench position is at the top of the bench so the three 5m bench values are 330, 325, and
320. It is a common mistake to simply subtract 15m from the first bench elevation, but this would create
four separate flitches so care must be taken. When mining a single bench by flitches, in the definition the
term bench can be considered flitch.
TIP: You can also define flitches of variable heights. For example, a single 10m bench can be mined in three flitches of
4m, 3m, and 3m by using a space between bench heights. The separate bench heights can also be separated
by the use of a semi-colon:
You can store flitch or bench heights in description fields of the polygons if each polygon will have a different set
of bench heights.
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Examples of polygon locations Polygon mining with different polygons on separate benches
Polygon mining with different polygons on separate benches

In this tutorial, you have so far created a set of polygons that are different for each bench. MineSched can
use these different polygons to create a location where all of the benches can use all of the defined
polygons to be sequenced in any order that is desirable to meet any scheduling requirements.
Task: Create a simple schedule using the polygons created earlier

1. Go to the Locations Section of the Setup Schedule step. Delete any locations on the Canvas.
2. Add the mining location as follows:
In this case, since the polygons that have been created already exist on the elevations that they
will be mined and as they are different for each polygon, the first and last bench elevations are left
blank. MineSched will take these elevations from the string files.
TIP: The elevation of the polygon in the string file needs to be constant for all points in the polygon. This will
allow MineSched to choose the correct elevation for the polygon and create effective graphical results.
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3. Check the Schedule setup for errors and evaluate the location.
4. Add a resource as existed in the long-term schedule, which has a capacity of 100,000 tonnes per
day.
5. Assign the resource to the mining location.
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6. Enough information has been defined to create the schedule. At this stage, you will not add any
parameters, precedence,s or calendars.
Go to the Create Schedule step and define the schedule time periods to be weekly for the three
months of the short-term schedule. The start date should be 01/07/2009, and there should be 13
weeks in the schedule.
7. Add a chart to track the masses produced each period. The chart below shows the ore and waste
produced each period. Create the schedule.
8. There is a small amount of production (200,000 tonnes) that will occur in week 14. This is because
the polygons that were defined included some material from other periods. At this stage you will
ignore this. Normally this would be carried forward to the next schedule or if it is important the rates
would be adjusted to ensure it is mined during this scheduling period. This issue would be
exacerbated by the introduction of resource calendars.
9. Go to the Publish Results step, and create the graphical outputs. Animate the schedule.
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What is wrong with the schedule?

The mining direction of some of the polygons does not look appropriate for the geometry of
the mining location. Currently, all of the polygons have been defined to be mined towards the
north. You can change this in the location properties. In this case, the mining directions for
the polygons have been stored in the d1 field which can be referenced.
TIP: The mining direction is often a function of the polygon sequence. The mining directions in these polygons
have been designed based on a particular polygon sequence.
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The polygon sequence needs to be changed. Currently, the sequence is being mined based
on string number (from lowest to highest). This is causing the undermining of some
polygons.
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Polygon sequencing Adding a polygon sequence
Polygon sequencing
The polygon sequence determines the order of mining. You can define the sequence by typing the values
into the cell or by selecting the polygons graphically in Surpac. Additionally, MineSched has parameters
that either honour the sequence or not based on whether you are target scheduling. Target scheduling in
a short-term scenario is not common. The parameters help you try to create a mining sequence that
produces results close to your define targets.
Adding a polygon sequence

You can add a polygon sequence in the Locations section y entering that sequence in the String Range
field. You specify the sequence in the same way you specify a string range in any field in Surpac. For
example, a simple string range is possible.
A string range with a step value different of 1 is also possible.
You can also add multiple range selections using a semi-colon to separate the individual ranges.
Finally, you can specify individual polygons by separating them with a semi-colon.
Task: Add various polygon sequences and see how the results change
1. As mentioned earlier, the direction of the polygons to be mined has been stored in the d1 field.
Change the mining direction to reflect this.
2. Add a polygon sequence, for example, 71,79;700;701;81,88;91,99;900. This sequence will honour
the sequence as defined by period without pushing polygons 700 and 701 towards the end of the
schedule.
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Polygon sequencing Graphically sequencing polygons
3. Create the schedule, and view the results. Because you changed the mining direction (in step 1),
the location will need to be prepared again. MineSched completes this automatically when the
schedule is created.
4. Try some other polygon sequences, and create the schedule. MineSched will not prepare the
location again since only the polygon sequence has changed.
Graphically sequencing polygons

You can also sequence polygons by graphically selecting them in the Surpac Graphics environment. This
provides a flexible medium for visually building a polygon sequence without needing to know the string
numbers ahead of time.
Task: Graphically sequence the polygons

1. Go to the Locations section of the Setup Schedule step.
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2. Select the PIT_4_BENCHES location, and click the button next to String range to start the
graphical sequencing.
The Surpac window will become active (in Windows Vista you may need to maximise Surpac from
the Windows taskbar). The graphical sequencing form is displayed in Surpac.
The existing sequence that has been defined is shown in the Graphical sequence field. This
sequence is now no longer applicable.
3. Delete the sequence in the Graphical sequence field.
There are two options you can use to assist with the selection of polygons. View Options allow
you to rotate or zoom in and out until the polygons are in an orientation that facilitates the
sequence selection. Display Options allow you to show the polygons as filled or outlines that can
facilitate selection.
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4. Leave View Options and Display Options as their default values for the time being.
The main three buttons on this form allow you to manage the sequence. Continue Sequencing
allows you move into Graphics and start adding more polygons to the current sequence. Apply
Sequence exits the graphical sequencing form and applies the current sequence to the schedule
in the MineSched window. Cancel Sequencing allows you to exit the graphical sequencing form
and does not change the sequence currently defined in the MineSched window.
5. Choose to Continue Sequencing.
6. Select polygon 73.
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It is difficult to select polygons in the middle as the polygon edges cross over and it cannot be
guaranteed which polygon you are selecting. If you select the wrong polygon, that polygon can be
selected again which will remove it from the sequence.
7. Change the display parameters to facilitate the polygon selection. Press ESC to display the
Graphical Sequencing form again.
The currently selected sequence (polygon 73) is stored in the sequence field.
8. Change the Display Option to Filled Polygons, and click to Continue Sequencing.
You may want to change the orientation of the view to help with the sequencing.
9. Select some more polygons as shown in the image above.
When selecting polygons that lay underneath one another it can be difficult with the current view.
10. Press ESC to invoke the Graphical Sequencing form again.
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11. Click Apply Sequence.

You can continue sequencing later but you want to retain the sequence that is currently defined so
you can add to it later. If you click Cancel Sequencing, the current sequence is retained.
The sequence that has been defined so far has been placed into the appropriate field in
MineSched.
12. Return to the Surpac interface, and add the Scale and Transparency Toolbar.
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13. In MineSched, choose to graphically define the sequence.
14. As before, choose to display Filled Polygons and click Continue Sequencing. The same
sequence that you left with previously should be restored.
15. Press ESC to return to the Graphical Sequencing form, and choose to change the view.
While in this mode you can use the Z scale slide bar, rotate the image, and use the centre view
icon ( ) in Surpac to orientate the view until you can select all of the polygons successfully.
16. When you have done this, press ESC to return to the Graphical Sequencing form, and click
Continue Sequencing.
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17. Continue to select a logical sequence for scheduling until all polygons have been selected.
18. Press ESC and click Apply Sequence. Create the Schedule and view your results.
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TIP: In this example, the number of polygons is large and confusing so the Z scale was used to manipulate the
display to make polygon selection easier. Often this is not possible as the vertical alignment of polygons
must be respected when performing the graphical selection of the polygon sequence. To facilitate this, a
third option is provided for display in MineSched that will display all of the polygons as filled to begin with
but remove the filling once the polygon has been selected.
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Task: Apply the correct sequence for this schedule

A sequence that provides sufficient ore production has been determined. This will also include the drilling
and blasting sequence, which is added later in the tutorial.
1. Using the Graphical Sequencer or by typing the sequence in, add the following sequence:
71;77;72;73;79;76;75;74;78;700;701;81;82;83;84;900;87;86;85;92;91;88;93;94;95;97;96;98;99
2. Create the schedule and view the dashboard chart.
3. Create the graphical results, and animate the schedule to validate that the sequence is correct.
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Precedences and parameters for group mining Precedences
Precedences and parameters for group mining

Some precedences and parameters in MineSched are only applicable when mining by groups. The term
group is used because these precedences and parameters are not just applicable to the Polygons or
Bench Polygons mining methods but also to the Solids mining method, which uses objects in Surpac to
define parts of the mining location.
Precedences
No precedences are required for this schedule. However, there are two precedences you can use with
groups (or polygons).
BLOCK_PRECEDENCES_CONSTRAINED_BY_GROUP
Valid Values yes or no. The default value is no.
This precedence provides control over how MineSched calculates precedences between mining locations
that are mining by polygons, bench_polygons, or solids that have a spatial relationship between them. By
default if this is not defined. Block precedences are not constrained by group.
In the above image, if above if there was a spatial relationship between the location that contains the
white block and the location that contains the yellow block and a lag of 120m existed between the two
locations (block size is 20m) then the yellow block in the secondary location would not be able to be
mined until the white block in the primary location is mined. This is MineScheds default behavior.
When BLOCK_PRECEDENCES_CONSTRAINED_BY_GROUP is set to yes, the yellow block is allowed
to be mined before the white block is mined because the influence of the white block is constrained to the
limits of the polygon in which it lies. The influence of the white block will only extend to the secondary
location where the string number (or group number) is the same as in the primary location.
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Precedences and parameters for group mining Parameters
GROUPS_IN_DEFINED_SEQUENCE
Valid Values yes or no. The default value varies depending on other settings in MineSched. If
the location has the property Consolidate Blocks selected, then the default value is yes. If the
Precedence BLOCKS_IN_DEFINED_SEQUENCE is set to yes then the default value is also yes.
All other times the default value is no.
This precedence forces MineSched to schedule the groups in the sequence provided in the String
Range field in the Location Properties. If no string range is specified, the groups will be mined from
lowest string number to highest string number.
When using target scheduling in the short-term, it can be useful to set this precedence to no, which gives
MineSched the flexibility to choose polygons in any order to meet the defined targets.
Combined with the parameter MAX_ACTIVE_GROUPS, this is a powerful tool for meeting targets in the
short-term while still maintaining a practical schedule.
Parameters
No parameters are required for this schedule. However, there is one parameter that is applicable to
mining by groups.
MAX_ACTIVE_GROUPS
Valid Values any integer greater than zero. The default value is all available polygons or objects.
For short-term scheduling and using targeting, you can use this parameter to restrict MineSched to
choose only a subset of the total available polygons or solids to mine from in any given period.
After mining has started for a polygon, the mining of the polygon must complete before selecting a new
polygon. Based on the defined targets, MineSched will evaluate the best polygons to start mining in.
When a polygon is completed, all the remaining available polygons are re-evaluated, and the best one is
chosen. In the example below, there are three active polygons at one time in the mining location.
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Ancillary activities Drilling activity
Ancillary activities
Before reporting the schedule, you will look at the use of Ancillary activities. Activity scheduling is an
important part of creating a short-term schedule because these activities can often interfere with mining.
In this tutorial, you will add a DRILLING activity and a BLASTING activity. You can model any activity that
might affect the production in the ancillary activities, including dewatering, setup, geological control, or
survey control. However, drilling and blasting are the most common activities. Drilling and blasting also
have the greatest affect on production.
Drilling activity
There are two parts to activity scheduling:
defining the work involved and scheduling the activity

creating appropriate displays through graphical results to illustrate and validate the activity
You can obtain information for the drilling activity from the blasthole designs if they are already complete,
or you can estimate them based on a quantity relative to the production amount.
Task: Create the drilling ancillary activity

1. Go to the Activities section of the Setup Schedule step.
The interface in this section works just like the other sections. On the left is a panel where you add
activities, and the panel on the right contains the properties of these activities.
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2. Click the Add button to add a new activity.
There are many properties you can use to define an activity.

3. Change the name of the activity to DRILLING.
The type of activity generally depends on the Mining Method. If the mining method is Polygons,
Bench Polygons, or Solid the activity type is generally Polygon. The activity type determines the
frequency of the activity. Does the activity occur before or after an entire mining location is mined
or before or after each polygon in the location is mined? It is obviously impossible in this example
to drill out the entire four benches at once and then mine it so the activity type is Polygon.
You can disabled the activity through the use of the Active checkbox, which is useful when trying
different options in the scenario since it may not be desirable to delete the entire activity definition.
The Locations field allows you define for which locations the activity is valid. For example
DRILLING would not be applicable to a location if it was all oxide material which might be free dig.
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The activity definition is divided into four main panels with an additional Comments panel to write
notes about the activity.
The first panel is the Precedences panel where you define the timing in the scheduling that the
activity occurs.
The table below provides the field descriptions.
Field Description
Previous activity The activity that occurs immediately prior to the current activity in the scheduling process within
the polygon. For example, drilling must happen prior to blasting.
Next activity The activity that occurs immediately after the current activity in the scheduling process within the
polygon. For example, blasting must happen after drilling but before mining.
Earliest start date The earliest date at which an activity may start.
For example, dewatering may not be able to occur until after a pump arrives on a given delivery
date. The date entered here is given as a not prior to date so if the polygon becomes available
for the activity on 12/09/2009, but the earliest start date is 28/09/2009, then the activity will
commence on the latter date. However, if the earliest start date was 03/09/2009, then the activity
would not commence until it was available on 12/09/2009.
Honour Defines whether the production precedence needs to be honoured for the current activity.
production Activities that occur after mining would honour the production precedences by default.
precedences Production precedences are specified in the production rates grid.
In the example above, a production precedence exists such that PIT_2 cannot start until PIT_1
has been completed. When DRILLING, you can likely start drilling in PIT_2 before PIT_1 has
finished mining so there is no need to honour production precedences. For BLASTING, you may
not be allowed to blast until mining has been completed in PIT_1, so production precedences
may need to be honoured.
When Honour production precedences is selected, you must specify which Activity must be
completed in the previous location before the current activity can take place.
Honour Defines whether the development precedence needs to be honoured for the current activity.
development If you have activities that must occur before mining can commence in a location, but the location
precedences is not available due to underground development then the activity should honour the
development precedence since the development must be completed before any activities can
start in a mining location.
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Field Description
Other locations Defines whether the polygon precedences from other locations need to be honoured. This is
important when a spatial relationship exists between two locations.
For example, if there are two locations defined by polygons, OVERBURDEN and ORE that will
be mined at the same time, the DRILLING activity cannot start in the ORE location until enough
OVERBURDEN has been mined to expose the ORE location.
This is an example of polygon precedences between locations. It is important that the polygon
string number is the same in each location for this to work.
When Other locations is selected, you must specify which Activity must be completed in the
polygon in the other location before the current activity in the current location can begin.
Same locations Defines whether the polygon precedences from the same locations need to be honoured. Use
this option if the current activity must wait for an activity to be completed in the previous polygon
in the sequence.
For example, do not blast in the next polygon until mining in the current polygon has been
completed.
When Same locations is selected, you must specify which Activity must be completed in the
previous polygon prior to the current activity in the current polygon commencing.
4. Do not make any changes to the Precedences pane.
5. Do not make changes to the delays in this schedule.
You can use delays to control the timing of the activity.
Field Description
Delay before activity The number of days that pass after the previous activity but before the current activity
can start.
Delay after activity The number of days that pass after the current activity but before the next activity can
start.
Delay between polygons The number of days that pass between the same activity after one polygon has been
completed but before the next polygon can start.
The Work panel is used to define the total amount of work required to complete the activity. For
example, the drilling for the whole drilling activity might be a fixed number or a calculated number
based on the production volume, or it may have already been defined based on the design.
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Field Description
Quantity method Defines the quantity of work required to complete the activity. Options are:
Fixed: The fixed method allows you to type a fixed quantity. For example, in the
drilling activity there might be 50,000m of drilling overall.
Relative: The relative method allows you to enter of a quantity based on the volume
or mass of material in the location or polygon. For example, as a guide, the amount
of drilling for a 10m bench (ignoring subdrill) at a 6m x 7m pattern is approximately
2.5% of the total volume. So the relative quantity will be:
CSV File: If the amount of work required to complete the activity has been pre-
determined by design (for example, reports from the drill and blast design) then this
can be added to the work by referencing a CSV file. The format of the file is shown
below.
Fixed quantity The fixed quantity of work for the activity.

Quantity units The quantity units. This is used in reporting and as a reference for the resource rates for
the activity.
6. Add the work for the DRILLING activity as shown below.
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The resources panel controls the creation and allocation of resources to the current activity.
Field Description
Resources Allows you to create and select resources for the activities.
7. Click the + button in the resource field.
8. You can add a list of resources. While in this form, you will create a resource for the DRILLING and
one for the BLASTING. Click the Add button twice to add two resources and rename them to
DRILL_CREW and BLAST_CREW.
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9. Apply the Resource Creation Grid, and then select the DRILL_CREW from the list of resources to
assign it to this activity.
Field Description
Resource capacity The maximum capacity that the resource is able to complete in a 24-hour period. The
unit for the resource capacity is specified in the Work Panel.
Location max. Rate The maximum allowable rate of the resource in any given location. This may be different
to the maximum capacity. The unit for the maximum rate is specified in the Work Panel.
Max. Resources per The maximum number of resources that can be active in a location at any given time to
location complete the activity. In this example, you have defined a crew that may include multiple
resources.
Resource priority The priority of the resource to complete this activity in the defined locations. This
provides flexibility when multiple locations are available for the activity; however, they
are normally the same priority.
Equal rates for equal Selected: Resource rates for an activity are split evenly between locations with the same
priorities activity priority.
Cleared: The resource works at its full individual location capacity in locations, and it is
assigned to locations until the total resource capacity is met.
Allow reduced resource Selected: A resource can only work at its full individual location capacity in a location, or
rates not at all.
Cleared: A resource cannot work at a rate below its individual location capacity.
Allow activity splits Selected: The resources will be re-allocated to the new location if a higher priority
location becomes available for an activity.
Cleared: The resources must complete the activity in the current location before being
re-allocated.
10. Assign the Resource Rates as shown below.
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Ancillary activities Blasting activity
Blasting activity
You can define the blasting activity in a number of ways. This activity is often determined by the volume
blasted per period; however, it is also important to indicate the time taken to blast as this is the property
that has the greatest affect on the schedule.
Task: Create the blasting activity

1. Add a new activity, and rename it to BLASTING.
2. The BLASTING activity occurs after the DRILLING and before the MINING activity. You can add
these to the Precedences panel of this activity.
The MINING activity is always able to be selected here. While you can define MINING as its own
activity, there is no need to do this here since the MINING activity is defined through the locations
and resources sections.
The BLASTING should also occur just prior to the MINING to ensure there are not large amounts
of blasted stocks on the ground. To facilitate this, use the polygon precedence same location
option to make sure BLASTING does not happen until after MINING is completed in the previous
polygon.
The SHOVEL must be walked away from the blast at this time, and this will also take time.
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Ancillary activities Blasting activity
3. At this time, you can change the DRILLING activity to add the BLASTING as the next activity. Go to
the DRILLING activity, and change the precedence to add the BLASTING as the next activity.
4. Go back to the BLASTING activity, and define the work involved as shown below.
The blasting for the schedule will be determined by the length of time it takes to prepare and blast
the polygon. Regardless of the size of the polygon, a full day is set aside to load the shot and fire it
so this would be a fixed quantity of 1 and the units are days.
5. Select the BLAST_CREW resource, and define the capacities and rates as shown below.
The BLAST_CREW resource can only work on one blast at a time so the capacity and rate will be
1.
6. Do not need to add delays for any of the activities.
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Ancillary activities Graphically animating the activities
7. Create the schedule, and view the dashboard results.
Graphically animating the activities

The graphical animation of the activities is important to validate that the activities are not occurring at
incorrect times or that the proximity of activities and mining is not impractical. The activities can be
animated graphically using different methods such as showing the polygon as it is being drilled or
creating drillholes and displaying them as they are drilled during the period.
The string files need to be created in such a way that they can be linked with the production polygons.
Task: Create graphical results for the activities

The graphical results for the drilling will be animated as a series of drillholes in red. The graphical results
for the blasting will be the same drillholes but shown in white.
1. Open the file short_term_polys1.str in Graphics in Surpac.
The string numbers of the drillholes must match the string numbers of these polygons.
You can create drillholes using the Surpac drill and blast functions, or you can create strings
manually.
In this case, a macro is provided to speed up this process. You can find the macro in the polygons
directory, and it is also supplied with pit activities demonstration data.
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2. Run the macro and complete the details as shown below.
The holes created are for animation purposes only and should not be considered accurate for
drilling planning. The drillholes are stored in the results layer.
3. Change the active layer to the results layer, and save the drillholes to a file in the polygons
directory called drill_holes_1.str.
4. Go to the Animations sections of the Publish Results step. On the Activities tab at the bottom, add
the details for displaying the activities as red lines for DRILLING and white lines for BLASTING.
It is important to use the display Mode of Add for these activities as evolution or remove will clutter
the display with extra information not required at the period of animation.
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5. Go to the Graphical Results section, and create the graphical results for the schedule.
6. Return to the Animations section, and choose to animate the production and the activities. The
production should be displayed in the remove mode.
7. Animate the schedule.
The schedule looks fine; however, there is a major problem. The schedule no longer completes in
the time specified. Why is this?
There are two main reason for this:
a. The long-term schedule was for mining production only. This short-term schedule involved
drilling. To be able start mining the first polygon, it must be drilled first, so the mining doesnt
start until six days into the schedule.
b. The original schedule never accounted for blasting. A day is lost each time a blast is loaded
and fired. This cuts the effective weekly production from 700,000 tonnes per week to
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anywhere from 400,000 to 600,000 depending on the number of polygons blasted during the
week.
How can these problems be resolved?
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Adjusting the schedule Graphically animating the activities
Adjusting the schedule

You need to refine the schedule in the short-term. When the original schedule was created, no
consideration was given to the fact that blasting would occupy a full day of production each time. You
need to account for this in the short-term.
The way to do this is to add another resource to make up for lost time from blasting. Furthermore, you
must also account for time initially used to drill the first polygon before production starts.
Task: Add another production resource to the schedule

1. Go to the Resources Section of the Setup Schedule step.
2. Add a new resource called EXCAVATOR, and assign a Capacity of 50,000 tonnes per day.
3. Assign the EXCAVATOR to the Mining Location at its MAX_RATE of 50,000
4. As the production rate has increased, you should increase the drilling rate. This may involve the
acquisition of another drill rig to add to the pool of resources the DRILL_CREW can use.
5. Go to the DRILLING activity in the Activities section of the Setup Schedule step, and change the
capacity and maximum rate of the DRILL_CREW to 1350 per day.
6. Create the schedule, and view the results.
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Adjusting the schedule Graphically animating the activities
There is still a reduction in production during the first week of the schedule as it takes three full
days to drill the first polygon and one full day to blast it leaving only three days to of the first period
for production.
In reality, this schedule is part way through the long-term schedule. The drilling for that polygon
would already be completed during the previous period making production available from the
beginning of this period, just as drilling finishes before the end of the final period in this schedule.
The drilling would continue preparing the next polygons for the next periods. To account for this,
you will add a four day period at the beginning of this schedule to represent the drilling
commencing in the first polygon.
7. Go to Create Schedule, and click the change periods button and add a four-day period at the start.
Also, change the period start date to four days before the production periods start.
8. Create the schedule, and view the results.

The schedule is completed in time, and there are no conflicts between activities in the pit.
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Reporting the schedule Custom reports
Reporting the schedule

You can view the completed schedule using the dashboard. You can also use the graphical results to
validate the schedule. For a more customised and detailed analysis of the results, you can publish them
in other formats.
Custom reports
Custom reports are the most useful type of output because they offer a detailed view of the scheduling
results. In this section, you will create a summary of activities and a detailed mining report.
Task: Create a detailed mining report

1. Go to the Custom Report section of the Publish Results step, and add a new report.
2. Change the name of the report to mining_report_detailed, and make the report type Detailed and
periods by Row.
3. Add the report detail to report the Location, Bench, Polygon, and the different masses of waste and
ore as well as the average grades and aggregate grams as shown below. The period number can
also be useful to report before Location.
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Reporting the schedule Custom reports
4. Create, and view the report.
5. Create a template to make viewing and analysing the data more efficient.
A detailed report contains many entries for the same period. Each entry will individually display the results
for the period for each bench and polygon that was mined during that period. As these reports can often
contain many entries, the report must be created with periods by row to ensure all of the report can be
created. This is because there are more rows in Excel than there are columns.
Task: Create a summary report of the activities

1. Add another report and change the name to Activity_Report. This report should be a Summary
report with periods by Rows.
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Reporting the schedule Gantt chart
2. Add the details of the report as shown below.
3. Create, and view the report.

A template will assist with the analysis
The report is divided by period. The polygon shown is the polygon that was the last polygon that mining
occurred in for the period.
The blasting is the number of days of blasting that occurred during the period. Sometimes the number is
not a whole number. This represents that charging of the shot began before the end of the period and
was completed in the following period.
Gantt chart
You can create a Gantt chart to assist in visualising the schedule. You can complete the next task only if
you have Microsoft Project installed.
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Reporting the schedule Gantt chart
Task: Create a Gantt chart of the schedule

1. Go to the Gantt Charts section of the Publish Results step.
2. Create new project file, and make the level of detail at the bench/polygon level.
3. In the bottom left panel, select the Ancillary activities tab and check the prefixes/suffixes of the
defined activities.
4. Create the Gantt chart output.
TIP: If the polygons areas in your mining location have specific names, you can add these to a description field
of the string file and reference them in the Gantt chart output using the Polygon Descriptions Tab.
You can only use the names in the custom reporting using the POLY_Dx reporting value where x is the
description field number that the name is stored in, for example POLY_D4.
5. Save the Gantt chart if required.
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Analysing the schedule performance Gantt chart
Analysing the schedule performance

Based on the long-term schedule, you needed to meet certain requirements. Most importantly was that
the mill needed to be able to process 28,405 grams of gold each day.
Task: Check the schedule deliverables

1. Go to the Create Schedule step, and change the schedule to periods to be daily for 100 days.
2. Create the Schedule, and view the results.
This is indicative of the daily running of a mine. Ore cannot physically be mined every day.
However, the stockpiles will provide a buffer to try to sustain the MILL requirements while the ore is
unavailable.
3. Define a Mining Summary Report that will be able to track the amount of GRADE_AGG produced
each day.
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4. Create the report, view it, and create a template that will help validate the flow of grams of product
to the MILL.
As you can see, there are times when the actual production dips below the desired production but
times when the actual production is above the desired production of ore.
Remember this is the short-term schedule from periods 7, 8 and 9. If you were to add in the current
state of the stockpiles as at the end of period 6 then this would resolve the processing shortfalls.
Task: Add the stockpiles and MILL to the schedule

1. Go to the Locations section of the Setup Schedule step, and add the Stockpiles and Processes
and material movement to the schedule.
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2. Add the stockpile balances as they would be at the end of period 6 from the long-term schedule as
shown below.
Low Grade Stockpile High Grade Stockpile
3. Add the process rate for the MILL.
4. Go to the Create Schedule step, and create the schedule. Define charts to review the stockpile
balances and material added to the MILL.
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5. Create the custom report, and view it with the template to verify that the MILL is processing the
correct amounts. You need to alter the Report to report the GRADE_AGG added to the MILL rather
than removed from the mining location.
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6. Save the schedule.

This completes the short-term schedule.
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Production activities (optional) Gantt chart
Production activities (optional)

In some instances, the ancillary activities do not provide enough flexibility for the schedule. This is
because the activities must occur in the same sequence as the mining. In some cases, it is better for the
schedule if the activities are considered independent to the mining. These are known as Production
activities in MineSched.
Production activities involve creating a location for the activity and redefining the production work to be
suitable for the type of work required to complete the activity. For example, mining a location involves
mining of 10,000 cubic metres; however, this can be redefined to represent 250m of drilling. As this is a
separate location, the sequence can be defined independently of the mining sequence.
Task: Define a schedule using production activities

1. Create a new scenario with the same Model setup as the previous one. You can do this by creating
a new scenario from the beginning or by saving the previous scenario and deleting the locations,
resources, and ancillary activities.
The work required for the production activities is defined by volumes extracted from the model.
Because the work is a relative or constant amount (metres drilled, volume, or days blasting), the
material class for those locations should be constant. For this reason it is important to add another
block model to the list of models that represents the activities.
2. Add another block model to the list of models to represent the activities.
With a small amount of work in the original model, you can use the same model to model the
activity volumes.
3. In Surpac, open the surface.mdl block model, and add a calculated attribute called
activity_material.
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Since this attribute is a calculated attribute with a constant value of zero, it will not add any size to
the block model. Alternatively, you can create a second block model with a single attribute
representing the material class as a constant.
4. Save the Block Model.
5. In MineSched, make a copy of the first model, and change the name to ACTIVITY and the material
class attribute to activity_material.
6. Validate the models.

You can find the polygons to use for this schedule in the polygons folder in the file
single_bench_345.str. In this tutorial, you will schedule a subset of the data from the previous
schedule you created. The mining will be conducted in three flitches of 4m, 3m, and 3m to mine a
10m bench. The drilling and the blasting will be conducted over a single 10m bench height. The
mining directions for the polygons are stored in the d1 field.
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7. Go to the Locations section of the Setup Schedule step.

Add a single mining location to represent the MINING (or DIGGING) activity for the bench. Make
sure to define the mining by flitch as is the mining direction. The polygon sequence is also given
below.
8. Add a location to represent the blasting of this bench.

The setup will be very similar; however, the block model referenced will be the ACTIVITY model,
the bench will be a single 10m bench rather than flitches, and block size will be very large (9,999).
This is done to ensure that only one scheduling point is created for the polygon so the volume can
be redefined to a single day to load and fire the polygon. This is important as the volume applies to
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each point so if you create more than 1 point for the polygon then this would represent more than 1
day of blasting. Note the image has been changed for this location to a custom image. You can find
this image in the polygons directory if you wish to use it.
9. Add a location to represent the drilling for this bench.

This will be exactly the same as the mining of the bench, except the referenced model will be the
ACTIVITY model, and the bench height will be 10m as the drilling operates over the entire bench.
Later the volume will be modified to represent the number of metres of drilling required for each
polygon. The image for this location has been changed, and you can found it in the polygons
directory if you wish to use it.
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TIP: you can duplicate locations by right-clicking an existing location and changing only the properties that vary
from the original. Alternatively, you can define the locations in the spreadsheet view which is very
efficient when the number of locations increases.
10. After you have defined the locations, go to the Evaluate section and check the schedule setup for
errors. If there are any errors, fix them and then update the locations.
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The work required to complete the drilling and the blasting needs to be redefined. Currently the
work units are defined in terms of volumes but the drilling should be expressed in terms of metres
and the blasting in terms of days of blasting.
TIP: The process is the same if BLASTING is expressed in terms of metres blasted or volume blasted. The
volume is re-factored to express the blast in the amount of work and units required.
11. Go to the Parameters section of the Setup Schedule step.
To redefine the work required for the blasting you can set the volume of the single block created for
each polygon to a single cubic metre. This means that regardless of the size of the polygon, the
volume of the polygon will be 1. Changing this volume means it is now represented in terms of
days required for blasting the polygon (the reporting unit is changed later).
The drilling locations can have their unit redefined by the use of a relative factor based on the
volume of the polygon. In this case, the drilling metres are simply 0.025 * VOLUME. This can be
achieved using a BLOCK_FACTOR. For example if a polygon comprises 20,000 cubic metres this
would represent 0.025 * 20,000 = 500m of drilling.
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Effectively the work involved has been altered to represent the days and metres drilling, although
the work unit is still VOLUME. When defining the resources the resource will work in Volume but
the capacity and rate will be expressed in days or metres.
12. Go to the Resources section of the Setup Schedule and add the mining resource (SHOVEL). The
capacity of this resource will be 100,000 tonnes per day.
13. Add the resource for the blasting (BLAST_CREW). In this case, the blast crew has a capacity of 1
blast per day. However, the unit will be set to VOLUME as the volume of each polygon has been
redefined to be 1 day.
14. Add the resource for the drilling (DRILL_CREW). In this case, the drill crew has a capacity of 900m
of drilling per day. However, the unit will be set to VOLUME as the volume of the drilling locations
has been re-factored to represent the drilling required for each polygon.
15. Assign the resources to the individual locations by dragging and dropping the relevant resources
onto the relevant locations. Assign the same value as the capacity to the MAX_RATE.
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16. Now, you need to manage the timing of the different activities in the schedule. This is a matter of
sequencing the locations by filling in the Date/event field to make sure that one location starts after
another. For example, after DRILLING in a polygon has been completed, BLASTING and then
MINING can be completed in that same polygon.
TIP: When the BLASTING polygons are being sequenced, they are dependent on two polygons finishing.
Drilling must be completed in the polygon, and MINING must be completed in the previous polygon. This
is accomplished using the Date/event builder and adding multiple items to the list.
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TIP: Such a large list is best managed with the spreadsheet view for the production rates. In this case, use the
comments field to store the polygon sequence and use a series of formulas to define the rules. For
example =CONCATENATE("DRILLING_Bench_345:POLY=",J19," MINING_Bench_345:POLY=",J18)
TIP: In the above image, when the polygon sequence is changed in the comments column the Date or Event
field is updated automatically. This sequence is not the mining sequence. The mining sequence is still
controlled from the Location properties and the sequence must be changed here.
Note that the BLASTING is the only event controlled by the use of the Date or Event field. As
polygons become available, the BLASTING is conducted at 1 polygon blast per day. After that
polygon is blasted, the blasting rate is set to zero to stop blasting until that polygon has been
mined, and a new polygon is required.
So how is the drilling and mining controlled so that mining does not race ahead to unexposed
polygons. This is controlled through the use of Polygon Precedences.
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17. Go to the Precedences section of the Setup Schedule step. In the Polygon Precedences section,
add the precedences by location as they would occur in a polygon. For example, first DRILLING
would occur then BLASTING then mining.
Polygon precedences provide a method for controlling the sequence of polygons between
locations. Using the example above, polygon precedences work such that a polygon of a given
string number in the BLASTING location cannot be started until the corresponding polygon with the
same string number in the DRILLING location has been completed. When multiple benches are
involved the use of Spatial Relationships is required to ensure that drilling does not progress
unfettered.
18. Create the schedule, and define a chart to view the results. To get a good resolution of the
schedule, set the periods to daily for 45 days.
You can treat the schedule as any other schedule.

19. Create a custom report.
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When creating the custom report, the title contains the unit that the resource works in; however, the
reporting value will be the volume. When creating a Gantt chart, there is a special panel in
MineSched to perform this.
20. Create a Gantt output of the schedule. You can use the Work units panel to redefine the work units
in the locations where the volume has been altered.
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You can animate the different activities in different ways. While they are all defined as MINING
activities, you can present them in a different format by choosing to animate them in a different
style for each location.
21. Go to the Animations section of the Publish Results step and fill in the Activity table as shown
below:
22. Create graphical results, and view the animations. The drilling should show up as the drill holes
that were created using the supplied macros. The polygon will flash white when blasted. Digging
will be shown as normal.
Note: The above image has been created artificially to illustrate the animation. In normal circumstances, the drilling
shown will have already been drilled and mined and the blast shown will have already been mined.
Page 75 of 76
Where to next? Gantt chart
Where to next?
This concludes the series relating to surface scheduling with MineSched.These tutorials cover much of
the functionality within MineSched but not all of it. For information relating to some of the less used
functions not covered in these tutorials, please refer to the MineSched Help, or contact your local
Gemcom Support Office.
It is important to remember that scheduling your own deposit may involve using various techniques
described in these tutorials in different ways than described. Each deposit is usually different in the way it
needs to be scheduled. Be sure to use the resources at your disposal in seeking an optimum, accurate,
and practical schedule.
Page 76 of 76

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Short-term polygons .............................................................................................................. 13

MineSched scenario management ........................................................................................ 15

Mining locations .....................................................................................................................17

Examples of polygon locations ............................................................................................. 19

Precedences and parameters for group mining ................................................................... 38

Ancillary activities ..................................................................................................................40

Adjusting the schedule .......................................................................................................... 53

Reporting the schedule .......................................................................................................... 55

Task: Create a summary report of the activities .................................................................................. 56

Analysing the schedule performance ................................................................................... 59

Production activities (optional) ............................................................................................. 64

Surpac V6.1.4 or higher installed on your computer

Data storage and familiarisation

pit designs, dump designs, and topography

Task: Setup data management hierarchy

Task: Set your working directory

The block model contains four attributes.

grade The quality value of the commodity.

Grade Range Description

Creating short-term polygons from the long-term schedule

Task: Create short-term polygons

MineSched scenario management

Task: Create a scenario

Define the geological model

Task: Add the geological information for the schedule

Polygon mining vs. Bench Polygon mining and polygon

is the same as:

Examples of polygon locations

Polygon mining a single bench

Polygon mining a single bench by flitches

Polygon mining with different polygons on separate benches

Task: Create a simple schedule using the polygons created earlier

5. Assign the resource to the mining location.

What is wrong with the schedule?

Adding a polygon sequence

A string range with a step value different of 1 is also possible.

Graphically sequencing polygons

Task: Graphically sequence the polygons

6. Select polygon 73.

11. Click Apply Sequence.

13. In MineSched, choose to graphically define the sequence.

Task: Apply the correct sequence for this schedule

Precedences and parameters for group mining

defining the work involved and scheduling the activity

Task: Create the drilling ancillary activity

2. Click the Add button to add a new activity.

There are many properties you can use to define an activity.

The table below provides the field descriptions.

Fixed quantity The fixed quantity of work for the activity.

Task: Create the blasting activity

6. Do not need to add delays for any of the activities.

7. Create the schedule, and view the dashboard results.

Graphically animating the activities

Task: Create graphical results for the activities

2. Run the macro and complete the details as shown below.

7. Animate the schedule.

Adjusting the schedule

Task: Add another production resource to the schedule

3. Assign the EXCAVATOR to the Mining Location at its MAX_RATE of 50,000

6. Create the schedule, and view the results.

8. Create the schedule, and view the results.