Drill and Blast Tutorial

Drill and Blast tutorial
Version 6.2
Copyright © 2013 Gemcom Software International Inc. (Gemcom)
All rights reserved. Gemcom publishes this documentation for the sole use of Gemcom licensees.
Without written permission, you may not sell, reproduce, store in a retrieval system, or transmit any
part of this documentation. For such permission, or to obtain extra copies please contact your local
Gemcom office, or visit www.gemcomsoftware.com.
This software and documentation is proprietary to Gemcom and, except where expressly provided
otherwise, does not form part of any contract. Changes may be made in products or services at any
time without notice.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this manual, neither the authors nor
Gemcom assumes responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither will be held liable for any damages
caused or alleged to be caused from the use of the information contained herein.
Gemcom Software International Inc., Gemcom, the Gemcom logo, combinations thereof, and GEMS,
Surpac, Minex, MineSched, Whittle, PCBC, Gemcom InSite, and Gemcom Hub are trademarks of
Gemcom Software International Inc. or its wholly-owned subsidiaries.
Product
Gemcom Minex ™ 6.2

Last modified: Monday, 27 May 2013
Drill and Blast tutorial
Table of Contents
About This Document .............................................................................................................. 4
Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Requirements ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Objectives ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Document conventions ............................................................................................................ 5
Setup for this tutorial ............................................................................................................... 7

Tutorial data .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Data set location ....................................................................................................................................... 8
Create a Minex project ............................................................................................................................. 8
Displaying the data set ........................................................................................................................... 14
Defining a Blast Layout .......................................................................................................... 20
Reference Line ........................................................................................................................ 26
Setout Line .............................................................................................................................. 27
Blast Pattern/Hole Editing ...................................................................................................... 32
Pre-split Holes ........................................................................................................................ 44
Other Functions ...................................................................................................................... 48

Designing a Sump .................................................................................................................................. 48
Front Row Burden .................................................................................................................................. 50
Reports ................................................................................................................................................... 53
Fanning of Drill Holes ............................................................................................................................. 54
Summary ................................................................................................................................. 59
About This Document
Overview
This tutorial is designed to give you an overview of the drill and blast functions of Minex. You can use the
drill and blast tools to layout, edit, and report on a blast pattern, while interacting with open pit layouts and
having full access to other graphical functions.
This tutorial uses a data set that is copied to your computer when Minex is installed.
When the software has been installed, more detailed information is available in the Minex Help, which
you can open from the Help menu. You can also contact your local Gemcom support office for training.
Requirements
Before proceeding with this tutorial, you will need:
 a good understanding of basic Minex concepts

 Minex 6.2 or later installed
 the Ashes dataset
 a licence for the OP Drill module
If you accept the default settings when you first install Minex, the data sets are installed. If you chose not
to install the data sets, refer to the Set up for this tutorial section of this document.
Objectives
After working through this tutorial, you will be able to:
 display data
 define a blast layout
 define a reference line
 define a setout line
 edit blast patterns/holes
 design pre-split holes
 design a sump
 report front row burden
 report drill hole information
 design a fanned pattern
Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 4 of 59 Drill and Blast

Document conventions Objectives
Document conventions
Typographical conventions
Some text in this guide has special formatting to help you identify it as part of a particular element of
information. The following table describes the different text formats and their meanings.
Text format Meaning
<Bold Italic> Text or data that varies with each input is shown in bold italic font and enclosed in angle
brackets. Some examples are installation directories, dates, names, and passwords.
When you substitute the text for the variable, do not include the brackets. For example:
<password> requires you to substitute a password in place of ‘<password>’.
Italics A word or phrase to which the author wants to give emphasis. For example: you must
select an item from the list to continue.
Bold This typeface indicates one of the following:
 A file name, path, or URL.
 Strongly emphasized text. For example, “It is very important to save the data […]”.
 Text that a procedure has instructed you to type.
 A menu option, tab, button, check box, list, option button, text box, or icon.
For example: Save the file as pit1.str.
Keyboard conventions
Key combination Meaning
<key>+<key> Press and hold the first key, then press the second key. For example: CTRL+Z
means press and hold the CTRL key, then press Z.
Menu conventions
When you click, or move the pointer over, some menu commands, a subordinate menu appears. To
indicate that you should select a command on a subordinate menu, this documentation uses a greater
than (>) sign to separate the main menu command from the subordinate menu command. For example,
File > Project > Project Manager means choose the File menu, move the mouse pointer over the
Project command, and then select Project Manager on the secondary menu.
Mouse conventions
Action Description
Click Press and release the left mouse button without moving the mouse.
Right-click Press and release the right mouse button without moving the mouse.
Double-click Rapidly click the left mouse button twice without moving the mouse.
Drag <an object> With the mouse pointer over the object, press and hold the left mouse button to
select the object. Move the pointer until the object is in the position you want, and
Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 5 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Document conventions Objectives
Action Description
then release the mouse button.
Rotate Use your finger to make the wheel button roll. Move it forward, that is in a clockwise
direction, or backward, that is in an anticlockwise direction.
Form elements
Forms can contain a variety of elements that enable users to carry out operations. Here is any example
form.
Forms can contain the following elements

Element Description Example
Title Title of the form.
Tab Labelled group of options used for many

similar kinds of settings.
Text box Rectangular box in which you can type

or field text. If the box already contains text, you
can select that text and edit it.
Drop- Closed version of a list box with an arrow

down next to it. Clicking the arrow opens the
combo list.
box
Option Round button you can use to select one
button of a group of mutually exclusive options.
Label Text attached to any option, box, button,

or to any other element of a window or
dialog box.
Help Context-sensitive Help button.
button
Check Square box that you select or clear to turn

box an option on or off.
Button Rectangular or square button that runs a

command. Buttons have text labels to
indicate their purpose.

Setup for this tutorial Tutorial data
Element Description Example
Icon A graphical button that you can click to

run a command.
List box Any type of box containing a list of items,

in table format, that you can select.
Menu A set of options or commands that you

can run.
Spin box A text box with up and down arrows that

you can click to move through a set of
fixed values. You can also type a valid
value in the box.
Tree A graphical representation of a
hierarchical structure. A plus sign next to
an item on the tree indicates that you
expand the item to show subordinate
items; a minus sign indicates that you can
collapse the item.
Setup for this tutorial
Tutorial data
When you install Minex and accept the default installation settings, the tutorial data is installed on your
machine. If you choose not to install the tutorial data sets when installing Minex, you can install them
separately.
Activity: Install the data set

1. Double-click the MinexInstallation.msi file on the installation CD.
2. At the Welcome message, click Next.
3. Select Modify, and click Next.
1. Minex displays the Custom Setup options.

Setup for this tutorial Data set location
4. Click the icon next to the Tutorial Data Sets option and select This feature will be installed on
local hard drive.
5. Click Next, and follow the remaining installation messages.
Data set location

The data set is installed to the following location by default:
Operating system Location
Windows 7 or C:\Users\Public\Gemcom\Minex\6.x\shared\tutorialData\Datasets\Ashes\
Windows 8
Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Gemcom\Minex\6.x\shared\tutorialData\Datasets\Ashes\
Activity: Back up the data set

It is a good idea to keep a backup copy of the data in case you want to restart the tutorial with a fresh set
of data later.
1. Start Windows Explorer.

2. Browse to the data set.
3. Right-click the Ashes folder, and choose Send To > Compressed (zipped) folder.
4. In Windows Explorer, make a new folder for backups, for example C:\minexBackups, and copy
the zip file to that folder.
Create a Minex project

To make it easy to work with your data, you will create a Minex project and set the working directory to
the location of the tutorial data (Ashes).
Activity: Create a Minex project

1. Start Minex.
2. Select File > Project > Project Manager.
3. Click New.
4. In the Project Name field, type DrillAndBlastTutorial.
5. Browse to the Ashes folder.
Tip: When you are browsing to this folder you can click the Jump to My Documents icon to select a folder
that is close to the folder of the data set.

Setup for this tutorial Create a Minex project
6. Click Finish.
7. The project is set up and the Minex Explorer displays the Ashes folder and subfolders.

Tip: In the Minex Explorer you can select the top level folder, which is Ashes for this project, look at the
Properties pane, and see the full path of the project. This is useful if you forget, or want to verify, where
the data is.
Organise the project

If a project is not organised, and it contains many data files, it can be difficult to find the specific file you
need.
The ASHES.GM3 file remains in the top level folder, even though there is now a Geometry_Files
subfolder. To move existing (as opposed to new) files into the subfolders you must use the Organise
Project command.
When you organise the project, the grid folders are moved into the Grid_Models folder.
Activity: Organise the project
1. Select File > Project > Organise Project.

2. In the File Collection Setting window, select Minex Default 4 (Core + Survey + Blasting Files).

3. Click Next>.
The After Management pane shows the changes to the project.

4. Click Finish.
The Minex Explorer shows the new file structure. You can now locate your geometry file and grid
folders within their respective project folders.

Setup for this tutorial

Setup for this tutorial Displaying the data set
Displaying the data set

Before we design a blast layout we need to display current topographical and structural information
around the area of concern.
Activity: Plot geometry data

Typically, when you plot geometry data, you only want to view some of the geometry data in the geometry
file. Using the Geometry Display form, you can specify which data to show.
1. Make sure the 3D Design tab is active.

2. In the Minex Explorer, right-click THEDON.GM3 and choose Open.
3. In the Minex Explorer, right-click Blast_Design.mpf and choose Open.
4. On the String toolbar, click Display Geometry.

The Geometry Display form opens.
5. On the bottom of the form, right-click on Geometry Display tab, and choose Get Parameters >
B1Area.

6. Click Ok.

This is the area for which you will design a blast.

7. Re-display the Geometry Display form.
8. Right-click the Geometry Display tab, and choose Get Parameter > area2.
9. Click Ok.
The selected geometry data is displayed. The green “mask” polygon indicates the area bounding our
intended Blast Design.

10. Close the Geometry Display form.
Activity: Plot seam and topographical surfaces

For this design you are going to project holes down to the MGB2 seam roof. In any area where this seam
does not exist, you will stop the holes at an elevation of 685.
1. In the Minex Explorer, click the Runtime tab, and expand the DD Names node.
2. Expand the MODEL node and select MGB2SR.

3. Right-click, and select Display and Open to display the grid.
3. Choose Triangle > Display.

The Triangle Display form opens.
4. Fill in the form as shown.
You are using this form to display the topographic surface, AIRPHOTO3PT.tr5, in green.

4. In the Runtime tab of the Minex Explorer, expand the Object Control Panel, right-click
Triangulation_Files\AIRPHOTO3PT, and choose Remove from Graphics.
5. When prompted, click Yes to confirm the removal.
6. Repeat the process to remove the seam roof, MODEL\MGB2SR, from Graphics.

Defining a Blast Layout
There are a number of steps to create a new blast layout, with the first step being to name/recall the blast
area, and define the pattern and hole parameters to be used.
Activity: Setup Blast Pattern

1. Choose Blast > Setup Blast Pattern.
The Blast Pattern Setup form opens. You can use the Pattern Parameters tab in the Blast Pattern
Setup form select blast patterns and specify pattern and hole parameters.
2. Fill in the tab as shown.
 The Area and Zone fields allow you to enter a new area and zone name, or select an
existing area and zone to use.
In our case select the area TRAIN and type in a zone of B1

Note: The Area and Zone names for the Blast Layout data type are equivalent to the Group and Map names for the
Structure data type in the geometry file.
 You can choose a Staggered or Square pattern from the Type drop-down list. For this
tutorial, you will use a staggered pattern so choose that from the list.
Below is an example of each type of pattern:

Defining a Blast Layout Displaying the data set
Square Staggered
 Enter a value of ‘4’ in the Offset field. This distance is typically half the value of the spacing
you specified.
 Enter a value of ‘8’ in the Burden field to specify the distance between rows.
 Enter a value of ‘8’ in the Spacing field to specify the distance between blast holes.
 A positive value in the Stand-Off field represents a stand-off, while a negative value
represents a sub-drill. For our Tutorial, enter a Stand-Off value of 0.3,
Hole Parameters
 Tick the Vertical Holes checkbox to indicate that the blast holes will be Vertical, and have
no Dip Angle.
 Tick the Normal checkbox if you want to project the blast holes at an angle 90 degrees to
the Left or Right of the setout line (Not used in this Tutorial).
 The Dip Angle (usually associated with the normal option) you specify is measured from
the horizontal (Not used in this Tutorial).
 If you don't tick the Normal checkbox, you can specify an Azimuth for the blast hole
projection (Not used in this Tutorial)
2. Click the Hole Colour button to change the colour used to represent the blast hole. Change it to
Red as indicated on the Dialog image above.
3. Enter a value of ‘0.3’ in the Diameter field to specify the diameter of the blast holes.
4. Enter ‘Soft’ in the Type field. This field is used to tag the blast holes as being from a user-defined
type, and can be edited after holes are created. It can be used later on to report, and export, holes
generated of a desired Type.

A blast pattern layout must be setup such that the bounding upper and lower surfaces, depths or
elevations are defined, for both the blast hole collars and toes. These can be set through the Surfaces
tab. Several options are available to define their surfaces:
 A constant elevation.
 A triangulated surface.
 A gridded surface.
 A depth below the collar (available for the toe only).
5. For this exercise choose the triangle file, AIRPHOTO3PT.TR5, for the Collar Surface and the grid,
‘MGB2SR’, for the Primary Toe Surface as shown in the image below. Also define a Secondary
Toe Surface, grid ‘RL685’ on the ‘Secondary Toe Surface Tab’. A Secondary Toe surface is used
as the Toe Surface in all the areas which the Primary Toe Surface does not exist, or is not
intersected during hole projection.
Design Surface: when blast holes are first layed out, they exist only on one surface - the collar or toe
surface, as selected through the blast layout menu ‘Design Surface’ area.It is then necessary to project

the blast holes onto the other surface. Select the “Collar” option for this exercise, as we will be designing
holes on the Collar surface and then projecting down to the Toe Surface to create the blast hole toe
position.
It is also possible to create a toe surface from production drill metres rather than using the geological
model. This creates a more accurate surface due to the increased number of holes used for seam
interpretation.
The Plotting Parameters tab allows you to control the appearance of your blast pattern. Fill in the dialog
as shown in the image below.
5. Select the Collar check box to set the option to display a symbol representing the blast hole collar.
Enter ‘0.2’ as the Size of the symbol from the associated drop-down list.
6. Select the Toe check box to set the option to display a symbol to represent the blast hole toe,
again entering ‘0.2’ as the Toe Symbol size.
Note: the symbols used during display can be changed on the Pattern Setup Tab. 2DSYMB40 is the most commonly used
symbol to represent blast holes. If you want the blast hole to be represented by a circle, choose 2DSYMB07.
 You could tick the Blastholes Only checkbox if you do not want to plot setout lines,
boundary polygons or zone polygons. Leave it un-selected for this exercise.
 Tick the Trace checkbox to plot a representation of the blast hole from collar to toe (if blast
holes are vertical, this will only be noticed if you dip the display).
Annotation
This area of the Plotting Parameters Tab allows you to control many options on how the blast pattern,
and it’s various elements, will be annotated.

 Select the Hole check box if you want to display the blast hole number. With this option you
can also choose the Size and Colour of the text, along with an “Annotate every nth” value
rd
if you only want to annotate a few blast holes, like every 3 hole. Leave this checkbox un-
selected for this exercise.
 Select the Depth check box set the option to display the drill depth of the holes. You can
also choose the Size, Colour, Decimals of the Depth text.
 Select the Annotate at Centre check box if you want to display depth in the center of the
blast
hole symbol. Leave it unselected for this exercise.
 Select the ‘Annotation Angle’ check box and enter an Annotation Angle so set the option to
draw the Annotation at an angle. This defaults to 0.0, which is Horizontal.
 Select the Setout (Line) check box if you want to set the option to display the row name for
each Setout Row. You can also choose to annotate every “n(th)” Line and change the text
Size and Colour.
Blast Influence
 You could select the Display Blast Influence check box to display a radius of influence
around the blast hole. This is a typical representation of the zone of fracture around the
blast hole.
 If this option is selected, you can also specify the distance from the center of the blast hole
in the Radius field, and you can choose a Circle or Cylinder to represent the zone of
fracture.
Note: Cylinder is useful for examining front row burdens.
7. Once the Blast Pattern Setup dialog has all the fields filled in as per the above, click Ok to initialize
the blast pattern. You will now see a blast pattern node on the Blast Explorer tab.

The next steps are to create a Reference Line, a Setout Line and to then Generate Holes.

Reference Line
The reference line serves two main purposes;
 It functions as a starting point for hole numbering.
 It is the hinge point for the copying and rotating of blast patterns.
It is usual to digitize the reference line in the direction of the face, perpendicular to the orientation of the
blast lines. Note that the reference line MUST intersect blast lines and should be normal to the direction
of the strip.
In its simplest form, a reference line is a straight 2-point line, however it could have several inflections or
even a curved line.
Activity: Digitise Reference Line

1. Choose Blast > Reference Line.
2. Digitise a line in similar location to the black line in the image below.
3. Right-click and select Accept when you have finished digitising.

Setout Line
Setout Lines are used for the creation of blast hole rows. They can be created either normal to or at an
angle to the reference line and must cross the reference line
In the case of a staggered pattern, if you want to maintain an equidistant offset, setout lines must be
generated normal to the reference line.
Row naming can be made up of alpha, numeric or a combination of both characters, and can be in upper
or lower case.
Three options are available when creating either a single or multiple Setout Lines.
a. Digitize: This enables the user to digitize and name each Setout line individually.
b. Normal to Reference Line: This allows the user to first digitize any 2 point line. This option keeps
the 1st digitized point and then automatically projects a line from the point at an angle normal to
the reference line and the same length and direction as the original 2 point line. Essentially, it will
‘correct’ the digitized line so that it is Normal (at 90 degrees) to the Reference Line
c. Offset R/Offset L: Creates the next setout line Left or Right relative to the direction the line
selected to offset from has been digitized.
Activity: Digitise Setout Line

1. From the Blast menu, click Setout Line.
2. Tick the Normal to Reference Line option and select Setout Line Name of 1. Selecting normal to
reference line will ensure that the first row created Perpendicular to the reference line.
2. Click Ok.
3. Minex will now prompt you to Digitise a Setout Line. Do this from left to right, approximately parallel
to the bench face as shown by the dotted black line in the image below.
4. Right-click and select Accept when you have finished digitizing.

Setout Line Displaying the data set
5. Answer Yes to the “Offset from this line?” question as shown below. Selecting Yes will allow you to
now offset and create new rows from this newly created Setout Line.
6. On the Setout Line dialog which will now appear, select the Generate to last RefLine
Intersection and the Right option. The direction of the offset will be with respect to the direction
the first row was digitized, and Minex will generate Setout Lines all the way to the end of the
Reference Line It is also possible to alter the Start and End Burden here to create fanned Setout
Lines – see the section later in this tutorial entitled ‘Fanning of Drill Holes’ on Page XXX.

7. Ok the dialog and your Setout Lines will be generated, while the updated graphics display should
be similar to the screen capture shown below.
8. Go into the Blast Explorer tab of the Blast Pattern Setup dialog. You will notice that the newly
created setout rows have all been updated in the explorer. Right-click on Blast Pattern:
TRAIN/B1. A list of Contextual Menu options will appear. Select Generate Holes and answer No
to the question “Include Hole Offset on First Row” on the subsequent Question Box.

The graphics display should now be similar to the screen capture shown below. Note that the holes have
all been created on the Collar Surface, and the Toe Position of each hole has not yet been computed –
we will now do that.
9. Right-click on Blast pattern: TRAIN/B1. Select Reproject and Ok the next dialog selecting
Vertical Holes and a Stand-Off of 0.3.

10. If you zoom in on some of the blast holes you will see the hole depth is now shown. If you have not
already done so, save your geometry file now using File > Save Geometry File.

Blast Pattern/Hole Editing
As there are holes that have extended outside your desired blast zone polygon, it is now necessary to
delete the holes that aren’t required. We do this by defining a Boundary Polygon and then Clipping the
holes to only leave those whose Collar is inside the Boundary Polygon
Activity: Boundary Polygon

1. Choose Blast > Boundary Polygon.
Minex changes to digitize mode and you are prompted to digitize a boundary polygon.
There is already a polygon in the geometry file that represents the area you need to blast within, so
you can use that polygon as the boundary polygon.
2. Right-click in Graphics and choose Whole Line.
3. Click one edge of the green polygon, as shown below. All points on the polygon will now have a
temporary marker displayed, if you are happy with this selection right click and Accept the
selection. A Blast Boundary Polygon has now been created.
4. Go into Blast Explorer tab of the Blast Pattern Setup dialog.

5. Right-click on Boundary Polygon and choose Clip Holes.

Blast Pattern/Hole Editing Displaying the data set
6. All holes outside of the selected polygon are deleted.

Activity: Adding Deleting/Moving individual holes

Even after clipping holes outside the “mask” area you will see that there are some holes too close to the
pit walls and bench face. As these holes need adjusting on a hole by hole basis and according to
individual site practice, it is best to manually edit these holes.
1. Use the navigation tool bar, to zoom in on any holes that are too close, or
over the edge of the bench crest. Three such holes have been circled in the screen capture below.
Note you may have a different configuration of holes depending on where you chose to put your
reference and set out lines.
2. These three holes that lie on or just over the bench crest will be deleted. Ensuring that the
selection mode is depressed, hold down the Ctrl key, and click on each of the three holes to
select them. Now press the Delete key to delete them.

If you inspect the remaining front holes, you will notice that there are still some that are very close to the
bench crest, but rather than deleting them, it would be better to move them to a more practical drilling
position. This can be achieved by selecting a hole, and then right-clicking and picking the Move =>
Drag option. Inspect your design and drag any holes that need to be moved as described above,
ensuring that you have the XY + Z mode selected . We will Re-project the holes after
making all the edits to adjust the hole collar and toe positions to match the “blast surfaces”.

3. Repeat the process for any holes that are too close to the pit wall. Below is another screen capture
after the holes have been adjusted as described above.
4. A single hole can be added by choosing the Blast Explorer tab, then right-clicking on a Row and
selecting the Add Hole option. You will then be prompted to digitize the position of the new hole.

The screen capture below shows the addition of a new hole near the bench crest. A hole depth of 0.00 is
indicated, as we have not yet Re-projected the new hole to create the correct Toe Position.
Now that the Collar position of some holes has been changed and extra holes have been added, we need
to re-project the holes to ensure they all have the correct Toe Position.

5. Choose the Blast Explorer tab, then right-clicking on Blast Pattern and selecting the Reproject
option. In our case, we have in fact only modified and added holes onto Row 1 – we could just
have selected Row 1 from the Blast Explorer, right-clicked and selected Reproject, which would
project just the holes on that single Row, not the whole pattern.
Activity: Angling Holes

Due to the angle of the bench face, it would be advantageous to angle the front row of holes.
1. Choose Blast > Setup Blast Pattern, then click on the Blast Explorer tab, then right-click on Row
1 and choose the Reproject option.

2. When the Re-project Holes dialog displays, deselect the Vertical Holes option, and tick Normal,
so the holes will be projected normal to your Setout line, and choose a Dip Angle of -75 degrees.
3. Click Ok.

You should now have a blast pattern that looks similar to the screen capture below. Note the angled
holes across Row 1 at the top of the screen can be seen from the Hole Trace that is drawn from the
Collar to the Toe.
4. You can also graphically angle holes by dragging the Toe position. While in Select mode , click
on a hole toe, right-click and select Go Point Mode.
5. Right-click the Move > Drag option, ensuring that you have the ‘XY + Z’ digitize mode selected and
drag the toe to a new position. The hole will need to be Reprojected after moving the toe, to adjust
the elevation position to match the “toe blast surface”.

6. Choose Plotting Parameters > Blast Pattern Setup dialog and tick the Hole option.
7. Click Ok.

8. Hole numbers will now be displayed next to the collar of each hole. In the screen shot below, the
hole 8 from row 1 has been edited.
9. Choose Blast > Setup Blast Pattern > Blast Explorer tab, expand the ‘Row 1’ node, then right-
click on Hole 8/1 and select the Reproject option. On the Re-project Holes dialog deselect the
Vertical Holes option and input the Azimuth as shown on the Blast Explorer for hole 8/1, in this
example 51.255. Ok the dialog to re-project the hole.
10. A group of holes can also be angled by using Shift + click or Ctrl + click to select a number of
holes in the Blast Explorer, then right-click and Reproject those multiple selected holes.

Below is a screen capture, where some of the holes in the second row have also been angled.

Pre-split Holes
Pre-split holes are used for a variety of reasons, such as creating a fracture surface to protect and reflect
blast energy away from the final pit walls. They are normally drilled along, or offset from a pit design
string. For the purpose of this tutorial we will use the structure string defined with the Map name of
‘presplt’
Activity: Generate Pre-split Holes

1. Click Plot Geometry Data
2. Right-click on Plot Geometry Data tab, choose Get Parameter > presplit. Then press ‘F’ on the
dialog, you will get a display similar to the image below. You may need to zoom to the area.
3. The String displayed represents a pit wall position at the design elevation of 690, but we need to
know the pit wall position at our current mining surface. Assuming a pit wall angle of 70 degrees,
we can do this by Selecting this string, right-clicking and choose Move > Project and Offset
from the String sub-menu. Fill in the String – Project dialog as shown below.
4. Click Ok.

Pre-split Holes Displaying the data set
Note: Ensure you are in String mode – not Point Mode – from the String Contextual Menu presented as shown below.
5. Select this string, right-click and select Alter and Interpolate from the sub-menu. Select a spacing
of 4.
6. Click Ok.

The result will be the string as shown below.
7. Choose Blast > Generate Row From Points as shown in the image below.
You will be prompted to give the new row a name - naming it ‘PS’ or something similar will ensure it’s
easily identified as the PreSplit Row.
8. Minex will now go into Digitize Mode so that you can digitize the points that will make up each Hole
on the Row. Right-click in the Graphics Window, and select Whole Line from the Contextual
Menu presented, and pick on the required string (ensuring that you are in ‘Snap to point’ or ‘Snap
to line’ digitize mode). Right-click again in the Graphics Window and choose ‘Accept’. Holes will
then be generated at each of the points on the string selected.
9. Choose Blast > Setup Blast Pattern, click on the Blast Explorer tab, then right-click on Row ‘PS’
and select the Reproject option. On the Re-project Holes dialog presented, deselect the Vertical
Holes tickbox, tick Normal, Left and a Dip Angle of 70 degrees. Ok the dialog to re-project all the
holes on Row Ps.
10. If you now display all the blast data, by filling in the Plot Geometry Data dialog as shown below,
you will see some of the production holes fall “behind” the pre-split holes, or are overlapping the
pre-split area.

There are a number of ways we could correct this problem, but for the purpose of this exercise, delete
any holes that fall behind the pre-split line and “drag” any holes that intersect the pre-split surface back
into the blast area. The holes that have been “dragged” back into the blast will need to be re-projected,
and have their explosive charge adjusted at charge up time, due to the reduction in burden/spacing of the
holes.
After editing the holes you should end up with a blast hole design that looks similar to the image below

Other Functions
Designing a Sump
A sump can be designed by projecting an area of holes further down than the surrounding holes, so that
a sump can be excavated past the bench floor.
Activity: Create a Zone Polygon and Re-project Sump Holes

1. Choose Blast > Zone Polygon.
2. When prompted, name the zone polygon sump.
3. Click Ok, and digitize an area where you want to place the sump.
Tip: For this exercise, just digitize around any 5 holes in the blast pattern.
4. Make a note of the hole depths in the area you have selected as a sump and add a depth of 3 to
the deepest hole.

Other Functions Designing a Sump
In this example a depth of 17 metres has been selected, as this makes the digging easier in the
area to place a sump.
5. Choose Blast > Setup Blast Pattern.
6. On the Blast Pattern Setup form, click the Surfaces tab and change the Toe Surface selection to
Depth and put in a value of 16 if you have selected the same holes as shown in the image above.
2. Choose the Blast Explorer tab, right-click on the Zone Polygon ‘sump’ and select Reproject as
shown below, and click Ok the Re-project Holes dialog presented. The holes in the sump area will
now be projected to the required depth, which will be 16 minus 0.3 standoff, resulting in a depth of
each sump hole of 15.7.

Other Functions Front Row Burden
Front Row Burden

A report can be generated that flags holes within a nominated minimum burden to the open face. This is
to help you identify which holes (and the depth of those holes) that are too close to the open face, and
may cause blow outs and present a dangerous blasting scenario. The image below shows an example of
burden check positions.
Activity: Report Burden

1. In the Blast Pattern Setup form, click the Blast Explorer tab.
2. Right-click Row 1, and select Report Burden.
The Setup Burden Report form opens.
3. Fill in the form as shown.

4. You can define a Downhole distance increment to tell Minex the intervals at which it should
search for the open face surface. You use the Check every (n) degrees field to specify the
number of degrees at which it should search.
A report is generated in the Output Window. Any hole that has a burden less than the minimum
specified of 4 is flagged **. Hole 1 on Row 1, at a depth of 2.00, is at a distance of 3.51 from
the front face of AIRPHOTO3PT.tr5.
Activity: Graphical Blast Hole Influence

Blast-hole influence – This is similar to report burden in that it flags potential overpressure issues due to
the face blowing out.
1. Choose Plotting Parameters > Blast Pattern Setup dialogue and check the box marked Display
Blast Influence. Select a radius of about half your burden
2. Click Ok.

3. Ensure that the topographic surface is also displayed in the graphics window, via menu Triangle >
Display.

Other Functions Reports
In this example there are no holes with too little burden, so you may want to increase the blast influence
radius to 8, just too see how it displays. You should get an image similar to shown below.
Reports
Activity: Drillers Report
You use this generic report to find the area, map, and class of the holes, and the blast holes numbers.
You can edit the file and use it to create custom reports for the drillers and charge crew.
1. Choose Blast > Drillers Report

The report is generated in the Output Window.
Activity: GPS Report

You create this report for surveyors, in a file that can be easily uploaded into their GPS Guided
equipment.
1. Choose Blast > GPS Report and fill out the dialog as shown to produce a GPS report in Sokia
(SDR_OUT) Format. You could also select ‘Aquila’ (AQM) format from the Output Type list box if
you have Aquila guided GPS Equipment.

Other Functions Fanning of Drill Holes
Fanning of Drill Holes

The drill and blast engineer will know the rough estimate of the spacing they want for a particular shot.
This spacing however can yield a disproportionate amount of holes in areas so the number can be altered
to maximise efficiency through fanning. A situation that would require fanning is displayed in the image
below.
In this particular example the drill and blast engineer knows that historically a pattern of 6.5m x 8.0m has
worked well. As only a finite number of rows can be placed between the first and last rows it is necessary
to determine rows of best fit between the two through fanning. This is calculated as:
Y (70m)
 10.76
S (6.5m) rows. So you would use 11 rows as the closest whole number.

Now, the spacing used at x and z will be very different and need to be calculated.
65m
X  5.91m
11rows
75m
Z  6.81m
11rows
Calculate these figures for your design from the queried distances and note them for later.
Activity: Create fanned pattern

Exit Minex, restart, and follow the same steps in this tutorial up until the section entitled ‘Setout Line’
1. Choose Blast > Setout Line.

2. Tick the Normal to Reference Line option and select Setout Line of 1. Selecting normal to
reference line will ensure that the first row is lined up at 90° to the reference line.
3. Digitise a line from left to right, approximately parallel to the bench face as shown by the dotted
black line in the image below. Right-click and select Accept when you have finished digitising.

4. Click Yes to the “Offset from this line?” question. Selecting Yes will allow you to offset rows out to
the end of the Reference Line.
5. On the Setout Line dialog select the Generate to last RefLine Intersection and the Right option.
The direction of the offset will be with respect to the direction the first row was digitised.

6. Click Ok.
The rows are displayed in Graphics. Note that the rows are now fanned, with burden increasing to
the right for the image shown below.
7. Choose Blast Explorer > Setup Blast Pattern.

The Blast Pattern Setup form opens. The rows have all been updated in the explorer.
8. Select the Blast pattern, right-click, and choose Generate Holes.
You are prompted to include the hole offset on the first row.

9. Click No.
8. In the Blast Pattern Setup form, select the Blast pattern, right-click, and choose Reproject.
The Re-project Holes form opens.
9. Click Ok.

Summary
Congratulations on completing this tutorial. You should now have a greater understanding of the Minex
drill and blast functions. You have learnt a number of concepts and topics including how to:
 display data
 define a blast layout
 define a reference line
 define a setout line
 edit blast patterns/holes
 design pre-split holes
 design a sump
 report front row burden
 report drill hole information
 design a fanned pattern

Drill and Blast Tutorial

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Título original

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Drill and Blast Tutorial

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Drill and Blast tutorial

Gemcom Minex ™ 6.2

Document conventions ............................................................................................................ 5

Setup for this tutorial ............................................................................................................... 7

Defining a Blast Layout .......................................................................................................... 20

Reference Line ........................................................................................................................ 26

Setout Line .............................................................................................................................. 27

Blast Pattern/Hole Editing ...................................................................................................... 32

Pre-split Holes ........................................................................................................................ 44

Other Functions ...................................................................................................................... 48

 a good understanding of basic Minex concepts

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 4 of 59 Drill and Blast

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 5 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Forms can contain the following elements

Title Title of the form.

Tab Labelled group of options used for many

Text box Rectangular box in which you can type

Drop- Closed version of a list box with an arrow

Label Text attached to any option, box, button,

Check Square box that you select or clear to turn

Button Rectangular or square button that runs a

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 6 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Element Description Example

Icon A graphical button that you can click to

List box Any type of box containing a list of items,

Menu A set of options or commands that you

Spin box A text box with up and down arrows that

Setup for this tutorial

Activity: Install the data set

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 7 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

5. Click Next, and follow the remaining installation messages.

Data set location

Activity: Back up the data set

1. Start Windows Explorer.

Create a Minex project

Activity: Create a Minex project

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 8 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 9 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Organise the project

Activity: Organise the project

1. Select File > Project > Organise Project.

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 10 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 11 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 12 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 13 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Displaying the data set

Activity: Plot geometry data

1. Make sure the 3D Design tab is active.

4. On the String toolbar, click Display Geometry.

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 14 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 15 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

This is the area for which you will design a blast.

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 16 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

10. Close the Geometry Display form.

Activity: Plot seam and topographical surfaces

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 17 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

3. Right-click, and select Display and Open to display the grid.

3. Choose Triangle > Display.

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 18 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 19 of 59 Drill and Blast tutorial

Activity: Setup Blast Pattern

In our case select the area TRAIN and type in a zone of B1

Gemcom Minex™ 6.2 Page 20 of 59 Drill and Blast