Vulcan : Geology : Appendixes : B - Sampling Parameters : Client Specific SMP Sections

Sampling Parameters

File sections used by Block Out and Geology

MODE

This section may be used to set a default datasheet name and the type of database being used for the Block Out or Geology options.

DEFAULT_DATASHEET (character)

The name of default samples datasheet. Defaults to blank.

EXTERNAL (logical)

If set, then when running the blockout and geology control options data will be retrieved from a remote server database using the Vbba system. (CLIENT SPECIFIC)

BLOCK (logical)

If set, block models will be used for reserve calculations instead of blast holes.

BLOCK_IDS

This section relates to the assignment of BLOCKOUT block identifiers.

NUMERIC_IDS (logical)

If included, block IDS will be numeric instead of alpha characters. Numeric IDs start from 1.

DEFAULT_ID (character)

Sets the default block ID (default is "NO ID") eg. DEFAULT_ID="NONE" would set the default block ID to "NONE"

AUTOMATIC_ASSIGN (logical)

If included, block IDs are automatically assigned when the blocks are created.

AUTOMATIC_BASE (character)

Specifies the base string to use as part of the automatic layer name used for the BLOCKOUT outlines, lines and blocks. Defaults to "BBA"

MINIMUM_WIDTH (numeric)

The minimum width to make the block ids (only applies to numeric ids). Ids less than this width will be padded on the left with leading zeros. Defaults to 0 (ie. no leading zeros are added). Maximum value is 10, minimum is 0.

LOADING

This section contains parameters to control the loading of BLOCKOUT sample and line data with the BLOCKOUT CURRENT option.

LINKS (table)

Contains a table containing a list of linked blasts to be loaded. Each row of the table contains three entries:

Blast to match (character)
Pattern to match to blast names, eg. "*" matches all blast names
Blast to load if match occurs (character)
Name of blast to load if pattern is matched. The special code "$$" subsitutes the name of the current blast in its place, eg. "$$FP" loads the blast { current_blast}FP.
Display ID for additional blast (character)
Name of the display scheme to be used for linked blasts, eg. "FACEMAP_PLOT"

SPECIFY_BENCH (logical)

Default for the "Specify Bench" option on the BLOCKOUT:CURRENT panel. The default is NOT to specify the bench.

BENCH_HEIGHT (numeric)

Default bench height on the BLOCKOUT:CURRENT panel. If not specified the default value is 10.

BENCH_POSITION (character)

Default bench position on the BLOCKOUT:CURRENT panel. If defined this must have a value of "CREST", "MID" or "TOE" for the crest, middle and toe of the bench respectively. If undefined the default value is "CREST".

MATERIALS

This section is used in calculating densities based a block by block. (CLIENT SPECIFIC)

TYPES (table)

Contains a table of the default density values for each of the material types. Each row of the table contains two entries:

Material name (character)

eg. "BIF"

Density (character)

Density of the material, eg. "2.8"

An example table specifying the densities for two materials, BIF and HG, is:

       BEGIN$TAB TYPES
        "BIF", "2.8"
        "HG",  "3.0"
       END$TAB TYPES

LOGGED_FIELD (character)

Not implemented.

REPORT

This section contains parameters which are used to control the behaviour of the BLOCKOUT REPORT SUMMARY option.

GENERAL_REPORT ¹ If set, the report will use the flexible reporting from Block Reserves - Advanced. This requires a .tab file to be setup before a blockout report can be generated. A GENERAL_REPORT will overwrite the production of a TOTAL_SUMMARY, AVERAGE_REPORT, CLIENTX_REPORT or DESTAG_REPORT.

With the GENERAL_REPORT parameter, Blockout produces a temporary dump file with the following column names:

*BLOCK          C 10
*DESIGNATION    C 10
*ORE            C 10
*LUMP           F 20 14
*VOLUME         F 20 14
*DENSITY        F 20 14
*TONNAGE        F 20 14

Note If multiple DESTINATION tags have been defined (a maximum of 5), then a corresponding DESIGNATION column will be added, that is DESIGNATION_1, DESIGNATION_2 etc.

The other available column names are based upon the grade names. For each of these, the grade, grade units and grade standard deviation may be reported. For example, if there are two entities to report, AU and AL203, then the following additional columns may be assumed in the GENERAL blockout report:

*AU_GRADE        F 20 14
*AU_UNITS        F 20 14
*AU_STD_DEV      F 20 14
*AL203_GRADE     F 20 14
*AL203_UNITS     F 20 14
*AL203_STD_DEV   F 20 14

To generate a


   .tab

file, select Open Specification under Reserves - Advanced. Untick the "Read columns from.dmp file" box. Choose the Global, Columns and Table options to edit the report specifications and then save it. Derived columns and totals may also be produced.

SORT_BY (character)

If set to "DESTINATION" the report will be sorted by destination tags otherwise sorting will be by block names.

FIELDS (table)

Contains a table of the fields to report on. Each row of the table contains a single entry:

Field name (character)
Name of the report field which must be one of the fields in the database, eg. "AL2O3"

POSTINGS (table)

Contains a table of the fields to be displayed when posting the report. See also the Block table. Each row of the table contains a single entry:

Field name (character)

Name of the report field whose data is to be displayed, which must be one of the report fields or one of "BLOCKID", "TONNES", "DESTINATION", "VOLUME", or "DENSITY"

GRID (table)

Contains a table of the fields to be displayed when posting to a grid. Each row of the table contains three entries:

Field name (character)
Name of the report field whose data is to be displayed, which must be one of the report fields of one of "BLOCKID", "TONNES", "DESTINATION", "VOLUME", or "DENSITY"
Header name (character)
Header/title name to be displayed for this data, eg. "Block" or "SIO2%"
Display format (character)
Fortran display format for the data, eg. "A4" or "F8.2"

BLAST_ON_GRID (logical)

If set then the blast name displays on a line above the summary grid (if the grid displays). The default is for the grid to be displayed without the blast name.

BOX_GRAPH_REP (logical)

If set then a box will be drawn around the blast summary report and the independent current blast id postings, when each posting is added to the graphics. This option does not work with the Large, Medium, Normal or Small fonts.

POST_BLAST_ID (logical)

If set then the current blast id will be posted at the top of the blast summary report, when the report is added to the graphics. This field is strictly related to the posting of the summary report and has no relation with the independent posting of the current blast id.

OUTLINE_SOLID (logical)

Default for option "Create solid of blast outline". If set then this option will be set by default.

COLLAR_SURFACE (logical)

Default for option "Use collar RLs for top surface". If set then this option will be set by default.

CONSTANT_THICKNESS (logical)

If defined then the solid of the blast outline will be of a constant thickness - ie. bottom points are the bench height from the counterparts on the top surface. The default is to have a flat bottom on the blast that is the bench height from the average RL of the collars.

DENSITY_FIELD (character)

If included sets the database variable to extract the blast density from. If undefined the density is calculated.

DENSITY_VALUE (numeric)

If included sets the default density value. Note that this option will override the DENSITY_FIELD option.

SELECT_DENSITY (table)

If included, then density is selected manually from this table of identifiers and their densities.

ASSIGNED_DENSITY (logical)

If included, it uses the object value for each polygon as the density for that block.

PERCENTAGE_DENSITY (logical)

If included flags that densities are percentages as opposed to fractional values. For the standard properties table (CLIENT SPECIFIC ) to be imported this option and the MATERIALS TYPES table must be included.

FLAG_FIELD (character)

If included sets the name of the database field for each blast that is to contain the ID of the block the hole is located in.

TOTAL_SUMMARY (character) ¹

If set then a TOTAL_SUMMARY report will be produced. This is a grade control report that produces a table of the block Ids, destination tags, report field names, tonnes, units, volume, minimum grade, maximum grade, average grade and average density for each block ID and each report field.

AVERAGE_REPORT (character) ¹

If set then an AVERAGE_REPORT will be produced. This is a grade control report similar to TOTAL_SUMMARY, but producing a table of the block IDs, destination tags, tonnes, volume, density and grades for each report field for each of the blocks. Note that this will override the production of a TOTAL_SUMMARY.

CLIENTX_REPORT (character) ¹

If set then a CLIENT SPECIFIC report will be produced (this is the BBA form report). Note that this will override the production of a TOTAL_SUMMARY or an AVERAGE_REPORT.

DESTAG_REPORT (character) ¹

If set then a DESTAG_REPORT will be produced. This is similar to the TOTAL_SUMMARY and AVERAGE_REPORT forms but also reports the totals for each of the destination tags. Note that this will override the production of a TOTAL_SUMMARY, an AVERAGE_REPORT or CLIENTX_REPORT.

Note The DESTAG_REPORT reports all defined destinations.

DISABLE_AUTO_DEST (logical)

If set then the "Use automatic destination tagging" option for the BLOCKOUT report will be defaulted to off. Note that this will only occur if automatic destination tagging rules have been defined using the DESTINATION: RULE_* tables.

STANDARD_DEVIATION (logical)

If set and CLIENTX_REPORT is set then the standard deviation for one grade will be calculated and reported. This grade is selected in the summary report panel.

HIDE_BOXES (logical)

If set then the program will not draw the boxes surrounding individual block reports if these are posted into graphics.

HIDE_LINES (logical)

If set then the program will not draw the lines connecting the individual block reports to the block centres.

TEXT_SIZE (numeric)

The text size to be used for the annotation font. If undefined, the default text size will be used.

BLOCK (table)

Replaces the POSTINGS table, allowing more control over the posted data for individual block reports.

Each row of the table contains three entries:

Field name (character)

Name of the report field whose data is to be displayed, which must be one of the report fields (as specified in the FIELDS section) or one of "BLOCKID", "TONNES", "DESTINATION", "VOLUME", or "DENSITY"

Heading (character)
The heading to use for the field in the block report.
Format (character)
The Fortran style format element to use when formatting the block field. The format string starts with A for ASCII followed by either a number denoting the string length (for example A123) or a comma plus the floating point format specifier (for example A,F12.3).

Note If both a POSTINGS table and a BLOCK table exist then the POSTINGS table will take precedence.

FIELD_FIRST (logical)

If set this will cause the field to be displayed to the left of the heading in the individual block reports. The default is to display the heading to the left.

POST_ID (logical)

If set then the blast id will be posted into the graphics if post individual block reports is selected from the BLOCKOUT REPORT SUMMARY panel.

SHRINK_FACTOR (numeric)

The shrinkage factor to be applied when shrinking the current blast block boundaries using the DISPLAY OPTIONS, SHRINK BLOCKS option. The default value is 0.1. (CLIENT SPECIFIC)

NEW_CLIENTX_REPORT (character)

Use the new ClientX style report with MN% and Used Lump%. (CLIENT SPECIFIC)

BLKMOD_PROMPT

If set you will be prompted to choose a method to handle "unknown" or "bad" data from the block model "breserves" output.

RECONCILIATION

This section is used by the GEOLOGY CONTROL RECONCILIATION option. (CLIENT SPECIFIC)

REPORT (table)

Contains a table of the fields to be used in the reconciliation report. Each row of the table contains a single entry:

Field name (character)

Name of the report field which must be one of the fields in the database, eg. "AL2O3"

BLOCK_DEST_TAG (character)

If included sets the name of the database field to store the destination result of the reconciliation.

DESTINATIONS

This section contains parameters for controlling the assignment and display of destination tags for BLOCKOUT blocks.

TAGS (table)

Contains a table of the destination tag names. Each row of the table contains three entries:

Destination name (character)
Name of the destination, eg. "HG"

Note Up to 5 DESTINATION tags can be defined, i.e. DESTINATION_1, DESTINATION_2 etc.
Colour (character)
Number of the colour to display blocks assigned this destination tag, valid values are 1-32
Pattern (character)
Number of the pattern to display the blocks assigned this destination tag, valid values are 1-15.
Note that this table MUST be provided.

DEFAULT_TAG (character)

If included sets the default destination tag to be used, eg. "LG". If not included the default destination tag is the last in the list defined by DESTINATION TAGS.

TAG_FIELD (character)

If included sets the name of the database field to store the destination tag for each block in. If undefined then the destination tag is not stored.

RULE_* (table)

Contains a table of the rules for automatic destination tagging. There can be multiple rules, but each must be in a different table numbered from 1, eg. RULE_1, RULE_2, RULE_3, etc. Each table contains two types of records, the first contains one entry and the remaining records contain three entries. The first record contains:

Destination tag (character)

Name of tag to be used if rule is true.

The second and latter records contain:

Check field (character)
Name of field to check value from, eg. "FE"
Minimum value (character)
Minimum value in range for this tag, eg. "55.0"
Maximum value (character)
Maximum value in range for this tag, eg. "57.5"

eg. the rule

       BEGIN$TAB RULE_1
           "LG"
           "FE"
           "55"
           "57.5"
           "AL2O3"
           "4.25"
           "100"
       END$TAB RULE_1

would automatically tag the block as "LG" if the value of "FE" lies between 55 and 57.5, and the value of "AL2O3" lies between 4.25 and 100.0.

Note that there can be multiple rules for each destination tag. Also note that if multiple rules "overlap" (produce different destination tags) then the tag in the first rule defined will be used. If no rules produce a destination tag then the default tag is used.

If there are any rules defined then the "Use automatic destination tagging" option for the BLOCKOUT report will be set by default (unless the NO_AUTO_TAG option is used).

FILTERS

This section is used to provide filters for restricting the fields that can be accessed by the Sampling module according to what type of blast is being manipulated.

TABLE_* (table)

Contains a table of filters to be used to provide lists of appropriate database records for each blast. There can be multiple filters, but each must be in a different table numbered from 1, eg. TABLE_1, TABLE_2, etc. Each table contains two types of records, the first record is of the first type and the remaining records are of the second type. The first type contains a single entry:

Pattern (character)

Pattern to match the blast name with. If this matches the blast name then the filter will be used.

The second type of record contains a single entry:

Field name (character)

Name of database fields to be used if filter pattern matches.

DESIGN

This section is used by the Grade Control and Current options (Blockout). Grade Control is CLIENT SPECIFIC

GROUPS (table)

Contains a table of the allowed blast design groups. Each row of the table contains 5 entries:

Group name (character)
Name of the design group, eg. "REVISED"
Colour for outlines (character)
Number of the colour for the outlines in this group.
Pattern for outlines (character)
Number of the pattern for the outlines in this group.
Colour for boundaries (character)
Number of the colour for the boundaries in this group.
Pattern for boundaries (character)
Number of the pattern for the boundaries in this group.
Note that this table MUST be provided.

MIN_BLOCK_AREA (numeric)

If included sets the tolerance for the minimum area of a block. If undefined then all block sizes are valid.

AUTOMATIC_IDS (logical)

If defined then blasts are stored in layers named BBA* where * is a sequence number, eg. BBA0001 BBA0002, etc. If undefined then blasts are stored in layers with the same name as the blast.

DIGITISED_Z (logical)

If defined then the Z values of digitised strings (ie. outlines and boundaries, geological and metallurgical strings) will not be forced to the crest height. This may be required on contoured blasts to make volumes more accurate.

BLOCKMODEL

This section is used to control the behaviour of the BLOCKOUT GRID GENERATE option. (CLIENT SPECIFIC)

FIELDS (table)

Contains a table of the fields to be stored in the block model created using the GENERATE GRID option. Each row of the table contains a single entry:

Field name (character)

Name of one of the assay fields, eg. "FE"

Note that this table MUST be provided if the GENERATE GRID option is to be used.

ESTIMATE (table)

Contains a list of the fields to be estimated into. Each row of the table contains a single entry:

Field name (character)

Name of one of the assay fields, eg. "FE"

The fields listed here must be included in the FIELDS table above. If this table is not included then the fields in the FIELDS table are used as the default.

MAPFILE_NAME (character)

If set defines the name of the mapfile to be used for generating the block model. The mapfile named in the BEF file used must be of the form {project}{ MAPFILE_NAME}.MAP. If undefined then the default MAPFILE_NAME is "MAP".

MAPFILE_FORMAT (character)

If set defines the format of the data in the mapfile. This must match the format in the BEF file.

DEFAULT_X_SIZE (numeric)

If defined sets the default X size of the grid cells. If undefined the default is 25.0.

DEFAULT_Y_SIZE (numeric)

If defined sets the default Y size of the grid cells. If undefined the default is 25.0.

BENCH_HEIGHT (numeric)

If defined sets the size of the bench. If undefined the default is 10.0.

HEIGHT_SCALE (numeric)

If defined sets the scaling factor when producing the block model. The height of the block model will be HEIGHT_SCALE * BENCH_HEIGHT. If undefined the default is 1.0.

PERIMETER_WIDTH (numeric)

If defined sets the number of buffer cells to be produced around the edge of the blast. The width and length of the block model are calculated from the extremes of the sample groups plus PERIMETER_WIDTH cells on each side. If undefined the default is 1.

ORIGIN (character)

If defined sets the location of the block model"s Z origin which may take one of the following values:

"BENCH_TOE" (place origin at toe of current bench)
"BENCH_MID" (place origin at middle of current bench)
"BENCH_CREST" (place origin at crest of current bench)
"BENCH_AVG_Z" (place origin at average of Z values

The origin is situated in the middle of the parent scheme blocks, i.e. half (1/2) the bench height extends above and below the origin.

If the ORIGIN variable/field is missing, the block model"s Z origin is placed at the lower left of the model frame work.

MINING

This section is used by the Geology Control option. (CLIENT SPECIFIC)

AREAS (table)

Contains a table of the mining areas and their associated one letter codes. Each row of the table contains two entries:

Area name (character)
Name of mining area, eg. "SSIX"
Area code (character)
Code corresponding to mining area, eg. "6"

INCLINE

This section contains parameters to control the BLOCKOUT options for benches with varying bench height. In this case the Z value and a depth field are used to determine the top and bottom of each hole. The actual calculation used to calculate the bottom of the hole is: top of hole - depth + sub-drill length.

INCLINE_BENCH (logical)

Turns on the use of inclined benches (variable bottom RL"s) in the BLOCKOUT options.

SUB_DRILL (numeric)

The constant sub-drill thickness. Defaults to 0.0

SUB_DRILL_FIELD (character)

The name of the database field containing the sub-drill length for individual drill holes. Overides the SUB_DRILL constant.

HOLE_DEPTH (character)

The name of the database field containing the actual hole depth. Default is "DEPTH".

DEPTH_WEIGHT (logical)

Weight the grades by the length of the drill holes when calculating BLOCKOUT reports. Thus long drill holes have more of an effect than shorter drill holes.

METAL

This section is used to set the parameters for the metallurgical strings used with the BLOCKOUT METAL STRINGS DIGITISE and ASSIGN options ( CLIENT SPECIFIC ).

USE_METAL (logical)

Allow the use of metallurgical strings to assign metallurgical values to sample groups.

COLOUR (numeric)

The default colour number in which to draw metallurgical strings

TYPES (table)

Contains a list of the metallurgical types. Each entry consists of two fields:

field (character)
The name of the database field in which to store the value
description (character)
A description of the field (for use in the panel)

GEOLOGY

This section sets up parameters for assigning geology types by region to holes or for assigning densities to holes falling in given geological regions. These parameters pertain to the BLOCKOUT GEOLOGY STRINGS and MATERIALS STRINGS DIGITISE and ASSIGN options. (CLIENT SPECIFIC)

USE_GEOLOGY (logical)

Allow the use of geology strings to assign geological values to sample groups or for calculating densities from geological regions.

COLOUR (numeric)

The default colour number for geology strings.

GEOL_DENSITY (logical)

Use geological strings to assign densities. After digitising in geological boundaries the user must enter the percentage of each geological material for the area in the boundary. From these percentages and the associated densities for each geological material an overall density is calculated and assigned to each hole in the region.

Note The DENSITY_FIELD must be specified in the REPORT section for this option to work.

TYPES (table)

The table contains a list of the geology types. Each entry consists of two fields.

This table can take one of two forms, if GEOL_DENSITY was not specified (ie. the geology type is just stored for each hole in the region) the form is:

Field 1: The name of the database field in which to store the geological value for each hole (character)

Field 2: A description of the field for the panel (character)

Where GEOL_DENSITY is specified (ie. geological regions are used to assign densities to each hole) the form is:

Field 1: Density value (numeric, in quotes)

Field 2: Material name (numeric)

SITE

This section defines the site at which the program is running in order to enable site specific BLOCKOUT options.

CLIENTX (logical)

Set to use ClientX specific options that are not grouped under any other heading (ie. Lump and Ore Tags in description)

CLIENTY (logical)

Set to use ClientY specific options that are not grouped under any other heading

DENSITY

This section is used to define a table of material types for assigning densities on a block by block basis with the BLOCKOUT DENSITIES ASSIGN option . (CLIENT SPECIFIC)

MATERIALS (table)

This table contains a list of material types and their associated densities.

Note The DENSITY_FIELD must be specified in the REPORT section for this option to work.

Material name (character)
The name of the material
Density value (numeric)
The density for the material

MONTHLY_RESERVES

This section contains parameters that combine a series of BLOCKOUT blasts together and produce a reserves report on the combined BLOCKOUT. CLIENT SPECIFIC

NOT_ORDERED_IDS (logical)

If not ordering the block id"s across a bench, and wishing to concatenate the blast id with the block id in the combined blast, then this flag must be set.