Introduction to MineSight
(Reading in Topographic Surfaces)
2007 Dr. B.C. Paul
{Note The Name MineSight and the Program described are property of
Mintec Inc Tucson, Arizona}
One of a Limited Set of Programs
MineSight
(master of the open pit
metal mine)
Probably
most overall advanced and complete
Vulcan
Gemcon/Mincom
Carlson
Really
design
an autocad add on for graphics and
Where Do You Start With a Project
Probably
have a set of topographic maps
Probably
autocad digitized and therefore
importable to MineSight
Probably
Again
have collections of drill hole data
well assume in computer form
Getting Started with MineSight
Look for
MineSight
3D
Pull up MineSight on the Start / All Programs
Dont Panic that Billy Doesnt Know
Mintec (tell it to run)
Browse to Find Your Starting Folders
(have topo and drill hole data in)
Commentary
The 3D graphics features have a very windows like feel to them
Some of the routines have a command line operation flavor like
MSDos or Unix
This allows industrial users the convenience of batch and repetitive
calculation to speed workflow
For a student it may seem a little foreign
Remember you are using a real industry program
Very specialized software lacks broad client base of a Microsoft
Office
Microsoft Word really has only a few basic things people do all the
time
MineSight has to do thousands of tasks
Program expects you to respond with specific sequences
You can get yourself into weird corners if you dont
The Program saves on exit but you can save your work throughout
Its a good idea to save your work periodically with any program
Its an even better idea with a program where you have a better chance of
messing up your input.
Needs Project Dimensions to Begin
(so it asks you for the info it needs)
Also needs to know what coordinate limits you
Will be using.
Needs to know whether you are in metric or imperial units
Requires an Early Commitment on Block
Size
Please note your project limits should be evenly divisible by
Your block size!
This is Where Your Work on Equipment
Sizes and Bench Heights Come In
The
Z dimension is your planned bench
height
Needs
to correspond to a mining height
and Y dimensions are usually similar to
yield a near cubical block
Enter your data and click ok
This creates a project control file that sets
the parameters for your project.
What is MineSight?
MineSight
is a suite of 3 programs
A 3D graphics program called MineSight
A suite of operations that can be performed on
data called compass
A suite of data analysis programs
MineSight
development started with first
computer routines in the 1970s and list
has grown since
Collection includes everything from old fortran
routines to python program language routines
Getting Our First Good Look at
MineSight
Viewers are the Areas Where 3D Images
and Views are displayed.
Data Manager is Sort of a Windows
Exploring for your project folders and files
Lets See About Importing Our Topography
(assuming in an autocad file - .dxf)
Top Part Tells You
Which Folder you
Are dealing with.
Bottom shows you
The file in the folders
(different types of
Files or objects)
Create a new Geometry Object
Pick Menus
File
New
Geometry Object
I Named Mine Topography!!!
See My
Pretty
Red Box!
Im going to get ready to put my topo data
into my geometry object
I use my
Curser to
Pick and
Highlight
Topography
Im going Open the Box (so I can put
something in it)
Right Click
On my
Highlighted
Object to
Bring up
choices
Then pick
edit
Note My Box Top is Now Open and My
Object is in Edit Mode (so I can do stuff to
it)
See the Pretty
Open Top Box!
Set Up to Import DXF File
Highlight the
Main folder
Click File
Choose Import
Pick DXF from
The side menu
Choose the DXF File to Import
This is a tough
Choice since
There is only
one
Tell it to Load All the Selected Layers
Oh Cool Look What Appeared in My
Viewer Window!!!
You Can Rotate and Turn the View by
holding the Left and Right Mouse Button
and Moving the Mouse
If you hold down the
Scroll knob and the
Left key you can
Zoom in and out
If you hold down the
Scroll knob and the
Right Key you can
Pan back and forth
And up and down
3 D Modeling and Surfaces
I
can use my topography to build a 3 D model for
my surface
Its a nice visualization
I will also use it as a basis later when I build my block
model or design my optimum final pit.
start by telling computer what to use to make
the surface (my topography obviously)
Ill tell the computer to lay out points on the topo
and then triangulate a wire frame from them
Ill convert the wireframe into solid surface
Now Select The Topo to Create A Surface
Highlight Topo
(the file the imported
Data went into)
Right Click to Bring up
Menu
Choose Select
On the side menu
Choose all elements
(not they are in red now)
Go to Surface
Under Surface Pick Triangulate Surface on side menu
pick with
selection
Note I will
Send my
Results to
topography
It Creates a Wire-Frame Surface
We Can Make A Regular Surface
(Here is How!)
Right Click Topography
To pull up a menu
Pick Properties
Switch to a surface instead of wire-frame
Note wire-frame only
Is highlighted in the
Radio button
Highlight the faces
Only button instead
Now I See A Triangulated Surface Instead
Lets Consider some Clean Up
I
probably dont need to see the topo lines
anymore
Lets
Lets
a bit.
Turn them off
Smooth out those triangulated faces
The Topo Lines are in the Topo File
Click on the
Save Edit Button
(It is a very
Strange looking
Save button
Compared to
Windows)
Now Highlight Topo and Right Click It to
Bring up a Menu Pick Close
Note that this is a good reason for keeping objects is separate files so they can
Be turned off and on with ease.
Woopy Now They Are Gone
Now Lets Smooth That Surface
Select the
Topography object
Right Click it for a
Menu
Select Properties
Note on the
Properties menu there
Is a surface tab
Note the Smooth Shading Option on the
Surfaces Tab Screen
Go ahead and check for smooth surfaces and then click Ok
Now Isnt That Smooth Surface
Impressive?
Ok I Agree Blue is a Strange Color for
Mountains
Highlight
Topography
Right Click for
A menu
Choose Properties
Go Back to Surface
Note We Have A Color Control Area and
Pallet
This Color Pallet Works Like What You
Are Familiar With
I think I will go for a brown
And Now I Have My Surface in My Choice
of Colors
