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The Use of Gemcom GEMS

as an Information Management Tool
Jeffery Malabisana De Beers Group, Venetia Mine
WHITE PAPER
Gemcom GEMS The Use of GEMS as an Information Management Tool - Mulabisana


Copyright 2011 Gemcom Software International Inc. Page 2 of 7


Synopsis
Venetia mine is an open pit diamond mine located in the Limpopo Province, close to borders of Zimbabwe
and Botswana. The mine has about 15 kimberlite intrusions of which only two are currently mined. The mine
has been using and implementing GEMS for the past few years in an effort to integrate data to be
manipulated and utilized more efficiently. Commencing with a drilling strategy that will enable the Geologist
and Geotechnical Engineers to achieve the most optimal results. GEMS is also used to provide an updated
ore reserve model for end-users to plan and design the mining process more efficiently. Gems provided a
platform for better information management. At present, the ore reserve model is used to plan new drill sites
for optimal information retrieval, updating the model with the exploration data as well as blast hole
information to create a new updated and accurate ore reserve model. Data is also manipulated in GEMS to
determine the internal waste component of kimberlite that may contribute to mining dilution. Both the ore
model and dilution model contributes considerably to the planning and mining processes of the mine. The
systems and data that the Geotechnical Engineer uses, are integrated into GEMS to provide end users with
information like rockmass ratings, fracture frequency and blastability indexes. The end result is block model
being created and updated to view different features of the rockmass.
Introduction
Venetia is located in the northern part of the Limpopo Province, 30 kilometers south of where the Botswana,
Zimbabwe and South African borders meet. The mine is approximately 80 km west of the town Musina and
37 km north east of Alldays.

Venetia Mine has integrated most of its mining systems in the past few years. GEMS (Gemcom Enterprise
Mining System) has been a key software in integrating Geological, Geotechnical, Survey and other mining
data. GEMS has provided the platform for better information management. Thousands of data points can
now easily be plotted to produce a block model that becomes useful information for interpretation. This paper
is aimed at giving the reader a preview of some of the uses of GEMS as an information management tool at
Venetia Mine.
Gemcom GEMS The Use of GEMS as an Information Management Tool - Mulabisana


Copyright 2011 Gemcom Software International Inc. Page 3 of 7


Geology
Ore reserve drilling and delineation
In the last few years Gems has been used extensively to design diamond drill holes at Venetia Mine. Polylines of
the existing geological model are used to identify areas that need to be drilled in GEMS. Trial holes are then
designed to intersect the required geological features at depth. Trial holes are displayed in both 3D and 2D views
to see if they are intersecting the required geological features. Changes can be made to hole azimuth, dip, and
hole position to design an optimal drillhole. The optimal hole position, azimuth and dip are recorded and
used to position the drillhole in the field. Figure 1 below shows some of holes designed in GEMS.

Figure 1. Section of Venetia Mine showing some drilled holes and planned holes for future drilling.

Once a hole is drilled and logged, the information is captured into a GEMS central database. The information
captured from the drillhole is plotted in GEMS for interpretation. The ability to view the data in 2D and in 3D makes
it easier to interpret the data. The attributes that one can link to the data are also quite handy for further
interpretation of drillhole information. See Figure 2 below for an example of the information one can extract from a
database using GEMS software.
Gemcom GEMS The Use of GEMS as an Information Management Tool - Mulabisana


Copyright 2011 Gemcom Software International Inc. Page 4 of 7



Figure 2. Drillhole with different rock units depicted in different colours to show the local stratigraphy.
The information deduced from the drillholes is used to delineate kimberlite contacts and other lithological
units. Geological block models are created from the identified lithological units. These block models are also
updated regularly using additional drillhole information.
Ore Reserve Model Update
The ore reserve model, i.e. kimberlite geological model, is updated on a monthly basis in GEMS. During the
mining process, blast holes are logged in the field and updated in GEMS. Blast holes positions are merged
into GEMS through the Survey System. The geologist update geological information for each blast hole in
Gems. Figure 3 shows a blast pattern with geological information associated with each blast hole. The
information from blast holes is used in GEMS to revise kimberlite contacts. Contacts are updated by revising
polylines positions. Updated polylines are then used to create solids for the block model.

Figure 3. Blast holes with their corresponding geological information.
Gemcom GEMS The Use of GEMS as an Information Management Tool - Mulabisana


Copyright 2011 Gemcom Software International Inc. Page 5 of 7


Newly created solids are used by Surveyors to do their depletions. The integration of the Survey and
Geology Systems has opened an opportunity for the mine to reconcile monthly volume depletions more
efficient. The accessibility of the latest geological model has a farreaching impact on the mine planning
process. The integration of Survey and Geological Systems has not only opened the opportunity for the mine
to reconcile monthly volume depletions more efficiently, but also provided the short-term planning process
with valuable information. Both the Short-term Planner and Blasting Engineer need the most updated and
accurate model to provide the miners with an achievable plan to conform to long-term budget targets.
Selective blasting is one important and value adding process at the mine. To achieve this, the Blasting
Engineer wants to avoid blasting waste and ore together in a single blast. The latest geological model is
used to design the blast outlines considering kimberlite/waste contacts that will minimize mining dilutions and
maximize grade. He also considers internal mining dilution and blastability indexes (next section) for optimal
blast designs.
Pit Mapping
GEMS is also used in pit mapping. Previous maps have been scanned and integrated into GEMS. This
makes it easier for using this information together with other mining information etc. The latest mapping
techniques in GEMS gives us the opportunity to use point data to digitize maps on the screen using
polygons. Attributes of each polygon are entered into the system and basically describe the rock type and its
structure. This system is still in its infant stage but it has shown a lot of potential for what we can call
mapping information made easy.
Dilution Model
The ability to integrate information into GEMS from different sources makes it easier to make better
geological interpretations. Drillhole and blast hole information was used to create a dilution model for Venetia
Mine K001 kimberlite. Figure 4 (a) shows waste rock embedded in the kimberlite. To pick up features of
interest in drillholes, display profiles were created to pick up those features only (Fig. 4b). It was easier to
pick areas with high concentrations of waste. Different profiles can be used to extract different information
from the same set of drillholes. The dilution model was used successfully for better mine planning and
geological ore quality control.

(a) (b)
Figure 4. (a) A block of country rock within kimberlite,
(b) Core holes in GEMS discriminating kimberlite from waste.
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Copyright 2011 Gemcom Software International Inc. Page 6 of 7


Geotechnical Engineering
There are a number of systems and other data sources for Geotechnical Engineering use. This data has
been integrated into GEMS to produce useful information for Geotech purposes. Drill core, blast hole (Aquila
System), Joint sampling, Bench Face Mapping are main source of Geotechnical data. Figure 6 shows a
schematic representation of Geotechnical Engineering data flow.

Figure 5: (a & b). Schematic representation of Geotechnical Information management system.
Drill core, face mapping and joint sampling information are entered into GEMS database drilling workspace.
Face mapping and joint sampling data is interpreted before entered into the database. Whilst the information
is in GEMS it is then used to create Geotechnical Block models. Block models are used for designing
purposes.
Rock Property Tests, Slope Monitoring, Failure Documentation, Failure Back-analysis, and Post-blast Face
Analysis data is entered into a Geotechnical database, a Microsoft Access database. After the data is
entered into the Geotechnical database, automated calculations are done and information like rockmass
ratings (RMR) for core logging and face mapping are fed into GEMS database. Block models are also
created from the data integrated into Gems Database. Block models are used for information interpretation.
Block Models are created to view different features of the rockmass like blastibility, rock strength, Fracture
frequency etc. (Fig. 6).

Figure 6: Fracture frequency block model.
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Copyright 2011 Gemcom Software International Inc. Page 7 of 7


Block models created in GEMS are used to provide valuable information for risk management and mine
design. GEMS has become a very useful information management tool that reduces all the unwanted small tasks
of data management and provides required information at a ver short space of time.
Conclusion
GEMS has been used creatively at Venetia Mine to integrate lots of data and to produce valuable
information for both Geological and Geotechnical engineering and down the line end users (the mine
planners). In the same time more information becomes available for the first end users like a short-term plan
and blast outlines that helps communication between the different sections on the mine. While there is a lot
of potential to do more with the system, it has at this stage been used to obtain very useful information. The
importance of adding value to the overall mining process must never be underestimated.
This document gives only a general description of products and services and except where expressly provided otherwise shall not
form part of any contract. Changes may be made in products or services at any time without notice. Copyright 2011, Gemcom
Software International Inc. Gemcom, the Gemcom logo, combinations thereof, and Gemcom GEMS are trademarks of Gemcom
Software International Inc. All other names are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective owners.
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