Reserves Database

For Minex 6.0

February 2010

Copyright 2010 Gemcom Software International. All rights reserved.

Gemcom Software International publishes this documentation for the sole use of Minex licences. Without
written permission, you may not sell, reproduce, store in a retrieval system, or transmit any part of the
documentation. For such permission, or to obtain extra copies please contact your local Gemcom Office.
To find your local support office, go to www.gemcomsupport.com.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this manual, we assume no responsibility for
errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damage resulting from the use of the information
contained herein.
All brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
About This Manual
This manual has been designed to provide a practical guide to the many uses of the software. The
manual describes one way of using the software; these instructions are by no means exhaustive.
However, it provides a starting point for new users and a good overview for existing users by
demonstrating how to use many of the functions in Minex. If you have any difficulties or questions while
working through this manual, please contact your local Gemcom office.
Product
Minex 6.0

Table of Contents
About This Document ........................................................................................................................ 4
Requirements........................................................................................................................................................... 4
Document Conventions ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Keyboard Conventions ............................................................................................................................................. 5

Introduction to Reserves Database..................................................................................................... 8

Requirements........................................................................................................................................................... 9
Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................ 9
Workflow ............................................................................................................................................................... 10

Creating a Database......................................................................................................................... 11
Task: Create a reserves database ........................................................................................................................11

Setting Up Codes and Layers ............................................................................................................ 12

Task: Set up codes and layers ..............................................................................................................................14

Adding a Pit ..................................................................................................................................... 15

Task: Add a pit .....................................................................................................................................................15

Adding Quality Variables ................................................................................................................. 16

Task: Add quality variables ..................................................................................................................................16

Generating Reserves ........................................................................................................................ 17

Task: Generate reserves ......................................................................................................................................17

Updating Quality Variables .............................................................................................................. 19

Task: Update quality variables .............................................................................................................................19

Reporting ........................................................................................................................................ 21
Task: Create a status report .................................................................................................................................21
Task: Create a detailed report .............................................................................................................................22

Checking Reserves ........................................................................................................................... 25

Task: Create a seam insitu resources report .......................................................................................................25
Task: Create a grid volumetrics report ................................................................................................................28

Troubleshooting .............................................................................................................................. 30
Summary......................................................................................................................................... 31

About This Document

Requirements

About This Document

This document is designed to give you an overview of Minex computerized mine planning software. It
explains basic concepts that you must understand in order to use the more advanced features of Minex.
This tutorial uses a set of files contained in a data set that is copied to your computer when Minex6
software is installed.
More detailed training information is available within the software and from your local GEMCOM Support
Office. When the software has been installed you can see additional training resources and help

Requirements
Before proceeding with this tutorial, you should ensure you have the following items:
1.

Minex 6.0, and the tutorial data provided on the installation disc, installed on your computer.
This is usually installed from a CD.

2.

A Minex licence file and sentinel correctly installed

Store the license file (provided by the Minex Support Office) in <Minex installation
directory>\etc\license.
Place the sentinel in an appropriate port.

Document Conventions
Typographical Conventions
Some text in this manual has special formatting to identify it as a particular element of information. The
following list describes the different formats and their meanings:

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About This Document

Keyboard Conventions

Text Format

Meaning

<Bold Italic>

Text or data that varies with each input is shown in 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 words or phrase to which the author wants to give emphasis. For example, the new
text is in memory; the old text is deleted.

Bold

This typeface indicates one of the following:

A file name, path or URL.

Strongly emphasised 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, click Apply.

UPPER CASE

When a keystroke is described, the key is shown in this font. For more information on
keystroke conventions, see below.

Keyboard Conventions
Key Combination

Meaning

<KEYy>+<KEY>

Press and hold down the first key, then press the second key. For example:
CTRL+O means hold the CTRL key down, then press O.

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 click the File menu, move the mouse pointer over the Project
command, and then select Project Manager on the secondary menu.

Mouse Conventions
The mouse is the pointing device you use to select objects and menu items, and to click the buttons that
you see on screen. If a particular mouse button is not specified, use the left button. When a different
button should be used, this is specified in the text. You can rotate or press the wheel button on the
mouse. In this manual, the following terms are used to describe actions with the mouse.

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About This Document

Keyboard 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

Without moving the mouse, click the left button twice rapidly.

Drag and drop <an

object>

With the pointer over the object, press and hold down the left mouse button to
select the object. Move the mouse until the pointer is in the position you want and
then release the mouse button.

Drag

Press and hold down the left mouse button. Then move the mouse in the direction
that the text specifies.

Right-drag

Press and hold down the right mouse button. Then move the mouse in the
direction that the text specifies.

Rotate

Use your finger to make the wheel button roll. Move it forward, that is in a
clockwise direction, or backward, that is in a counter clockwise direction.

Windows and Forms

Windows and forms contain several elements that enable users to carry out particular operations. In
Minex window means the main window of a computer application. For example the Minex window is the
large window that includes the Minex Explorer and the Graphics area and the Status bar and all the
toolbars and menu bars. In Minex, form means the same thing as dialog box. Here is an example of a
form.

Elements of Windows and Dialog Boxes

Windows and dialog boxes can contain the following elements.
Element
Name

Description

Check box

Square box that you select or clear to turn an

option on or off. You can select more than one
check box.

Button

Rectangular or square button that initiates an

action. Buttons have text labels to indicate their
purpose.

Drop-down
arrow

Arrow associated with a drop-down list. You can

view a list by clicking the arrow.

Drop-down
list

Closed version of a list box with an arrow next to

it. Clicking the arrow opens the list.

Icon

A graphical button that you can click to initiate

an action.

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Example

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About This Document

Keyboard Conventions

Label

Text attached to any option, box, button, or to

any other element of a window or dialog box.

List box

Any type of box containing a list of items, in table

format, that you can select.

Menu

A set of options or actions that you can perform.

Option
button

Round button you can use to select one of a

group of mutually exclusive options.

Spin box

Text box with up and down arrows that you click

to move through a set of fixed values. You can
also type a valid value in the box.

Tab

Labelled group of options used for many similar

kinds of settings.

Text box

Rectangular box in which you can type text. If

the box already contains text, you can select that
text and edit it.

Title

Title of the dialog box. It usually, but not always,

matches the title of the command button that
launched it.

Tree

A graphical representation of a hierarchical

structure. A plus sign next to an item on the tree
indicates that you can expand the item to show
subordinate items; a minus sign indicates that
you can collapse the item.

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Introduction to Reserves Database

Keyboard Conventions

Introduction to Reserves Database

The pit design, which you complete before creating the reserves database, represents the geometric
shape of your mine. Each block should represent a sensible mining unit. When you create a reserves
database, the volumes in these blocks are calculated and stored. You must create a reserves database
before scheduling mining operations.
This section of the tutorial describes the database used to store these volumes.
The pit you designed is identified by a pit number (for example 7). The pit is divided into benches, strips,
blocks and layers.
In the Reserves database, the labels or keys that are used to store the volumes are as follows:

PIT

BENCH

STRIP

BLOCK

LAYER

Keys or labels enable rapid access to the database. For example, the following block contains a coal
layer and an overburden layer.

The reserves database is an Indexed Sequential Access Method (ISAM) file. The indexes enable fast
retrieval of data.

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Introduction to Reserves Database

Requirements

Requirements
Before proceeding with this tutorial, you should ensure you have:

Minex v6.0 installed on your computer.

This is usually installed from a CD, but the software can be downloaded from
https:/www.gemcomsupport.com.

The Reserves data set stored on your computer.

This is available for installation on the Minex installation CD. It is installed by default with Minex.

The Minex working directory set to the location of the Reserves data set.
By default, the Reserves data set is stored in <Minex install folder>\tutorialData.
For example, if you installed Minex v6.0 to the default location, the complete Reserves data set is
stored in C:\Users\Public\Gemcom\Minex\60\shared\tutorialData

A Minex licence file and sentinel correctly installed.

Store the licence file (provided by the Minex Support Office) in <Minex installation
directory>etc\license.
Place the sentinel in an appropriate port.

A merged seam model for the deposit.

Read the seam modelling tutorial for information about creating a seam model.

A pit design.
Read the pit design tutorial for information about designing a pit.

A quality model for the deposit.

Objectives
By working through this document, you will be able to:

Calculate the volumes in the blocks of your pit design,

Set up the database to store the volume data,

Produce reports that show the volume and tonnage of coal (and waste) in the reserves,

Show the reserves, and the seams within the pit, in the Graphics window.

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Introduction to Reserves Database

Workflow

Workflow
Start

Create reserves
database

Setup codes and

layers

Add pit to reserves

database

Add quality variables

Generate reserves

Update quality
reserves

Report and check

quality reserves

Finish

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Creating a Database

Task: Create a reserves database

Creating a Database
If you do not already have a reserves database, you should create one. After you have created a
reserves database, it appears as a .dbr file in the Minex Explorer.

Note:

If a reserves database is already listed in the Minex Explorer, and you want to work with it, right-click it and select
Open.

Task: Create a reserves database

1.

Clear Graphics.

2.

Choose File > New.

3.

Select ReservesDB.dbr, and click Next.

4.

Follow the steps in the wizard to create the reserves database.

5.

Name it resdb1 instead of <default name>, and click Finish.

You will see a resdb1.dbr file in the Minex Explorer.

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Setting Up Codes and Layers

Task: Create a reserves database

Setting Up Codes and Layers

You set up codes to ensure that mining equipment is used to mine the types of material (such as coal or
parting) for which it is designed.
Codes
The codes file contains a series of codes and values, which you can use for all layers. The following
image shows the contents of a typical codes file.

Material Code Each code usually has its own defaults. Here we used codes WASTE, PART and COAL.
Type This is an abbreviation for the codes. It will save you time when you are typing. W = Waste, C =
Coal, P = Part.
Surf code, Pre code, Mine code
These codes stand for surface code, premining code, and mining code. They are primarily used in
scheduling, although they are also useful in database editing. When scheduling, you can complete these
three operations on material.
These are explained in the figure below:

The codes (for example CMIN, PMIN, WMIN) are also defined on each equipment item. These
codes prevent equipment from doing the wrong work. For example, a dragline should not
normally mine coal.
Bulk Factor This factor, usually 1.20, is used to calculate loose or swollen volumes from bench volumes.
This number can be used for truck calculations.
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Setting Up Codes and Layers

Task: Create a reserves database

Recovery/Rehandle In coal mines the coal is recovered from the pit but some coal is permanently lost. It
might remain on the pit floor or in a wall or lost to waste. Using the recovery/rehandle factor, you can
reflect this loss in the yield.
Run-of-mine (ROM) COAL is calculated as:
INSITU COAL x RECOVERY/100
RECOVERY is stored as a % value.
The rehandle value is usually associated with waste material. Waste material, particularly in
dragline operations, could be double-handled or rehandled. The rehandle is also a percentage.
Description This field is optional. It is used only for information purposes.
Layers
In the context of a reserves database, a layer is a layer of overburden, coal, or interburden. The
following image shows five layers of coal, one layer of overburden, and four layers of interburden.

A typical layers file is named LAYERS.MIN. The following is an example of a LAYERS.MIN file.

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Setting Up Codes and Layers

Task: Set up codes and layers

To help you understand the information in LAYERS.MIN, look at the WEATH line. WEATH is a layer of
waste, it bulks at 1.2, and has a rehandle of 0. The layer goes from TOPS to WSF (WSF stands for
weathering seam floor).
The Roof Grid and Floor Grid columns refer to grids in the Merged.grd folder.

Task: Set up codes and layers

Prerequisites

reserves database open, for example resdb1.dbr.

the CODES.MIN and LAYERS.MIN files must be writable.

1.

Choose ReservesDB > Initialize > Edit Codes and Layers.

2.

Click

3.

Click Select.

4.

Click

5.

Click Update Code Info.

Note:

6.

in the Codes section, and navigate to CODES.MIN.

in the Layers section, and navigate to LAYERS.MIN.

The Layers table is updated with the codes from the Codes table.

Click Validate Layers to validate the information in the Layers table.

Note:

The validation checks the layer order and identifies any missing roof or floor grids.

7.

Click Ok.

8.

Click Yes if you see a prompt to overwrite the CODES.MIM file or the LAYERS.MIN.

9.

Press ESC.

You can now load and edit a Codes file and a Layers file.

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Adding a Pit

Task: Add a pit

Adding a Pit
Tip:

You must add a pit to the database before you can store any reserves data in the database.

Note:

You can add more than one pit to your reserves database. You can make subtle modifications to the reserves
and cater for unknown variables. For example, if you were unsure of the most realistic recovery/rehandle value to
use for coal, you could define two pits with different recovery/rehandle values.

Task: Add a pit

Prerequisites

an open reserves database,

a LAYERS.MIN file that contains the layers in the stratigraphic sequence.

1.

Choose ReservesDB > Initialize > Add Pit.

2.

Enter the information as shown, and click Ok.

Tip:

Enter a reserves database pit number that is the same as the geometry pit number (that is, the pit number of
the pit design that you will use).

Note:

You can use a .MIN file or an .OLC file as the layers file.

A pit creation confirmation message is displayed in the Output Window.

3.

Press ESC to close the dialog box.

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Adding Quality Variables

Task: Add quality variables

Adding Quality Variables

A quality variable is an attribute; such as ash, relative density, or moisture; that you are measuring in a
coal deposit and whose value could be different across the coal deposit. When you have to deliver coal
with a particular quality characteristic, you must ensure that you have quality variables defined for each of
the characteristics.
Two quality variables are automatically defined: RAWRD (relative density) and RAWASH (percentage of
ash). The first variable must be RAWRD, and the second variable must be RAWASH, so that you can
import quality data correctly. In the following task, you will add the moisture quality variable.

Task: Add quality variables

1.

Choose ReservesDB > Initialize > Add Quality Variable.

2.

Enter the information as shown, and click Add Variable.

The following table explains the purpose of the columns in the form.

3.

Column

Purpose

Grid Suffix

The suffix of the grids, in the Merged.grd folder, which represent this quality variable.

Coal Default

The value for this quality that the software will use in a coal layer when there is no
corresponding quality grid.

Waste Default

The value for this quality that the software will use in a waste layer when there is no
corresponding quality grid.

Click Ok, and press ESC to close the dialog box.

You have added the quality Moisture variable which is required to complete the next task.
Note:

To add the quality data to the reserves database, you first generate reserves, and then use the Reserves >
Build > Quality Update command. As there are no grids for ash, relative density or moisture in the Ashes data
set, performing a quality update will have no effect.

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Generating Reserves

Task: Generate reserves

Generating Reserves
When you generate reserves, the volumes in the blocks are calculated and stored in the reserves
database.

Task: Generate reserves

1.

If THEDON.GM3 file is not already open, open it.

2.

Choose ReservesDB > Build > Generate Reserves.

3.

Enter the information as shown, and click Auto Range.

So you can understand how to generate reserves with other data, here is an explanation of some of the
important fields on the form:

Reserves DB Pit and Specify Geometry Pit

When you added a pit earlier in this tutorial, you
added Reserves DB Pit 7. Because Specify Geometry Pit is cleared, the software will use
Geometry Pit 7 in the open geometry file to define the benches, strips, and blocks when it

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Generating Reserves

Task: Generate reserves

generates reserves. If you want to use a different pit in the geometry file, you can select Specify
Geometry Pit and specify your own Geometry Pit.
Note:
Tip:

4.

For more information about the Generate Reserves form, see the Generate Reserves topic in the Minex Help.
It is a good idea to save parameters because you might need to run the reserves generation more than once, for
example if there are any reserves generation errors.

Click Ok.

The software will generate the reserves and display the results in the Output Window.

If there are any errors, correct them and generate the reserves again.
5.

Press ESC if there are no errors.

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Updating Quality Variables

Task: Update quality variables

Updating Quality Variables

Task: Update quality variables
Prerequisites

The resdb1.dbr open

1.

Choose ReservesDB >Build > Quality Update

2.

Enter the information as shown, click Select Variables, select all, and click Ok.

3.

Press ESC.

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Updating Quality Variables

Task: Update quality variables

The Quality Parameter Update report is displayed in the Output Window.

Note:

4.

The errors listed in the report are expected as the grid files do not exist in the Quality.grd folder.

Press ESC.

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Reporting

Task: Create a status report

Reporting
Task: Create a status report
1.

Right-click in the Output Window, and click Clear Output.

2.

Choose ReservesDB > Reporting > Status Report.

3.

Enter the information as shown, and click Ok.

4.

Press ESC.

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Reporting

Task: Create a detailed report

The Status Report is displayed in the Output Window.

Note:
Tip:

In the status report, an asterisk indicates coal, so the example shows that block 12 contains 795 tonnes of coal
(rather than 795 tonnes of waste).
Make a note of the highlighted volumes for use later in this tutorial.

Task: Create a detailed report

1.

Open and Display THEDON.GM3.

2.

Choose ReservesDB > Reporting > Detailed Report.

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Reporting

Task: Create a detailed report

3.

Enter the information as shown, and click Select Variables.

4.

Select the variables as shown, and click OK.

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Reporting

Task: Create a detailed report

Some of the important sections and fields of the form:

Select Variables. In this section, you specify the variables to appear in the report.

Pit Selection. In this section, you specify which pits, benches, strips, blocks, and layers to include
in the report.

Use Limiting Polygon. Select this check box (and then click one of the adjacent buttons) to limit
the report to the area within the polygon.

Report Type. You can select .txt or .csv as the file format. On many computers, Excel is the
default application for CSV files. When that is true, you can select Open CSV report in default
application to make sure that the report will open in Excel after you click Ok.

5.

Click Ok.

The Detailed Report is displayed in the Output Window.

Tip:

Make a note of the highlighted volumes for use later in this tutorial.

Note:

When you compare the volumes between other reports the calculated values will vary

6.

Start the Windows calculator program (In Windows, choose Start > Run, and type Calc).

7.

Perform the following calculation to check the percentage difference between the Status Report
and the Detailed Report:

((79833352 79833136
100 = 0.0003 % variation
79833352
This shows that the two reports return similar results. A variance of < 2% between the reports is
acceptable.

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Checking Reserves

Task: Create a seam insitu resources report

Checking Reserves
You use this task to confirm that the reserves generation has occurred correctly. This is an important task
and must be carried out each time reserves are generated.

Task: Create a seam insitu resources report

1.

Open the files:

THEDON.B31.

THEDON.GM3.

2.

Choose SeamModel > Insitu Resource Reporting.

3.

Select Merged as the DD Name for Seams.

4.

Select Quality as the DD Name for Quality

5.

Click Create List.

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Checking Reserves

6.

Task: Create a seam insitu resources report

Enter the information as shown, and click the Limits tab.

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Checking Reserves

7.

Task: Create a seam insitu resources report

Enter the information as shown, and click Ok.

The Seam Insitu Reserves Report is displayed in the Output Window.

8.

Press ESC.

9.

Start the Windows calculator program (In Windows, choose Start > Run, and type Calc).

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Checking Reserves

10.

Task: Create a grid volumetrics report

Perform the following calculation to check the percentage difference between the Seam Insitu
Reserves Report and the Status report:

Using the total coal tonnes from the reports, the equation is:

81073948 79833352
100 = 1.5 %
81073948
This shows that the two reports return similar results. A variance of < 2% between the reports is
acceptable.

Task: Create a grid volumetrics report

1.

Clear Output Window.

2.

Choose Grid > Volumes.

3.

Enter the information as shown, and click Ok.

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Checking Reserves

Task: Create a grid volumetrics report

The Grid Volume report is displayed in the Output window.

Compare the combined total volume of waste and coal (that is, Volume cu. metres Nett) with the
combined total volume of waste and coal from the Seam Insitu Resource report.
The Grid Volume report shows a result of about 1120 million cubic metres.
The precise total of waste and coal from the Seam Insitu Reserves report is:

1120459776
= 800328411 tonnes
1.4
The percentage difference between the reports is:

81073948 800328411
100 = 0.007
81073948
Therefore, in this example the Grid Volumetrics report shows 0.01% more waste and coal than the Seam
Insitu Reserves report.

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Troubleshooting

Task: Create a grid volumetrics report

Troubleshooting
When you generate a reserves database, and the Output Window displays a message such as Null grid
values Grid : WSF, this can cause the software to report reserves incorrectly. This message can
appear if grids were not merged correctly. Refer to the Pit Design tutorial for information on how to
correctly merge a gridded model.

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Summary

Task: Create a grid volumetrics report

Summary
When you have completed this tutorial you will be able to:

Calculate the volumes in the blocks of your pit design.

Set up the database to store the volume data.

Produce reports and show a 3D representation of the volume data.

This tutorial is designed to help you become familiar with the Reserves Database functionality in Minex. It
is not designed as a training aid and should not be considered as a substitute for training.
Your local support office has access to additional training aids and can help you with advice on your
particular training needs.
Visit https://www.gemcomsupport.com/contactSupport.aspx to locate your nearest Support Office.

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