Drill Minex

Drill and Blast
Version 6.1
June 11
Copyright © 2011 Gemcom Software International Inc. (Gemcom)
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part of this documentation. For such permission, or to obtain extra copies please contact your local
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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, Whittle, Gemcom InSite, Gemcom Hub, and PCBC are trademarks of Gemcom
Software International Inc. or its wholly-owned subsidiaries.
Product
Gemcom Minex ™ 6.1
Drill and Blast

Table of Contents
About This Document .............................................................................................................. 4
Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Requirements ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Document Conventions ............................................................................................................................ 4
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 8
Set up Blast Tutorial Project ..................................................................................................................... 8
Displaying Data Set ................................................................................................................................ 12
Defining a Blast Layout .......................................................................................................... 18
Reference Line ........................................................................................................................ 24
Setout Line .............................................................................................................................. 26
Blast Pattern/Hole Editing ...................................................................................................... 32
Pre-split Holes ........................................................................................................................ 48
Other Functions ...................................................................................................................... 53

Designing a Sump .................................................................................................................................. 53
Front Row Burden .................................................................................................................................. 56
Reports ................................................................................................................................................... 59
Fanning of Drill Holes ............................................................................................................................. 61
Summary ................................................................................................................................. 65
About This Document
Overview
This document describes the operation of the Gemcom Minex Open Pit Blast menu. The Blast menu is a
simple effective tool, enabling the user to layout, edit and report on a blast pattern, while interacting with
open pit layouts and having full access to other graphics functions.
Additional training information is available within the software and from your local Gemcom Software
Support Office. When the software has been installed you can see additional training resources and help
documentation in the Help menu.
Visit http://www.gemcomsoftware.com to find your nearest support office or contact Minex support as
follows:
 Call the Gemcom Support line in Australia 1800-GEMCOM

 Send a message to minexhelp@surpac.com
Requirements
Before proceeding with this tutorial, you should ensure you have the following items:
1. Minex 5.3, and the tutorial data provided on the installation disc, installed on your computer.
This is usually installed from a CD.
2. A Minex license token and sentinel/dongle correctly installed
Place the sentinel or dongle in an appropriate USB port.
Document Conventions
Typographical Conventions
Some text in this manual has been specifically formatted to assist and help the user identify it as a
particular element of information. The following list describes the different formats and their meanings:
Gemcom Minex 6.1 Page 4 of 65 Drill and Blast

About This Document Document 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 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, click Apply.
UPPER CASE Keystrokes. 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
<key>+<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 choose 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 choose menu items, and to click the
buttons that you see on your display monitor. 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.

Action Description
Click Quickly 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 With the pointer over the object, press and hold down the left mouse button to
object> 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 an anticlockwise direction.
Windows and Dialog Boxes

Windows and dialog boxes contain several elements that enable users to carry out particular operations.
Here is an example of a dialog box.
Elements of Windows and Dialog Boxes

Windows and dialog boxes can contain the following elements.
Element Description Example

Name
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 associated with a drop-down list. You can

arrow view a list by clicking the arrow.
Drop-down Closed version of a list box with an arrow next to

list it. Clicking the arrow opens the list.
Group box Frame or box that encloses a set of related
options. The group box is a visual device only,
although you can select the elements within the
group box.

Icon A graphical button that you can click to initiate

an action.
Label Text attached to any option, box, button, or to

any other element of a window or dialog box.
Table Any type of box containing a list of items, in table

format, that you can input, edit or select.
Menu A set of options or actions that you can perform.
Option Round button you can use to select one of a

button 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.

Introduction
This manual presupposes a certain familiarity with MINEX software, grids and strings. This familiarity can
be achieved by working through the manual Minex 5 Core Tutorial.
This section introduces the basic fundamentals of starting and exploring Open Pit Blast Layout with
reference to a training data set.
Set up Blast Tutorial Project

The first time you start Minex, you may have to answer several prompts to successfully start the program.
Information on how to start for the first time can be found in the Minex 5 Core Tutorial. After you have
started Minex for the first time and then made sure that you have licensed it correctly, you can start Minex
by just double-clicking the icon and clicking Accept.
Task: Start Minex

1. Double-click the Minex icon on the desktop.
Minex will start.
Task: Set up Blast Project Directory

The data set for this tutorial is stored in <Minex install folder>\tutorials\Ashes. For example, if you
install Minex to C:\Minex52, the data set for this tutorial is in C:\Minex52\tutorials\Ashes.
1. Choose File > Project > Project Manager.

Introduction Set up Blast Tutorial Project
2. Click New.
3. Type the name of the project, for example Blast_tutorial then click OK.
You have now created the project but you have not yet set it to use the data files in a specific
directory.
4. On the left side of the Minex window, click the Filesystems tab.
5. In the Filesystems tree, navigate to the Ashes folder by clicking the symbol beside C: drive and
beside the folder for Minex and the tutorials folder.

6. Right-click the Ashes folder and choose Set Project Directory.

Tip: If, at any time, the Minex Explorer indicates that the link to the project folder is broken, view the “broken link”
property and open Windows Explorer to check whether the folder exists. The folder might have been renamed or
moved.

Task: Set the Local Origin

Before you set the local origin, you should choose some coordinates that are close to your data. For this
data set we are going to use the coordinates X: 257,060 and Y: 6,178,740. Refer to the Minex 5 Core
Tutorial for steps on finding nearby coordinates.
1. Choose Tools > Options.
2. Expand the tree so that it shows the Local Origin row.
3. Select the Local Origin row, click „…‟ and enter coordinates X: 257,060 and Y: 6,178,740.

Introduction Displaying Data Set
4. Click OK.
5. Click Close on the Options Dialog

6. Click OK in the Information message box below (if it appears).
7. If requested, Exit Minex and restart it.
Displaying Data Set

Before we design a blast layout we need to display current topographical and structural information
around the area of concern.
Task: Plot Geometry Data

Usually when you plot geometry data you only want to view some of the geometry data in the geometry
file. Using the Plot Geometry Data (PGD) dialog box, you can specify which data to show.
1. Make sure the 3D Design tab is active.

2. Open THEDON.GM3 and Blast_Design.mpf
3. Click Plot Geometry Data icon.

4. Right-click on Plot Geometry Data tab, choose Get Parameter > B1Area.
5. Click F to do a “final plot” of the Geometry Data.
Note: This data was displayed first so as to zoom in on the area we will be designing a blast for.
6. Click Plot Geometry Data.

7. Right-click on Plot Geometry Data tab, select Get Parameter and Area2.
8. Click F to do a “final plot” and then close the Plot Geometry Data dialog box.

The selected Geometry Data will now be displayed, with the green “mask” polygon indicating the area
bounding our intended Blast Design.
Task: Plot Seam and Topographical surfaces

For this particular design we are going to project holes down to the MGB2 seam roof. In any area where
this seam does not exist, we will stop the holes at the 685 elevation.
1. In the Minex Explorer, highlight the Runtime TAB and navigate to the „MODEL.GRD‟ DD Name, then
select grid file „MGB2SR.grid‟

2. Right-click and select Display and Open to Display the grid.

3. Choose the dialog Triangle Display and fill out the fields as shown below – to display the
topographic surface AIRPHOTO3PT.tr5 in Green.
Note: Familiarize yourself with the data by using the Navigate icon and mouse to rotate/move the data.
4. Remove the topographical surface, AIRPHOTO3PT.tr5, and the seam roof, MGB2SR.grid, from the
display by going to the Object Control Panel in the Runtime TAB, right-clicking on the object names
and selecting Remove.
Note: Remove is now renamed to „Remove from Display‟ from 5.3


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.
Task: Setup Blast Pattern

1. Choose Blast > Setup Blast Pattern.
2. The Pattern Parameters tab in the Blast Pattern Setup dialog box allows you to select blast
patterns and specify pattern and hole parameters. Fill in the dialog as shown above, with each field
explained below.
 The Area and Zone fields allow you to enter a new area and zone name, or select an
existing area and zone to use.

Defining a Blast Layout Displaying Data Set
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 our
Tutorial we will use a staggered pattern so choose that from the list.
Below is an example of each type of pattern:
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).
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. Tick the Collar checkbox 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. Tick the Toe checkbox 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.
 Tick the Hole checkbox 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.
 Tick the Depth checkbox set the option to display the drill depth of the holes. You can also
choose the Size, Colour, Decimals of the Depth text.
 Tick the Annotate at Centre checkbox if you want to display depth in the center of the blast
hole symbol. Leave it unselected for this exercise.
 Tick the „Annotation Angle‟ checkbox and enter an Annotation Angle so set the option to
draw the Annotation at an angle. This defaults to 0.0, which is Horizontal.
 Tick the Setout (Line) checkbox 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 tick the Display Blast Influence checkbox 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.
Task: Digitise Reference Line

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

Reference Line Displaying Data Set

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.
Task: 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.
3. Click Ok.
4. 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.
5. Right-click and select Accept when you have finished digitizing.

Setout Line Displaying Data Set
6. 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.
7. 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.

8. Ok the dialog and your Setout Lines will be generated, while the updated graphics display should
be similar to the screen capture shown below.
9. 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.

10. Right-click on Blast pattern: TRAIN/B1. Select Reproject and Ok the next dialog selecting
Vertical Holes and a Stand-Off of 0.3.
11. 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
Task: Boundary Polygon

1. Choose Blast > Boundary Polygon as shown below. This will put Minex into Digitize Mode and
you will be prompted to Digitize a Boundary Polygon.
2. We already have a polygon in our Geometry File representing the area we wish to blast within, so
we will use it as our Boundary Polygon. Right-click in the graphics window and choose the Whole
Line option

Blast Pattern/Hole Editing Displaying Data Set
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.

6. All holes outside of the selected polygon are deleted.

Task: 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.

Task: 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‟
Task: 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 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. 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.

8. 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.
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.
Task: Create a Zone Polygon and Re-project Sump Holes

1. Choose Blast > Zone Polygon, type in „sump’ for the Zone Polygon Name, click Ok and digitize
an area you want to place the sump.
For this exercise just digitize around any 5 holes in the blast pattern. The image below shows an example
of a sump zone polygon.

Other Functions Designing a Sump
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. In this example a depth of 16 metres has been selected, as this will make the digging
easier in this area to place a sump. Choose Blast > Blast Pattern Setup, click on 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 Designing a Sump

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 thereof, 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.
Task: Report Burden

1. Choose the Blast Explorer tab, right-click Row 1 and select Report Burden. It is then necessary
to define the down hole intervals at which you want the program to search for the open face
surface and the number of degrees at which it will search, as shown in the Setup Burden Report
dialog.

A report will now be sent to the output window. Any hole that has a burden less than the minimum
specified of 4 will be flagged by „**’, as shown below. 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.

Task: 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.
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
Task: Drillers Report
This generic report outlines the area, map, and class of the holes, and the blast holes numbers. This file
can be edited and used to create custom reports for the drillers and charge crew.

Other Functions Reports
1. Choose Blast > Drillers Report and then the report will be generated in the output window.
Task: GPS Report

This report can be created for the 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.
Task: 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 dialog and your graphics display should be similar to the screen capture shown below. Note that the
rows are now fanned, with burden increasing to the right for the image shown below.
7. Choose Blast Explorer > Blast Pattern Setup dialog. You will notice that the rows have all been
updated in the explorer. Right-click on Blast pattern. A list of options will appear. Select generate
holes and answer No to the question “Include Hole Offset on First Row”.

8. Right-click on Blast pattern: Select Reproject and Ok the next dialog selecting Vertical Holes
and a Stand-Off of 0.3 to complete the generation of the fanned pattern.

Summary
Congratulations on completing this tutorial. You should now have an understanding of how to design a
blast pattern, and specifically 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 Minex

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Drill and Blast

Gemcom Minex ™ 6.1

Drill and Blast

Defining a Blast Layout .......................................................................................................... 18

Reference Line ........................................................................................................................ 24

Setout Line .............................................................................................................................. 26

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

Pre-split Holes ........................................................................................................................ 48

Other Functions ...................................................................................................................... 53

 Call the Gemcom Support line in Australia 1800-GEMCOM

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Text Format Meaning

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Windows and Dialog Boxes

Elements of Windows and Dialog Boxes

Element Description Example

Check box Square box that you select or clear to turn an

Button Rectangular or square button that initiates an

Drop-down Arrow associated with a drop-down list. You can

Drop-down Closed version of a list box with an arrow next to

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Icon A graphical button that you can click to initiate

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

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

Menu A set of options or actions that you can perform.

Option Round button you can use to select one of a

Tab Labelled group of options used for many similar

Text box Rectangular box in which you can type text. If

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

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Set up Blast Tutorial Project

Task: Start Minex

Task: Set up Blast Project Directory

1. Choose File > Project > Project Manager.

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6. Right-click the Ashes folder and choose Set Project Directory.

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Task: Set the Local Origin

1. Choose Tools > Options.

2. Expand the tree so that it shows the Local Origin row.

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5. Click Close on the Options Dialog

7. If requested, Exit Minex and restart it.

Displaying Data Set

Task: Plot Geometry Data

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

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5. Click F to do a “final plot” of the Geometry Data.

6. Click Plot Geometry Data.

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Task: Plot Seam and Topographical surfaces

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2. Right-click and select Display and Open to Display the grid.

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Task: Setup Blast Pattern

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

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 A depth below the collar (available for the toe only).

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