Technical Note: Drillhole Data Desurveying Overview

Reference: TN00161

Created: 14th February 2011

Last modified: 28th September 2016

1. PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT

This document describes summary information relating to desurveying functions in Studio

products.

2. INTRODUCTION

Several Datamine products (Studio and Downhole Explorer) use a procedure called
desurveying to recreate a three-dimensional representation of drillholes using component
files. There are a number of different algorithms that can be used to merge the detailed
information into a single coherent drillhole file.

For each drillhole the desurveying process will use the hole’s collar coordinates and its survey
information to calculate its trace; the path it follows in three-dimensional space.

Different operations have different requirements from desurveyed drillholes so different ways
of representing the holes (i.e. of representing the samples) may be preferred, or advised, for
specific tasks.

3. PURPOSE OF DESURVEYING

Desurveying is the process whereby collar and survey information for a hole are converted to
a locus of points, described by their XYZ coordinates, down the hole.

Drillhole data are desurveyed for two main purposes:

1. To create data suitable for interpolating into a block model.

2. To create a smooth, continuous representation of the drillhole graphically
elaborated to aid geological interpretation.

Currently, Studio represents all samples as straight lines irrespective of the desurvey purpose
and this means that the representations to suit the two purposes must be different.

Data statistically suitable for interpolation into a block model must meet the following
requirements:

1. Each sample must be represented by a single point which should be the centre of
the sample.
2. This point should be correctly positioned in space.
3. The sample length must be correct as this is used as a weight field to give
significance to the sample value in the interpolation process.

Displaying Drillhole Samples

This document may not be reproduced in whole, or in part, nor may any of the information contained therein
be disclosed without the prior consent of the directors of Datamine Corporate Limited. A recipient may not
solicit, directly or indirectly (whether through an agent or otherwise) the participation of another institution or
person without the prior approval of the directors of the Company. Any form of reproduction, dissemination,
copying, disclosure, modification, distribution and or publication of this material is strictly prohibited.
1
4. STATIC DRILLHOLES

In Studio the path (trace) of the drillhole is exposed by displaying the samples associated
with it. As stated earlier, Studio represents all samples as straight lines, even when the
drillholes are curved. It follows therefore that the representations can only be as good as
straight line representations of a curve can be.

Datamine desurveyed drillhole files contain data ideal for interpolating into block models. The
file contains the coordinates of the sample centre points, each of which lies on the curved
trace of the hole. It also contains the length of each sample. When this data is represented
graphically the samples are drawn as straight lines anchored to the hole trace by their centre
points, which makes them tangents. Their orientation is determined by the survey data in the
file.

The distinguishing characteristics of a desurveyed drillhole file representation of a curved

drillhole are:

1. The sample centre points lie on the real path of the drillhole.
2. The samples are drawn as straight lines tangential to the real drillhole path.
3. The sample length is correct.
4. The beginning of the first sample might not coincide with the hole’s collar.
5. There will be gaps between sample ends when the data is for curved holes.

5. DYNAMIC DRILLHOLES

The true path of the drillhole is calculated in exactly the same way as for the static holes but
the method for drawing the samples is somewhat different.

The dynamic process does not, by default create a desurveyed drillhole file: instead it relies
on the original source sample files to provide sample start and end points which it joins end-
to-end to create a continuous trace from the collar down.

6. CREATING STATIC DRILLHOLES

There are two basic ways to create a static drillhole file:

1. Using the DESURV process either directly or as part of HOLES3D.

2. From the Rebuild (dynamic) holes option “Create static drillholes” or by saving
static “Holes as Desurveyed File”.

The first method, as it is a process, requires all the source files to be in a Datamine format.
The second method uses data in memory therefore the data can be of any format for which
there is a data source driver.

The Define holes and the Rebuild holes dialogs both have options which affect the
representation of samples and even allow the creation of a static drillhole object.

© Datamine Corporate Limited. All rights reserved.

2
7. HOLES3D (DESURV)

The process has two compulsory inputs:

• A collars file containing a minimum of: hole name, x, y and z hole coordinates.
• One samples file containing the hole name and a series of FROM and TO values.

The process can, and usually does, use a surveys file and more than one samples file. In the
absence of a survey file, the drillhole is treated as vertical and downward pointing.

HOLES3D has a number of options available through the parameters tab of the dialog:

• SURVSMTH uses the principle that a straight line sample can only have one dip
angle and one dip direction angle. In reality, it often happens that there can be
many survey points falling between a single pair of FROM and TO values, and
each can have quite different dip and dip directions. SURVSMTH breaks these
samples in half and, if necessary, in half again until no sample length contains
more than one set of survey information.

With a value of 1 (default), SURVSMTH will create extra samples to satisfy the
criterion of no sample containing more than one set of survey data. A value of 0
switches SURSMTH off and no additional samples will be created.

• ENDPOINT – When switched on (1) this parameter calculates and includes the x, y
and z coordinates of the ends of each sample in the desurveyed drillhole file. This
is different from FROM and TO values, which are distances down the hole from the
collar, although the TO of one sample will have the same coordinates as the FROM
of the next sample, because they are the actual sample end point coordinates and
not those of the tangential representation of the sample. The data will be included
as the fields: XSTART, YSTART, ZSTART, XEND, YEND and ZEND.

With a value of 0, the sample end points will not be added to the desurveyed
drillhole file.

• DIPMETH defines the dip convention to be used. A value of 1 sets a positive dip
angle to be downwards whereas -1 sets a negative dip to be downwards. The
default value is 1 – positive downwards.

8. PROS AND CONS OF THE DIFFERENT SAMPLE REPRESENTATIONS INHERENT TO

STATIC AND DYNAMIC DRILLHOLES.

Each method has its strengths and weaknesses that lend it to particular purposes but not to
others.

8.1. Representation of Drillholes

© Datamine Corporate Limited. All rights reserved.

3
The path of the drillhole, as calculated in the desurvey process, is called the trace. In most
cases the trace is not a straight line but a non-planar curve. For geological drillholes it is the
samples that are of interest. Consequently, the hole trace itself is not displayed but is
approximated by straight line sample representations of the samples.

Depending on the requirement, these can obey either the sample end points or the sample
mid points. The sample FROM and TO positions are placed on the trace and joined by a
straight line such that the trace is approximated by a series of straight lines which join end-
to-end. These are chords of the actual trace.

When the sample centre points are used, these are also located on the trace and the sample
is again represented as a straight line with its dip and dip direction defined by the survey
data. This produces a trace approximation which will not be continuous and might not even
pass through the collar.

© Datamine Corporate Limited. All rights reserved.

4