Introduction to MineSight

2012 Dr. B. C. Paul Note This presentation refers to trademarked mine design software products and includes screen shots from the program MineSight by Mintec. Credit for the products so referenced or shown is given to the developers.

Why Design Software

Mine layouts have long needed to be drawn out
Today computer drafting predominates over manual

Mine optimization and evaluation requires large numbers of redundant calculations

Best done by computer

What is MineSight?
MineSight is a suite of mining tuned computer programs
Heart is a 3D CAD graphics program called MineSight Has a wide array of mining calculations programs that link production planning to the graphics functions in the 3D CAD program

MineSight development started with first computer routines in the 1970s and list has grown since
Collection includes everything from old fortran routines to modern python program language routines

MineSights Visually Linked Calculation Routines

MineSight Compass
A windows like user interface built over a bunch of old Dos, Fortran and Unix Programs Collection of over 400 routines Have the feel of old mainframe batch programs
Thats because they are old mainframe routines and subroutines with a modern windows like graphical interface to feed them

Looks new but has you do some things to set up runs that are like old mainframe batch routines

New Kids on the Block

Built a Suite of New Programs that run in Python visual language
Economic Planner
State of the Art Open Pit Metal Mining Optimization and integrated together

Activities Planner
Microsoft Projects Gant Charts set up for Mining

Data Analyst
Ore Reserves Statistics and Geostatistics

Interactive Planner
Link between databases and 3D graphics for planning

Strategic Planner Other procedures constantly being prepared

Editorial Commentary
Lack of Consistency
A 40 year collection and operating systems have run in fundamentally different ways over the years Made to look windows like but cant always hide the architecture underneath

Has bugs in it
Most bugs are triggered by assuming people will input in a certain way and you dont Mining has lots of local terms in it so wording can encourage you to do unexpected things Most bugs are operator error triggered but it is rather unforgiving Very computer and graphically intensive
Pushes hardware and designs to the limit and a lot of hardware and system components misbehave when they are at their limit

Its wonderful to have so much integrated power and routines all in one semi-coherent package

One of a Limited Set of Programs

MineSight (master of the open pit metal mine)

Probably most overall advanced and complete

Vulcan (very good 3D CAD for hardrock underground) Gemcon/Mincom Serve CAD / Carlson
Really an autocad add on for graphics and design Quite popular with underground applications not demanding heavy 3D visualization and manipulation
Well liked in coal

Lets Start this Puppy Up!

Look for the Desktop Icon for MS3D and Click on It

Ok I Dont Have One Cause I Dont Start That way but some people do.

Programs Front Icon Opens

Mines or designs Are kept as Projects It can default Start where the Program lives Or be sent to Where you store A project If you have a Project or design Already you can Have it loaded And ready to go.

I Can Click on An Arrow and See a List of Recently Worked Projects

I Can Browse

This lets me see my directory or existing projects or Create a new project with Make New Folder.

I Can Purge Old Files

The weird X is the delete command for Deleting a selected project.

After I Get My Project Selected I Click on Ok

The Program Starts

If you are starting a Whole new project It will ask about Permission to write System files in the Project area and Possibly what the Coordinates are For the project

It has typical Windows drop down menus

Not all options may be Available at any one Time. As typical nonAvailable options Are grayed out.

Lots of Things are Drawn With Lines

They are found Under the Polyline Menu Polyline is A continuous Series of line Segments.

Most Common Commands are Accessed with Icons

(again note that ones not available Are grayed out)

If I Cant Remember what an icon is I can put the curser over it and it will spill its guts

The Big Gray Area is the Drawing Window

A box that appears at the Bottom gives you Instructions or information

The Data Manager

Data Manager is A two tiered Windows Exploring

Select a Subdirectory up top You see the Contents of that Subdirectory down Below.

MineSight works In an overall Directory dedicated To each project.

Types of Files
Main file is called a Geometry Object
It is information describing some geometric shape that can be brought up on the viewer

Most other files are various type of view control files

Place the Curser Over Something You Would Like to See and Right Click

The item turns blue

Left Click to Pop-Up A Menu for the Item

Just Moving the Curser Over the Second Menu Turns Things Blue

A Simple Right Click Turns the Object On in the Viewer

You Can Play with the Surface View

Push and hold the left and right keys On your mouse as you move it to Rotate your object in 3D (so you can Look at it from different directions).

You Can Move Your Surface Up and Down (Pan Around)

Hold the right click button and the Center button down (often the center Button is a roller) and move the mouse Around.

You Can Zoom In and Zoom Out

Hold the left click button and the Center button down (often the center Button is a roller) and move the mouse around.

I Can Also Rotate Views with Keyboard strokes

More Keyboard Rotation

More Keyboard Rotation

You May Want to Create Your Own Directory or Files

Select the root directory by Highlighting and Right clicking

Drop Down the Menu and Pick New and then Folder

It Asks You For the Name of the Folder

I typed experiments I will then click Ok

The New Folder Name Appears

Now Select the Experiments Folder Drop down the menu

Pick new On the submenu pick new Geometry object (a file that Contains geometric Information).

It Asks the Name of the Geometry Object

Type it in and click Ok

The New Geometry Object Appears in the Lower Part of the Data Manager

In Order to Draw Things in the Geometry File I Need to Put it Into Edit Mode Highlight the geometry
object (put the curser over It and right click) Now left click the menu Drops down Move the curser to Highlight Edit Left click to go into Edit Mode.

The Geometry Object is Now Marked With a Gold Open Box

What you draw will go into that Geometry object.

The X Box

You can close the Whole program

The little red X box closes Things. You can close a 3D Visualization window

You can close The Windows Explorer like Data Manager

General Quirks and Observations MineSight does not have an escape key function
You right click to finish a function which gets you out of it (but might also finish a goof)

MineSight has a more enforced save structure

Some drawing functions will not let you move on until you save you last group of edits
It is not consistent in when this happens but if the program stops taking orders a right click to finish what ever it thinks your doing and then a save is a good guess.

MineSight has limited Undo functionality

You can save the last set of edits and then go back and undo it. It does not keep a step by step undo list that lets you go back and undo the last 20 things one at a time Undo function often requires you to save before it becomes available If you really goof it keeps back-up copies of everything and you can go in and fetch a back up copy of what you screwed up.

Some Rigidity in Menu and Icon Structure

Microsoft Office allows you to pick groups of icons, call them toolbars and dock your favorites in a certain position
Vulcan has created some tool bar dockability MineSight has not

MineSight does allow you to right click and pull up an on the spot menu of recently used and custom chosen functions

So Why Should I Learn MineSight

CAD like mine design packages are rapidly becoming an industry standard knowing one increases your marketability There is enough similarity in packages that knowing one will allow you to learn any other with greater ease (in case your employer didnt make the same choice for basic package as we did or if your employer changes his/her mind later). We are using it in this class and you dont want to even think about life without it.

A Term You Need to Know for Homework

Screen Shot You can copy the screen to the clipboard with
Control-Print Screen

You can paste the screen shot into a word document.

Assignment #1
Get a copy of a starter file from the website Take a screen shot of you selecting the starter file from your thumb drive as you open MineSight Open Geometry Object Topo Surface
Take a screen shot

Zoom out on object

Take a screen shot

Assignment #1 Continued
Zoom in on object
Take a screen shot

Zoom back to a convenient view

Take 3 screen shots of different rotated position

Close Topo Surface

Take a screen shot

Create a geometry object called shapes

Take screen shots of creating it Take a screen shot for putting it in edit mode

Draw a line
Take a screen shot

Draw a circle
Take a screen shot

Draw a 6 sided closed polygon

Take a screen shot