Today’s Tip comes from Ranajit Das, one of our Senior Industry Process Consultants.

Whether you are a Geologist, Engineer or Surveyor, you may need to create a title block in GEOVIA Minex as a way of tagging or labelling mining and geology drawings you have created with your details.

If you’ve ever come across technical drawings of building plans, you may have noticed the details of the building company and the name of the person who produced the drawing, in a box in the left hand corner. This is called a title block and it is a quick and easy way of letting others know the date of the drawing, its scale, dollar value, Mount Name and CGM File, as well as the creator of the drawing. This is particularly useful when working as part of a team or juggling multiple projects where others may need to be involved.

Many of our users struggle with creating or changing a title block, so the below steps may be useful in helping with this essential but often overlooked function in Minex.

1. Close the primary Geometry file that you normally use.

2. Create a new Geometry file, e.g. “TRAINING_TITLE.GM3” and open this file as primary. If you already have a GM3 file that you use for title blocks, then you may open that one.

3. Create a Plan Mount in A3 with size X=42 & Y=29.
Note: If you need to select a different paper size or format, you may do this now under Sheet)

4. Save mount as TitleA3, and Draft on Mount. It is recommended to create a title block for each paper size.

5. Turn the rounding grid on by clicking the grid icon shown below.

6.    Select String > Create Title Data

7.    Choose a Data Type such as Line, Box etc. Click OK.

10. Create title block lines and boxes as required.

11. Add text and or symbols and company logos. Company logos are available as Symbols in the title data type. Note that Dassault Systèmes and GEOVIA are set as defaults.

12. You can add a text/box text such as $(<variable name>), This is a data variable which you can input when you plot Title Block. You can align the text using the options provided for text as shown below.

13. With the box text alignment can be done by adding the brackets {}. For example for centre aligned use {$(surveyor)}, for right aligned {$(surveyor)} and for left aligned $(surveyor)}. The orientation of the box text depends on the way the box is digitized. If the box is digitized from top left to bottom right corner then the text gets a horizontal alignment. If the box is digitized from bottom left to top right corner it gets a vertical alignment.

14. Once you complete the design of the title block, close the rounding grid. Save the GM3 file and close it.

15. Open your usual GM3 file as primary and open this TRAINING_TITLE.Gm3 that you have just created as secondary. Plot any mount and plot the title block just created. It should look similar to this:

For more lesser known but handy tips in Minex, check out how to Create a Unique Color Palette.

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Today’s Tip comes from Ash Colton, our Mining Knowledge Consultant.

It is common for data to be passed from one department to another in .dxf format, particularly if you work at a site using multiple software vendors. You can easily convert all of these files to strings or DTMs in a couple of simple steps for easier import and export to and from GEOVIA Surpac^TM.

1. Import all of the files that you wish to convert into Surpac Graphics.  You can do this easily by clicking the first file and then holding down the shift key when clicking on the last file. Surpac will highlight all files in between. Now just click and drag one of the highlighted files into Surpac Graphics and Surpac will open all of the files into their own layer.

2. The Layers pane should look like this:

3. Now click on File> Save> Save all layers as. This function has quite a few options, including the ability to save all the layers into a specific directory or to their original directory. This is handy if you have dragged files from many different folders.

4. Surpac will now convert all .dxf files to strings and DTMs for you to use.

You can also reverse this process by loading many DTMs or string files into Graphics and saving them as .dxf files. We hope this tip was helpful!

Next week, we’ll be back with Conversion Tips Part 2 on how to extract dxf layers from a single .dxf file into multiple Surpac layers. View more Surpac Tips & Tricks here.

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Today’s Tip comes from Patrick Cawley, our Mining Knowledge Consultant.

Mining engineers may want to visualize block models inside GEOVIA MineSched to both orient and understand their schedule better. This will allow them to better relate their schedule setup to the actual blocks they are interested in and see the results of their schedule superimposed on a saved DTM.

The following steps will allow users to open block models that have been created in GEOVIA Surpac, in the MineSched program.

1. In Surpac, open your block model and create a block model constraint to see the selection of blocks you are interested in, for example ore reserves only or high-grade blocks.

2. Use the function Block Model > Export > Block Faces to DTM to save the selected blocks as a solid.

Open MineSched and access the layers button on the animation canvas (or in any other mode). Add the DTM. You can also select the color and relative transparency.

3. Your block model visualization should look similar to this:

You can reveal the DTM by playing back the animation or by stepping through the periods by using the right arrow on your keyboard.

4. As with any layer added to the animation (pit surfaces, topographies etc), the block model visualization will also be maintained in the animation. This can be shared outside of MineSched with other colleagues or stakeholders, using the Save Animation button.

For more posts on DTM files, check out our Conversion Tips in Surpac or 10 Steps for Extracting Drillholes as a String File in Surpac. You may also be interested in our other posts on Block Modeling.

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Today’s Tip comes from Ash Colton, our Mining Knowledge Consultant.

Last week, we talked about how to convert multiple files to strings or DTMs in GEOVIA Surpac^TM. This week, we continue on the theme of conversions with some tips on how to separate layers from a single .dxf file for easy import and export to and from other programs.

A .dxf file typically contains information that is kept in separate layers internally, but if you drag and drop the .dxf file into Surpac, only one layer is created. In this situation, Surpac has an import feature that can help to break the .dxf file into separate layers which can then be saved as separate files.

1. Use the function File >Import > AutoCAD

2. Browse to the .dxf file and click Scan File.  This will identify all AutoCAD layers that are stored internally in the .dxf file.

3. The chosen file is then split into the original AutoCAD layers which will then be imported into Surpac as unique layers.

4.    These layers can now be saved using the “Save All Layers As” feature discussed in last week’s post to quickly convert them all to strings or DTMs.

If you missed Part 1 of this post, read how to Convert Multiple files or Saving All Layers in Surpac.

For more posts talking about DTMs, check out Validating A CMS Pickup in Surpac or view more Surpac Tips & Tricks here.

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The Natural Resources industry is looking to innovation to help maximize productivity and achieve operational excellence. In today’s economic environment where demand, supply and commodity prices are more volatile than ever, it is imperative to think “outside the box” to solve some of the industry’s most complex issues.

Bold moves are needed to propel the industry forward. At the recent Dassault Systèmes Natural Resources FORUM held in sunny Perth, Western Australia for the third year running, attendees heard from a number of thought leaders and technical experts on this very topic and explored solutions that challenge the status quo.

From a cloud strategy for the mining sector to sub-surface 3DEXPERIENCE cities, the one-day FORUM addressed topics to future-proof the industry and ensure its survival through downturns.

We round up the top five takeaways from the FORUM:

1. Digitalization of our business models and processes

The Natural Resources industry is unique in that every mine operation is different and a long-term investment in assets is required, however it can still learn a lot from the successes of other industries, such as automotive and aerospace. Both these industries are heavily digitalized, particularly in the areas of collaboration, and with a strong emphasis on innovation.

“The Natural Resources industry similarly needs to digitalize their entire business model on a large scale to ensure that decisions are made quickly, operations run at their most efficient levels, safety is improved and that full visibility and accountability is made possible through global dashboarding,” said Alexandre Parilusyan, Vice President of Business Transformation, Asia-Pacific at Dassault Systèmes.

2. Silo-based thinking needs to be broken down

One of the key topics explored over the past two years at the Natural Resources FORUM has been silo-based thinking and working – and how to break down these silos to enable individuals within an organization to collaborate effectively.

“Silo-based thinking means a lot of bad decisions made by people with a limited strategic view of the business,” said Adrian Hale, Natural Resources Director, Asia-Pacific at Dassault Systèmes.

“There is a massive value opportunity that our customers can take advantage of by linking the workforce with the objectives of company, and equipping them with the best information and resources possible.”

Changing the way companies think from the top down will make it easier for the adoption of technology across departments to do things smarter, cheaper and more efficiently – particularly in an age where deposits become harder to exploit and traditional methods of exploitation become uneconomical.

3. The first step to operational excellence is visibility

One of the key concepts explored during the FORUM was achieving operational excellence through stability and visibility at all levels of a mining operation. Typically, mining operations are not 100% material balanced and validated, which has the flow-on effect of inaccurate reporting and decision making that is not fully informed.

Paul Fenner, Senior Manager Technical Sales at Dassault Systèmes, talked about the importance of visibility through mine production management, from tracking material movement and stockpiles through to activity management.

“With increased confidence in data accuracy at site and enterprise levels, mining companies can better validate their data in real-time, reduce reliance on manual spreadsheets, understand variance from plan and importantly, provide a basis for continuous improvement.”

4. TAKE a holistic approach to cloud computing

Cloud computing is not a new buzzword. Many other industries have been storing data and software on the cloud for decades – but for mining, it has yet to be adopted on a large scale. As the world becomes more connected, miners need to consider what cloud capabilities mean for them holistically, what the security and backup implications may be, and the end-to-end business impact.

One of our guest speakers, Telstra’s General Manager of Mining, Oil & Gas, Eric Nettleton, talked about what cloud strategy means for the industry today, the challenges and potential solutions.

“All the ingredients are there for mining to move forward. Organizations need to understand what the cloud capabilities mean for them, where they want to position themselves, then take small logical steps to put the right technology systems in place and build upon that to reach the desired scale,” said Eric.

“Mining data is very site-centric, given the nature of the industry, and it will be challenging to get to a stage where centralized data  is accurate at both the company and site level. It will take time and work, not just from a software perspective but also from a workforce and workflow perspective.”

5. Disclosure in an evolving mining industry

In today’s digitalized world, disclosure moves beyond ‘hard’ statements of profit and loss, cash flow and forecasts to also include ‘soft’ avenues of communication such as social media, newsletters, online media and public forums.

According to Ivy Chen, Principal Consultant at CSA Global and a speaker at the FORUM, mining companies also need to factor in disclosures that could affect their license to operate such as sustainability, diversity, environmental management, land use and political developments.

“A disclosure strategy should include what is material to the company and needs to be disclosed, templates for different scenarios, roles and responsibilities, mechanisms for board approval and of course the subsequent release."

"Major sources of information such as newsletters, TV and social media need to be monitored regularly and a plan needs to be put in place to manage disclosure.”

Watch the highlights video from the Natural Resources FORUM below. You might also be interested in our Q&A video interview with Vice President of Natural Resources, Marni Rabasso.

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Today’s Tip comes from Ranajit Das, one of our Senior Industry Process Consultants.

Did you know that you can better utilize the Calendar File in GEOVIA Minex^TM within short-term scheduling? Users can enter detailed information in the Minex calendar file on maintenance, downtime or planned stoppages for any equipment – either within the same calendar or in separate calendars.

Different calendars can have different shift timings or production factors. You can also add different calendar numbers for various excavators for short-term planning to include planned equipment maintenance. The following example shows part of a Minex .ascii calendar file for a particular excavator, factoring in maintenance time. You can edit this file according to your requirements.

You might have already used Month, Week and Days as scheduling time boundaries, but you can also click on the clock icon next to Month(s) to use a date control file (.ctl format) to control and execute time steps defined by you. You can also create your own time steps down to the hour. Please ensure that your reserve database is up-to-date and accurate enough to work in the short term.

1. To browse for the .ctl file, click the clock icon and select the .ctl file format (this can be created in an application such as Notepad on Windows)

2. Your .ctl file needs to be in the following format. Note that you will have to adjust the start time with the .ctl file manually, for instance changing the start time to STARTDATE 01-JAN-20 08:00.

01-JAN-20 07:00
01-JAN-20 19:00
02-JAN-20 07:00
02-JAN-20 19:00
03-JAN-20 07:00
03-JAN-20 19:00

If you found this post helpful, you may also be interested in How to Combine Smaller Sub-Pits Into a Single Main Pit with Minex or the usage of Tcl/Tk Scripts to Automate Minex.

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Today’s Tip comes from Ross Pemberton, our Mining Knowledge Consultant.

Inside many mining software packages, displaying lithology patterns within your boreholes is often essential for geological interpretation and reporting. The processes in place for displaying and managing these patterns can be often be challenging, as geologists commonly have to follow company or governmental standards when producing professional plans or sections. 

To help geologists with this challenge, GEOVIA Minex 6.5 contains added functionality for the importation and management of lithology patterns, which gives geologists the freedom to create and load customized lithology patterns into Minex. Below are some steps on how you can apply this functionality.

Please note that you will require the following:
•    GEOVIA Minex 6.5 software must be installed and running.
•    The Minex borehole database file (*.b31), geometry file (*.GM3) and parameter file (*.mpf) must be open.
•    You must have an Autocad (DXF/DWG) file containing a single tile of a lithology pattern. This can be any size; in the examples below they are Y15m x X20m tiles. For example:

1. Navigate to BoreholeDB > Plot > Import Lithology Symbols

2. In the pop-up box as shown above, click on  the"..." button to select an Autocad (DXF/DWG) file containing your lithology pattern.

Hold Ctrl on your keyboard during file selection to select multiple files. The patterns will be saved into a LITHOLOG.SYM file, which can either be created or overwritten using the tick box options above. Click OK to import the lithology patterns.

3. Following importation of the lithology patterns, the boreholes should be re-displayed with an Advance 3D Display Parameter. To do this, right click on your borehole database (*.B31) and select Plot 3D Boreholes. In the form below tick the box Advanced 3D Display Parameters> Setup Parameters.

4.  In the following form, navigate to the Trace tab and select Lithology Fill and from LITHOLOG.SYM. Click OK and save a parameter when prompted.

5. Click OK on returning to the Borehole Display form; your boreholes and the new lithology patterns will be displayed.

If you would like to display your boreholes and patterns in 2D, you can go to Borehole DB > Plot > Profile and fill in the fields outlined in the Borehole Plotting Profile. 

You might also be interested in CoalLog Formats in Minex 6.5 Explained, or check out our other Minex tips!

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Today’s Tip comes from Ash Colton, our Mining Knowledge Consultant.

Since the release of GEOVIA Surpac 6.4,  there is another way to view slices of dtms, block models and so on  without needing to define those sections every time. This functionality is called Planes and has many advantages over classic slicing, including the speed at which you can create and view slices, even with very large active block models. 

Most Surpac users hide the Planes tab away and revert back to classic slicing, missing out on this great functionality. Today’s tip will kickstart our series on Planes and how to better utilize this feature to save Surpac users time and effort in your daily tasks.

What are Planes?

Think of Planes as viewing corridors that can be invoked at any time.  You only have to define the planes once and they then can be stored on a network so that anyone can use them.  This is opposed to classic slicing whereby you must define the plane every time you want to use it, or save everything as a string file and use section string files.

Where can I find Planes?

When Surpac (Version 6.4 and above) is first installed, the Planes functionality appears as a small unobtrusive tab in the top right hand corner of your screen.

If you have imported your own custom profile into Surpac, this may not even be visible. To activate it, use View > Dockable windows > Planes.

Once you can see the Planes tab, hover your mouse over the tab and then use the pin icon (toggle button) to keep it pinned while you test out the function.

Now that you know how to find the Planes tool, let’s test it out by creating some elevation sections through a pit design and block model.

How are Planes typically used?

1. Open the pit design and model in Surpac. The diagram below shows the model colored by attribute and constrained.

2. Now, use Planes to slice an elevation range.  In this case I will go from the 150mRL to 80mRL at 10m increments.  Click on the icon below to start Quick Planes.

3. The result is shown below.  Note that the Plane definition is now stored and can be used at any other time.

4. If you want to see the grade of the blocks in simple block outlines, you may use the following icons. First, turn off the faces.

5. Secondly, draw the section as polylines.

6. Then apply some block shrinkage.

7. Select an attribute to display in each block.

8. The result showing the grade contained within each block is shown below.

In subsequent posts we will be discussing more Planes functionality including;

• How to split the screen to give more clarity on a section
• How to save a section to string file
• Utilizing the Dynamic 2D grid with Planes 
• Creating parallel Planes
• Creating a Plane from 3 points
• Digitizing on a Plane

If there is a topic you would like to see covered, please use the comment section in the post and we will do our best to cover it in an upcoming blog post.

You can find other blog posts on Surpac here.

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We talked to Surpac user Jarrad Price, Senior Resources Geologist at Regis Resources, about how he uses geostatistics to improve his resources estimations and block model validation. Based in Perth, Australia, Regis Resources is a publicly-listed gold production and exploration company with operations in the North Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia and the Central Western region of New South Wales.

Jarrad Price, Senior Resources Geologist at Regis Resources, has been using GEOVIA Surpac^TM for 8 years for geological resources estimation.

Recent upgrades to Surpac, particularly in geostatistical tools, have further improved the firepower for resources estimations, saving the company time and effort – and may even remove the need for a separate geostatistical program. 

Surpac is used at Regis Resources’ head office in Perth, and three mining operations located within the Duketon Project, located 130 kilometers north of Laverton, Western Australia.

“Surpac’s improved geostatistics capabilities provide me with greater confidence in my exploration data and block model validation, enabling more accurate estimations. Improved charting and data processing means my workflow is more streamlined and faster, in particular its declustering feature that generates a representative data distribution through sample weighting,” says Jarrad.

Surpac supports declustering in the software, removing the need to locate the after-market declustering macro each time Jarrad needs to create a swath plot. Swath plots are a tool used to validate a resource estimation by comparing the average grade of the estimate versus the grade of the data over a range of northings, eastings and elevations.

“Comparing the estimate grade to the declustered composite grade is more realistic as it will remove the bias of high-grade samples.  Surpac’s ability to create swath plots is very fast and will save roughly 10 minutes per swath plot,” says Jarrad.

Grade Tonnage Curves are also featured in Surpac to visually enable a quick analysis of  resources estimation at a range of cutoffs. They are usually time consuming to create, especially after running 50 iterations of an estimate, but they are quick and easy to generate in Surpac.  There are similar time savings achieved with Surpac’s Grade Tonnage feature as is experienced with swath plots.

“Surpac’s basic statistics window can now produce a mean or variance plot to help determine what assays require cutting or removal prior to complete variography and estimations.  It enables quick and easy determination of what uppercut is required to reduce the variability of the estimation input data to reduce the chances of grade over-estimation,” explains Jarrad.

Surpac’s newly developed dynamic anisotropy features enable the company to perform improved resources estimations by aligning the sample search to the trend or orientation of the mineralization assigned by users.

“This feature is particularly useful when estimating deposits that have undulating or folded mineralization. It’s simple to operate as I just have to generate a DTM that follows the trend, which is assigned to the model prior to estimation. We have started looking at this feature and can see the possibilities for its application on our deposits at resource and grade control scale.”

Additionally, Surpac can perform resource estimation into different cell sizes within the same model (see below image); useful for instances when a deposit has differing mineralization thicknesses,  well-drilled or poorly drilled areas.

“We can see this being used at our Moolart Well operation in Duketon, which has densely drilled flat-lying laterite mineralization underlain by moderately dipping primary mineralization that is not as well-drilled,” says Jarrad.

“Estimations are commonly completed in passes, from a first pass that searches distances, to suit better drilled areas, to second or third passes that suit broader spaced data. Surpac has an added option in the estimation form that enables passes to be assigned with each estimation; thereby reducing the size and complexity of macros and reducing the potential for errors.”

Read the customer testimonial here, or read more about geostatistics in Surpac and GEMS.

Watch our recent interview with Jarrad below:

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Today's post comes from Adrian Hale, Natural Resources Director, Asia-Pacific at Dassault Systèmes. This post originally appeared as part of an Industry Q&A with Austmine, the leading industry body for the mining equipment, technology and services sector.

The mining industry is on the cusp of a new era of how day-to-day operations will be undertaken. Advanced technologies and the utilization of data will lead to more predictable, stable and controlled operations that will increase productivity, efficiency and safety at mine sites all around the world. The current industry challenge is ensuring this type of visibility and stability - so how can this be achieved?

Increased visibility of mining operations

Identifying the different levers of the mining operation is the first step to stabilizing the operation – by uncovering the areas of operational improvement that increase business profitability. The role of digital technologies and innovations is to help identify opportunities, enabling qualified and senior resources, to better manage this process rather than simply marshalling vast amounts of siloed data.

We have seen breakthroughs in this area, so predictability and standardization can be achieved.One of our customers, Rick Howes, CEO of Dundee Precious Metal (Chelopech Operation), took an approach he called “taking the lid off”. With the implementation of our mine production management solution, the company was able to have greater visibility into the real-time activities of its operation.

This capability enabled Dundee to stabilize and better manage the activities of the operation to identify opportunities that led them to double production and lower the cost of production by 44%.

This visibility is missing from most mining operations today, where they are driving the car looking only in the rear-view mirror (with daily reports). The desire is to now shift the view to a “cockpit” of information in the central control room.

Driving Excellence through Continuous Improvement

As mining company profits continue to be pressured by the uncertainty that remains in the global economy, the industry is on a quest for innovation to help increase productivity.

To understand where mining companies can look for innovation, it is useful to examine what has led to successful transformations in other industries. Take, for example, Toyota - it became the world’s largest and most successful producer of automobiles by becoming an agile business – one that rapidly adjusts itself in light of changing demand and economic conditions. In essence, it put the framework in place to become a much more sustainable business. It started at the very bottom of its business by establishing operational stability to gain better control over manufacturing processes.

To become agile and sustainable, mining companies need to achieve operational stability – the predictability of expected mine production, costs, and performance levels. This requires mining and plant processing activities to function at higher levels of productivity and efficiency so that conformance to plan is always realized.

The quickest avenue to improved operational stability begins with reducing the variability in the planning and execution of mining and processing, which requires comprehensive planning, optimized scheduling, and disciplined work management.

the role of Technology in Mitigating Environmental Issues

Of course, when we talk about operational stability and excellence, we also need to consider how technology can help mitigate some of the environmental issues in the mining sector to ensure social licence to operate into the future.

Environmental sustainability continues to be a top priority for the mining industry, and our technology is a huge part of ensuring that we are finding more effective ways of addressing the environmental impact of mining operations and communicating these plans.

With the right technology and software, mines can schedule waste more efficiently during mining, design improved waste dumps, monitor water usage, record environmental activity in real-time and develop effective mine closure plans.

This all starts with putting in place the correct processes, such as conducting baseline studies, evaluating site specific conditions and demands on functionality, conducting risk analysis in the operational phase and long-term phase, and coming up with alternative tailings/waste-rock management strategies throughout the mine’s life cycle.

Lastly, socializing the mine plan and showing the actual impact of the environment through 3D imaging can help with attaining buy-in from within the organization and/or key stakeholders.

For more information, you may want to read:

• Steps One and Two on The Journey to Operational Stability
• Steps Three to Six on The Journey to Operational Stability
• What Mining Can Learn From Other Industries

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Today’s post comes from Chris Bates, one of our Mining Knowledge Consultants, Geology.

^{When working with data from new exploration mine sites, or extensions to existing sites, it is not always possible to obtain a good topography file.}

In these situations, geologists may want to use the database and surface features in GEOVIA SurpacTM to create a proxy topography that serves as a temporary alternative for the areas containing drillholes.

The below steps illustrate how this can be done by using the tutorial dataset that comes with the Surpac installation.

1. Set your working directory as the folder Tutorials > Geological_database. We will use the database named “Surpac”.

2. Connect to the Surpac.ddb database using the drag-and-drop function.

3. Select the function Database > Display > Drillholes and click Apply on each form presented. Your drillhole traces should look like the below image. Note that it is not necessary to display drillholes to perform this task, but it helps to familiarize yourself with the data.

4.    Next, create the surface by extracting all of the collar points from the drillhole database. Select Database > Extract > Drillhole Layout.

5.    The below pop-up window should appear. Select blog_collar_extract under Location, specify ID number as “0” and String as “1”. Click Apply to confirm that all collar points will be used in the string file.

6.    Close the database and display the string file. Use Display > Hide Everything, then Display > Point > Markers to view the data more clearly.

7.    Your GUI should look like the below image. The points now displayed are the collar points extracted from the database.

8.    Select Surfaces > DTM file functions > Create DTM from string file and fill out the form, as below. Click Apply to create the DTM surface file.

9.    Drag and drop to display the DTM file. Unwanted triangles, such as those highlighted below in pink, can be selected using the Box Select Tool as shown in the below image.

10.    Once triangles are selected, you may delete them by right clicking and selecting Delete. Right click on the layer name in the Layers window and save the file.

You now a have a DTM surface file that can be used as a topography substitute until a more accurate one is available.

It is important to remember that the process for creating the surface involves use of straight lines to join each point, and therefore undulations between collar points cannot be reflected in the surface that is created. The only parts of the surface that are completely accurate are the collar points themselves.

For more posts on drillhole data, check out How to Plot Drillhole Traces in Plan View in Surpac or 10 Steps for Extracting Drillholes as a String File in Surpac.

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