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Drillholes

The drillhole database: import holes from CSV tables, edit their log, composite the samples, check, tabulate and section them, find ore intercepts, control the assay quality, model an ore body and write the database back to CSV. Each command has its own section; press F1 over a ribbon button, or the ? in the title bar of a command's window, to open it.

A drillhole is one object with its collar, survey readings, lithology (a rock per interval), samples (assay values per interval) and composites (samples cut into equal lengths). The lithology and the samples are separate tables, each with depths of its own.

Import Drillholes

Reads drillholes from up to four CSV, TSV or TXT tables (collars, survey, lithology, samples) and joins them by hole id. Before anything is created the window shows what the import would make, or what is wrong with the tables.

Where to find it

Geology tab → Drillholes group → Import Drillholes ("Import drillholes").

Before you start

• A collar table: one row per hole with its id and the X, Y, Z of its start. A total depth column is optional.
• Optional tables: survey (depth, azimuth, dip readings), lithology (from, to, rock) and sample table (from, to and numeric assay columns).
• Delimited text files (.csv, .tsv, .txt). A header row names the columns.

How to

1. Click Import Drillholes. The Import drillholes window opens.
2. In section 1. Collars press Choose file… and pick the collar table. The columns are guessed from the header names and filled in; change any of them in its list (the first entry, "—", means none).
3. Do the same for 2. Survey, 3. Lithology and 4. Sample table if you have those tables. All three are optional.
4. In 4. Sample table tick the columns to keep as assays. Columns that hold numbers and are not the id or the depths start ticked.
5. Check the line under the lists. When it reads "N hole(s), N lithology interval(s), N sample(s), N assay column(s)." the import is ready; any line with ⚠ is a table problem that will be skipped.
6. Click Import drillholes. A message reports what was imported.

Parameters

The guesses read the header with case, spaces and punctuation ignored (for example HoleID, BHID, East, Easting, From, Lith, Azimuth, Dip).

What is created or changed

• One drillhole per usable collar row, on the layer Drillholes (created if it does not exist), in one undo step.
• A hole with the same name as an existing one (letters in any case) replaces it.
• Rocks named in the lithology that are not in the rock table are added to it (the Rock Types window on the Geology tab, References group).
• The new holes are coloured by rock when the lithology names rocks; otherwise by the first assay column when there are assays.

If something goes wrong

What next

Check Drillholes · Composite · Drillhole Table

Edit Log

Edits the log of one selected drillhole as tables: its lithology and its samples, each with depths of its own. The composites are shown for reading only.

Where to find it

Geology tab → Drillholes group → Edit Log ("Edit log"). The button is available only when exactly one editable drillhole is selected; otherwise it says "Select one drillhole."

How to

1. Select one drillhole in the 3D view and click Edit Log. The window "Log of hole name" opens.
2. Work in the Lithology or Sample table tab. Type the depths into the From and To cells; pick the rock from the list in the Rock column.
3. Use the buttons above the table: Add an interval (a new line starting at the deepest end so far), Delete the selected intervals (select lines first; several can be selected), and in the lithology tab Fill gaps (adds an interval, with no rock, for every stretch of the hole that has none).
4. In the Sample table tab, type a name and press Add assay column to add a column. The name must not already exist.
5. The Composites tab shows the composites made from the samples.
6. Click Apply log.

Parameters

Apply log is off while either table has a problem. Problems shown: "Line N: From and To must be numbers.", "Line N: To must be above From, and From not below zero.", "Line N: 'text' is not a number.", "Lines N and M overlap.".

What is changed

The lithology and samples of the hole are replaced, in one undo step ("Edit log").

What next

Composite · Check Drillholes

Composite

Cuts the samples of drillholes into composites of equal length. Each column of a composite is the length-weighted mean of the sample values inside it.

Where to find it

Geology tab → Drillholes group → Composite ("Composite"). Available when some drillhole has samples; otherwise "No drillhole has samples."

Before you start

• Samples on the holes (see Import Drillholes or Edit Log).
• Select the holes to composite, or select none to composite all holes with samples (holes on locked layers are skipped then). A selected hole without samples is ignored; the window says "N selected hole(s)." or "No hole selected: all N hole(s) with samples."

How to

1. Click Composite. The Composite samples window opens.
2. Set the length and the coverage options (below).
3. Read the line at the bottom: "N composite(s) in N hole(s)."
4. Click Make composites.

Parameters

The windows run from the top of the sampled extent in whole lengths. A window with no value in any column is not created.

If something goes wrong

What is changed

The composites of each chosen hole are replaced, in one undo step ("Composite samples"). The options are kept with the composites in words, for example "2 m, by lithology, at least 50 % sampled". Composites are used by Drillhole Table, Drillhole Section, Ore Intercepts and Ore Body from Samples, and exported by Export Drillholes.

Drillhole Table

Lists the lithology, the samples or the composites of all drillholes as one table to filter, sort, summarise and export. The window does not block the program and follows the project: an edit, an undo or an import shows at once.

Where to find it

Geology tab → Drillholes group → Drillhole Table ("Drillhole table"). Available when the project has drillholes; otherwise "No drillholes in the project."

How to

1. Click Drillhole Table.
2. Choose the table in the first list: Sample table, Composites or Lithology.
3. Narrow the rows with the filters; click a column header to sort.
4. Read the summary under the table.
5. Click Export rows… to save the rows shown as CSV. Close closes the window.

Parameters

A sort you chose stays when the filters change or the project changes.

What is created

Nothing is changed in the project. Export rows… writes the shown rows with the header Hole, From, To, Length, Rock and the assay columns (numbers with a point, comma-separated; the rock as its code, or its name when it has no code). A failed write gives "Could not write 'file': reason".

Check Drillholes

Checks the whole drillhole database and lists the problems, worst first. Nothing is changed. The window does not block the program.

Where to find it

Geology tab → Drillholes group → Check Drillholes ("Check drillholes"). Available when the project has drillholes.

How to

1. Click Check Drillholes. The check runs at once; the summary reads "N error(s), N warning(s) in N of N hole(s)." or "No problems found in N hole(s)."
2. Select lines in the list (several are possible) and click Select the holes to select those holes in the 3D view. With no line selected, the holes of all lines are selected.
3. Mend the data, then click Check again.

The list has the columns Level (Error or Warning), Hole and Problem.

What is checked

What next

Edit Log to mend a log · Import Drillholes to import again (a hole of the same name is replaced).

Drillhole Section

Draws a vertical section through the drillholes: the holes near a line in plan, projected onto it, with their lithology and the values of a column beside it, over the block models and the other objects cut by the same plane. The line and its band show in the 3D view while the window is open. The window does not block the program and follows the project.

Where to find it

Geology tab → Drillholes group → Drillhole Section ("Drillhole section"). Available when the project has drillholes.

How to

1. Select two or more holes if you want the line through them; with fewer than two selected the line goes through all holes (or, for a single hole, north-south through it, 200 m long). Click Drillhole Section.
2. Set the line with the fields X, Y, Azimuth, °, Length, m and Half width, m, or with the buttons Through holes, From polyline and Across.
3. Choose Values: the column drawn beside the lithology.
4. Tick Block model and Objects to draw those cuts too.
5. Step the section with ◀ and ▶, save it as a picture or a series, or keep it with the project.

The line is marked in the 3D view with the ends A and B and a band of the half width on each side, at the height of the highest collar shown.

Parameters

Typing the centre, bearing or length gives a straight line; changing only the half width keeps a bent line.

What is created

• A contour drawn on the section becomes a polyline of the project on the active layer, in the plane of the section (one undo step).
• Save section and Delete change the project's kept sections (undoable).
• Pictures are written to files only; the project is not changed.

If something goes wrong

The status line shows "N hole(s) within N m of the line, N m long, azimuth N°." with the range of the chosen column, and "The line bends: N legs." for a bent line.

What next

Ore Intercepts · Ore Body from Samples

Ore Intercepts

Finds the ore intercepts of all drillholes: stretches at or above a cut-off grade, with a shortest length and an allowed internal waste. It recounts as you type and as the project changes. The window does not block the program.

Where to find it

Geology tab → Drillholes group → Ore Intercepts ("Ore intercepts"). Available when some drillhole has samples; otherwise "No drillhole has samples."

How to

1. Click Ore Intercepts.
2. Choose the Values column (a sample column, or "name (composites)").
3. Type the Cut-off, Shortest, m and Internal waste up to, m.
4. Read the table and the summary. Sort by any column header.
5. Select rows and press Select holes to select their holes in the view (all rows when none is chosen). Export rows… saves the table as CSV.

Parameters

Table columns: Hole, From, To, Length, Mean grade, Grade × length, Internal waste, m, Intercept.

If something goes wrong

Otherwise the summary reads "N intercept(s) in N hole(s): N m at a mean grade of N." The CSV has the header Hole, From, To, Length, Mean grade, Grade × length, Internal waste, m. Nothing in the project is changed.

What next

Drillhole Section · Ore Body from Samples

Export Drillholes

Writes the drillhole database as CSV tables into a folder you choose; the import reads them back.

Where to find it

Geology tab → Drillholes group → Export Drillholes ("Export drillholes"). Available when the project has drillholes.

How to

1. Select the holes to export, or select none to export all.
2. Click Export Drillholes and choose a folder.
3. A message reports "N hole(s) written to N table(s) in folder."

What is written

Numbers use a point and the files are comma-separated, UTF-8 with a byte-order mark. An empty cell is no value. Existing files with these names in the folder are overwritten. A write error is shown as a message with the system's text.

QA/QC of Assays

Checks assays by the lab's control samples: standards on control charts, blanks against a limit, and duplicates against their originals. The window does not block the program.

Where to find it

Geology tab → Drillholes group → QA/QC of Assays ("QA/QC of assays"). The results kept with the project are shown when the window opens.

Before you start

A CSV of the control samples. Columns are found by their usual header names: a type column (STD, BLK, DUP) and a value column are required; optional are the standard's name, the expected value, the standard deviation (SD), the original sample's value (for duplicates) and the order run (otherwise the row order is used). Rows of no known type are left out and counted. A value like <0.01 is read as half the limit.

How to

1. Click QA/QC of Assays and press Open results…; choose the CSV.
2. In the Standards tab pick the Standard: its results are drawn in the order run, with the expected value, ±2 SD and ±3 SD lines.
3. In the Blanks tab type the Limit: a blank above it is contaminated.
4. In the Duplicates tab type the Tolerance, %: duplicates whose half absolute relative difference (HARD) is within it pass. The chart plots the original against the duplicate with the 1:1 line and the tolerance lines.
5. To keep the results press Keep in the project; they replace the ones kept before (one undo step, "Keep QA/QC results"). The button works only for results just opened from a file.

Parameters

Each tab has a summary: standards ("name: N result(s), mean N against N expected (bias); outside 2 SD: N, outside 3 SD (failed): N."), blanks ("N blank(s), N above limit; the highest N.") and duplicates ("N duplicate(s): share within tolerance HARD; mean HARD N.").

If something goes wrong

Ore Body from Samples

Builds a closed wireframe of the ore from the drillholes' values above a cut-off, without drawing contours (implicit modelling). Each interval, taken at its middle, is inside the body when its value is at or above the cut-off; the surface runs between inside and outside points.

Where to find it

Geology tab → Geological model group → Ore Body from Samples ("Ore body from samples"). Available when some drillhole has samples; otherwise "No drillhole has samples."

How to

1. Click Ore Body from Samples. A parameter window opens.
2. Set the parameters and press Build.
3. The body is built in the background with a progress display ("Building the body") that you can cancel.
4. A message reports "A body of N m³ from N of N interval(s) at or above N."

Parameters

What is created

One mesh on the active layer, in one undo step. Only intervals with a value in the chosen column count.

If something goes wrong

What next

Ore Intercepts · Drillhole Section