Geology

Training Manual
MAPTEK Pty Ltd

VULCAN 4 Training Manual

Copyright

2003 Maptek Pty Limited

All rights reserved. No part of this manual shall be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without written
permission from Maptek Pty Ltd. No patent liability is assumed with
respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although
every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this manual,
the publisher and author(s) assume no responsibility for errors or
omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting
from the use of the information contained herein.

Trademarks
Microsoft Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft
Corporation.
AutoCAD is a registered trademark of Autodesk.

Conventions used in this manual

The following conventions are used throughout this manual.
Examples are written in bold italics.
Important points or references are written in bold.

Tip!
Hints, tips and warnings are in written between horizontal lines.

Contacting Maptek
Corporate
Web:

http://www.maptek.com.au

VULCAN product
Website:

http://www.vulcan3d.com

Sales
Email:

Australia: [email protected]
North America: [email protected]
South America: [email protected]
Europe: [email protected]

Web:

http://www.maptek.com.au/contact/contact.html

Telephone: Australia: 61-8-8338 9222

North America: 1-303-763 4919
South America: 56-2-234 4608
Europe: 44-115-947 2000

Support
Email:

Australia: [email protected]
North America: [email protected]
South America: [email protected]
Europe: [email protected]

Web:

http://www.vulcan3d.com/support.html

Telephone: Australia: 61-8-6211 0099

North America: 1-303-763 4919
South America: 56-2-234 4608
ii

Europe: 44-115-947 2000

iii

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 : Introduction............................................................1
Chapter 2 : Database Management.............................................2
Design Format......................................................................... 3
Library Dictionary................................................................3
Headered Template...............................................................3
ODBC Design.......................................................................4
Creating a Design (Datasheet)..................................................4
Importing Data........................................................................ 8
Chapter 3 : Geology Drilling......................................................9
Introduction............................................................................. 9
Loading Drillholes....................................................................9
Opening a drillhole database.................................................9
Loading Drillholes By Name.................................................10
Loading Drillholes By Section..............................................11
Loading Drillholes By Polygon..............................................11
Load Drillholes By Sel File (selection file)..............................12
Load Drillholes By Extent....................................................12
Load Drillhole Collar Positions.............................................13
Modelling a structure logged by drilling..................................13
Onscreen Drillhole Analysis....................................................15
Identifying Drillholes..............................................................16
Labelling Drillholes................................................................17
Changing the Colour of Drillholes...........................................17
Interactive Composite Display.................................................18
Chapter 4 : Legends................................................................. 20
Creating a new Legend...........................................................20
Editing a Legend Schema.......................................................22
Deleting a Legend...................................................................22
Chapter 5 : Features................................................................23
Creating a Feature..................................................................24
Modifying a feature.................................................................25
Deleting Features...................................................................26
Chapter 6 : Compositing..........................................................27
Generating Composite Parameter Files....................................28
iv

Contents
Run Length Compositing Technique......................................28
Creating a Composite File.......................................................30
Displaying Composite Files.....................................................31
Chapter 7 : Geological Interpretations.....................................33
Creating the Interpretation.....................................................34
Chapter 8 : Statistics..............................................................38
Setting up your Statistics Session...........................................38
Selecting the Data for Statistics..............................................39
ISIS Databases...................................................................39
Mapfiles............................................................................. 41
Graphing Statistical Data.......................................................43
Chapter 9 : Appendix 1............................................................46
Glossary of Terms..................................................................46
Data file:...............................................................................................46
Database (DB):.....................................................................................46
Database Listing (dbl):.........................................................................46
Datasheet and Datasheet name (dsn):...................................................46
Design Database (dgd):........................................................................46
Drillhole Database:...............................................................................46
Fields:...................................................................................................46
Index File:............................................................................................46
ISIS Database system:..........................................................................47
Key:......................................................................................................47
Mandatory (field):................................................................................47
Optional Dataset Identifier <odi>:........................................................47
Project Code <proj>:............................................................................47
Record:.................................................................................................47
Synonym:.............................................................................................47

Chapter 1: Introduction
This manual introduces you to
some of the skills required and
tools available to complete
geological tasks in VULCAN.
These tasks include creating
databases, importing data into
databases, generating
composited files from drillhole
databases and producing
geological interpretations.

about lithology, bleaching,

structure and assays. A
simulated geological
interpretation has been
performed on some of the
available lenses. These lenses
are labelled TQ1 through to TQ3.
Refer to Appendix 1 for an
explanation of the files within
the course directory.

The training course uses a

public domain dataset of the Sin
Quyen deposit in Vietnam. This
is a large undeveloped
copper/gold deposit located
within the Da River Mobile Belt
of northern Vietnam.
Seventeen ore bodies occur in
the form of veins or chains of
lenses developed along shear
fractures in metasomatised host
rocks which include gneissic
granites, mica schists and
metasomatites.
The dataset covers a small part
of the deposit. It has been
altered to simulate structural
and bleaching information not
available from the original data.
The drillhole database contains
77 drillholes, with information
1

Chapter 2: Database
Management
Databases are managed using
the Isis Database Editor. Isis
replaces the previous database
editor called Dbeute.
Data used in VULCAN is
managed using the ISIS Database system. The following
terms are used throughout:
VULCAN Databases
VULCAN uses two broad types of
databases, namely, those
containing data originating from
a source external to VULCAN,
and those generated by VULCAN.
An example of the first type of
database might be a Drillhole
Database. The second type of
database is typically a Design
Database containing spatial
information (<proj><name>.dgd
and <proj><name>.dgx).
In the first case, the external
source databases have a flexible
database structure that is
defined by the user, and are
flexible in how they are named.
The second type of database has
a rigid structure, with less

flexible naming routines. When

both of the above types of
databases are generated, a
database index file is
automatically generated.
The type of data contained in a
database is denoted by the data
type suffix i.e. <----->.suffix.
This is the Design Name
(referred to as Datasheet Name
in previous versions) <dsn>. File
prefixes are made up of the
Project Code <proj> and an
Optional Dataset Identifier <odi>.
As the name suggests, the
dataset identifier is optional, and
is designed to allow the user to
easily distinguish between
databases, particularly those
containing the same types of
data. Therefore database names
take the form:
<proj> <odi>.<dsn>
For user-defined designs
(formerly datasheets) it is a good
idea to use a set of standard
design (datasheet) names
depending on the type of
information in the database.
These names are not mandatory
but provide for more convenient
usage. The names commonly
used include:

dhd - drillhole database

geo - lithological database

2

asy - assay database

anl - analytical database

phy - geophysical database

srv - survey database

Three design formats can be

used in VULCAN:

tek - geotechnical database

Library dictionary

Headered template

ODBC design

(N.B. All geotechnical databases

must use tek as the datasheet
name.)

Design Format

Library Dictionary
Databases generated by VULCAN
have the following datasheet
names:

dsr - downhole survey

The library dictionary design is a

standard Isis design and
consists of the files:

dgd - spatial (design)

rsv - reserve inventory

<env><dsn>.ilb Design library

Each database requires an index

file of the form:
<proj> <odi>.<-->x
where the file extension is
comprised of the first two letters
of the <dsn> plus x, e.g. dhx,
gex, asx, anx, phx, srx, tex, dsx,
dgx and rsx.
In this course we will
concentrate on the types of
databases containing data that
originated from a source external
to VULCAN, such as drillhole
databases.

<env>dd.ilb Index to library

where
<env> = environment code
<dsn> = design name
dd = design definition
The design information includes
tables and records. Synonyms
are stored in a separate,
automatically created, design:
<env><dsn>.syn - the synonym
design
<env>dd.syn - the index to the
synonym sheet

Headered Template
3

The headered template design is

an optimised Isis design that can
be used for drillholes, samples,
geotechnical and compositing
information (not for design data).
It consists of a single file:
<name>.dsf Design file that
stores all the information on
the design
The design information includes
tables, records, keys, synonyms,
desurvey information, validation
checks and the version of the
headered data system used in
the creation of the design.
Once a database has been
created, the design information
becomes part of the database
(placed at the start of the
database, hence the name
headered). Any future access to
the database will be via the
database.

the design information includes

a flag indicating the design is for
use with external ODBC
compliant databases such as MS
Access or MS Excel. External
ODBC compliant databases are
accessed within VULCAN
through a temporary database
that contains a copy of all the
VULCAN data in the external
database. Work is performed on
the copy and when finished is
written back to the external
database.
Headered and ODBC databases
do not require desurveying.
These database types desurvey
on the fly.
To create a new Headered
Database, first we must create a
Database Design.

Creating a Design (Datasheet)

VULCAN V4.0 and later uses, by
default, the headered design
setup.

ODBC Design
The ODBC design is identical to
a headered design, except that

A design (referred to as a
datasheet in previous versions)
specifies the structure of a
database. Within the design you
can set the number of tables
(formerly referred to as records),
fields, field lengths, synonyms,
default values etc.

To check field contents and

length specifications when
creating the design, we
recommend that you open an
existing database or the tables
from which the data will be
imported. In this case, open (in
Excel) the four ASCII files,
Cscollar.asc, Csassay.asc,
Cssurvey.asc and Csgeol.asc.

Designs and databases are

displayed as either a Notebook or
as multiple floating windows.
You can change the display
method by using the View >
Preferences option. However, the
display of open designs and
databases is not affected.
5.

Exercise 1-1 Create database

In this exercise you will create a
standard drillhole database.
1.

Left click on the VULCAN

Workbench Start button and
select ISIS.

2.

Cancel the Open Database

panel.

3.

Select the File > New Design

option.

4.

Leave the default Headered

template option checked and
type DHD in the Design field
then select OK.
6.

An empty design will be

displayed.

In the Design Properties

section of the design enter,
or select from the drop-down
lists, the following
information. Bold text
indicates the field in which
to enter the information.

a.

Description
Exploration Holes

b.

Type Drilling

c.

ODBC Link No

d.

Desurvey Style
Tangent

Select the Table Insert menu

to display the first table for
you to complete, Figure 1.1.

Tip!

Figure 1-1 Design with one table

7.

In the Table Properties

section of the panel enter, or
select from the drop-down
lists, the following
information. Bold text
indicates the field in which
to enter the information.
a.

Name Collar

b.

Description borehole
ids and location

c.

Synonyms
HoleId,Location
You will need to enter
manually the Location
synonym. Be sure to
place a comma (but no
space) between the
synonyms.

8.

Fill in the Collar table as

shown in the table below.
Use the Cscollar.asc file as a
guide.

Name

Type

Description

BHID
EAST

Text
Double

NORTH

Double

RL

Single

DEPTH

Single

drillhole name
collar easting
location
collar northing
location
collar
elevation
total depth

Table 2-1 Data required to

complete Collar table.

Tip!
There are four possible types:
text, integer, single and double.
Use Text for fields that contain
any alphabet characters, Integer
for fields that contain integer
values (i.e. the positive and
negative whole numbers), Single
for fields that contain numeric
data with fewer than seven (7)
significant figures and Double
for fields that contain numeric
data with seven (7) or more
significant figures.
9.

To add the Key to the BHID

field, right click on the cell to
the left of the Name field
and select Primary Key.

The Field Properties section of

the table panel (lower right hand
corner) varies with each field. To
access the properties for a
particular field, left click in the
Name cell. Steps 10 and 11
below set the field properties for
the BHID field.
10. Left click in the BHID cell.
11. In the Field Properties
section of the panel enter, or
select from the drop-down
lists, the following
information. Bold text
indicates the field in which
to enter the information.

a.

Length Use your

Cscollar.asc file to
determine the length of
this field.

b.

Required Yes

c.

Synonyms HoleId

Tip!

15. In the Table Properties

section of the new table
enter, or select from the
drop-down lists, the
following information. Bold
text indicates the field in
which to enter the
information.
a.

Name Survey

b.

Description survey
data

c.

Synonyms Survey

In the Field Properties panel, if

you select Yes in the Required
field, then data in the associated
field in your relevant ASCII file
must be complete. All key fields
should be required. Also, only
use a synonym if you can find
the match for your field.

16. Enter the field properties for

each field (follow steps 10 to
13).

12. Complete steps 10 to 12 for

the remaining fields.

The Survey Table is displayed in

Figure 1-2.

13. Select the File > Save option.

This completes the design for the
first table. We will now create the
Survey table.
14. Select the Table/Append
option.

Figure 1-2 Survey Table

You have now created two tables.
Try to create the remaining two
tables (Geol and Assay) yourself.

Tip!
The Insert option places a table
before the currently selected
table, whereas the Append
option places the table after the
currently selected table.

The Geol table is displayed in

Figure 1-3 and the Assay table
in Figure 1-4.

4.

Enter the Optional Database Identifier (ODI)

CSVLOAD.

5.

Leave the remaining panel

options set to their default
and select Next.

6.

Select Cscollars.asc from

the Collar drop-down list.

7.

Select the Collar set field

connections radio button
and select Next.

8.

Use the drop-down lists to

match the appropriate data
file to the database field, i.e.
BHID to BHID, and select
OK.

9.

Select Cssurvey.asc from

the Survey drop-down list.

Figure 1-3 Geol Table

Figure 1-4 Assay Table

Once you are sure that your
database is correct, save the
design and then exit Isis.

Importing Data
In this exercise you will use the
Envisage > File > Import CSV
option to import the data into a
database created on the fly from
your design.

Exercise 1-2- Importing Data

1.

Select the File > Import

Export > Import CSV option.

2.

Change the data file

extension to .asc.

3.

Select the design (datasheet)

name DHD from the Data
Sheet Name drop-down list.

10. Select the Survey set field

connections radio button
and select Next.
11. Select BHID from the Index
Field drop-down list.
12. Use the drop-down lists to
match the appropriate data
file to the database field, i.e.
AZIM to BRG, and select OK.
13. Repeat steps 10 to 12 for the
remaining ASCII files (i.e.
Csassay.asc and Csgeol.asc)
and select Next when the
Data File to record
connections panel is
redisplayed.

14. Save the specifications as

ASCIMPORT.
The drillhole data will now be
imported (the progress of the
importing will be displayed on
the screen) and the CSVLOAD
database will be created.

Exercise 1-3 Displaying drillholes

1.

Select the Geology > Drilling

> Open Database option.

2.

Select DHD from the

Datasheet name drop-down
list.

3.

Select CSVLOAD from the

Optional Database
Identifier drop-down list.

4.

Select the Geology > Drilling

> Load By Name option.

5.

Leave the Load Drillholes

panel set to its default
values. This will ensure that
all of the drillholes are
loaded.

6.

Select a colour scheme for

the drillholes.

Chapter 3: Geology
Drilling

Loading Drillholes

Introduction

Opening a drillhole database

The options under the Geology

Drilling Menu allow you to:

Before loading drillholes

onscreen we must first open the
drillhole database. Remember
our database is called
thordemo.dhd.

Load drillholes onscreen.

Model structures logged in

drillholes.

Analyse drillholes.

Change the displayed

colour schema of selected
drillholes.

Display/edit the downhole

survey data for drillholes.

Access the Full Screen

Editor.

Load data into a VULCAN

database.

We have already examined the

last two options listed above in
the section on Database
Manipulation. In this section we
will cover all of the other options,
and also explore the Feature Edit
and Legend Edit options. Lets
first look at the different ways to
load drillholes onscreen.

Exercise 2 - To open a drillhole

database
1.

Select
Geology>Drilling>Open.

Figure 3-1 Open Drillhole

database
2.

In the Open Geological

Database panel select the
Datasheet Name box and
select the required
datasheet, i.e. select DHD,
Figure 3-1.

3.

Enter the Optional Database

Identifier, i.e. enter DEMO.

4.

Select OK.

Nothing will appear to have

happened but the database has
been opened.
There are five different ways to
load drillholes onscreen:

By Name

By Section

By Polygon

By Sel File (selection file)

By Extent

Tip!
To remove drillholes from the
screen select
Geology>Drilling>Remove.

Loading Drillholes By Name

This option allows you to load
drillholes by their drillhole
identifiers. Wild cards may be
used, either * for multiple
characters, or % for a single
character.

Tip!
This option will not work if the
screen has been set to a view
using
View>Change>View>Section.

Exercise 3 - Loading drillholes By

Name
1.

Select Geology>Drilling>Load
By Name.

2.

In the panel enter the

drillhole name required or
use wildcards, i.e. enter *,
Figure 3-2.

Figure 3-2 Loading drillhole

database by name
3.

Select the colour schema to

load holes by, i.e. select CU,
Figure 3-3.

Figure 3-3 Drillhole colour

schema
4.

The drillholes will then be

loaded onscreen. To remove
the name panel select
Cancel.

Tip!

To view the name of a drillhole

onscreen hover the cursor over
the drillhole trace.

Loading Drillholes By Section

This option allows you to load
drillholes by a distance from a
given section line. A section line
must be created before using
this option. Only those
drillholes whose collars are
within the bounds of the section
line will be loaded.

Tip!
Drillholes may be loaded into a
section view using this option.

Exercise 4 - Load drillholes By

Section
1.

Select >Files>Design
Files>List Layers.

2.

Select OK.

3.

Select the layer named

SECTION. This will load a
layer of drill section strings.

4.

Cancel.

5.

Select Geology>Drilling>Load
By Section.

6.

Select the section line.

7.

Enter the section width in

the panel, i.e. enter 100,
Figure 3-4.

Figure 3-4 Enter the section

width
8.

9.

Select the colour schema to

load drillholes by, i.e. select
LITH.
The drillholes whose collars
fall within the designated
area will then be loaded.

Tip!
The width is divided equally to
each side of the line. In this
case the section will extend 50m
either side of your section line.

Loading Drillholes By Polygon

This option allows you to load
drillholes whose collars lie inside
a planar polygon. A polygon
must be created before using
this option.

Exercise 5 - Load drillholes By

Polygon

1.

Select >Files>Design
Files>List Layers.

2.

Select OK.

3.

Select the layer named

POLYGON. This will load a
layer of drill selection
polygons.

4.

Cancel.

5.

Select Geology>Drilling>Load
By Polygon.

6.

Select the polygon.

7.

Select the colour schema to

load drillholes by, i.e. select
LITH.

8.

The drillholes whose collars

fall within the designated
polygon will then be loaded.

Load Drillholes By Sel File

(selection file)
This option allows you to load
drillholes using a selection file.
A selection file must be created
before using this option.
Although a selection file may be
created manually, it is generally
the output of a database query.

Exercise 6 Load drillholes By Sel

File

1.

Select Geology>Drilling>Load
By Sel File.

2.

Select the selection file from

the pick list, i.e. select
thordemoa.sel, Figure 3-5.

1.

Select Geology>Drilling>Load
By Extent.

2.

Enter the minimum and

maximum x, y, z coordinates
in the Load Drillholes panel.
Enter X min. 78000, X max.
78200, Y min. 4400, Y max.
4800, Z min. -1000, Z max.
1000, Figure 3-6.

Figure 3-5 Load by selection

file panel
3.

Select the colour schema to

load drillholes by, i.e. select
LITH.

4.

The drillholes whose

identifier exists in the
selection file will then be
loaded.

A selection file can also be

created using Geology>Drilling
Utilities>Create Selection File.
Try creating your own selection
file by using the VULCAN help.

Figure 3-6 Define the area for

loading drillholes
3.

Select the colour schema to

load drillholes by, i.e. select
LITH.

4.

The drillholes whose collars

lie within the coordinates
entered will then be loaded.

Load Drillhole Collar Positions

Load Drillholes By Extent
This option allows you to load
drillholes by specifying the
coordinate extent of the area of
interest.

Exercise 7 Load drillholes By

Extent

The Location option allows you

to load the collar positions of all
holes as points. These points
may be labelled to show the
drillhole names and then plotted
as a drillhole collar position plot
if required.

Exercise 8 Load drillholes by

location

Tip!
To load the collar positions of a
drillhole database:
1.

Select
Geology>Drilling>Location.

2.

In the drillhole name panel,

enter the drillhole names to
load, Figure 3-7.

Collar positions are loaded as

points in the layer DIG$DRILL.
If you wish to save these points
transfer them to another layer.

Modelling a structure logged

by drilling

Figure 3-7 Load by drillhole

name panel
3.

The drillhole locations are

then loaded onscreen,
Figure 3-8.

Figure 3-8 Drillhole collar

locations
4.

Cancel.

VULCAN allows you to model a

structure which has been logged
in the drillholes. The structure
may be a fault or the top or
bottom of a particular horizon.

Exercise 9-1 Model a structure

logged by drilling
1.

Load the drillholes onscreen

by the colour schema, which
contains the structure to be
modelled. For example if it
is an ore intercept, load
holes by LITH.

2.

Select
Geology>Drilling>Model.

3.

In the Model Horizon panel,

enter the field name where
the structure is recorded, i.e.
LITH, Figure 3-9.

other parameters if required,

Figure 3-10.
7.

Select OK when finished.

Figure 3-10 Model create panel

Figure 3-9 The model horizon
panel
4.

5.

We shall model a single

horizon. Enter the code
used for the structure in the
database, i.e. enter TQ1.
Select the Save horizon
points box and enter a layer
name and description. For
example layer name POINTS,
and description TQ1
INTERCEPTS.

6.

Select OK.

7.

In the Model Create panel

alter the grid mesh size and

9.

Indicate the origin point for

the model: select an
arbitrary point in the lower
left of the model area.

10. Indicate the maximum

extent of the model area:
select an arbitrary point in
the upper right of the model
area.
11. Confirm the modelling
operation: select model from
the confirm box,
Figure 3-11.

Figure 3-11 Confirm create

model
12. A panel for the triangulation
name and properties will
then be displayed. Select
the Solid shaded surface
button and choose a colour
for the triangulation,
Figure 3-12.

Examine these surfaces closely

to determine the difference
between the grid and the
triangulation. You should find
that the triangulation passes
through the intercept points
exactly and that the grid is
smoothed so that it does not
honour the intercept points.

Exercise 9-2 Model a structure

logged by drilling
Experiment modelling other
surfaces in the database.

Onscreen Drillhole Analysis

In the Geology drilling menu
there are some useful options
that allow you to interactively
interrogate onscreen drillholes
as an aid to onscreen
interpretations.

Figure 3-12 Naming the

triangulation and setting
properties
13. The structure will then be
displayed as a grid and a
triangulation.

Identify a drillhole.

Step through and display

each record for a drillhole.

Label drillholes by any field.

Reload a drillhole by another

colour schema.

Interactively composite a
drillhole.

To use these options you must

load a drillhole database
onscreen.
It is a good idea to change view
into a sectional view to avoid
cluttering the screen. To do this
select >View>Create Section, and
select the method to change your
view, i.e. select by points and
indicate two points in the plane
of a drill section, Figure 3-13.

1.

Position the screen in a

section view with the
drillholes displayed.

2.

Select
Geology>Drilling>/Identify.

3.

Select the drillhole to

identify.

4.

The drillhole will be

highlighted and labelled with
its identifier. The COLLAR
information will then be
displayed in the Envisage
report window and a confirm
box will appear, Figure 3-14.

Figure 3-14 Identifying a

drillhole on screen
Figure 3-13 Create Section
panel

Identifying Drillholes
Exercise 10 Identify onscreen
drillholes

5.

Select the Next Header

Record to view the next
record in the database
(Figure 3-15) or select
Intercept to pick a drill
intercept directly.

Figure 3-15 Drillhole

information as reported in the
Envisage report window.
6.

Cancel using the right

mouse button to exit.

Labelling Drillholes
Onscreen drillholes may be
labelled by any field in the record
currently used to load the holes.

4.

Select the field to use from

the pick list, i.e. select LITH.

5.

The selected hole will then

be labelled.

6.

Select the next hole to label,

etc, Figure 3-16.

7.

Cancel when finished.

Tip!
Labelling many drillholes can
degrade workstation
performance, therefore only label
those holes that are required.
To remove drillhole labels select
Geology>Drilling>Label Off.

For example, if drillholes are

loaded by LITH, this field is in
the GEOL record, the other
available fields for labelling are
FROM, TO and WIDTH.

Exercise 11 Labelling drillholes

on screen
1.

Select
Geology>Drilling>Label On.

2.

Select the selection criteria

to label holes, i.e. select by
object. This will label only
the selected hole.

3.

Select the drillhole to label.

Figure 3-16 Labelling

drillholes on screen.

hole is recoloured using the CU

schema.

Changing the Colour of

Drillholes
Onscreen drillholes may be
recoloured by any field in the
record currently used to load the
holes.
For example, if drillholes are
loaded by CU, this field is in the
ASSAY record, the other
available fields for colouring are
FROM, TO, AU, RECOV, WIDTH,
BLEACH.
Figure 3-17 Changing the
schema colour of a loaded
Drillhole

Exercise 12 Colouring an
onscreen hole by another schema
1.

Open your Drillhole

database.

Interactive Composite Display

2.

Load drillholes by name.

3.

Select the colour schema to

use, i.e. select AU.

4.

Select
Geology>Drilling>Colour.

5.

Select the drillhole to colour.

6.

Select the colour schema to

use, i.e. select CU.

This option allows you to

interactively interrogate a
drillhole for composited (length
weighted) grades over user
defined intervals. The results
are displayed next to the hole as
well as in a report window.

7.

Cancel using the right

mouse button to exit.

Figure 3-17 shows drillholes

initially loaded by AU, then one

Exercise 13 Interrogating a
Drillhole for a composite grade
1.

Select
Geology>Drilling>Composite.

2.

Select the composite field

from the schema pick list,
i.e. select AU.

3.

Enter the number of

decimals to be displayed,
i.e. 3.

4.

Select the drillhole. The hole

will be highlighted.

5.

Select the start intercept

(Note: the start intercept will
be chosen from the TO
position).

6.

Select the end intercept

(Note: the end intercept will
be chosen from the TO
position).

7.

The start and end intercepts,

plus the composite length
and grade, will be displayed
on the selected drillhole as
well as in the report window,
Figures 3-18 and 3-19. The
vector components of the
composite interval are also
displayed in the report
window.

Figure 3-18 Onscreen display

of drillhole composite

Figure 3-19 Display from

report window showing
composite and vector
component of the composite
8.

Continue selecting composite

intervals.

9.

Cancel using the right

mouse button to finish.

Onscreen drillhole analysis

options can also be accessed
using the contents menu. Click
on the drillhole you wish to
interrogate then click the right
mouse button. The contents
menu will appear that relates to
drillholes, Figure 3-20.

Figure 3-20 Contents menu

for drillholes

Chapter 4: Legends
To display drillholes or composite
files onscreen, a colour schema
(legend) must be defined. If no
colour schema exists then you
will be prompted for the ranges
and colours every time you wish
to load drillholes or composites.
Colour schemas may be defined
for both numeric and
alphanumeric fields. The colour
schemas are stored in the
<proj>.scd file. In this section
we will look at how the existing
colour schemas are defined, how
to create new colour schemas
and modify existing ones.

Figure 4-21 Cu drillhole

schema
Using the legend display option
displays the schema in its own
window. To display the schema
in the client area use the
Analyse>Legend Edit>Draw
Legend option.

Exercise 14 Viewing a colour

schema
Creating a new Legend
1.

Select Analyse>Display By
Legend.

2.

Select the type of schema to

view, i.e. select DRILL.

3.

Select the legend to view, i.e.

select CU.

4.

The following legend will

then be displayed,
Figure 4-1.

Lets create a new test legend for

the CU field in our
thordemoa.dhd database.

Exercise 15 Creating a new

schema (legend)
1.

Select Analyse>Legend
Edit>Create.

2.

Select the type of legend to

create, i.e. select DRILL.

3.

Enter the legend identifier,

i.e. TEST, Figure 4-2. If
required you could select the
Use other colour table as
default option. This would
allow you to copy another
legend. For now ignore this.

Figure 4-22 Colour table

identifier panel in the create
legend option
4.

In the database field panel

enter the field name for this
legend, i.e. CU, Figure 4-3.

5.

Select Alpha or Numeric, i.e.

select numeric.

6.

Enter the record name, i.e.

enter ASSAY.

7.

Enter the To field name, i.e.

enter TO.

8.

Enter the From field name,

i.e. enter FROM.

9.

Select the use colour for

non-logged intervals. Select
a colour, i.e.grey.

10. Select GELT for Range mode.

11. Select OK.

Figure 4-23 Database fields

panel from create legend
option

Tip!
The field and record names must
match the datasheet otherwise
the colours will be incorrect.
12. Enter the colour ranges in
the From & To boxes and
select the appropriate colour
for the interval, Figure 4-4.

When creating an Alpha schema,

wild cards such as TQ*, can be
used. This would result in the
drillhole codes, such as TQ1,
TQ2 and TQ3a, all being
displayed as the same colour.

Editing a Legend Schema

Figure 4-24 The colour range
panel

Tip!
To add or delete rows from your
legend click the right mouse
button on the left-most column
to display the contents menu,
Figure 4-5.

Figure 4-25 Contents menu

for schema creation
11. When finished select OK.
12. Display the drillholes using
the new legend.

Tip!

Lets modify the legend we just

created. For example change the
grade ranges to highlight the
lower assay grades.

Exercise 16 Editing an existing

schema (legend)
1.

Select Analyse>Legend
Edit>Modify.

2.

Select the Schema type to

modify, i.e. select DRILL.

3.

Select the legend to modify,

i.e. select TEST.

4.

Select OK in the Database

Field panel.

5.

In the Colour Ranges panel

alter the ranges and colours
as required.

6.

Select OK when finished.

7.

Display the drillholes using

the new legend.

Deleting a Legend

Exercise 17 Deleting a legend

from the schema file
1.

Select
Analyse>Legend Edit>Delete.

2.

Select the type of legend to

delete, i.e. select DRILL.

3.

Select the legend to delete.

4.

The legend will then be

deleted from the colour
schema file.

Chapter 5: Features
Features may be used to assign a
set of properties to objects
typically when the objects are
created. This ensures that all
objects of a particular type have
the same properties. A fairly
typical example of this is when
digitising known structures or
lithological contacts. A feature is
defined for each structure or
contact. When that feature is
used to digitise these objects we
can be assured that they will
have the desired properties.
Features may also be used to aid
in object selection for editing or
transforming. We are simply
assigning objects to sub-groups
by feature name. Then when
selecting objects we may select
by feature instead of object,
group or layer.
In this section we will look at
some existing features, see how
to create new features and
modify existing ones.
The layers which represent the
geological zones were all digitised
using features to assign unique
properties to each layer. Load
the layer TQ1 and interrogate it

using the information icon or

Analyse>Details>Full option.
You will see that the layer name
is TQ1, its description is TQ1 ore
zone, it belongs to the feature
TQ1. We will now see that each
of these properties was set in
advance in the feature TQ1.

Exercise 18 Viewing an existing

defined feature
1.

Select
Design>Feature Edit>Modify.

2.

Select TQ1 from the list.

3.

The first panel defines the

feature description, the layer
name, TQ1, and layer
description, TQ1 ore zone.

4.

Select the NEXT button to

move to the next panel.

5.

The second panel defines the

object properties such as
colour, line thickness,
grouping etc. Notice the
colour is bright green, the
line is solid and group name
is TQ1.

6.

Select the arrow in the top

right of the panel to move to
the next panel.

7.

The final panel defines the

point properties such as
name, gradient, input mode
etc. Notice we are
connecting points as a
string. If this is not selected,

objects will occur as nonconnected points.

8.

Select Cancel to exit.

3.

Enter the feature

description, i.e. enter TEST
FEATURE, Figure 5-2.

4.

Lets ask the feature to

prompt us for a layer. Select
the prompt button under
layer Name and Description.
Type Enter Layer Name:.

5.

Lets also ask the feature to

prompt us for a layer
description. Type Enter
layer Description:.

6.

Select NEXT.

Creating a Feature
Lets create a feature that we will
use to digitise blue polygons
filled with a diagonal line
pattern.

Exercise 19 Creating a new

feature
1.

Select Design>Feature>Edit>
Create.

2.

Enter the feature name, i.e.

POLY, Figure 5-1.
Select OK.

Figure 5-26 Feature name

panel

Figure 5-27 Layer and Object

name for feature
7.

In the object attributes panel

force the layer to be blue,
with solid line type and
diagonal pattern, Figure 5-3.

8.

Select the create closed

polygon option.

9.

Select the create new object

on cancel option.

10. Select NEXT.

12. Select FINISH.

13. Cancel at the feature name
panel.
14. Use this feature to create
some polygons onscreen.
15. Select
Design>Create>Features.
16. Select feature POLY.

Figure 5-28 Object attribute

panel for feature
11. In the Digitising panel select
connect points as string,
Figure 5-4.

Figure 5-29 Digitise panel for

features

Modifying a feature
In the first part of this section
we looked at the features used to
create the ore zones for tq1,
tq1a, tq2, tq3 and nfault. At
present if we wanted to label
each of the objects with its layer
name we would have to change
the object name for each object
from the default to the layer
name. If we had thought a little
more about how we were going to
use these objects we could have
assigned the appropriate name
on creating the objects. However
we can still do this by modifying
our original feature and then
applying the feature to the
existing layers.

Exercise 20 Modifying a feature.

1.

Select the feature TQ1 for

modification.

2.

In the layer/object name

panel force the object name
to be TQ1 and the object
description to be tq1 ore
zone.

3.

Select OK for each remaining

panel.

4.

Apply the feature TQ1 to the

tq1 layer by layer. i.e. Select
Design>Attribute
Edit>Feature.

5.

Select by layer.

6.

Select the layer TQ1.

7.

Select the feature TQ1.

8.

Open a report window and

check the new object name
values.

9.

We could now label each

object with its layer name.
Try this.

How else might we modify these

features to display useful
information or aid in our
digitising of these objects? You
may like to force all these strings
to be digitised clockwise
regardless of the actual direction
they were digitised in. Or you
may want to force a point name
or get the feature to prompt you
for a point name. Examine some
of the different properties that
are available to you.

Exercise 21 Designing a feature

In the Geological Interpretation
section of this course we are
going to use feature to define our
ore zones. Design features for
the following ore zones:

BTQ1

BTQ1a

BTQ2

BTQ3 and

a fault.

Deleting Features
Exercise 22 Deleting a feature
1.

Select
Design>Feature Edit>Delete.

2.

Select the feature to delete.

3.

The feature will then be

deleted.

Chapter 6: Compositing
Compositing is a method of
averaging assay values
throughout a drillhole database.
It is commonly used to remove
sampling bias as a precursor to
block modelling. It also has the
effect of smoothing assays across
drillholes.
VULCAN allows various types of
compositing techniques to be
used as required:

Straight. This creates an

ASCII copy of an ISIS
drillhole database.

Run Length. This creates a

composite file with user
defined fixed length sample
intervals.

Bench. This method will

create one composite per
user defined bench interval.

Intersect Select. This

allows the user to generate
the longest composite
intervals possible above a
specified grade cut-off.

Geology. This will create

one composite interval per
lithological zone.

In this section we will cover each

of these techniques, focusing
mainly on the Run Length
technique, as this tends to be
the most commonly used
method.
The compositing menu is divided
into three sections, Figure 6-1:

Generation

Running

Viewing

Generation

Running
Viewing

Figure 6-30 Compositing

Menu
The options under Generation
allow you to create parameter
files to store the composite
information. These files may be
recalled for use at any time or
edited to obtain new results.
The Running options allow you
to use the parameter files to
create composite ASCII files
(mapfiles) or composite database
files (ISIS database files).

The Viewing options allow you to

display the composite files
onscreen.

desired you could choose a

parameter file to copy from,
Figure 6-2.

Generating Composite
Parameter Files

Figure 6-31 Run Length

Compositing panel

In this section we will look at

how to create composite
parameter files.

Run Length Compositing

Technique
The Run Length composite
option allows you to set up a
parameter file that will generate
fixed length composite intervals
(except for the end of hole,
geological or triangulation
boundaries).

Exercise 22 Creating a Run

Length parameter file
1.

Select Geology>Compositing
>Run Length.

2.

Enter the new parameter file

name, i.e. enter RUNL. If

3.

Select the datasheet from

the pick list, i.e. select DHD.

4.

In the Composite Creation

panel enter the optional
datasheet identifier, i.e. enter
DEMOA, Figure 6-3.

5.

Select Breakdown by geology

6.

Select OK. The rest of the

options may be left as
default.

Breakdown by
geology: This option will
cause the process to
restart the compositing
from a lithological
boundary defined by a
field in the database.

Record majority
geology codes: This option
creates two new fields; the
first stores the majority
lithological code in the
interval and the second
stores its percentage.

Missing data: This

option allows the user to
either ignore values
flagged as missing data
(i.e. those equal to the
value assigned) or to
replace them with a user
defined value.

Non-sampled data:
This option works in the
same way as Missing data.

Assign a value to
data not logged: This
option allows the user to
assign a value to data that
is not included in the
drillhole log, i.e. where an
interval has not been
assayed.

Figure 6-32 Composite

Creation Menu panel
7.

Enter the composite length,

i.e. enter 1.0 for composite
intervals of 1.0 metre,
Figure 6-4.

Use selection file: This

option allows the use of a
selection file to composite
only a select group of
holes.

Abort compositing
for holes with errors: Use
this option to exclude any
holes containing logical
errors, i.e. from/to
overlaps etc.

Figure 6-33 Run Length

Composite Menu panel
8.

Select the geology and assay

records from the pick list,
i.e. select GEOL and ASSAY,
Figure 6-5.

Figure 6-34 Database Records

to Use panel
9.

In the Geology Fields panel

select the From and
Rockcode fields, i.e. select
FROM and LITH, Figure 6-6.

Figure 6-36 Assay Fields to

Use panel
11. Enter the CU grade cutoff.
Leave as default. If a cutoff
grade is entered, values
above this cutoff grade will
be set to the cutoff grade
value, Figure 6-8.
12. Select FINISH

Figure 6-35 Geology Fields to

Use panel
10. In the Assay Fields panel
select the From and Data
Fields to use, i.e. select
FROM and CU, Figure 6-7.

Figure 6-37 Cutoff Values

panel
13. In the Boundary definition
panel select CANCEL.
The parameter file is then
created. It will be called
thorrunl.cm1. If you want to

examine the file use a text editor,

such as WordPad, to open it.

Creating a Composite File

There are two options for
creating a composite file:

Run

Selection

These options can produce either

ASCII or ISIS database files.
The Run option allows the use of
one parameter file only. The
Selection option allows the use of
two parameter files and is
dependent on the hole angle.
We will look at the Run option as
it is the most commonly used.

Exercise 23 Creating a Composite

file
1.

Select
Geology>Compositing>Run.

2.

In the Compositing
Parameter File panel select
the parameter file to use, i.e.
select RUNL.

We have a choice of compositing

to an ASCII file (a MAP file) or an
ISIS database file. Lets
composite to an ASCII file first.
3.

Select Use Map File and

enter an Optional Map File
Identifier, i.e. enter RUNL,
Figure 6-9.

4.

Enter a composite group

name for this run, i.e. enter
runlength.

Tip!
The composite group name is
used to store multiple
compositing runs in the same
file separated by their group
names. This can only be used in
an ISIS database.
For ASCII files (a MAP file) there
can only ever be one group
name, therefore if compositing to
an ASCII file always composite to
a new file.
5.

Enter a run description, i.e.

Runlength composite using
1 metre.

6.

Select OK.

Figure 6-38 Compositing

Parameter File panel
The file containing the
composited data will be
thorrunl.map.
Examine this file using WordPad.
Notice the file contains a header
defining the header variables
and field names and their
properties. The data is arranged
below the header and is column
formatted.

2.

In the Composite Display

panel select the Use Map
File button and select the
optional mapfile identifier,
i.e. select RUNL,
Figure 6-10.

3.

Select Load as lines.

The variable order refers to the

top and bottom positions of the
composite interval (i.e. XYZXYZ)
and the composite field (i.e. W).
4.

Change the line width to 3.

This will display the
composites as thicker lines.

5.

Select OK.

Displaying Composite Files

Use the DISPLAY option to view
composite files onscreen.
Figure 6-39 Composite
Display panel

Exercise 23 Displaying a
Composite file
1.

Select Geology>Compositing
>Display.

6.

In the Load Samples

Database panel enter the
group name, i.e. enter

RUNLENGTH. It is OK to
use a wildcard if you cannot
remember the group name,
Figure 6-11.
7.

Select the assay field to

display, i.e. select AU.

8.

Select OK.

Figure 6-40 Load Samples

Database panel
9.

Select the colour schema to

use, i.e. select AU.

10. The composites will then be

loaded onscreen.
To remove the displayed
composites select
Geology>Compositing>Remove.

Chapter 7: Geological
Interpretations
Geological interpretations are
customarily done on section
plots using coloured pencils.
These are then digitised into a
computer where the
interpretation may be modelled,
then plotted again for verification
or fine tuning, then digitised
again etc. The problem with this
method is that it often results in
double handling of data plus
time being spent plotting
sections and copying or redoing
an interpretation in various
section and plan orientations. It
is often very difficult to visualise
the orebody until the
interpretation has been
completed, and then if it is
perceived to be incorrect you
have to start again. Another
drawback of this method is that
the geologist is always working in
section planes to create the
interpretation, however the
drillholes being used are
generally not in the same plane,
resulting in an interpretation
that only approximates the true
geometry of the orebody. A
typical orebody interpretation
using this method could take
weeks or possibly even a few
months to be completed.

A quicker method would be to

create the interpretation
onscreen using all the
information normally plotted.
This negates the need to create a
lot of section plots until the
interpretation is completed. The
geologist could rotate the
information to gain a true three
dimensional picture of the data
to be interpreted. This aids
immensely in visualising the
orebody before any interpretation
has begun. The interpreted
strings may be snapped precisely
to the drillholes giving a much
more accurate approximation of
the true geometry. The biggest
saving comes in the time spent
creating and fine tuning the
interpretation. What once used
to take weeks or months can
now be done in days.
There are drawbacks to the
onscreen interpretation method
however. The first is that you
may not be able to display all the
information normally shown on a
plotted section - it could degrade
the performance of the computer
to a frustrating degree. (The
increase in desktop computer
performance means this is
becoming less of an issue.) A
bigger problem is that so much
information could clutter the
screen making it difficult to

interpret the information.

Therefore you must learn to work
with only the information
required for the particular task,
and later display any other
information needed to complete
the interpretation. The biggest
problem is coming to terms with
working in three dimensions
rather than in section planes or
benches. Once this is overcome
however, the benefits in
productivity are immense.

1.

Load the database

thordemoa.dhd. Display the
hole by LITH.

2.

Load the layer SECTION.

3.

Change view to one of the

section lines, i.e. select
View>Create Section.

4.

Set the slice width to 60 and

select the section plane by
line.

5.

Select OK.

In this section we will look at the

mechanics of onscreen
interpretation. We will restrict
ourselves to working in slices of
space for the sake of visibility,
and we will be interpreting in
three dimensions. The method
is simple but it does take some
getting used to.

Creating the Interpretation

To begin we must first load the
drillholes onscreen and restrict
our view to a slice of space
parallel to a drill section.

Exercise 24 Creating an
Interpretation

Figure 7-41 Create Section

View panel
6.

Select the line to change

view.

7.

Zoom in on the area of

interest. Your screen should
look something like that
shown below.

icon. To use a feature for

digitising select
Design/Create/Feature,
and select the feature.

Figure 7-42 Screen image of

cross section through
drillholes
8.

Display a legend in a
convenient position to one
side of the screen. Select
Analyse>Display Legend.
Select DRILL and LITH.

Figure 7-44 Snap to Point

icon
10. Initially you should have
something that looks like the
screen image below. The
interpretation has been
snapped to the drillholes but
it does not go past the outer
drillhole limits.

Figure 7-43 Drillhole cross

section and legend
9.

Begin digitising one of the

ore zones using the features
we created earlier and
snapping to the lithological
boundaries on the drillholes,
i.e. use the snap to point

Figure 7-45 First step of

interpretation
11. To tidy up the ends of the
interpretation we use one of
the standard ENVISAGE

tools, namely
Design>Point Insert>Insert.
12. Select Design>Point
Insert>Insert. Select the
object. Select the line to
replace, i.e. the interp end,
Figure 7-6.

Figure 7-47 Screen image of

inserted points

Figure 7-46 Screen image of

line which will have points
inserted

14. Cancel when finished

inserting points. Select Do
not interpolate W. This
relates to the W-value and is
irrelevant. The points will
connect to form a highlighted line. Select retain.

13. Once the insertion plane has

been defined insert the
required points. Remember
to insert points from S to E
otherwise you will create
crossovers in the string.

Figure 7-48 Image of

connected points
15. You will then be prompted to
select the next line to
replace. Continue this

operation until the interp

string is finished.
16. When finished you should
end up with something like
the screen image below.

Figure 7-50 Screen image of

splined string

Figure 7-49 Screen image of

completed digitised interp
string
17. This looks OK but it can be
made better by smoothing
the line and inserting points
at a given interval. This will
also aid in the development
of solid models later. To
smooth the string we apply a
cubic spline using
Design/Attribute Edit/Apply
Spline.

18. The string now looks more

natural, but this spline is
only superimposed on the
original line. It has not
inserted any new points.
Therefore we need to insert
extra points along this new
line to maintain the shape
when modelling. To do this
select Design>Attribute
Edit>Insert Points On
Spline,
. Set the step to
be 5. Select the object to
insert points. The object will
be highlighted showing the
resulting string. Select
retain if it looks OK.

19. If you were to label the

points now you would see a
great many more than we
digitised. Try this, notice
the original points have not
been altered.
We have now finished the first
string in our interpretation.
Reset the screen and rotate to
view the final string, especially
the ends. You would now do
much the same for all the other
ore zones. You may find it easier
to complete one section before
moving to the next or you may
want to follow an ore zone
through each section, its up to
you.
Almost certainly you will be
required during the course of an
interpretation to use most if not
all of the other point editing
options. It is a good idea to
become familiar with each of
these so that you can choose the
best option to use for each task.
There is generally no right or
wrong way to do something in
ENVISAGE but there are
certainly better and worse ways
to do it.

Exercise 25 Completing
Interpretation

Try to complete the

interpretation you have started
or add to the one supplied.
Later we will use this
interpretation to create a solid
model.

Chapter 8: Statistics
VULCAN provides users with a
convenient mechanism, via
ENVISAGE, to create basic
univariate and multivariate
statistics. The statistics module
is part of the "core" ENVISAGE
product and can be found under
the main menu option ANALYSE.
Essentially a user can analyse
data from a number of sources,
both ASCII or binary, both
graphical or model data. The
user can select, where
appropriate, any number of data
items for analysis as separate
entities, or analyse the
relationship between pair-wise
combinations.
In this session we will look at:

the data sources available

basic unistat features

graphics display features

option. System defaults are

generally adequate in preparing
well proportioned statistics
reports. The Set Up option
allows you to establish:

external file logging of the

statistics session

the number of graphs

available both in the X and Y
directions

the height and colours of the

text headings, labels and
annotations on graphs

All graphs created in the

statistics option are generated in
a special ENVISAGE window
called "GRAPHS". The user can
interchange between a working
window and the statistics
"GRAPHS" very easily. The
default set-up establishes the
number of graphs as being 3 in
the X direction and 3 in the Y
direction. Hence a total of 9
graphs can be generated. This
can obviously be increased or
decreased at the users
discretion.

Setting up your Statistics

Session
It is optional to select the set-up
parameters before engaging in a
session within the statistics

Figure 8-51 Statistics log file

setup

After selecting the number of

graphs that can be generated,
the user is asked for the
parameters and colours for the
various aspects of graph
generation. You can modify this
at any time. The initial panel,
covering the number of graphs
available for creation, is only
completed once by the user in an
ENVISAGE session and cannot
be changed without exiting and
re-entering.

Figure 8-52 Define text

specifications panel
Now that the set-up has been
completed, or at least
established initially, we can start
to investigate the data sources
that can be analysed.

Selecting the Data for

Statistics

As previously mentioned, data

for input into the statistics
option is varied. Essentially data
can be accessed from the
following sources:

Graphics objects in
ENVISAGE

ASCII datafiles

Evaluation data, that is

mapfiles, both ASCII and
binary

General ISIS databases

VULCAN Block Models

VULCAN 2D Grid Models

Whilst all data sources are

generally extensively used, the
scope of this course will restrict
discussion to data from
geological/assay ISIS databases
and mapfiles. The concepts of
data selection and graphing are
essentially the same despite the
variation in sources.

ISIS Databases
General Statistics, both
univariate and multivariate, can
be generated by accessing any
ISIS database. Generally this is
applicable to geological
databases, although any ISIS
structure can be accessed. On
selection of the "databases"

menu item the following panel is

displayed requesting information
for the datasheet, database
identifier and whether data
restrictions are required. As
most drilling databases contain
missing data values that are
usually stored as negative
numbers (eg. -99.00), then the
inclusion of this data into the
statistics dataset would
invalidate the resulting
univariate statistics. Hence it is
normal to select the restrict data
box to eliminate this potentially
erroneous data.

Figure 8-54 Select record type

panel
Following the record selection
panel, and if restriction of data
has been selected, the following
panel is displayed. Note that all
data fields within the previously
selected record panel can be
used to provide selection criteria
before data is selected for the
statistics dataset.

Figure 8-53 Open Database

After the initial database
selection menu is completed a
list of all available data records
within that database is displayed
and the user is requested to pick
one record from which the data
will be selected.

Figure 8-55 Selection criteria

panel
In the above example we have
indicated that we only wish to
accept data with the following
conditions met:
Copper assays between 0
and 100 (percentage values)

Gold assays between 0 and

1000 (gram/tonne values)
We could equally have enhanced
the selection parameters by
placing "MB*" in the bleaching
field to indicate that we only
wished to extract data with the
characteristic of being
moderately bleached.
After these parameters have
been established the user is
asked to select the numeric
fields on which to form a suite of
datasets. The user can select up
to four suites of information or
cancel after the final selection. If
a character field is selected it is
ignored, and a field cannot be
selected more than once.

system. On completion of the

extraction process, if a report
window is open, univariate
statistics for all selected fields
are displayed. If a report window
is not available this report is
displayed on the originating Xwindow, generally hidden behind
ENVISAGE. The user can
request the univariate statistics
report at any time by ensuring a
report window is available and
selecting the "UNISTAT" option
in the statistics menu, Figure 87.

Figure 8-57 Stats report

After the data selection has been
completed it is available
internally for further display and
investigation if required. This
investigation may be in the form:
Figure 8-56 Select fields panel
After the final selection,
processing begins and data is
extracted from the database and
stored internally within the

Exporting to ASCII data for

direction to other systems
Creation of univariate and
bivariate graphs and reports.

This will be discussed further,

after we have looked at some
other data accessing methods.

Mapfiles
Mapfiles are the results generally
of compositing studies, usually
regarded as evaluation
databases. Mapfiles can be
either traditional ASCII mapfiles
with data definition information
in the header of the file, or ISIS
binary databases. Both data
types can be accessed from this
option. The concepts of data
selection are very similar to
those of data access from normal
ISIS databases. The user is first
presented with the following
panel.

Figure 8-58 Open mapfile

panel

In the above example a

traditional mapfile was requested
for data selection, filename
"au_cu.map", and five variables
are to be loaded: Easting (X),
Northing (Y), RL (Z), data-item
W1(1) and data-item W2(2). Up
to four data-items can be used in
the data selection. Also notice
that the data restriction box has
been selected and the following
conditions have been set:

The first data-item will be

greater than or equal to 0.0

The second data-item will be

greater than or equal to 0.0

On completion of the above form

the following panel appears. The
loading panel requests the
correlation of names from the
Mapfile to the XYZ12
specification used above. In the
example below we have equated:

DHID to the Name field

MIDX to the X field

MIDY to the Y field

MIDZ to the Z field

cu to the first data-item (W1)

au to the second data-item

(W2)

The correlations are important to

allow a greater number of data
restriction capabilities as seen in
the following panels.

Figure 8-59 Load samples

panel
Further restrictions for data
selection provide extensive
capabilities to eliminate
unwanted data and provide
broad geographic control, as well
as very accurate elimination of
data that does not reside within
a closed/solid triangulation.

Figure 8-60 Specify

restrictions panel
In the above example the user
has requested that data should
only be accepted if it lies
geometrically within a solid
triangulation. The user will be
asked to select the triangulation
from the screen, as the example
screen below indicates.

Display graphs for univariate

data consists of the following
types:

Figure 8-61 Selected

triangulation
On selection of the triangulation
the process of data selection
commences, and finally a set of
univariate statistics is displayed
in the report window, similar to
the format as discussed with
ISIS-Database loading.

Graphing Statistical Data

As mentioned previously, once
the data has been selected and
loaded into the system it is
available for use any number of
times within the session. Note
that there is no physical limit to
the size of the dataset that may
be loaded into ENVISAGE.
Workstation system limits
(primarily memory, swap space
and processor speed) generally
dictate the maximum size of the
data that can be handled
efficiently and effectively.

Bar graphs

Line graphs

Pie charts

Bivariate/multivariate data
displays can be done in the
following ways:

Ternary charts

Scatter plots

Line plots

Control is given to the user in

the definition of titles, scales,
colours and patterns.
Using the standard geology
course data, some examples of
procedures for creating graphs
are outlined below. The user is
encouraged to experiment and
create the styles of the graphs
available, and to enhance the
graphs using normal ENVISAGE
functions, such as text and
attribute editing, to create draft
quality output.
On selecting a "bar graph" from
the menu, the panel below is
displayed, requesting
information regarding data to be

plotted, title details and styles for

presentation. In this case the
data-item "cu" has been selected,
with the copper classes on the X
axis (titled "Copper Values (cu%)"
and frequency on the Y axis
(titled "Frequency). A bar chart
was selected, as distinct from a
line graph. Additions like log
scaling for the X-axis,
cumulative frequency, general
statistics and percentages for the
Y axis were not selected.

Figure 8-62 Histogram display

panel
On completion of this form the
user is asked details about the X
interval classes required, as
displayed in the panel below.
The default is for automatic
intervals, however
experimentation with user
defined intervals ultimately
generates better graph output.

Figure 8-63 Define intervals

panel
The graph below was created
from the above selection, based
on the Mapfile data selected in
the previous section. Note that
the basic style and presentation
has been improved using the text
editing features of ENVISAGE.
The graphs are created in a
special window called the graphs
window. This window is a 2D
window with approximately the
same X and Y extent as the
primary window. The
parameters of this window can
be viewed under the options
View>Windows>Edit. The user
can swap between the primary
window and the graph window
by using the special view
transformation options in the
statistics menu, or by using the
select option under the WINDOW
menu. After every graph
creation the user is asked which
window (primary or graph) to
return to.

Every graph created is placed in

successive order starting in the
lower left hand corner and
progressing right and then
upwards until the complete
graphs window is full. At this
point any new graphs will
replace those at the start,
beginning again at the lower left
hand corner. The number of
graphs available for creation is
controlled by the initial set-up in
the statistics menu. Once set it
cannot be altered in the current
session of ENVISAGE. The user
will have to exit and re-enter
ENVISAGE to change these
fundamental settings.

Figure 8-64 Histogram plot

All graphs are stored in the
standard ENVISAGE database as
normal layers. The layer is
logically grouped to allow easy
attribute editing. The layers
have the default names of:

STGRAPH_<number>
where the number varies
depending on the maximum
number of graphs that can be
displayed.
All graphs can be plotted using
the normal ENVISAGE plotting
options. The juxtaposition of
statistics, both general and
graphical, with normal geological
information, provides the user
with powerful presentation
capabilities. Graphs are both
quick to produce and modify as
well as being very professional in
quality.

Chapter 9: Appendix 1

Glossary of Terms
Data file:
The data file contains the actual
database information, i.e. the
drillholes or the design
information.

Database (DB):
A database consists of two files a Data File structured according
to the Datasheet Definition for
that set of data, and an Index
File. Many different types of
data are stored in VULCAN
databases, including data from
logging sheets and assay lab
reports stored on a drillhole
basis, spatial (often digitised)
data and drafting (template)
data.

Database Listing (dbl):

A Database Listing is an ASCII
dump of a VULCAN database.

Datasheet and Datasheet name

(dsn):
A Datasheet is the definition of a
data coding form used to
structure the data loaded into
the database. The user defines
the database structure by
establishing a Datasheet

Description, which consists of a

logical series of record
definitions.

Design Database (dgd):

A Design Database contains
digitised information held in
points, objects and layers. The
information is typically digitised
on screen or using a digitising
tablet. Data stored in this type
of database typically represents
designs, i.e. pit layouts,
underground development,
geological interpretations, or
data imported to aid in the
design, i.e. digital terrain maps
(DTMs), existing designs.

Drillhole Database:
A Drillhole Database contains
information held in keys, records
and fields. The data stored is
typically drilling information
arranged by the drillhole
identification number (key). The
information may have been
imported into VULCAN from
some other source, or may have
been entered via the drillhole
database editor (ISIS).

Fields:
A field corresponds to a single
entry within a coding form
record. Fields may contain
either numeric or non-numeric
information. Translations for

codes used in fields may be

defined in a code dictionary.

Index File:
An index file stores a list of all
the layer names or key names for
the related data file.

ISIS Database system:

An ISIS database is a proprietary
structured indexed binary file.

The optional dataset identifier is

an optional name given to a
database to allow the user to
differentiate different databases.
The optional dataset identifier
may be anything the user
chooses, however it generally has
some relevance to the data in the
database, e.g. an area or location
name, or something denoting the
particular phase of drilling. The
optional dataset identifier is
limited to 10 characters.

Key:
ISIS databases are divided into
subsets of data referenced by
their key (indexed) field. The key
field is the name of a subset of
related data. For example, in a
drillhole database the key field is
normally the HOLEID (hole
identifier) field. All other
information related to this key
(i.e. hole identifier) is ordered
directly below this key.

Mandatory (field):
When the mandatory box is
selected on an EDIT FIELD
panel, this field must contain
information. Otherwise an error
will be posted and the
importation of this key into a
VULCAN database will not
proceed.

Optional Dataset Identifier <odi>:

Project Code <proj>:

The project code is a sequence of
characters used to prefix all files
related to a particular job or
project. The project code may
typically represent the deposit
name or mine site. The project
code has a maximum length of
four characters.

Record:
A datasheet is divided into
records, with a record
corresponding to an entire line
entry on a coding sheet. Each
record is typically designed to
cater for a particular type of
information. For example, a
COLLAR record may hold all the
information relating to the
drillhole collar location and
length, whereas the ASSAY
record may hold all the
information relating to the

drillhole assayed samples. Each

record is divided into fields.

Synonym:
A synonym is the VULCAN
standard name equivalent for a
specific project field name. For
example, the project name for a
field containing the drillhole
names may be BHID; the correct
synonym for this field is
HOLEID. This allows VULCAN to
treat the BHID field as if it was
named HOLEID.