User Manual

for Leapfrog Geo Version 5.1

© 2020 Seequent Limited (“Seequent”). All rights reserved. Unauthorised use, reproduction, or disclosure is prohibited. Seequent
assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in this document. LEAPFROG, SEEQUENT and are trade marks owned by
Seequent. All other product and company names are trade marks or registered trade marks of their respective holders. Use of these
trade marks in this document does not imply any ownership of these trade marks or any affiliation or endorsement by the holders of
these trade marks.
Contents
Getting Started 1
Signing In to Leapfrog Geo with Seequent ID 1
Graphics and Drivers 2
Switching to High-Performance Graphics 2
Running the Graphics Test 4
The Leapfrog Geo Projects Tab 6
Recording Reference Codes 7
Managing Leapfrog Geo Projects 7
Saving Projects 8
Saving Zipped Copies of Projects 8
Saving Backup Copies of Projects 8
Compacting Projects 8
Upgrading Projects 9
Converting Leapfrog Hydro Projects 9
An Overview of Leapfrog Geo 10
Keyboard Shortcuts in the Main Window 11
The Project Tree 12
Organising Objects in the Project Tree 15
Subfolders 15
Copying Objects 16
Renaming Objects 16
Finding Objects 17
Deleting Objects 17
Sharing Objects 18
Object Properties 18
Comments 19
Object Processing 20
Controlling Processing 21
Prioritising Objects 22
Freezing Objects 24
Correcting Errors 26
Project Tree Keyboard Shortcuts 26
The 3D Scene 27

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Locating an Object from the Scene 30

Clicking in the Scene 31
Clicking in the Shape List 32
Slicing Through the Data 33
Slicer Properties 34
Object Slice Mode 35
Slicer Shortcuts 35
Measuring in the Scene 36
Determining a Location 37
The Moving Plane 38
The Ruler 39
Working With Split Views 41
Visualising Data 45
Colour Options 47
Single Colour Display 48
Category Colourmaps 49
Numeric Colourmaps 49
Continuous Colourmaps 51
Discrete Colourmaps 54
Importing Colour Gradients 57
Importing and Exporting Colourmaps 58
Opacity 59
Property Buttons 59
Legends 60
Slice Mode 60
Filtering Data Using Queries 60
Filtering Data Using Values and Categories 61
Drawing in the Scene 62
The Drawing Toolbar 63
Drawing Hotkeys 64
Drawing 3D Lines 65
Drawing 2D Lines 68
Polyline Properties 68
Tangents and Ribbons 69
Drawing Points 70

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Organising Your Workspace 73

Detaching Tabs 73
Detaching and Minimising the Project Tree 74
Organising the Scene View Tab 74
Concepts 75
What is Implicit Modelling? 76
What are the Advantages of Implicit Modelling? 76
Implicit Modelling Makes Assumptions Explicit 77
Best Practices 77
Interpolant Functions 79
The Spheroidal Interpolant Function 79
Total Sill 81
Nugget 81
Nugget to Total Sill Ratio 81
Base Range 81
Alpha 83
Drift 84
Accuracy 86
The Linear Interpolant Function 86
Total Sill and Base Range 88
Nugget 88
Drift 88
Accuracy 89
Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo 90
Modifying Surfaces 91
Adding Data to Surfaces 91
Honouring Surface Contacts 92
Global Trends 95
Structural Trends 97
Creating a Structural Trend 97
Displaying a Structural Trend 99
Applying a Structural Trend 100
Editing Surfaces with Polylines 101
Editing Surfaces with Structural Data 103
Boundaries in Leapfrog Geo Projects 104

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The Clipping Boundary 104

Object Extents 107
Extending a Surface 108
Central Integration 111
Connecting to Central 111
Connecting Via Seequent ID 111
Manual Setup 112
Troubleshooting Connectivity Issues 112
Central Projects 113
Viewing a Project’s History 114
Locking Branches 115
Project Included 116
Project Stages 116
Annotations and Attachments 117
Sharing Projects 117
Downloading a Local Copy of a Project 118
New Central Projects 119
Creating a New Central Project 119
Adding a Project to Central 119
Publishing to Central 120
Unfinished Publish Events 120
Selecting Objects 121
Setting the Project Workflow Stage 122
Including the Project 122
Adding Revision Information 122
Preparing the Package 122
Uploading the Package 122
Importing Data From Central 124
Object Availability 124
Importing Central Data Objects 126
Updating Out-of-Date Objects 128
Settings 129
Display and Navigation Settings 129
3D Acceleration Mode 129
Font Size 130

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Z Axis Scale 130

Rotation Settings 131
Camera Settings 131
Overlay Settings 132
Screen Grid Settings 132
Axis Lines Settings 132
Other Overlay Settings 132
Colour Scheme 132
Lighting Settings 133
Processing Settings 134
User Interface Settings 134
Show Tree Lines 134
Show Save Scene Button 134
Upload to View 134
Tab Position 135
Central Settings 135
Usage Policy Settings 136
Network Settings 137
Help Settings 137
Reporting a Problem 137
Getting Support 138
Checking Connectivity with Leapfrog Start 138
Supplying Your Licence Details 138
Data Types 140
Working with Data Tables 141
Identifying Errors in Data Tables 142
Exporting Data Errors 143
Correcting Data Errors in Leapfrog Geo 144
Replacing Values in a Column 145
Common Errors and How to Fix Them 146
Duplicate Points Error (Points Tables) 147
Duplicate Hole ID Error 147
Hole ID Not in Collar Table Error 148
Collar Max Depth Error 148
Invalid Max Depth Error 149

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From Depth Exceeds To Depth Error 149

Overlapping Segments Error 150
No Samples for Collars Warning 150
No Surveys for Collar Warning 151
Wedges Found Warning 151
Handling Special Values 151
Query Filters 154
Using a Query Filter in Displaying Data 154
Using a Query Filter in a Model 155
The Standard Query Builder 156
Leapfrog Geo Query Syntax 157
The Build Query Window 158
The Advanced Query Builder 159
The Points Query Builder 159
Insert Query Elements Using Ready Reference 160
Write a Query in Query Editor 162
Write a Query Using the Query Builder 162
Defining a Topography 163
Topography From Elevation Grid 163
Topography From Surfaces, Points or GIS Vector Data 164
Fixed Elevation Topography 164
Adding Height Data to the Topography 165
Changing Topography Settings 166
Changing the Size of the Topography 166
Topography Resolution 166
Applying a Trend to the Topography 167
Topography Display Options 167
Projecting Collars onto the Topography 168
GIS Data, Maps and Images 169
Displaying GIS Data 169
Custom Topography Views 169
Importing Vector Data 171
Importing a MapInfo Batch File 172
Importing Data from an ESRI Geodatabase 173
Reloading GIS Data 174

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Reloading Points, Lines and Polygons 174

Reloading an ESRI Database 175
Importing a Map or Image 175
Importing a Single Image 176
Importing Multiple Images 176
Cropping Images 177
Manually Georeferencing Images 177
Overriding Georeference Data 179
Exporting a Georeferenced Image 179
Setting Elevation for GIS Objects and Images 180
Creating a New GIS Line 180
Drawing a New GIS Line 181
Creating a New GIS Line from Intersecting Meshes 181
Exporting GIS Data 182
Drillhole Data 183
Displaying Drillholes 184
Displaying Drillholes as Lines or Cylinders 185
Hiding Lithologies 187
Displaying a Legend 187
Changing Colourmaps 188
Viewing Multiple Interval Tables 188
Selecting from Multiple Columns 188
Displaying Interval Data in the Scene 189
Displaying Drillhole Graphs 190
Viewing Drillhole Data Table Statistics 192
Importing Drillhole Data 192
Expected Drillhole Data Tables and Columns 193
The Collar Table 193
The Survey Table 194
The Screens Table 194
Interval Tables 194
Selecting Files 195
Working Through the Data 196
Selecting the ODBC Data Source 199
Selecting Tables 199

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Connecting to an acQuire Database 201

Smart Refresh 202
Saving a Selection 202
Appending Drillholes 202
Importing Interval Tables 203
Importing Columns 203
Importing Screens 204
Importing Point Values Down Drillholes 204
Importing LAS Points Down Drillholes 204
LAS File Mapping 205
LAS File Inconsistencies 205
Importing Downhole Structural Data 206
Drillhole Desurveying Options 206
The Spherical Arc Approximation Algorithm 208
The Balanced Tangent Algorithm 208
The Raw Tangent Algorithm 209
Processing Drillhole Data 209
Category Composites 210
Converting Ignored Segments 212
Filtering Short Segments 214
Viewing Category Composite Statistics 215
Economic Composites 215
Creating an Economic Composite 217
Selecting Values 217
Handling Missing Intervals and High Grades 218
Selecting a Dilution Rule 218
Setting the Cut-Off Grade 218
Compositing Direction 219
Two-Pass Compositing 219
Using True Thickness 219
The Compositing Process and Parameters 220
Viewing Compositing Results 225
Majority Composites 227
Viewing Majority Composite Statistics 229
Numeric Composites 230

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Creating a Numeric Composite 230

Compositing in the Entire Drillhole 231
Compositing Length 232
Minimum Coverage 232
Residual End Length Handling 233
Additional Weighting Column 234
Compositing in a Subset of Codes 234
Using Intervals From Another Table 235
Viewing Numeric Composite Statistics 235
Compositing Comparison 237
Compositing Interval Lengths 238
Grouping Lithologies 238
Automatic Lithology Groups 242
Splitting Lithologies 242
Interval Selection 246
Overlaid Lithology Column 249
Category Column from Numeric Data 250
Back-Flagging Drillhole Data 251
Comparing Modelled Values to Drilling Lithologies 252
Comparing Drilling Lithologies to Modelled Values 255
Refining the Geological Model to Improve Correlation Statistics 256
Merged Drillhole Data Tables 256
Core Photo Links 257
The ALS CoreViewer Interface 259
Setting Up the ALS CoreViewer Interface 259
Using the ALS Interface 260
Removing the ALS Link 261
The Coreshed Core Photo Interface 261
Setting Up the Coreshed Interface 261
Using the Coreshed Interface 262
Removing the Coreshed Link 263
The Imago Core Photo Interface 263
Setting Up the Imago Interface 263
Using the Imago Interface 264
Removing the Imago Link 265

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Reloading Drillhole Data 265

Exporting Drillhole Data 265
Exporting All Drillhole Data 266
Exporting a Single Drillhole Data Table 267
Design Models 268
Designs 268
Reloading Designs 269
Displaying Designs 269
Moving Designs 270
Working With Design Meshes 271
Editing Design Lines 271
Exporting Designs 272
Alignments 272
Reloading Alignments 273
Displaying Alignments 274
Using Alignments in the Project 275
Points Data 276
Importing Points Data 276
Selecting the ODBC Data Source 277
Reloading Points Data 277
Appending Points Data 277
Importing a Column 277
Setting Elevation for Points 278
Evaluating Points Data 278
Displaying Points 279
Viewing Points Table Statistics 280
Exporting Points Data 280
Exporting Intrusion Values 280
Exporting Interval Midpoints 281
Extracting Points from Drillhole Data 281
Extracting Contact Points from Drillhole Data 282
Extracting Intrusion Values from Drillhole Data 283
Intrusion Point Generation Parameters 285
Extracting Interval Midpoints from Drillhole Data 285
Creating Guide Points 286

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Grids of Points 287

Creating a Grid of Points 287
Evaluating a Grid of Points 288
Statistics for a Grid of Points 289
Exporting a Grid of Points 289
Categorising Points 290
Geophysical Data 293
2D Grids 293
ASEG_DFN Files 294
UBC Grids 294
Importing a UBC Grid 294
Evaluating UBC Grids 294
Mapping Category Evaluations 295
Exporting a UBC Grid 295
GOCAD Models 296
Structural Data 297
Creating New Planar Structural Data Tables 297
Importing Planar Structural Data 299
Selecting the ODBC Data Source 300
Importing Lineations 300
Displaying Structural Data 301
Viewing Statistics on Structural Data 304
Bingham Analysis 304
Fisher Statistics 305
Assigning Structural Data to Categories 305
Editing the Orientation of Planar Structural Data 307
Declustering Planar Structural Data 307
Setting Elevation for Structural Data 309
Estimating Planar Structural Data 309
Meshes 310
Cleaning Up a Mesh 311
Importing a Mesh 312
Meshes with Textures 313
Textured OBJ Meshes 313
Textured Vulcan Meshes 313

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Reloading a Mesh 314

Displaying Surfaces 314
Draping an Image on a Mesh 315
Exporting Meshes 315
Exporting a Single Mesh 316
Exporting Multiple Meshes from the Meshes Folder 318
Exporting Multiple Meshes from Models 319
Visualising Issues with Imported Meshes 321
Examining Mesh Properties 321
Visualising Self Intersections 322
Visualising Borders 326
Options for Handling Mesh Issues 327
Non-Editable Meshes 328
Mesh from the Moving Plane 328
Combining Meshes 329
Clipping a Volume 329
Clipping a Mesh 330
Merging 2D Meshes 331
Extracting Mesh Parts 332
Interpolated Meshes 333
Creating an Interpolated Mesh 333
Refining an Interpolated Mesh 334
Surface Resolution Settings 335
Snap Settings 335
Other Options 335
2D Interpolant Meshes 336
Offset Meshes 337
Triangulated Meshes 339
Elevation Grids 341
Importing an Elevation Grid 341
Exporting an Elevation Grid 342
Thickness Grids 343
Polylines 344
Creating Polylines 344
Displaying Polylines 344

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Sharing and Unsharing Polylines 345

Importing Polylines 346
Reloading Polylines 347
Exporting Polylines 347
Geochemical Data 348
Sending Data to ioGAS 349
Opening the Data in ioGAS 350
Sending a New Data Column Back to Leapfrog Geo 351
Importing ioGAS Data 352
Importing ioGAS Data as Points 353
Importing ioGAS Data as Intervals 353
Open Mining Format (OMF) Export and Import 354
OMF Export 354
OMF Import 355
Analysing Data 356
Statistics 356
Table of Statistics 357
Scatter Plots 361
Q-Q Plots 364
Box Plots 364
Univariate Graphs 366
Drillhole Correlation Tool 368
Selecting Collars 368
The Correlation Set Window 369
Navigating in the Correlation Set Window 371
Correlation Column Layouts 372
Managing Styles 373
Interpretation Tables 373
Assigning Lithologies 374
Modifying the Interpretation Table 374
Stereonets 377
Creating a Stereonet 377
Displaying the Stereonet in the 3D Scene 378
Plot Options 379
Data Display Options 379

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Viewing Stereonet Statistics 383

Selecting Data in the Stereonet 383
Using the Scene Window with the Stereonet 388
Exporting a Stereonet 388
Form Interpolants 389
Creating a Form Interpolant 389
Setting a Trend 390
Adding Isosurfaces 391
The Form Interpolant in the Project Tree 391
Form Interpolant Statistics 392
Planning Drillholes 392
Adding Planned Drillholes 393
Planning Options 396
Drilling Prognoses 397
Exporting Planned Drillholes 397
Export Parameters 397
Export as Interval Table 397
Importing Planned Drillholes 398
Calculations and Filters 399
Defining Calculations and Filters 399
The Calculations Window 400
Creating a New Calculation or Filter 402
Variables 402
Numeric Calculations 403
Category Calculations 403
Filters 403
Understanding Errors Reported in the Errors Pane 403
Building Calculations and Filters 405
Examples of Variables 407
Example of a Numeric Calculation 407
Example of a Filter 408
Example of a Category Calculation 408
Null Values 410
Catalogue of Metadata, Syntax and Functions 412
Existing Items 413

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Metadata 413
Evaluations 415
Variables, Calculations and Filters 416
Syntax and Functions 417
Statements 417
Basic Operators 419
Complex Comparisons 422
Invalid Values 424
Mathematics 426
Limits and Rounding 427
Text 431
Date/Time 434
Unit Conversion 436
Modelling 440
Evaluations 440
Assigning Attributes to Volumes 441
Geological Models 443
Creating a New Geological Model 443
The Base Lithology 443
Surface Resolution 444
Model Extents 444
The Geological Model in the Project Tree 445
Geological Model Display 445
Copying a Geological Model 446
Creating a Static Copy of a Geological Model 446
Geological Model Volumes and Surfaces Export Options 446
Extracting Model Volumes 447
Editing a Geological Model 448
Changing the Query Filter 449
Surface Generation Options 450
Volume Generation Options 451
Surface Resolution for a Geological Model 451
Modifying a Geological Model’s Boundary 452
Creating Extents for a Geological Model 453
Extent From a Polyline 453

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Extent From GIS Vector Data 454

Extent From Points 455
Extent From Structural Data 456
Extent From a Surface 457
Extent From Distance to Points 457
Extent From a Distance Function 458
Base From Lithology Contacts 459
Changing an Extent’s Settings 460
Surface Resolution 460
Contact Honouring 460
Applying a Trend 461
Adding Data to an Extent 462
Editing an Extent with a Polyline 462
Editing an Extent with Structural Data 462
Removing an Extent from a Geological Model 463
Model Lithologies 463
Faulted Models 464
The Fault System 465
Fault Interactions 467
Activating the Fault System 468
Copying the Surface Chronology to an Empty Fault Block 468
Faulted Model Display Options 468
Editing Faults 469
Surfacing Options for Faults 469
Boundary Filtering 470
Snapping to Data 470
Changing Fault Inputs 471
Replacing Fault Inputs with a Single Mesh 471
Adding Data to the Fault 472
Snap Settings for Individual Inputs 472
Boundary Filtering Settings for Individual Inputs 472
Applying a Trend to a Fault 472
Contact Surfaces 472
Contact Surfaces in the Surface Chronology 473
Contact Surfaces Types 475

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Deposit and Erosion Contact Surfaces 476

Intrusion Contact Surfaces 477
Vein Contact Surfaces 480
Younging Direction 480
Deposits and Erosions 481
Creating Deposits and Erosions 481
Deposits and Erosions From the Base Lithology 481
Deposits and Erosions From Other Lithology Contacts 486
Deposits and Erosions From Other Data 486
Deposits/Erosions in the Project Tree 488
Refining Deposits and Erosions 488
Surfacing Options for Deposits and Erosions 489
Boundary Filtering 489
Snapping to Data 489
Setting the Surface Resolution 490
Applying a Trend to a Deposit/Erosion 490
Intrusions 490
Creating Intrusions 490
Intrusions from Lithology Contacts 491
Intrusions from Other Data 492
Intrusions in the Project Tree 493
Displaying Intrusion Points 494
Refining Intrusions 494
Surfacing Options for Intrusions 495
Boundary Filtering 495
Snapping to Data 495
Surface Resolution 496
Applying a Trend to an Intrusion 496
Clipping Values for Intrusions 497
Interpolation Settings 498
Veins 498
Creating Veins 499
Veins From Lithology Contacts 499
Veins From Other Data 499
Veins in the Project Tree 500

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Displaying Veins 501

Refining Veins 501
Surfacing Options for Veins 501
Boundary Filtering 502
Snapping to Data 502
Surface Resolution 503
Vein Thickness 503
Vein Pinch Out 503
The Vein Reference Surface 505
Adding Data to the Reference Surface 506
Using a Planar Reference Surface 507
The Vein Boundary 507
Adding a Polyline to the Vein Boundary 508
Adjusting the Vein Boundary Plane 508
Editing Vein Segments 509
Vein Segment Orientation 509
Vein Systems 509
Creating a Vein System 511
Adding Veins to the Vein System 511
Editing the Veins 511
Changing Vein System Lithology Settings 511
Setting Vein Interactions 512
Stratigraphic Sequences 514
Creating a Stratigraphic Sequence 515
Boundary Filtering 517
Snapping to Data 517
Surface Stiffness 518
Editing the Stratigraphic Sequence 518
Correcting Pinch-Out Errors 518
Surfacing Options 519
Applying a Trend 519
Editing Individual Surfaces 519
Contact Honouring and Boundary Filtering for Individual Surfaces 520
Adding Data to Individual Surfaces 520
Editing Surface Contacts 520

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Offset Surfaces 520

Creating an Offset Surface 522
The Offset Surface in the Project Tree 523
Refining an Offset Surface 523
Changing Surfacing Options for an Offset Surface 523
Boundary Filtering 524
Snapping to Data 524
Surface Resolution 525
Smoothing 525
Changing Offset Limits 525
Changing to a Constant Offset 525
Changing to an Offset to Points 526
Changing the Reference Mesh 526
Editing the Reference Mesh 526
Structural Surfaces 526
Creating a Structural Surface 527
The Structural Surface in the Project Tree 528
Refining a Structural Surface 528
Surfacing Options for a Structural Surface 529
Setting the Surface Resolution 529
Boundary Filtering 529
Snapping to Input Data 529
Non-Contact Structural Inputs Settings 530
Applying a Trend to a Structural Surface 530
Value Clipping 530
The Surface Chronology 531
Refined Models 532
Editing the Sub-Model 534
Numeric Models 536
Importing a Variogram Model 536
Copying a Numeric Model 537
Creating a Static Copy of a Numeric Model 537
Exporting Numeric Model Volumes and Surfaces 538
Exporting Numeric Model Midpoints 538
RBF Interpolants 538

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Creating an RBF Interpolant 539

Values Used 539
Applying a Query Filter 539
Applying a Surface Filter 540
The Interpolant Boundary 540
Compositing Options 540
General Interpolant Properties 540
The RBF Interpolant in the Project Tree 541
Interpolant Display 541
RBF Interpolant Statistics 542
Modifying an RBF Interpolant’s Boundary with Lateral Extents 542
Creating Lateral Extents 542
Extent from a Polyline 542
Extent from GIS Vector Data 544
Extent from Points 545
Extent from Structural Data 545
Extent from a Surface 546
Extent from Distance to Points 547
Extent from a Distance Function 547
Changing a Lateral Extent’s Settings 548
Surface Resolution 548
Contact Honouring 549
Applying a Trend 549
Adding Data to an Extent 550
Editing an Extent with a Polyline 550
Editing an Extent with Structural Data 550
Removing an Extent from an Interpolant 551
Changing the Settings for an RBF Interpolant 551
Adjusting the Values Used 551
Adding a Contour Polyline 552
Adding Points 553
Compositing Parameters for an RBF Interpolant 554
Adjusting the Interpolant Boundary 555
Clipping and Transforming Values for an RBF Interpolant 556
Changing the Trend for an RBF Interpolant 557

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Using a Global Trend 557

Using a Structural Trend 558
Adjusting Interpolation Parameters 560
Output Settings for an RBF Interpolant 560
Multi-Domained RBF Interpolants 561
Creating a Multi-Domained RBF Interpolant 561
Compositing and Filtering the Values Used 563
Selecting Domains 563
Clipping and Transforming Values 563
Setting the Trend 564
Interpolation Parameters 564
Output Options 564
The Multi-Domained RBF Interpolant in the Project Tree 566
Interpolant and Sub-Interpolant Display 566
Sub-Interpolant Statistics 567
Indicator RBF Interpolants 567
Creating an Indicator RBF Interpolant 568
Selecting the Values Used 568
Setting the Cut Off 568
Applying a Query Filter 569
Applying a Surface Filter 569
The Interpolant Boundary 569
Compositing Options 569
General Interpolant Properties 570
The Indicator RBF Interpolant in the Project Tree 570
Indicator RBF Interpolant Display 571
Indicator RBF Interpolant Statistics 572
Editing an Indicator RBF Interpolant 572
Adjusting the Values Used 573
Adding a Contour Polyline 573
Adding Points 575
Compositing Parameters for an Indicator RBF Interpolant 576
Adjusting the Interpolant Boundary 577
The Cut-Off Value 578
Changing the Trend for an Indicator RBF Interpolant 578

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Adjusting Interpolation Parameters 579

Indicator RBF Interpolant Surfacing and Volume Options 579
Distance Functions 580
Creating a Distance Function 581
Setting the Boundary 583
Setting a Trend 583
Adding Buffers 583
The New Distance Function in the Project Tree 584
Combined Models 585
Creating a Combined Model 585
The Combined Model in the Project Tree 586
Editing a Combined Model 587
Displaying a Combined Model 587
Creating a Static Copy of a Combined Model 587
Combined Model Export 587
Flow Models 589
MODFLOW Models 589
Creating a MODFLOW Model 590
Horizontal Grid Spacing 591
Vertical Grid Layering 592
Editing a MODFLOW Model 594
Importing a MODFLOW Model 596
MODFLOW Evaluations 597
Assigning an Evaluation for Export 597
Combined Evaluations 597
MODFLOW Hydrological Properties 598
Setting Hydrological Properties 599
Zone Numbers 601
MODFLOW Model Display 601
Grid Display Options 602
Viewing Block Information 603
Head Values and MT3D Concentrations 603
Generating a Head Value Mesh 604
MODFLOW Model Export 604
As a MODFLOW File 605

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For Groundwater Vistas 605

As a Groundwater Vistas Update 605
FEFLOW Models 605
FEFLOW Model Display 606
Displaying a 3D Model 608
Displaying a 2D Model 609
Viewing Block Information 610
Importing a FEFLOW Grid 610
Creating a 2D FEFLOW Model 611
Boundary Options 612
Element Size 613
Adding Features to the Grid 613
Creating a 3D FEFLOW Model 615
FEFLOW Evaluations 618
Assigning an Evaluation for Export 618
Combined Evaluations 619
FEFLOW Material Types 619
FEFLOW Model Export 621
Block Models 622
Importing a Block Model 622
Importing an Isatis Block Model 622
Importing a Block Model in CSV Format 623
Creating a Block Model 624
Displaying a Block Model 625
Viewing Block Model Statistics 626
Table of Statistics 626
Exporting Block Models 628
Exporting Block Models in CSV Format 628
Selecting From Evaluated Items 629
Setting Row Filtering Options 629
Setting Numeric Precision 629
Setting Status Code Text Sequences 630
Selecting the Character Set 630
Exporting Block Models in Isatis Format 630
Selecting From Evaluated Items 630

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Setting Status Code Text Sequences 630

Selecting the Character Set 631
Exporting Block Models in Datamine Format 631
Selecting From Evaluated Items 631
Setting Row Filtering Options 631
Setting Status Code Text Sequences 632
Selecting the Character Set 632
Renaming Items 632
Exporting Block Models in Surpac Format 632
Selecting From Evaluated Items 633
Setting Row Filtering Options 633
Setting Numeric Precision 633
Setting Status Code Text Sequences 633
Selecting the Character Set 633
Sub-Blocked Models 634
Creating a Sub-Blocked Model 634
Model Extents and Rotation 634
The Grid Pattern 635
Triggers and Evaluations 637
Sub-Blocked Model Statistics 637
Sub-Blocked Model Export 638
Exporting Sub-Blocked Models in CSV Format 638
Selecting From Evaluated Items 639
Setting Row Filtering Options 639
Setting Numeric Precision 639
Setting Status Code Text Sequences 639
Selecting the Character Set 640
Exporting Sub-Blocked Models in Datamine Format 640
Selecting From Evaluated Items 640
Setting Row Filtering Options 640
Setting Status Code Text Sequences 641
Selecting the Character Set 641
Renaming Items 641
Leapfrog Edge 642
Best Practices 642

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Expertise is a Prerequisite 642

The Geology is Fundamental 642
Analyse the Data First 642
Domaining 643
Variogram Hypothesis and Experimentation, Analysis 643
Estimation Functions 643
Block Modelling 643
Data Analysis 644
Domained Estimations 645
Creating a Domained Estimation 645
Defining the Domain 646
Selecting Values 647
Setting Compositing Options 647
Boundary Validation 648
Filtering During Boundary Analysis 650
The Domained Estimation in the Project Tree 651
Viewing Statistics 653
Copying a Domained Estimation 654
The Ellipsoid Widget 655
Display and Editing Modes 655
Change Movement Handles 657
Change Look Direction 659
Changing Controls in Edit Mode 659
Variography and Estimators 661
Experimental Variography and Variogram Models 661
The Variogram Model Window 662
Variogram Model Controls 665
Linear, Spherical and Spheroidal Model Options 666
Normalised Y Axis 667
Direction 667
Experimental Controls 667
Experimental Variogram Parameters 670
Capping 671
Defining the Search Space 671
Radial Plot Parameters 674

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Orienting Custom Variograms 675

Changing Axis Limits 675
Changing Variogram Display 676
The Downhole Variogram 676
Axis Aligned Variograms 678
Custom Variograms 681
Transform Variography 682
Standard Estimators 686
Inverse Distance Estimators 687
Nearest Neighbour Estimators 689
Kriging Estimators 690
Kriging Attributes 693
RBF Estimators 695
Sample Geometries 697
Creating a New Declustering Object 697
General Settings 699
Outputs 700
The Declustering Object in the Project Tree 700
Applying a Declustering Object 701
Combined Estimators 701
Creating a Combined Estimator 702
Adding Estimators to a Combined Estimator 702
Evaluating a Combined Estimator 704
Viewing Statistics 710
Copying a Combined Estimator 711
Variable Orientations 711
Visualisation Options for Variable Orientations 712
Creating Variable Orientations 714
Selecting the Inputs 714
Setting the Global Plunge 718
Setting Visualisation Options 720
The Variable Orientation in the Project Tree 721
Applying a Variable Orientation 722
Exporting Rotations 723
Visualising Sample Geometries and Estimators 727

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Validation and Reporting 729

Block Estimate Interrogation 729
Grade Tonnage Graphs 733
Swath Plots 737
Resource Reports 742
Presentation 748
Uploading to View 748
Signing in to View 751
Uploading to View 751
Uploading the 3D View 752
Uploading Saved Scenes 753
Troubleshooting Connectivity Issues 753
Sections 754
Evaluating on Sections 754
Exporting Sections 754
Exporting Section Layouts 755
Creating Cross Sections 756
Importing Cross Sections 757
Fence Sections 759
Serial Sections 759
Setting the Base Section 760
Setting the Offset Sections 761
The Serial Section in the Project Tree 762
Displaying a Serial Section 762
Exporting a Serial Section 763
Section Layouts 764
Setting Up the Section 765
Creating New Section Layouts 766
Copying Section Layouts 767
Working With the Section Layout Editor 768
Changing Page Properties 769
Changing the Basic Section Properties 770
Organising Objects on the Section 774
Adding and Styling Models 775
Adding Styling Drillholes and Planned Drillholes 781

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Adding and Styling Surfaces 786

Adding and Styling Lines 787
Setting Up the Legend 788
Adding and Organising Annotations 792
Displaying a Title 793
Displaying a Title Block 794
Displaying a Scale Bar and Location Information 795
Text Boxes 797
Images 798
Rendered Images 799
Background Rendering 801
Saved Scenes 801
Saving Scenes 802
Exporting Scenes 802
Linking to Scene Files 803
Movies 804
Contour Lines 805
Creating Contour Lines 805
Exporting GIS Contours 805

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Getting Started
Once Leapfrog Geo is installed, there are some first steps to carry out before you begin working
with projects. This topic describes those first steps and then provides an overview of Leapfrog
Geo project files. This topic is divided into:
l Signing In to Leapfrog Geo with Seequent ID
l Graphics and Drivers
l The Leapfrog Geo Projects Tab
l Recording Reference Codes
l Managing Leapfrog Geo Projects
Once you have carried out these first steps, see An Overview of Leapfrog Geo for a description
of the different parts of the Leapfrog Geo main window and Concepts for information that is
important to helping you get the most out of Leapfrog Geo.

Signing In to Leapfrog Geo with Seequent ID

To use Leapfrog Geo, you need a Seequent ID and the correct permissions.

If you do not have a Seequent ID, you can sign up for one by launching Leapfrog Geo and
clicking the Register button.
To find out more about different permissions, visit the Flexible Leapfrog Software
Subscription Options page.

Once you have a Seequent ID and the correct permissions, launch Leapfrog Geo, enter your
details and click the button to sign in.
In the next window, you can:
l Select your group, if your organisation has a number of different groups.
l Select what extensions you wish to use. Some Leapfrog Geo features are only available with
an extension.
l Select how long you wish to check out a seat, if your organisation is set up to check out seats
on a day-by-day basis.
Select your options, then click the Get Started button.
Signing in to Leapfrog Geo also signs you in to View, so you can upload scenes to View.
The Seequent ID menu in the upper right-hand corner of the main window is used to manage
your MySeequent identity.

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If your organisation shares Leapfrog seats between users, signing out when you are finished
working with Leapfrog Geo releases your seat for other Leapfrog users in your organisation.

The menu is displayed in grey rather than green when you are working offline. You will not be
able to sign out of MySeequent when you are offline.

Graphics and Drivers

Many laptop computers come with two graphics options: low-powered graphics integrated into
the CPU and a high-performance dedicated graphics option (a GPU). To save power, often the
laptop’s default setting is to run programs using the slower integrated graphics option. However,
selecting high-performance graphics options is very important to Leapfrog’s performance. If you
have a dedicated graphics option, you should be using it. It’s also important to have the most up-
to-date drivers to make the most of your computer’s capabilities.
To determine what graphics capabilities your computer has:
1. From the Leapfrog Geo menu, select About.
2. Click on the System Info tab.
Under the Summary, you will see the following details:
l Graphics in use by shows the graphics option being used. Note that Leapfrog Geo uses only
the option indicated; if there are two options available, Leapfrog Geo does not use both
simultaneously.
l All available graphics hardware lists the options available. If there are two options listed,
you will want Leapfrog Geo to use the dedicated graphics option rather than the slower
integrated graphics.
l Driver date shows the date at which the driver was last updated for each graphics option.
If your graphics drivers are out of date, it is recommended that they be updated prior to switching
the graphics in use by Leapfrog Geo. To find more information:
l See the Advanced Troubleshooting Guides on the Leapfrog3D website for more information on
how to update drivers for different types of dedicated graphics cards.
l Visit the My Leapfrog forums at https://forum.leapfrog3d.com/c/open-forum and search for
“graphics”.
l Contact technical support as described in Getting Support.

Switching to High-Performance Graphics

If you have more than one graphics option available, ensure you are using the dedicated graphics
capabilities to get the most out of Leapfrog Geo. The steps below apply to an NVIDIA driver and
may be slightly different for other brands. Instructions for other brands can be found on the
driver’s or laptop manufacturer’s website.

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The first step is to open the NVIDIA Control Panel.

1. Right-click anywhere on your computer’s desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel.

2. Click on Manage 3D Settings.

3. Click on the Program Settings tab.

4. Under 1. Select a program to customise, click the Add button.

5. Browse to the location of the Leapfrog Geo .exe file.

The default installation location is: C:\Program Files\Seequent\Leapfrog

Geo5.1\bin\Geo.exe.

6. Once selected, click Open.

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7. Under 2. Select the preferred graphics processor for this program, select the High-
performance NVIDIA processor.

8. Click Apply.

On occasion, the graphics switch will be unsuccessful if the dedicated graphics card has old
drivers. To ensure a successful switch, update your drivers before switching to your dedicated
graphics card.

Once the drivers are updated and you have switched the in-use graphics card to your dedicated
card, verify these changes have been successfully made.
9. Open the System Info window.
10. Check that the higher-powered NVIDIA card is now being used and that the drivers show the
latest versions.

Running the Graphics Test

Leapfrog Geo can run in one of three acceleration modes. These modes are selected by clicking
on the button at the bottom of the main window:

See 3D Acceleration Mode in Settings for more information on these settings.

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A newer computer will run in Full Acceleration mode without issues. However, if you are
running Leapfrog Geo on a computer that is more than five years old, it is a good idea to run the
graphics test to test your computer’s graphics capabilities.
To start the test, open Leapfrog Geo and select Test Graphics from the Leapfrog Geo >
Diagnostics menu:

The graphics test displays a series of image pairs that test your computer’s capabilities for the
currently selected acceleration mode. For each pair, compare the images:

Even if the differences are slight, click the Images Differ button. If the images match, click the
Images Match button. The next test will be displayed.
At the conclusion of the test, the result is displayed. If one or more tests have failed, information
about solving problems will be displayed.
If you click on Save Report, you will be prompted to save the file on your computer.
If the test has failed, try switching to a different acceleration mode and running the test again. If
possible, avoid using Software Rendering as it can be very slow.

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If you cannot resolve the problem, save a copy of the graphics test report and contact technical
support as described in Getting Support. Be sure to include information about your system copied
from the About > System Info tab.

The Leapfrog Geo Projects Tab

After you have signed in to My Leapfrog, the Leapfrog Geo main window will appear with the
Projects tab displayed:

Thumbnails for the most recent projects are displayed in the Recent projects list. The second
set of thumbnails is for projects contained in the Search folder:
l Click on the folder button ( ) or press the F5 key to change the Search folder. The Search
folder is useful if you have one folder in which you keep most of your Leapfrog Geo projects.
l Click on the Refresh button ( ) or press the F4 key to update the list of projects in the
Search folder.
Leapfrog Hydro projects are indicated in the Projects tab. See Converting Leapfrog Hydro
Projects for more information.
Click on a thumbnail to open a project. You can also navigate directly to the required project file
by clicking on Open Project File.
Once a project file has been opened, Leapfrog Geo switches to displaying the Scene View tab.

See Managing Leapfrog Geo Projects below for more information on saving, compacting and
upgrading projects.

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Recording Reference Codes

You can enter a reference code to track work on specific projects. The time associated with each
reference code is included in your monthly usage report.
To enter a code, click the button in the status bar on the bottom edge of the Leapfrog Geo main
window:

Select from the codes defined and click OK. The code entered will be displayed in the status bar:

To define new reference codes or delete old ones, click on the Manage Codes button. See
Usage Policy Settings.

To work without a code, click on the button, select <No Code>, then click OK. Note that whether
it’s possible to use Leapfrog Geo without first entering a reference code depends on a setting in
the Settings > Usage Policy window.

Managing Leapfrog Geo Projects

To create a new project, click New Project at the top of the Projects tab. The new project will
be saved in the Search folder.
Leapfrog Geo project files use the extension .aproj. A folder is also created that contains
information used by the project.

Do not change the name of your project folder or alter its contents. Doing so could render your
project file unusable.

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A .lock file is created when a project is opened. The .lock file protects the project from being
moved while the project is open and from being opened by another instance of Leapfrog Geo,
which can happen when projects are saved on shared network drives.

If processing and display of objects in your project is too slow and your project is stored on a
network drive or on a USB drive, consider moving your project onto a local drive. Leapfrog Geo
is optimised for working off your local hard drive, and working from network drives and USB
drives risks corrupting the project.

Saving Projects
Leapfrog Geo automatically saves an open project each time a processing task has been
completed or settings have changed. Projects are also saved when they are closed so that scene
settings can be restored when the project is next opened.

Saving Zipped Copies of Projects

You can save a zipped copy of a project by selecting Save A Zipped Copy from the Leapfrog
Geo menu. You will be prompted to choose a name and location for the zipped project. Click
Save to create the zip file.

Saving Backup Copies of Projects

You can save a backup copy of a project by selecting Save A Copy from the Leapfrog Geo
menu. You will be prompted to choose a new name and location for the saved project. Click OK to
create the new project file. Leapfrog Geo will save a copy of the project in the location selected.

Once the backup copy is saved, you can open and use it from the Projects tab. Otherwise,
you can keep working in the original copy of the project.

Compacting Projects
When you delete objects from a project file, Leapfrog Geo retains those objects but notes that
they are no longer used. Over time, the project file will grow in size and data stored in the
database may become fragmented.
Compacting a project removes these unused objects and any unused space from the database.
When you compact a project, Leapfrog Geo will close the project and back it up before
compacting it. Depending on the size of the project, compacting it may take several minutes.
Leapfrog Geo will then reopen the project.
To compact a project, select Compact This Project from the Leapfrog Geo menu. You will be
asked to confirm your choice.

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Upgrading Projects
When you open a project that was last saved in an earlier version of Leapfrog Geo, you may be
prompted to upgrade the project. A list of affected objects will be displayed. For large projects
with many objects that need to be reprocessed, the upgrade process may take some time.
It is a good idea to back up the project before opening it. Tick the Back up the project before
upgrading button, then click Upgrade and Open. Navigate to the folder in which to save the
backup and click Save.
For large projects with many objects, upgrading without backing up the project is not
recommended.

Converting Leapfrog Hydro Projects

Leapfrog Hydro projects can be converted to Leapfrog Geo projects. However, the process is
one-way, and projects opened in Leapfrog Geo can no longer be opened in Leapfrog Hydro.
When you open a Leapfrog Hydro project, you will be prompted to save a backup before
converting the project.

It is strongly recommended that you back up the project before converting it.

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An Overview of Leapfrog Geo

This topic provides an overview of the different parts of the Leapfrog Geo main window. For
more detailed information on using the controls in the different parts of the main window, see the
following topics, which describe different aspects of using Leapfrog Geo:
l The Project Tree
l The 3D Scene
l Visualising Data
l Drawing in the Scene
l Organising Your Workspace
For more information on basic concepts that are important to getting the most out of Leapfrog
Geo, see the Concepts section.
The Leapfrog Geo main window is divided into three main parts:

The Project Tree contains all the data in the project and tools for working with that data. When you want to
change how this data is used in the project, work with the objects in the project tree. See The Project Tree.

The Scene View tab displays a 3D representation of selected objects from the project tree. Changing how
you view objects in the scene window does not change those objects in the project tree. See The 3D Scene.

Tools for changing the appearance of data in the scene window are available in the shape list and the shape

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properties panel. Changing the appearance of these objects does not change those objects in the project
tree. See Visualising Data.

You can add objects to the scene window by dragging them from the project tree. You can
temporarily hide them in the scene or remove them altogether using the controls in the shape list.

Leapfrog Geo is unit-less and adopts the units used in the data you import. For example, if your
imported data is in metres, the units displayed will be metres, and figures such as resolution,
measured distances and slicer thickness will be in metres. It is important, therefore, to be
consistent in the units used in the data you import. If you are importing data that uses
different coordinate systems, you will need to pre-process the data so that it is using the same
coordinate system.

When you open a Leapfrog Geo project, the project is displayed in the state it was in when it was
closed.

Keyboard Shortcuts in the Main Window

Use the Tab and Shift+Tab keys to move between the different parts of the main window in the
following order:
l Project tree
l Scene toolbar
l Scene window
l Shape list
l Shape properties panel

Key(s) Action

F8 Maximise scene, minimise project tree and shape list. Press F8 again to restore.

Ctrl+1 Activate the Select tool ( )

Ctrl+2 Activate the Draw slicer line tool ( )

Ctrl+3 Activate the Draw plane line tool ( )

Ctrl+4 Activate the Ruler tool ( )

Ctrl+\ Split the scene view

F10 or Alt L Open the Leapfrog Geo menu

F11 Open the Seequent ID menu

F1 Open Leapfrog Geo help

Ctrl+Q Quit Leapfrog Geo

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The Project Tree

The series of folders in the project tree are used to organise objects such as datasets, maps and
images into categories. These folders also provide tools that let you import information into the
project and generate models. Right-click on each folder to view the actions you can perform
using that folder.
This topic provides an introduction to working with the project tree. It is divided into:
l Organising Objects in the Project Tree
l Object Properties
l Comments
l Object Processing
l Project Tree Keyboard Shortcuts
You can also right-click on objects within the top-level folders to view more information on that
object or carry out actions specific to that object. For example, right-clicking on a table of
imported drillhole data reveals a menu showing possible actions:

When a bold option appears in the right-click menu, as Open does in the menu above, that option
can also be selected by double-clicking on the object.
You can select more than one object in the project tree by holding down the Shift key or the Ctrl
key while clicking. This is useful for viewing or deleting multiple objects at once.

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The way folders and objects are organised in the project tree lets you reveal or hide information
about an object to focus on objects you are currently working with. This is also useful when you
are exploring a project and want to determine how something was put together. The arrows next
to objects in the project tree let you reveal or hide an object’s details to focus on objects you are
currently working with. Here, the Topographies folder is expanded to show a Topography
object that is made up of a mesh:

Also note that:

l The mesh itself is stored in the Meshes folder, but is hyperlinked to from wherever it is used in
the project.
l The Drillhole Data folder and the Drillholes object have been expanded to show the drillhole
data tables.
l Folders that have no arrow have no detail stored.
Expanding a data table ( ) shows the columns in that table contains, including category data
columns ( ), numeric data columns ( ) and query filters ( ):

Some tables are marked as having errors ( ), which are discussed in Identifying Errors in Data
Tables.

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Expanding a geological model reveals information about how it was built. Here, a geological model
has been expanded to show the basic objects that make up a model:

The five objects underneath the geological model “GM” represent the five basic parts of a
geological model:
l The Boundary object defines the outer limits of the geological model.
l The Fault System object defines faults and their interactions in the geological model.
l The Lithologies object defines the lithologies in the model.
l The Surface Chronology object defines the structure of the model’s contact surfaces.
l The Output Volumes folder contains the generated units (outputs) that make up the
geological model.
Here, boundary objects for a geological model have been expanded to show how they were
created:

The Topography object is included as the model’s upper boundary. The “East boundary” object
was created using a polyline from the Polylines folder and the “West boundary” object was
created using a GIS data object in the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder. Clicking on the
hyperlinks will locate the object from which the extent was created.

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Organising Objects in the Project Tree

Leapfrog Geo has a number of tools to help you organise the large numbers of objects in a project.
One of these tools is the use of display lines in the project tree to better show relationships:

If you wish to display line in the project tree, open the Settings window from the Leapfrog Geo
menu. Click on User Interface and enable Show Tree Lines.
When you have a large number of folders open in the project tree, you can close all folders by
right-clicking on the top of the project tree and selecting Collapse All:

Hotkeys for opening and closing folders include:

l Ctrl + shift + left arrow collapses all folders.
l Right arrow expands a collapsed folder or object but keeps child objects collapsed.
l Shift + right arrow expands a collapsed folder or object and child objects.
l Left arrow collapses an expanded folder or object but keeps child objects expanded.
l Shift + left arrow collapses an expanded folder or object and child objects.
Hotkeys work with more than one object selected.

Subfolders
In many project tree folders, you can create subfolders that help in organising large numbers of
data objects. For example, here colour gradients have been organised into subfolders:

To add a subfolder, right-click on a folder in the project tree and select New Subfolder. Add
objects to subfolders by dragging and dropping them. You can also use Cut (Ctrl-X) and Paste
(Ctrl-V) shortcuts to move objects and subfolders.

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Subfolders can be renamed, moved and deleted, but cannot be moved to other top-level folders.
Subfolders have the same right-click commands as their parent folder, which means you can
import or create new data objects inside the subfolder rather than in the parent folder. You can
also add comments to folders to aid in keeping data organised:

You can view all objects in the subfolder by dragging the folder into the scene or by right-clicking
on the subfolder and selecting View All.
When lists of objects are displayed, the subfolder organisation will be reflected in the list. For
example, when creating an interpolant, the list of data objects that can be interpolated is
displayed organised by subfolder:

Subfolders cannot be created in the Drillhole Data folder, although they can be created in the
Composites and Planned Drillholes folders.

Copying Objects
Many objects in the project tree can be copied. Right-click on an object and select Copy. You will
be prompted to enter a name for the object’s copy.
The copied object is not linked to the original object. However, if the original object is linked to
other objects in the project, the copy will also be linked to those objects.

Renaming Objects
When an object is created in Leapfrog Geo, it is given a default name. It is a good idea to give
objects in Leapfrog Geo names that will help you distinguish them from other objects, as large
projects with complicated models will contain many objects.

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To rename an object in the project tree, right-click on the object and select Rename. The
Rename Object window will be displayed:

Enter a new name for the object. Click Rename to change the object’s name.

Finding Objects
To find objects in the project tree, click the search button at the top of the project tree:

You can also click anywhere in the project tree and type “Ctrl-F”.
The Find window will be displayed:

Enter the information you are searching for, then click Backwards or Forwards to locate the
object in the project tree.

Deleting Objects
When you delete an object from the project tree, a window will be displayed listing all other
objects in the project that will also be deleted and those that will be reprocessed. Some objects
will be put into an error state; you will need to correct those errors before the affected object can
be used elsewhere in the project.

Consider carefully the effects on other objects in the project, as once an object is deleted, it
cannot be recovered.

Deleting data from the project may cause other objects to be reprocessed, which can take some
time.
To delete more than one object from the tree, hold down the Shift key or the Ctrl key while
selecting objects.

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Sharing Objects
Some objects are created as part of working with other objects and are not available elsewhere in
the project. An example of this is a polyline drawn as part of creating a model boundary. To share
such objects within the project, right-click on the object in the project tree and click Share. The
shared object will be copied to the relevant location in the project tree and a hyperlink added to
the object it was shared from.
For example, here a polyline created as part of a lateral extent is shared:

The polyline is saved to the Polylines folder and a hyperlink to it appears as part of the model’s
boundary. Whenever the polyline is updated, changes will be made wherever it is shared in the
project.

Polylines that have been shared can be unshared. See Sharing and Unsharing Polylines for
more information.

Object Properties
You can view the properties of most objects imported into or created in Leapfrog Geo. To do this,
right-click on the object in the project tree and select Properties.
The information available in the Properties window depends on the type of object. Tabs may
include:
l A Processing tab that shows the current status of the processing (queued to process,
processing, finished).
l An Errors tab that displays errors that have occurred while processing the object. See Object
Processing.
l A General tab that summarises information about the object. The amount of information in
the General tab will vary according to the type of object. For example, for table objects, the
General tab shows the table’s data structure.

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l A Statistics tab that shows statistics for some types of interpolants.

l For RBF interpolants, see RBF Interpolant Statistics.
l For multi-domained RBF interpolants, see Sub-Interpolant Statistics.
l For indicator RBF interpolants, see Indicator RBF Interpolant Statistics.

Comments
Another aid to documenting work in a project is comments.
You can record comments on many objects in the project tree, including subfolders. This can be
helpful when the project contains many objects and when several different people are working on
a model. Objects that have comments are indicated in the project tree by a comment balloon ( ).
The comment will be displayed when you right-click on the object:

Tab or click to add a new comment or edit an existing one. You can also add standard information
to a comment, such as date and time. If you add a URL to a comment, it will be converted to a
clickable link.

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You can add information about the project as a whole using the Notes object ( ), which is the
last object in the project tree. Double-click on the Notes object to open it and add information.
When viewing projects in the Projects tab, information in a project’s Notes will be displayed
when you hold the mouse cursor over the project’s thumbnail:

Object Processing
Objects that are up-to-date are displayed in the project tree using black text. When an object is
being processed, its processing state is indicated in the project tree in either green or grey text.
For example, here the Maia Geological Model is being updated:

The four surfaces displayed in green are currently being processed, and the objects displayed in
grey are awaiting processing. The Surface Chronology and the geological model itself are
displayed in grey because one or more of their child objects are being processed or are awaiting
processing.

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The processing queue shows how many tasks are currently being processed:

The button will turn grey when all processing is complete.

Click the button or press Alt + P to view the processing queue:

Objects will be added to the processing queue when you make changes to them via the project
tree.
l To pause processing, press Ctrl + P.
l To resume processing, press Ctrl + P again.
You can close a project while it is still running tasks. When you next open the project, the
remainder of the tasks in the processing queue will be processed.

Controlling Processing
When a project contains only a small amount of data, all changes can be processed when they are
made without interrupting your work. As a project grows larger and more complex, you may wish
to use the different processing controls to determine when changes you make to objects are
processed. There are two ways to control when objects are processed:
l Prioritising Objects
l Freezing Objects

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These tools are described below. Experiment with both of them separately to get an idea of how
they work; this will help in determining the approach that best suits your projects as you add more
data and models to them.

The project tree may also contain restricted objects:

Restricted objects were created using features only available in extensions. You can display
restricted objects in the scene and change how they are displayed, but you cannot make
changes to the objects themselves or export them. When changes are made to objects that
are inputs to restricted objects, the restricted objects will not be processed. Instead, they will
remain in the processing queue marked as “frozen”.
Contact Customer Support as described in Getting Support for more information about
extensions.

Prioritising Objects
Objects can be prioritised so that they and their inputs are processed before other objects. To
prioritise an object, right-click on it the project tree and click the Prioritise button ( ).
Prioritised objects are marked in the project tree with an arrow:

Prioritising an object is useful when you are editing it and wish to view the effect of changes
without reprocessing all objects in the project. For example, you may be modifying a surface that
is used for a model boundary. You can prioritise the surface, then run it each time you make
changes; the surface and objects it is dependent on will be processed before any other objects are
processed.
To limit processing of other objects further, you can set the processing queue so that only
prioritised objects are processed. If your project has a lot of objects that are dependent on the
object you are working on, this is useful for limiting the amount of time Leapfrog Geo dedicates to
processing. To restrict processing in this way, click the processing queue button, then click
Priority Only:

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The processing queue button will change to show that only priority tasks will be run:

When changes are made to the prioritised object, the only objects processed will be those needed
to make the prioritised object valid. For example, here the Intermineral diorite surface has been
prioritised. The geological model’s surface chronology and the section evaluation of the model will
not be updated when the prioritised surface is updated:

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Objects not needed to validate the prioritised object will remain in the processing queue in
Waiting and Queued states:

The number of objects that have been prioritised is indicated by the button at the top of the
project tree ( ). To view prioritised tasks, click the button. All prioritised objects will be selected
and displayed in the project tree.
To reset a priority object, right-click on it and click the Clear Priority button ( ).
Click the processing queue button, then click Run All to resume normal processing.

Freezing Objects
Objects can also be frozen so that they will not be processed, which is a useful way of working on
one object without having all linked objects reprocess upon each change. For example, you may
wish to modify a surface in a geological model, in which case you can freeze all objects other than
the surface.
You can display frozen objects in the scene, change how they are displayed and export them, but
you cannot make changes to the objects themselves.

Some objects become frozen because they are restricted objects created using features only
available in extensions. Frozen restricted objects can only be unfrozen if you switch to using
the relevant extension.

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To freeze an object, right-click on it the project tree and click the Freeze button ( ). You can
also quickly freeze multiple objects by selecting them and then right-clicking on the selection:

Frozen objects are marked in the project tree with a pause button ( ). Here, some of the
contact surfaces and all of the output volumes have been frozen so that work can be done on the
Intermineral diorite surface without processing all other changes to the model:

When a frozen object has unprocessed changes, it will be displayed in the project tree using blue
text. Here, changes have been made to the Intermineral diorite surface, which is still displayed
using black text, showing that it has no unprocessed changes:

The frozen contact surfaces are still displayed in black because changing the Intermineral diorite
surface does not change those other surfaces. However, all of the output volumes are displayed
using blue text because they have unprocessed changes as a result of the changes made to the
Intermineral diorite surface.
The number of objects in a project that have been frozen is indicated by the button at the top of
the project tree ( ). To quickly select all frozen objects, click the button. All frozen objects will
be selected in the project tree.

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Correcting Errors
If processing of an object fails, all other objects dependent on that object will also fail. Open the
processing queue to view the errors. To inspect the source of error, right-click on the object in the
queue and select Go to Project Tree > Show Error:

The object’s Properties window will be opened with the Errors tab displayed. The information
in this tab may be helpful in fixing the error.

Project Tree Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts for navigating in the project tree are as follows:

Key(s) Action

Up and down arrows Navigate up and down the tree

Right arrow Expand folder/object or go down one level

Left arrow Close folder/object or go up one level

Ctrl+shift+left arrow Close all folders/objects

Shift+right arrow Expand the selected folder/object and any objects in it

Shift+left arrow Close the selected folder/object and any objects in it

Ctrl+A and Ctrl+/ Selects all folders and objects

Ctrl+F Search for objects

Enter The equivalent of double-clicking on an object

Ctrl-X Cut an object or subfolder. Use with Ctrl-V to move objects and subfolders.

Ctrl-V Paste an object or subfolder

Some actions are not available until data has been imported into the project.

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The 3D Scene
This topic describes how to interact with the 3D scene. It is divided into:
l Locating an Object from the Scene
l Slicing Through the Data
l Measuring in the Scene
l Working With Split Views
How to change the way objects are displayed in the scene is described in a separate topic,
Visualising Data.
The best way to navigate the 3D scene in Leapfrog Geo is using the mouse. If you are running
Leapfrog Geo on a laptop, it is recommended that you plug in a mouse rather than using the
laptop’s touchpad for navigation. However, you can also navigate in the scene using the
keyboard.

Action Mouse Keyboard

Changing the viewing Press the arrow keys to rotate the scene
Click and drag to rotate the scene
angle For smaller steps, hold down the Shift key while pressing the
arrow keys

Zooming in and out of Use the scroll wheel Press the Page Up or Page Down keys
the scene Hold the right mouse button while For smaller steps, hold down the Shift key while pressing the
moving the mouse Page Up or Page Down keys

Click and hold both mouse buttons,

Panning the scene Hold down the Alt key while pressing the arrow keys
then drag
Hold the scroll wheel and drag

Centre an object in Click the scroll wheel

the scene Click both mouse buttons together

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Use the Look menu above the scene window to switch to different viewing angles:

If you prefer to navigate using the keyboard, use the following keyboard shortcuts:

Key(s) Action

Arrow keys Rotate the scene in 10 degree steps

Shift+Arrow keys Rotate the scene in 2 degree steps

Home Reset the view, showing all visible objects in scene

U, D, E, W, N, S Look Up, Down, East, West, North and South

L Look at the slicing plane

Shift+L Look at the back of the slicing plane

M Look at the moving plane

Shift+M Look at the back of the moving plane

Ctrl+M Look down the moving plane pitch

Shift+Ctrl+M Look up the moving plane pitch

P Select Perspective view

O Select Orthographic view

Ctrl+Delete Clear the scene

Ctrl+B Bookmark the viewing angle and zoom

B Display the bookmarked viewing angle and zoom

Ctrl+’ Save the scene

Copies the scene to the clipboard. The image can then be pasted into another
Ctrl+C
application, such as an image editor.

Ctrl+/ Add the slicer to the scene. Press Ctrl+/ to remove the slicer from the scene.

Add the moving plane to the scene. Press Ctrl+; to remove the moving plane from the
Ctrl+;
scene.

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The current viewing angle and scale are displayed in the lower right-hand corner of the scene
window:

You can change how the viewing angle and scale are displayed in the Overlays tab of the
Settings window.
You can save the current viewing angle as a bookmark by selecting Bookmark Viewing Angle
from the Look menu or by pressing Ctrl+B. Restore the bookmark by selecting Look > Restore
Bookmark or by pressing B.

Only one viewing angle bookmark can be saved. The bookmark is not saved when Leapfrog
Geo is shut down.

The scene window displays a 3D representation of selected data from the project tree. You can
add objects from the project tree to the scene in two ways:
l Click on the object and drag it into the scene. Hold down the Shift key or the Ctrl key while
clicking to select multiple items, then add them to the scene.
l Right-click on the object and tick the View Object box.

Dragging objects into the scene window may be blocked by other applications on your
computer. For example, if you are sharing a screen using Skype, you will not be able to drag
objects into the scene.

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Once you have added objects to the scene window, you can change the appearance of those
objects using the controls in the shape list and the shape properties panel.

This is described further in Visualising Data.

Changing how you view objects in the scene window does not change those objects in the
project tree.

All objects in the shape list have a button ( ) that will remove the object from the scene. Most
objects also have a visibility button ( ) that can temporarily hide that object in the scene. It is
often easier to make an object temporarily invisible than to remove it from the list. Some objects
have an edit button ( ) that you can click to begin editing the object.

Locating an Object from the Scene

When you have a number of objects displayed in the scene, it may not be readily apparent where
you can find more information about those objects. Leapfrog Geo helps you find the object in the
project tree and the shape list in two ways, by Clicking in the Scene and by Clicking in the Shape
List.

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Clicking in the Scene

Clicking on an object in the scene displays a window that contains a summary of the data and, for
many objects, a link to the corresponding data in the project tree. For example, here drillhole data
is displayed in the scene and clicking on a segment displays the corresponding data:

Note that clicking on an object in the scene also selects it in the shape list.

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Clicking in the Shape List

When you have objects displayed in the shape list and want to locate them in the project tree,
simply right-click on the object in the shape list and select Go to Project Tree:

The object’s location in the project tree will be expanded and the object will be selected.

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Slicing Through the Data

The slicer is a powerful tool for revealing data that is concealed behind other objects and for
emphasising data. Slicing can be considered a form of dynamic sectioning.
Two buttons in the toolbar can be used to add the slicer to the scene:

You can add the slicer to the scene by clicking the Show slicer button ( ). The slicer will appear
in the scene and you can adjust its position using the controls in the shape list:
You can also click the Draw slicer line button ( ), then click and drag in the scene to cut a slice
through the scene.

The scene may appear empty because the slicer has removed all visible data. Reposition the
slicer or turn it off.

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Slicer Properties
You can change the way the slice appears in the scene using the controls in the shape list, and
finer controls are available in the shape properties panel:

Right-click on the slicer in the shape list to view more information about each option:

The Lock to Camera ( ) option locks the slice to the current view so that moving the scene
changes the direction of the slice.
These options can also be controlled from the Look menu:

The Set to list in the shape properties panel contains standard views, together with any sections
displayed in the scene:

To move the slicing plane in a direction orthogonal to the slicing plane, hold down the Ctrl key and
the right mouse button while dragging the mouse.
To change the thickness of a thick slice, hold down the Ctrl key and the middle mouse button
while dragging the mouse. If you have a two-button mouse, hold both buttons.

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Object Slice Mode

When you draw a slice in the scene, how objects in the scene are displayed in relation to the slicer
is controlled in the properties panel for that object. For example, here the M_Geology table is
selected in order to change how the drillholes are displayed in relation to the slicer:

The From Scene setting is the default; the object is sliced according to the properties set for the
slicer.
By changing the Slice mode for objects in the scene, you can illustrate how a model has been
constructed:

Slicer Shortcuts
Use the following keyboard shortcuts to control the slicer:

Key(s) Action

Ctrl+/ Add the slicer to the scene. Press Ctrl+/ to remove the slicer from the scene.

L Look at the slicing plane

Shift+L Look at the back of the slicing plane

T Thick slice ( )

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Key(s) Action

F Remove front ( )

K Remove back ( )

Ctrl+V Orient the slicer to the current view

Ctrl+E Slice the east (X) axis ( )

Ctrl+N Slice the north (Y) axis ( )

Ctrl+D Slice the elevation (Z) axis ( )

Ctrl+L Lock the slicer to the camera ( )

C Centre the slicer in the scene

Ctrl+right mouse button Move the slicer forward and backward in the scene

Ctrl+middle (or left+right) mouse

Change the slice width
button

, (comma) Step the slicer forward

. (full stop) Step the slicer backward

Measuring in the Scene

Leapfrog Geo has a number of tools for making quantitative measurements in the scene. These
include:
l Clicking on an object in the scene. This will open a window containing more information about
the object.
l Viewing an object’s properties to determine its size. Right-click on the object in the project
tree and select Properties. Information on the size of the object will be displayed in the
General tab.
l Using the cursor to determine an approximate location in the scene. See Determining a
Location.
l Using the moving plane to measure trends. See The Moving Plane.
l Using the ruler to measure in the scene. See The Ruler.

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Determining a Location
The simplest way of measuring an approximate location in the scene is to first display an object in
the scene window, then position the cursor over the location. The position of the cursor is
displayed at the bottom of the Leapfrog Geo window:

The position of the cursor in the scene is calculated using the depth buffer on the graphics card
and so is not an exact method of measuring in the scene.
If you require an exact position, click on the object. Leapfrog Geo will compute the exact position
of the point highlighted in the scene and display it in a pop-up window:

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The Moving Plane

In Leapfrog Geo, the moving plane is used for measuring planar structures and defining coordinate
system orientations. There are two tools in the toolbar that relate to the moving plane:

To use the moving plane, click the Show plane button ( ) and position the plane in the scene.
The main axis of the moving plane is defined by the green line. The second axis is defined to be in
the plane at right angles (orthogonal) to the main axis. Third axis is perpendicular to the plane.
There are three ways to position the plane. You can:
l Use the handles in the scene window to move the plane. If you cannot see the handles, click
on the moving plane.
l Use the Plane controls in the shape properties panel to change the Dip, Dip Azimuth, Pitch
and Centre Point.
l Orient the scene to look parallel to the required plane position, then click on the Draw plane
line button ( ). Draw the required line in the scene.
Plane movement can be aligned to the Axes or to the Camera:
l With the Axes option, the handles move in cartesian coordinates. This is the only option
available in older versions of Leapfrog Geo.
l With the Camera option, the handles move relative to the camera angle.
Drawing the plane line is usually the most convenient method of defining a planar structure.
To remove the moving plane from the scene:
l Click the Show plane button ( ).
l In the shape list, click the X button ( ) for the moving plane.

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Use the following keyboard shortcuts to control the moving plane:

Key(s) Action

Add the moving plane to the scene. Press Ctrl+; to remove the moving plane from the
Ctrl+;
scene.

M Look at the moving plane

Shift+M Look at the back of the moving plane

Ctrl+M Look down the moving plane pitch

Shift+Ctrl+M Look up the moving plane pitch

The Ruler
You can use the ruler to measure distances in three dimensional space and between drillholes and
planned drillholes.
The easiest way to use the ruler is to click on the Ruler button ( ) and click and drag between
points in the scene to start making measurements. A ruler line will appear in the scene to indicate
the measurement. Information about the distance measured will appear in the scene and in the
shape properties panel:

The ruler tool stays active in the scene so you can make as many measurements as required.

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You can also measure the distance between drillholes or between drillholes and a point. To do this,
click on the Calculate Distance button in the shape properties panel. The Distance Calculator
window will appear:

You can select both drillholes and planned drillholes. Click Calculate to calculate the distance and
update the ruler in the scene. The distance value will appear in the Distance Calculator window.
You can also select a point in the scene by clicking the Select button ( ) in the Distance
Calculator window, then clicking in the scene. The location of the point in the scene will appear
in the Distance Calculator window.

After measuring a distance, it is a good idea to change the viewing angle to confirm that the
measurement has been made between the correct points in three dimensions.

There are two ways to remove the ruler from the scene:
l Click the Select button ( ).
l Click the X button ( ) for the ruler object in the shape list.

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Working With Split Views

The Split View button ( ) in the toolbar allows you to view up to two alternative views of the
objects displayed in the scene:

The alternative views available are a Plan View or a Zoomed Out view:

You can also open an alternative view in a new tab by choosing the New Split View Tab option:

You can resize the scene and the alternative views and Leapfrog Geo will remember the position
of each view when you switch to that split view again.
To return to displaying only the scene view, click the Split View button ( ).

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Each alternative view has a toolbar that gives you different options for displaying the view. Use
the Enclose Object list to zoom into or out of the alternative view:

The list displayed includes all objects available in the project, plus the clipping boundary and the
current scene view.
Click the Edit Visibility button ( ) to change what objects from the scene view are visible in the
alternative view:

An object must be visible in the scene view’s shape list for its visibility to be controllable from the
alternative view’s Edit Visibility list. What this means is that objects hidden in the scene view
cannot be made visible in an alternative view.

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When the slicer is in the main scene view, you can display the contents of the alternative view
sliced or unsliced. Click the View Unsliced button ( ). The slicer, shown in blue in this image,
remains displayed in the alternative views, but the view’s contents are displayed unsliced:

In alternative views, you can display a view window that shows what part of the alternative view
is displayed in the scene view. Click the Enable View Window button ( ):

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Each alternative view has a Settings button ( ) that lets you change what overlays are
displayed for that view. The alternative view can use the scene view settings, or you can
customise the display of the screen grid, axis lines and scale bar:

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Visualising Data
Visualising data is an important part of interpreting and refining data and making modelling
decisions. This topic describes the tools available for changing how data objects are displayed in
the scene. It is divided into:
l Colour Options
l Opacity
l Property Buttons
l Legends
l Slice Mode
l Filtering Data Using Queries
l Filtering Data Using Values and Categories
Tools for visualising data are accessed via the shape list and the shape properties panel:

The tools available depend on the type of object being displayed.

Changing how you view objects in the scene window does not change those objects in the
project tree.

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The view list is available for objects that can be displayed in different ways. For example, a
lithology data table may contain several columns and the column displayed can be selected from
the view list:

Geological and numeric model evaluations are also selected from the view list. See Evaluations.
The shape properties panel adjacent to the shape list provides more detailed control of the
appearance of the selected object:

You can select multiple objects in the shape list and change their display properties using the
shape properties panel. To do this, hold down the Shift or Ctrl key while clicking each object you
wish to change:

Only controls common to the selected objects are available.

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Colour Options
The colour options for an object are changed in the shape list, and the options available depend on
the type of object. Three different colour display options are shown below:

l The collar table is displayed using a single colour. Click the colour chip to change the colour.
See Single Colour Display.
l The Geology table is displayed according to a colourmap of the categories in the table. These
colours can be changed by clicking on the Edit Colours button, then clicking on each colour
chip in the Legend window. See Category Colourmaps.
l The Contaminant table uses a colourmap to display the numeric data. Numeric data
coloumaps are automatically generated based on the data, and manually changing a
colourmap can often help in understanding the data. See Numeric Colourmaps.

If your organisation uses standard colour coding for category and numeric data, you can
import colourmaps for these data types. See Importing and Exporting Colourmaps.

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Single Colour Display

Many objects viewed in the scene are displayed using a single colour. To change the colour, add
the object to the scene window, then click on the colour chip in the shape list. A window will
appear in which you can change the colour:

You can:
l Click and drag the ring to pick a colour, then select the darkness or lightness of the colour from
the triangle.
l Click on the eyedropper tool ( ), then click on something elsewhere on the screen to select
the colour of that part of the screen.
l Select a colour chip from the palette.
l Set a random colour.
l Enter specific values for the colour to use.
Changes made are automatically applied to the scene. The Revert button changes back to the
colour assigned when the window was first opened.

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Category Colourmaps
Category data colourmaps can be edited by adding the data column to the scene, then clicking on
the Edit Colours button in the shape list:

To change the colour used for a category, click on its colour chip in the Legend window.
Category colourmaps can also be imported and exported, as described in Importing and Exporting
Colourmaps above.

Numeric Colourmaps
There are two types of colourmap used for displaying numeric data:
l Continuous Colourmaps
l Discrete Colourmaps
To edit the colourmap for an object, add the object to the scene. Click on the colourmap in the
shape list and click the pencil ( ).

An Edit Colourmap window will display the colourmap that is currently being used to display the
data; this window will be different for continuous and discrete colourmaps. Any changes you
make in the Edit Colourmap window will be reflected in the scene. To save the currently
displayed colourmap, click Close.

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To create a new colourmap, click on a colourmap in the shape list and select New Colourmap. In
the window that appears, select whether you wish to create a continuous colourmap or a discrete
colourmap:

Leapfrog Geo contains a number of preset colour gradients that are used in displaying both
continuous and discrete numeric colourmaps. These are:
l Rainbow (bgyr). This is a perceptually uniform rainbow.
l Rainbow (bgyrm). This is similar to Rainbow (bgyr), but follows red with magenta, which is
common in geophysics software and RQD (geotech).
l Viridis. This is a good linear gradient.
l Plasma. This is the default colourmap for face dip.
l Linear (gow). This gradient is useful for elevation data.
l Diverging (bwr). This colourmap can be used when you are interested in data at either end
of the spectrum.
l Spectral. With this colourmap, the middle is not white, and white is reserved for bins that
have no data.
l Cyclic (mygbm). This is a good colourmap for azimuth data. Northern directions are
displayed in blue and southern in yellow.
l Grey (10-95). This grey colourmap works well on white and black backgrounds as it doesn’t
start or end in white or black.

Additional colour gradients can be imported into a project. See Importing Colour Gradients.

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Continuous Colourmaps
A continuous colourmap uses a gradient whose colours are stretched across a range of values. In
the Edit Colourmap window, the Gradient list includes all inbuilt gradients and any that have
been imported into the Colour Gradients folder.

Click the Generate Curve button to change the Curve mode used and the Number of lines
on the histogram:

You can limit the range of values used back in the Edit Colourmap window by disabling
Dynamic and then setting the minimum and maximum values.
The curve modes all stretch the colourmap so that each line groups the histogram bars by colour.
The available curve modes are:
l Quantile. The sum of the histogram bars between each pair of lines is equal.
l Progressive. The sum of the histogram bars between each pair of lines is progressively
smaller, covering a smaller percentage of values towards the end of the curve.

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l Progressive Double. This is similar to Progressive, but the effect is emphasised by

increasing the percentage difference between lines.
l Logarithmic Intervals. This stretches the colours using a logarithmic transform, which may
be preferred for data with a wide range of values.
Experiment with the different settings and click Apply to see the effects of changes. To edit the
curve points on the histogram, close the Generate Curve window:

Note that if you use more than 10 lines in generating the curve, you will not be able to edit the
curve points on the histogram:

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You can change the Bin Width in the Options menu:

Enable Histogram of the Log to see the value distribution with a log scale X-axis. You can also
view a Cumulative distribution function for the values, with or without a log scale X-axis.
If the numeric data column for which the colourmap is defined has been produced from other
data sources in the project, you will be able to select whether to display the Local Values or the
values from the Parent Data. For example, for a numeric data column that is part of a merged
table, you can display the values from only the merged table or from the parent table:

If the Dynamic option is enabled, the gradient will be updated when the data is updated, such as
when drillhole data is appended. If the option is disabled, the values manually set for the
Minimum and Maximum limits will control the lower and upper bounds of the colourmap.
Reducing the range of the upper and lower bounds is useful if the bulk of the data points have
values in a range much smaller than the overall range of the data. This is common in skewed data.
The Set limits from data button automatically adjusts the Minimum and Maximum Limit
values so that the colourmap would follow the actual data distribution of the input data. The

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values that lie outside the Limits are coloured with the last colour at the relevant end of the
colourmap.

When you click Revert, all changes you have made in the window are discarded.

Discrete Colourmaps
With a discrete colourmap, you can define intervals and select which colours are used to display
each interval:

Click the Generate Intervals button to generate intervals based on various statistical methods:

Select an Interval Mode. The options are:

l Quantile. This attempts to create the specified number of intervals so that each interval
contains the same number of values.
l Progressive. This attempts to create intervals that enclose progressively smaller
percentages of values. For example, 1000 unique values organised into 5 intervals would have
the following percentiles: ~33%, ~27%, ~20%, ~13%, ~6%.

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l Progressive Double. This is similar to Progressive, but is “steeper”. For example, 1000
values organised into 5 intervals would have the following percentiles: ~50%, ~25%, ~12.5%,
~6.25%, ~3%.
l Equal Intervals. This creates intervals at equal spacing across the range of the values.
l Logarithmic Intervals. This creates intervals at equal spacing, in log-space, across the
range of values.
l K Means Clustering. This is an iterative algorithm that sorts values into clusters in which
each value belongs to the cluster with the nearest mean. This option can take some time,
especially with large datasets and a large number of intervals.
Set the Number of Intervals and the Colour Gradient to be used as the basis for the interval
colourings. The first interval is assigned the first colour of the selected Colour Gradient and the
last interval is assigned the gradient’s last colour; selecting Invert Gradient swaps this around.
You can change the Bin Width in the Options menu:

Enable Histogram of the Log to see the value distribution with a log scale X-axis. You can also
view a Cumulative distribution function for the values, with or without a log scale X-axis.

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If the numeric data column for which the colourmap is defined has been produced from other
data sources in the project, you will be able to select whether to display the Local Values or the
values from the Parent Data. For example, for a numeric data column that is part of a merged
table, you can display the values from only the merged table or from the parent table:

The Set limits from data button automatically adjusts the X-Axis Limits so that the
colourmap would follow the actual data distribution of the input data.
Experiment with the different settings and click Apply to see the effects of changes.
You can also add intervals manually by clicking the Add button. For example, if you create a
discrete colourmap to show the different stages of a drilling campaign, the initial colourmap
contains only two intervals:

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Click the Add button to add new intervals and use the Min and Max entries in the table to set the
start and end points of each interval:

When you click Revert, all changes you have made in the window are discarded.

Importing Colour Gradients

Additional colour gradients can be imported into a project in the following formats:
l Geosoft Colour Files (*.tbl)
l ERMapper Lookup Tables (*.lut)
l MapInfo Colour Files (*.clr)
l Leapfrog Colour Files (*.lfc)

Perceptually uniform colourmaps are available at

http://peterkovesi.com/projects/colourmaps/, where they can be downloaded in ERMapper
(*.lut), Geosoft (*.tbl) and Golden Software Surfer (*.clr) format.
Colourmaps used in earlier versions of Leapfrog Geo can be downloaded from
http://downloads.leapfrog3d.com/Colourmaps/older_leapfrog_gradients.zip.
Matplotlib colour gradients can be downloaded from
http://downloads.leapfrog3d.com/Colourmaps/matplotlib_colour_gradients.zip.

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Imported colour gradients are stored in the project tree in the Colour Gradients folder. To
import a colour gradient right-click on the Colour Gradients folder and select Import
Gradient. In the window that appears, navigate to the folder containing the gradient file and
click Open. The gradient will be added to the Colour Gradients folder and you can then select it
from the Gradients list when editing a colourmap:

If you delete a colour gradient from the Colour Gradients folder and it is in use in the project,
you will need to select a replacement gradient for all colourmaps that use that gradient. Select
the replacement colour gradient from those available in the project:

Importing and Exporting Colourmaps

Colourmaps can easily be shared between projects on a column-by-column basis, which is useful
if your organisation uses standard colourmaps. To import or export a colourmap, expand the data
object in the project tree and right-click on a column. The Import and Export options are
available from the Colours menu:

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To export a colourmap, right-click on the data object and select Colours > Export. If more than
one colourmap is associated with the selected object, you will be prompted to choose from those
available. Click Export.
In the window that appears, navigate to the folder where you wish to save the colourmap. Enter a
filename and click Save. The colourmap will be saved in *.lfc format.
When you import a colourmap:
l For category colourmaps, the existing colourmap will be overwritten.
l For numeric colourmaps, the imported colourmap will be added to those already defined.
To import a colourmap, right-click on the data object and select Colours > Import. Navigate to
the folder containing the colourmap file and click Open.
If the object has more than one colourmap associated with it, you will be prompted to choose
which one to overwrite.

If the column you expected is not listed, check to see if you have selected the correct file. The
columns displayed are those that correspond to the type of data in the selected file (category
or numeric).

Click Import.
Leapfrog Geo will map the information in the file to the information in the selected data column.

Opacity
The opacity slider in the shape list controls the transparency of objects in the scene:

Property Buttons
The property buttons available in the shape list vary according to the type of object selected. For
example, property buttons can show or hide the triangles on a mesh, render points as spheres or
display a surface clipped to a model boundary. You can always find out what a button does by
holding the cursor over the button:

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Legends
You can display a legend for many objects, including lithologies. To do this, click the legend button
in the shape list:

To remove the legend from the scene, either click the legend button again or click the red X in the
scene window:

Slice Mode
When an object is selected in the shape list, a Slice mode property is available in the properties
panel. See Object Slice Mode for more information.

Filtering Data Using Queries

When a data table is selected in the shape list, you can use the controls in the shape properties
panel to apply filters to the data in the scene. If query filters are available for the selected object,
they will be listed in the Query filter list:

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Filtering Data Using Values and Categories

In the shape properties panel, you can also filter the range of values displayed. Tick the Value
filter box, then set the upper and lower limits of the range of data displayed:

If the data includes date information, you can use the Value filter option to restrict the display
to a range of dates.

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Drawing in the Scene

In Leapfrog Geo, you can draw polylines to define many surfaces, including lateral extents and
contact surfaces. You can also use polylines to make adjustments to surfaces and create new
GIS lines.
This topic describes drawing polylines in Leapfrog Geo. It is divided into:
l The Drawing Toolbar
l Drawing Hotkeys
l Drawing 3D Lines
l Drawing 2D Lines
l Polyline Properties
l Tangents and Ribbons
l Drawing Points
For information on importing and exporting polylines, see Polylines.
When drawing in Leapfrog Geo, you can draw on surfaces or on the slicer.
l If you are drawing on surfaces, the line will be in 3D.
l If you are drawing on the slicer, the line will be in 2D and locked to the plane it was drawn in. It
can be converted to a 3D line.
When you start drawing a polyline, drawing tools are added to the scene window. If you are
drawing a GIS line or if the slicer was already in the scene, the drawing mode will be set to be on
the slicer. Toggle between the two options using the toolbar buttons:

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When drawing and otherwise working with the polyline, tooltips are displayed in the scene that
show what actions are currently possible:

For example, if the drawing mode is set to on slicer ( ), you will be warned if the slicer is not in
the scene:

You can disable these tooltips once you are more familiar with how the polyline tool works.
Open the Settings window by clicking on the Leapfrog Geo menu and selecting Settings.
Click on Overlays and disable the Polyline help text option.

The Drawing Toolbar

The Draw lines ( ) and Draw points ( ) tools are used to create new lines and points. The
tools in the second row are for controlling whether the polyline is drawn (on the slicer ( ) or on
surfaces ( )). The Select list lets you select different parts of the polyline.
The other tools are for working with selected parts of the polyline:
l Making line segments straight ( ) or curved ( )
l Adding nodes ( ) to lines
l Adding tangents to lines or reorienting selected tangents ( )
l Flipping selected tangents and disks ( )
l Add disks to points ( )

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l Converting a 2D polyline to 3D ( )
l Setting the slicer to a 2D polyline ( )
l Simplifying the line by reducing the number of nodes ( )
There are also buttons for undoing ( ) and redoing actions ( ), as well as saving the polyline ( )
or deleting selected parts of it ( ).

Drawing Hotkeys
Use the following keyboard shortcuts while drawing:

Key(s) Action

Ctrl+5 Draw lines ( )

Ctrl+6 Draw points/disks ( )

Ctrl+S Save ( )

Ctrl+W Close editor ( )

Ctrl+Z Undo ( )

Ctrl+Y Redo ( )

Delete Delete the selected segment, node, tangent or disk ( )

X Draw/move on slicer ( )

Shift+X Draw/move on objects ( )

Q Make segments curved ( )

Shift+Q Make segments straight ( )

Shift-A Add node ( )

A Add/reorient tangent ( )

V Flip tangent/disks ( )

Shift+D Add/remove disk ( )

Shift+E Make selected line 3D ( )

Shift+W Set slicer to selected 2D line ( )

Shift+S Simplify the line by reducing the number of nodes ( )

Ctrl+A Select all

Shift+Ctrl+Alt+L Select all lines

Shift+Ctrl+Alt+T Select all tangents

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Key(s) Action

Shift+Ctrl+Alt+P Select all points without disks

Shift+Ctrl+Alt+D Select all points with disks

Drawing 3D Lines
Polylines are made up of nodes, which are added where you click in the scene using the Draw
lines ( ) tool. This is a 3D polyline, which is indicated in the scene by the dashed line:

Click to select a node and drag to move it in the scene parallel to the screen. If you hold down the
Ctrl key while moving the node, it will snap onto surfaces in the scene.

When drillhole segments are in the scene, the polyline tool will snap to the end of nearby
intervals.

When you click to add a node, dragging the mouse before releasing the button lets you control the
curvature:

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When you start drawing a polyline, a tangent is automatically added to the first node. This is
oriented in the direction of the camera, and you will need to rotate the scene to see that it is a
cone.

You can hide the tangent cones in the scene, if it makes drawing difficult. To do this, click on
the polyline in the shape list and disable the Show tangent cones option:

There are also bezier control points on curved segments. These are used to control the curvature
of the segment, and you can click on a control point and drag it to change the curve of the
segment:

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If you can’t see the bezier control points, click on the polyline in the shape list and enable the
Show bezier control points option:

When you have finished drawing, right-click to end the polyline. Switch to the Select tool ( ) to
make changes to the polyline.
l Click on a node to move it.
l Click on a segment away from a node and drag it to change its curvature.
l Click on one or more segments, then make them straight ( ) or curved ( ).
l Select a point on the polyline, then click ( ) to add a node.
l Select a point on the polyline. The point selected is indicated in the scene by a red cone. You
can then click ( ) to add a tangent oriented in the direction of the camera.
l Select a tangent and click ( ) to change the orientation of the segment to that of the
camera.
l Select a tangent and click ( ) to flip it.
Begin drawing again by selecting the Draw lines button ( ). To continue from an existing node
at the start or end of a polyline, click on the node.
Use as many nodes as necessary to draw the polyline. You can later reduce the number of nodes
using the Simplify polyline tool ( ). Each time this tool is used, Leapfrog Geo attempts to halve
the number of nodes on the select segments:

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Although you can make the line curved while adding nodes, an easy way to draw a curved polyline
is to simply click to add a series of points. Set the curvature of the whole line by selecting all
segments and then clicking the Make selected segments curved button ( ):

You can then make any adjustments to the curves required by dragging the segments or using the
bezier control points.

Drawing 2D Lines
Working with a 2D polyline is similar to working with a 3D polyline, except that drawing is
restricted to the 2D plane set by the slicer. A 2D polyline is indicated in the scene by an unbroken
line:

To convert a 2D polyline into a 3D polyline, click the 3D polyline button ( ).

Polyline Properties
In the shape list, you can control the colour of the positive (red) and negative (blue) surfaces of
the line and of the line itself (green):

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For contact surfaces, the colour of the positive and negative sides of a ribbon will be
determined by the lithologies or categories assigned to either side of the surface.

With the controls in the properties panel, you can change the size of different parts of the polyline
to make working with the polyline easier.

For Ribbon width and Point size, the setting is, by default, in pixels, but both can be displayed
in real-world size, which may make editing the polyline easier in some circumstances.
You can also choose whether or not to show tangent cones and bezier control points.

Tangents and Ribbons

The Surface ribbon ( ) and Normal ribbon ( ) help you to determine the orientation of the
polyline in the scene. The surface ribbon reflects the orientation of the polyline and the normal
ribbon is perpendicular to the surface ribbon.
For example, click on the Surface ribbon button ( ) to determine which side of the polyline is
positive (red) and which side is negative (blue):

If you are having trouble seeing the ribbons, you can change their size using the Ribbon width
control in the properties panel.
When you first draw a polyline, it has only one tangent, located at the first node and oriented in
the direction of the camera. You can add more nodes by clicking at a point along the polyline and

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then clicking the Tangent button ( ). A tangent is added to the polyline, which is updated to
reflect the new information. The tangent’s orientation is taken from the camera angle. To
reorient a tangent, click on it in the scene, change the camera angle to reflect the orientation you
wish to set, then click the Tangent button ( ).
You can also flip selected tangents by clicking on the Flip tangents and disks button ( ).
You can add as many tangents as required, although it is best to keep them to a minimum.

Drawing Points
Polylines can also include points, which are drawn using the Draw points tool ( ). Clicking adds
a point, and clicking and dragging adds a point with a normal:

Normals are shown in the scene as disks intersecting the points.

The scene below shows one point with a normal and one without:

To move a point without a normal, switch to the Select tool ( ). Click on the point and drag it.
To add a normal to the point, click on it in the scene and click the Add disk button ( ).

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To edit the orientation of a point with a normal, click on it in the scene. There are two rotation
modes. In the first, the handles adjust the dip and azimuth of the disk:

Click on the disk to change the rotation mode.

In the second rotation mode, dragging the disk rotates it in the plane indicated by the handles:

Change the angle of the plane by moving the mouse cursor over the disk.
You can also change the orientation of a disk by drawing over it. To do this, make sure the Draw
points tool ( ) is selected. Hold the cursor over the point you want to edit. The cursor will turn
green to indicate that you can adjust the disk’s angle:

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Drag to adjust the angle and release the mouse button when finished:

You can also flip selected disks by clicking on the Flip tangents and disks button ( ).

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Organising Your Workspace

You can split the Leapfrog Geo main window into separate parts to make better use of your
screen space. In addition, some Leapfrog Geo windows open in separate tabs that can be used
either docked or detached. This topic describes how to change the main window to make the
best use of your screen space. It is divided into:
l Detaching Tabs
l Detaching and Minimising the Project Tree
l Organising the Scene View Tab

Detaching Tabs
To detach a tab, either:
l Click on it and drag it away from the main window.
l Right-click on it and select Move to New Window.
You can then move and resize the detached tab.
To dock a detached tab, click on it and drag it to where you want to dock it:

When the plus sign appears, release the mouse and the tab will dock.
Tabs can be docked to the main window or to other tabs. Drag tabs to reorder them.
You can view a list of all open tabs by clicking the down arrow to the right of the processing queue
button:

When you close a project, the position of open tabs will be saved and restored when the project is
next opened.

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For Leapfrog Geo windows that open in separate tabs, the position in which tabs open is
determined by the New tab position setting in the Settings window:
l Open all tabs in the main window.
l Open all tabs in separate windows.
l Tabs can open where the last tab was moved to. This setting can be used for creating a
window in which all tables and dockable windows open, with the scene window, project tree
and shape list in another window.
To change this setting, click on the Leapfrog Geo menu, select Settings and then click on the
User Interface tab.

Detaching and Minimising the Project Tree

The project tree can also be detached from the main window. To do this, right-click at the top of
the project tree and select Detach:

To reattach the project tree, click the red X to close the tab. It will reappear docked to the main
window.
You can also minimise the project tree. To do this, right-click on it and choose Minimise or press
the F8 key. Restore the project tree by clicking the button:

Pressing the F8 key once again also restores the project tree.

Organising the Scene View Tab

The Scene View tab is made up of the scene window, the shape list and the shape properties
panel. The shape list and shape properties panel can be displayed on the right-hand side of the
scene rather than below the scene. To do this, right-click in the shape list and select Move List
to Right:

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You can also detach the shape list and display it as a tab, which can then be detached from the
main window. To do this, right-click in the shape list and select Put List in Separate Tab:

You can then detach the tab from the main window:

To dock the shape list to the Scene View tab, right-click in the Shape List tab and choose
where you wish to dock the list:

Concepts
This section of the help describes important concepts you can refer to as you start working with
Leapfrog Geo. You don’t need a complete understanding of these topics in order to start working
with Leapfrog Geo, but you can come back to these topics as you start working with different
features.
The topics in this section complement the topics in An Overview of Leapfrog Geo.

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What is Implicit Modelling?

Implicit modelling is a game-changing innovation in geological modelling.
Traditionally, geological models are produced using a manual drawing process. Sections are
defined, and lithologies, faults and veins are drawn on the sections. Lines are then drawn to
connect surfaces across multiple sections. Modelling geology in this manner is time-consuming
and inflexible as it is difficult to update the model when more data becomes available. Early
assumptions that later are proved incorrect could shape a model in a way that is never corrected
because of the effort involved in starting over. Instead of using their knowledge to reveal
important information about the study site, geologists spend significant proportions of their time
engaged in mechanical drawing.
Implicit modelling, on the other hand, allows geologists to spend more time thinking about the
geology. Implicit modelling eliminates the laborious legwork by using mathematical tools to derive
the model from the data. A mathematical construct is built that can be used to visualise different
aspects of the data in 3D. Leapfrog Geo uses FastRBF™, a mathematical algorithm developed
from radial basis functions. FastRBF uses the data and parameters supplied by the geologist to
derive any one of a number of variables to be modelled. Discrete variables such as lithologies can
be used to construct surfaces, as well as continuous variables such as ore grades.
Instead of presenting a model constructed from rigid geometric constructs, the visualisations
echo the natural forms found in reality.

What are the Advantages of Implicit Modelling?

Implicit models are easy to keep up-to-date with the latest data. New drillhole data can quickly
be integrated, instead of taking weeks or longer manually modifying the model.
Implicit modelling allows several alternative hypothetical models to be produced from the data,
quickly and easily. New data that affects the model, even in very significant or fundamental
ways, can be assimilated and integrated with little effort. Models can be built rapidly, which
means that a range of geological interpretations can be continually tested.
Because less effort is involved in creating a model, more time is available to spend on
understanding the geology and studying more complex details such as faulting, stratigraphic
sequences, trends and veins. The model can be developed to reflect reality to a greater degree of
precision than was previously possible.
Geological risk is reduced when modelling is done implicitly. With traditional modelling, the effort
involved means that the first model developed may be held to as the ground truth, despite
mounting evidence that may discredit it. Instead, implicit modelling supports an approach that
follows the proven scientific method, developing hypothetical models, experimenting to find new
data to corroborate or discredit models and, ultimately, allowing the best model to be revealed. A
geologist can experiment with alternative parameters at the limits of what is geologically
reasonable to determine if there is any significant variation in the resulting models, which can
then bracket the model with conceptual error bars. Geostatistical analysis can be conducted to
identify what models are the most valid.

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It is easy to change your mind when modelling implicitly. Perhaps models have been produced
demonstrating isometric shells enclosing specific grades of ore. Commodity price changes then
make it desirable to recreate the model using alternative ore grade values. If the model had been
produced manually, doing so would not be practical. But with implicit modelling, the ease of
generating a new model with new interpolation parameters means this valuable business
information can be readily produced.
New questions can be answered more easily. A model tends to answer one question or class of
questions well, and new questions require new models. If a model takes months to produce, those
new questions may remain forever unanswered. If it can be produced with only days or hours
worth of effort, valuable insights can be gained that could provide critical business value.

Implicit Modelling Makes Assumptions Explicit

Often, there is insufficient information in the data alone. For instance, drillhole data may well
need to be supplemented with known details about the geology. When a geologist is constructing
a model using traditional techniques, they use their knowledge of the geology to make decisions
about the model as it is constructed. This is something the geologist will do automatically, which
irretrievably conflates measured data with hypothesised data, hiding away subjective
assumptions that have influenced the development of the model.
Implicit modelling, however, keeps the measured data separate from interpretations. The
geologist can use polylines and structural disks to interpret the data without equating them to
measured data. Implicit modelling makes assumptions explicit; there is a clear separation
between hard data and user-introduced interpretations.
Implicit modelling and the presentation of a selection of models communicating different aspects
of the geology provide new tools a geologist can use to communicate with professionals in other
parts of the business.
On a purely business level, specialist staff can be putting their skills to use in productive, valuable
geological modelling, rather than drawing lines on sections ad infinitum.
Implicit models are more repeatable and, therefore, more auditable, because they are derived
from actual data and explicitly communicated geological interpretations, with selected
parametric variables as inputs and processed using a mathematical algorithm.
The only thing implied in implicit modelling is the unknown value between two known values.
Everything else is explicit. For this reason, it is best to refer to traditional modelling techniques as
‘traditional modelling’ rather than ‘explicit modelling’, assuming that it should be labelled with a
name that is the inverse of ‘implicit modelling’. Implicit modelling is much more explicit than
traditional modelling.

Best Practices
l Analyse data. Analyse your data using drillhole interpretation and data visualisation tools. Use
3D visualisation to look for errors in the data set.

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l Stay focussed. Produce a model that answers a specific question or addresses a specific
problem. Don’t unnecessarily model all the data available just because it is there. When a new
question is asked, produce a model that answers that question using the necessary data.
l Experiment and explore. Produce variations of the same model, or even models, using quite
different fundamental assumptions. Plan drillholes that will help reveal what model fits best
and then discard models that are inconsistent with new data.
l Understand risk. Model using a range of input parameters and assumptions to understand the
level of geologic risk.
l Share. Discuss and explore alternatives.
l Adapt. Previously, the effort of production and review of traditional models meant that there
is reluctance to rebuild a model when new data becomes available soon after model
completion. However, with implicit modelling, you should integrate new data and refine the
model as soon as the new data is available. The revised model could indicate that planned
activities should be redirected as expensive resources would be wasted persisting with the
original plan, for little return.
l Evaluate and review. Don’t assume that because it’s easy to generate a model that you have
quickly produced the right model. Understanding the geology is vital for validating the model
and producing something that is geologically reasonable.

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Interpolant Functions
Leapfrog Geo’s powerful 3D interpolation engine can interpolate any numeric data (e.g. ore grade
or piezometric head measurements) to describe how a real, numerical quantity varies in three
dimensional space. Interpolation produces an estimate or “interpolated value” of a quantity that is
not known at a point of interest but is known at other points.

The simplest way to estimate values is to take the average of known values. Using this method,
estimated values are the same everywhere, regardless of the distance from known data.
However, this is not ideal as it is reasonable to assume that an estimated value will be more
heavily influenced by nearby known values than by those that are further away. The estimates
for unknown points when varying the distance from known point values is controlled by the
interpolant function. Any interpolation function and the various parameters that can be set for
each will produce a model that fits all the known values, but they will produce different estimates
for the unknown points. It is important to select interpolation functions and parameters that
make geologic sense. It may be necessary to identify a location that models predict differently,
and plan drillholes to identify the best fit option.
Leapfrog Geo uses two main interpolant functions:
l The Spheroidal Interpolant Function
l The Linear Interpolant Function

The Spheroidal Interpolant Function

In common cases, including when modelling most metallic ores, there is a finite range beyond
which the influence of the data should fall to zero. The spheriodal interpolant function can be
used when modelling in these cases.
The spheroidal interpolant function closely resembles a spherical variogram, which has a fixed
range beyond which the value is the constant sill. Similarly, the spheroidal interpolant function
flattens out when the distance from X is greater than a defined distance, the range. At the range,
the function value is 96% of the sill with no nugget, and beyond the range the function
asymptotically approaches the sill. The chart below labels the y-axis interpolant. A high value on
this axis represents a greater uncertainty relating to the known value, given its distance from X.
Another way to think of this is that higher values on this axis represent a decreasing weight given
to the known value.

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Known values within the range are weighted proportionally to the distance from X. Known values
further from X than the range will all be given approximately the same weight, and have about the
same influence on the unknown value. Here, points A and B are near X and so have the greatest
influence on the estimated value of point X. Points C and D, however, are outside the range,
which puts them on the flat part of the spheroidal interpolant curve; they have roughly the same
influence on the value of X, and both have significantly less influence than A or B:

The rest of this topic describes the parameters used to define a spheroidal interpolant. These
parameters are Total Sill, Nugget, Nugget to Total Sill Ratio, Base Range, Alpha, Drift and
Accuracy.
To edit the parameters for an interpolant, double-click on the interpolant in the project tree and
click on the Interpolant tab. The graph on the tab shows how the interpolant function values
vary with distance and is updated as you change interpolant parameters:

The yellow line indicates the Base Range. For this interpolant, the value of the interpolant is
offset by the value of Nugget.

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Total Sill
The Total Sill defines the upper limit of the spheroidal interpolant function, where there ceases
to be any correlation between values. A spherical variogram reaches the sill at the range and
stays there for increasing distances beyond the range. A spheroidal interpolant approaches the sill
near the range, and approaches it asymptotically for increasing distances beyond the range. The
distinction is insignificant.

Nugget
The Nugget represents a local anomaly in sampled values, one that is substantially different
from what would be predicted at that point, based on the surrounding data. Increasing the value
of Nugget effectively places more emphasis on the average values of surrounding samples and
less on the actual data point, and can be used to reduce noise caused by inaccurately measured
samples.

Nugget to Total Sill Ratio

It is the Nugget to Total Sill ratio that determines the shape of the interpolant function.
Multiplying both these parameters by the same constant will result in an identical interpolant.
Here, the interpolant on the left has a nugget of 3 and a sill of 10; the one on the right has a nugget
of 9 and a sill of 30. Note that because the nugget and sill have been increased by the same
factor, the function has the same shape.

Base Range
The Base Range is the distance at which the interpolant value is 96% of the Total Sill, with no
Nugget. The Base Range should be set to a distance that is not significantly less or greater than
the distance between drillholes, so it can reach between them. As a rule of thumb, it may be set
to approximately twice the average distance between drillholes.

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Here the effect of different range settings on the value of X is demonstrated using our trivial
example of four drillholes:

When the range is set to 1, it is too small to describe any real effect between drillholes. When the
range is set to 30, distant drillholes have more influence, increasing the spatial continuity. Also
illustrated is the range set to approximately the average distance between drillholes (range = 4)
and the range set to about twice the average distance between drillholes (range = 8). Of these,
the range set to 8 might be the best choice.

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Alpha
The Alpha constant determines how steeply the interpolant rises toward the Total Sill. A low
Alpha value will produce an interpolant function that rises more steeply than a high Alpha value.
A high Alpha value gives points at intermediate distances more weighting, compared to lower
Alpha values. This figure charts an interpolant function for each alpha setting, using a nugget of
8, sill of 28, and range of 5000. A spherical variogram function is included for comparative
purposes. The inset provides a detailed view near the intersection of the sill and range.

An alpha of 9 provides the curve that is closest in shape to a spherical variogram. In ideal
situations, it would probably be the first choice; however, high alpha values require more
computation and processing time, as more complex approximation calculations are required. A
smaller value for alpha will result in shorter times to evaluate the interpolant.
The following demonstrates the difference between alpha = 3 and alpha = 9:

There is a measurable difference between the estimates at the point being examined, but for
many purposes, using a lower alpha will result in satisfactory estimates and reduced processing
time.

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The effect of the alpha parameter on the spheroidal interpolant in Leapfrog Geo is different to
the effect of the alpha parameter in Leapfrog Mining 2.x. If Alpha is set to 9 in Leapfrog Geo,
the range corresponds to the range in Leapfrog Mining 2.x. To convert from Leapfrog Mining
2.x to Leapfrog Geo where the alpha is not 9, apply the following scale factors to the Leapfrog
Mining 2.x range value to find the corresponding range in Leapfrog Geo:

Alpha Scale factor

3 1.39

5 1.11

7 1.03

For example, if in a Leapfrog Mining 2.x project, the alpha is 5 for a range of 100, the
corresponding range in Leapfrog Geo will be 111.

Drift
The Drift is a model of the value distribution away from data. It determines the behaviour a long
way from sampled data.
l Constant: The interpolant goes to the approximated declustered mean of the data.
l Linear: The interpolant behaves linearly away from data, which may result in negative values.
l None: The interpolant pulls down to zero away from data.

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Here, the three Drift options for the interpolant are shown evaluated on grids:

In this example, the boundary is larger than the extent of the data to illustrate the effect of
different Drift settings.
Away from the data, the value of the interpolant when Drift is Constant and Linear is not
reasonable in this case, given the distance from the data. The low value when Drift is None is
more realistic, given the distance from the data.
If when using the spheroidal interpolant you get a grade shell that fills the model extents, it is
likely that the mean value of the data is higher than the threshold chosen for the grade shell in
question. If this occurs, try setting the Drift to None.

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Accuracy
Leapfrog Geo estimates the Accuracy from the data values by taking a fraction of the smallest
difference between measured data values. Although there is the temptation to set the
Accuracy as low as possible, there is little point to specifying an Accuracy significantly smaller
than the errors in the measured data. For example, if values are specified to two decimal places,
setting the Accuracy to 0.001 is more than adequate. Smaller values will cause the interpolation
to run more slowly and will degrade the interpolation result. For example, when recording to two
decimals, the range 0.035 to 0.044 will be recorded as 0.04. There is little point in setting the
accuracy to plus or minus 0.000001 when intrinsically values are only accurate to plus or minus
0.005.

The Linear Interpolant Function

Generally, estimates produced using the linear interpolant will strongly reflect values at nearby
points and the linear interpolant is a useful general-purpose interpolant for sparsely and/or
irregularly sampled data. It works well for lithology data, but is not appropriate for values with a
distinct finite range of influence.
The linear interpolant function is multi-scale, and, therefore, is a good general purpose model. It
works well for lithology data, which often has localised pockets of high-resolution data. It can be
used to quickly visualise data trends and whether or not compositing or transforming values will
be required. It is not appropriate for values with a distinct finite range of influence as it
aggressively extrapolates out from the data. Most ore grade data is not well interpolated using a
linear interpolant function.
The linear interpolant function simply assumes that known values closer to the point you wish to
estimate have a proportionally greater influence than points that are further away:

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In the above diagram, points A and B will have the most effect on point X as they are closer to X
than points C and D. Using the linear interpolant function in Leapfrog Geo gives a value of 7.85,
which is between the nearby high grade values of A (10) and B (7). Because of their distance
from X, the low grade values at C and D have a much weaker effect on the estimate of point X,
and they have not dragged the estimate for X lower.

This topic describes the parameters used to define a linear interpolant. These parameters are
Total Sill and Base Range, Nugget, Drift and Accuracy.
To edit the parameters for an interpolant, double-click on the interpolant in the project tree and
click on the Interpolant tab. The graph on the tab shows how the interpolant function values
vary with distance and is updated as you change interpolant parameters:

The yellow line indicates the Base Range. For this interpolant, the value of the interpolant is
offset by the value of Nugget.

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Total Sill and Base Range

A linear interpolant has no sill or range in the traditional sense. Instead, the Total Sill and Base
Range set the slope of the interpolant. The Base Range is the distance at which the interpolant
value is the Total Sill. The two parameters sill and range are used instead of a single gradient
parameter to permit switching between linear and spheroidal interpolant functions without also
manipulating these settings.

Nugget
The Nugget represents a local anomaly in values, one that is substantially different from what
would be predicted at that point based on the surrounding data. Increasing the value of Nugget
effectively places more emphasis on the average values of surrounding samples and less on the
actual data point, and can be used to reduce noise caused by inaccurately measured samples.

Drift
The Drift is a model of the value distribution away from data. It determines the behaviour a long
way from sampled data.
l Constant: The interpolant goes to the approximated declustered mean of the data.
l Linear: The interpolant behaves linearly away from data, which may result in negative values.

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Here, the two Drift options for the interpolant are shown evaluated on grids:

In this example, the boundary is larger than the extent of the data to illustrate the effect of
different Drift settings.

Accuracy
Leapfrog Geo estimates the Accuracy from the data values by taking a fraction of the smallest
difference between measured data values. Although there is the temptation to set the
Accuracy as low as possible, there is little point to specifying an Accuracy significantly smaller
than the errors in the measured data. For example, if values are specified to two decimal places,
setting the Accuracy to 0.001 is more than adequate. Smaller values will cause the interpolation
to run more slowly and will degrade the interpolation result. For example, when recording to two
decimals, the range 0.035 to 0.044 will be recorded as 0.04. There is little point in asking Leapfrog
Geo to match a value to plus or minus 0.000001 when intrinsically that value is only accurate to
plus or minus 0.005.

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Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo

In Leapfrog Geo, meshes are used to represent surfaces in the form of vertices and triangles that
define the 3D shape of the surface. The resolution of a surface is controlled by the size of the
triangles used to create a surface. A lower surface resolution value means smaller triangles and,
therefore, a finer resolution. A higher surface resolution value will take less time to process but
the surface may not show the level of detail required.
When a surface is imported, Leapfrog Geo automatically sets a surface resolution based on the
information in the file. It is not possible to change the resolution of surfaces imported into
Leapfrog Geo. The exception is elevation grids (see Importing an Elevation Grid).
When surfaces are created, Leapfrog Geo sets a default resolution based on the data available.
You can set a lower value, but calculations will take longer. In addition, the resolution for many
surfaces can be adaptive; that is, areas closer to data will have a finer resolution than areas
further away from data.
To see the effect of different resolution settings, consider a simple geological model of three rock
types. Here, the surface resolution is set to 50 and the adaptive isosurfacer is disabled:

Here, the resolution has been reduced, which results in smaller triangles:

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For both resolution settings above, the triangles are the same size everywhere in each surface,
even where real data is available. Once the adaptive isosurfacer has been enabled, the triangles
closer to the drillholes are smaller than those further away:

Areas of the surface that have large triangles indicate that there is less data in those areas to
guide the interpolation of the surface.
In Leapfrog Geo, the resolution for different types of surfaces can be controlled as follows:
l For geological models, a resolution can be set for the model as a whole, but individual surfaces
can have different settings. See Surface Resolution for a Geological Model.
l For interpolants, the resolution of the output isosurfaces is controlled by a single setting that
can be overridden for individual surfaces. See Output Settings for an RBF Interpolant and
Indicator RBF Interpolant Surfacing and Volume Options.
l The resolution can be changed for editable interpolated meshes ( ) and can be adaptive. See
Interpolated Meshes.
l When the topography has been defined using multiple data sources, the resolution can be set
and the adaptive option is available. See Changing Topography Settings.

Modifying Surfaces
This topic describes aspects of modifying surfaces in Leapfrog Geo. It is divided into:
l Adding Data to Surfaces
l Honouring Surface Contacts
l Global Trends
l Structural Trends
l Editing Surfaces with Polylines
l Editing Surfaces with Structural Data

Adding Data to Surfaces

Many surfaces can be refined by adding points, structural data, GIS data and polylines. If a
surface can be modified in this way, an Add menu will appear for the object when you right-click

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on it in the project tree. For example, the Add menu for this contact surface shows the data
types that can be used to refine the surface:

Select the type of data you wish to use to modify the surface. Leapfrog Geo will display all the
suitable objects in the project. Select the required object and click OK. A hyperlink to the added
data will appear under the surface in the project tree. The added data can be removed from the
surface by expanding the surface in the project tree, then right-clicking on the hyperlinked data
object and selecting Remove.

Honouring Surface Contacts

In Leapfrog Geo, surfaces can be created from drillhole data, points data, structural data, GIS
data and polylines. When surfaces are created from several different objects, it may be desirable
to snap the surface to some data objects but not to others.
There are several options for snapping surfaces to data:
l Off. The surface does not snap to the data used to create it.
l All data. The surface snaps to data within the Maximum snap distance, which includes
drillhole data and any data added to the surface.
l Drilling only. The surface snaps to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data
within the Maximum snap distance but not to other data used to modify the surface. For
example, the surface will honour points data derived from drillhole data, but not points data
imported into the Points folder.
l Custom. The surface snaps to selected data objects within the Maximum snap distance.

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Snapping forces surfaces to honour the specified contacts, moving triangles on the surface so
that the surface precisely intersects the contact. For example, snapping is disabled for the
surface on the left, but enabled for the surface on the right. The points used to generate the
surface are shown in red, and the triangles are displayed so you can see how snapping to data
affects the surface:

When snapping is enabled, the Maximum snap distance is used to determine what data
should affect the surface. The Maximum snap distance is, by default, set to half of the
Surface resolution setting, but you can adjust that up or down, if required.
In this image, three surfaces are shown, along with the points used to generate the surface
(red). The grey surface is the surface that results when snapping is Off. For the yellow
surface, snapping to the points is enabled and the Maximum snap distance has been set to
a high value, resulting in the yellow surface snapping to the distant point indicated by the
arrow. Snapping to points is also enabled for the blue surface, but the Maximum snap
distance has been set to a lower value, so that the surface snaps to some close points, but
does not snap to the distant point.

While the most suitable snapping option is always project- and purpose-specific, if you have
sufficient drilling data, snapping to Drilling only is recommended. This option gives the
highest priority to the input data itself while still allowing the surface to be influenced by
manual interpretations. Contrary to the All data snapping option, the Drilling only option also
reduces the potential for complications resulting from contradictory data (e.g. the drilling data
indicates a surface contact is in one place, but a polyline indicates it’s somewhere else).
Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for

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Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,
it is best to snap only to drilling data.

For example, here the Snap to data has been set to Drilling only for a mesh created from
multiple data objects:

Note that the only objects Snap is enabled for are the contacts derived from drillhole data.
Here, Snap to data has been set to Custom, which makes it possible to enable Snap for only
the selected data objects:

In Leapfrog Geo, the snap settings for different types of surfaces can be controlled as follows:
l For geological models, Snap to data can be set for the model as a whole, but individual
surfaces can have different settings. For more information, see:

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o Editing a Geological Model

o Surfacing Options for Deposits and Erosions
o Surfacing Options for Intrusions
o Surfacing Options for Veins
o Surfacing Options for Faults
o Changing Fault Inputs
l For editable interpolated meshes and offset meshes ( ), Snap to data can be set by double-
clicking on the mesh and changing the settings in the General tab. See Refining an
Interpolated Mesh and Offset Meshes for more information.

Global Trends
In Leapfrog Geo, many surfaces can be adjusted by applying a trend to the surface. To do this,
add the surface you wish to adjust to the scene so that it can be used in setting the trend. Double-
click on the surface in the project tree and select the Trend tab. Here, the Trend tab is displayed
for a contact surface:

Often the easiest way to apply a trend is to click on the Draw plane line button ( ) and draw a
plane line in the scene in the direction in which you wish to adjust the surface. You may need to
rotate the scene to see the plane properly.
The Ellipsoid Ratios determine the relative shape and strength of the ellipsoids in the scene,
where:
l The Maximum value is the relative strength in the direction of the green line on the moving
plane.
l The Intermed. value is the relative strength in the direction perpendicular to the green line on
the moving plane.
l The Minimum value is the relative strength in the direction orthogonal to the plane.
Once you have adjusted the plane to represent the trend you wish to use, click the Set From
Plane button to copy the moving plane settings.
The Set to list contains a number of different options Leapfrog Geo has generated based on the
data used in the project. Isotropic is the default option used when the surface was created.

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Settings made to other surfaces in the project will also be listed, which makes it easy to apply the
same settings to many surfaces.
Click OK to apply the changes.
How the moving plane can be used to adjust a surface in this manner is illustrated by the following
intrusive contact surface:

The intrusion surface has two bodies that are not connected, and we can apply a trend to
connect the two parts. Here, the intrusion surface has been hidden in the scene and the scene
rotated to line up the QzP segments. A plane line can then be drawn through the QzP segments:

Using the plane settings to adjust the surface results in the two parts of the intrusion joining up:

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Structural Trends
Structural trends create a flat ellipsoid anisotropy that varies in direction with its inputs. This topic
describes working with structural trends. It is divided into:
l Creating a Structural Trend
l Displaying a Structural Trend
l Applying a Structural Trend

Creating a Structural Trend

To create a new structural trend, right-click on the Structural Trends folder (in the Structural
Modelling folder) and select New Structural Trend. The Structural Trend window will
appear:

Structural trends can be created from surfaces and from structural data. Click Add to select
from the suitable inputs available in the project. The list of inputs will be displayed:

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Tick the box for each input required, then click OK. The selected inputs will be added to the
Structural Trend window:

The Strength parameter determines the shape of the ellipsoid, and the Range parameter
indicates how far the influence of this mesh reaches. If the Trend Type is Non-decaying, the
distance from the mesh no longer affects the anisotropy and the Range value cannot be set.
Trends that are Strongest along meshes or Blending can include a global trend. To set this,
click on the Global Mean Trend tab.

You can enter the trend manually or add the moving plane to the scene and set the trend using
the moving plane, as described in Global Trends.

The Compatibility setting determines the algorithm used to create the structural trend.
Structural trends created in earlier versions of Leapfrog Geo (before 2.2) used the Version 1
algorithm. When these structural trends are upgraded, you can change them so they use
Version 2, which may be desirable if adding more data to the trend results in significant
changes in areas that are not close to new data.

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Enter a Name for the trend and click OK. The new trend will appear under the Structural
Trends folder.

Displaying a Structural Trend

When displayed in the scene, the trend is shown using disks placed on a regular grid:

The orientation of the disk gives the direction of the anisotropy. The size of a disk is proportional
to the anisotropy strength. Where there are no disks (or the size is very small) the trend is
isotropic.
If the Trend Type is set to Non-decaying, the distance from the mesh no longer affects the
anisotropy and all disks have the same size:

The Blending option requires multiple meshes and blends them according to their individual
strength settings. A trend with higher strength makes a stronger impact on the blending. The
blended trend is of decaying-type, and its strength weakens further away from the mesh.

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Applying a Structural Trend

To apply a structural trend to an interpolated editable mesh or an interpolant, double-click on the
object in the project tree and click on the Trend tab:

To apply a structural trend to an intrusion contact surface, enable Show additional surfacing
options in the Surfacing tab, then click on the Trend tab.
Click on Structural Trend, then select the required trend from the list. Click OK to apply the
trend to the surface.
When a structural trend is applied, surfaces may appear distorted further away from the data:

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If this is the case, experiment with the Outside value setting. The Outside value is the long-
range mean value of the data. Setting a value of -1 for intrusions (where the positive values are on
the inside) and +1 for other surfaces will result in a smoother surface in most cases. For example,
here, the Outside value has been set to -1 for this intrusion, resulting in a much smoother
surface:

Editing Surfaces with Polylines

In Leapfrog Geo, many surfaces can be edited using polylines, including contact surfaces,
geological model extents and editable meshes.
To edit a surface with a polyline, it is a good idea to first add the object you wish to edit to the
scene and draw a slice across the scene where you plan to edit the surface. Next, right-click on
the surface in the project tree and select Edit > With Polyline.
The drawing toolbar will appear for the type of polyline selected and a new polyline will be added
to the scene. Draw the polyline and adjust it as described in Drawing in the Scene, then click the
Save button ( ) to view the effect of the polyline on the surface. To remove the polyline from
the surface, expand the surface in the project tree. Right-click on the polyline object and select
Remove.

In cases where you have existing polyline edits (control points), you can import them and add
them to the surface. To do this, import the polylines to the Polylines folder, then add them to
the surface by right-clicking on the surface and selecting Add > Polyline.

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How a polyline can be used to edit a surface can be illustrated by the following surface, where a
small volume is disconnected from the main surface:

First, a slice is drawn through the surface where it will be edited:

Next, a polyline is created, using two lines to represent contacts that link up the surfaces:

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When the polyline edits are saved, the surface is updated to reflect the edits:

It is best to keep polyline edits to a minimum, as small edits can have significant effects on the
shapes of surfaces.

If editing a surface with a polyline results in a distorted surface, use the surface and normal
ribbons to check the orientation of the polyline and its segments. See Tangents and Ribbons
for more information.

When you save the polyline, the object will be updated to reflect the additional points. The
polyline will be added to the project tree as part of the object that was edited. You can edit the
polyline by double-clicking on it or by right-clicking and selecting Edit Polyline.

Editing Surfaces with Structural Data

In Leapfrog Geo, many surfaces can be edited using planar structural data points drawn in the
scene. Surfaces that can be edited in this way include contact surfaces, model extents and
interpolated editable meshes. There are two ways to do this:
l If you have a structural data table created in or imported into Leapfrog Geo that you want to
use to adjust the surface, right-click on the surface in the project tree and select Add >
Structural Data. You will be prompted to select from the structural data tables available in
the project.
l If you want to create structural data points to use to adjust the surface, right-click on the
surface in the project tree and select Edit > With Structural Data.

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To edit a surface with structural data using the second option, it is a good idea to first add the
object you wish to edit to the scene. Next, right-click on the surface in the project tree and select
the Edit > With Structural Data option.
The structural data toolbar will appear and a new structural data object will be added to the
scene. Draw the structural data points and adjust them as described in Creating New Planar
Structural Data Tables, then click the Save button ( ) to view the effect on the surface.
Structural data tables created in this way cannot be used by other objects in the project until the
table has been shared. To do this, right-click on the table in the project tree and select Share. The
structural data table will be saved to the Structural Modelling folder.
To remove the structural data from the surface, expand the surface in the project tree. Right-
click on the structural data object and select Remove.

Boundaries in Leapfrog Geo Projects

This topic discusses boundaries in Leapfrog Geo. It is divided into:
l The Clipping Boundary
l Object Extents
l Extending a Surface
A newly-created project has only a basic set of X-Y-Z coordinates, and the coordinate system
used by the project is determined by the data imported to the project. It is not necessary to
specify what coordinate system is used; however, it is necessary to ensure that data you import
into the project uses the same coordinate system.
Often the best way to set the coordinates for the project as a whole is to import a map or aerial
photo. Adding georeference data to a map will set the location of the map in three-dimensional
space and set the coordinates for the project. See Importing a Map or Image for more
information.
An important consideration in defining the project space is setting the clipping boundary. See The
Clipping Boundary.
It is not necessary to define a topography to model in Leapfrog Geo, but a defined topography can
be used as an upper boundary for all models built in the project. See Defining a Topography.
Part of creating many objects in Leapfrog Geo is defining the basic rectangular boundary that
defines the object’s extents. See Object Extents.
You can modify the extents of geological models and interpolants using surfaces created from
different types of data. See Modifying a Geological Model’s Boundary and Modifying an RBF
Interpolant’s Boundary with Lateral Extents.

The Clipping Boundary

An important consideration in defining the project space is setting the clipping boundary.
The default clipping boundary in a new project file encompasses everything in the project and
grows as more data is added to the project. It is not necessary to set the clipping boundary.

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However, the clipping boundary defines the limits of the X-Y coordinates for the region in which
data will be imported and models built and so defines the region in which calculations are made.
Restricting the size of the clipping boundary limits the area in which calculations are made and is
especially important if you are working with a large dataset.
The best way to set the clipping boundary is using an imported map or aerial photo, as this
provides a visual reference that is helpful in working with data added to the project in the future.
GIS data or drillhole data can also be used to set the clipping boundary.
To set the clipping boundary, add to the scene the objects you wish to reference in setting the
boundary. Right-click on the Topographies folder or on the GIS Data, Maps and Photos
folder and select Set Clipping Boundary. The Set Clipping Boundary window will be
displayed, together with controls in the scene you can use to resize the clipping boundary:

There are three ways to define the rectangular clipping boundary:

l Enter the coordinates.
l Select Enclose Object and choose from the list of objects in the project. The clipping
boundary will be updated using the selected object.
l Use the controls that appear in the scene. The orange handle adjusts the corner of the clipping
boundary and the red handles adjusts its size.
When you have finished adjusting the clipping boundary, click OK.
If you are going to import elevation data and use it to create a topography, it is important to set
the clipping boundary before creating the topography. For example, here a map has been
imported and a topography (yellow) created from an elevation grid. The map is displayed draped
on the topography:

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The red arrows and orange handle show the clipping boundary, which has been allowed to expand
to encompass all data imported to the project. Because the topography was created before the
clipping boundary was set, all the data in the imported elevation grid has been used and the
resulting topography is larger than might be practical. Clearly, if the intention is to model within
the area on the map, the clipping boundary should be limited to the region indicated by the map.
If the map is the only object in the project, it can easily be used to set the clipping boundary by
selecting <Everything> from the Enclose Object list:

This results in a clipping boundary that is limited to the extents of the map:

Once the clipping boundary has been set, further data imported into the project will be clipped to
it. For example, importing the elevation grid and using it to create a topography only after the

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clipping boundary has been set to the map extents will result in a topography (with the map
draped) that looks like this:

Once the clipping boundary has been set, a good next step is defining the topography. See
Defining a Topography.

Object Extents
Part of creating many objects in Leapfrog Geo is defining the basic rectangular boundary that
defines the object’s extents. There are generally two options for defining an object’s extents:
l The first option is to define extents that are independent of other objects in the project. You
can do this by entering coordinates or adjusting controls in the scene to set the size and shape
of the extents. The new object’s extents are fixed to the specified size. This is a good choice
if, for example, you are building a geological model from a map and wish to define the model
extents based on information on the map.
l The second option is to define extents based on other objects in the project. This is done by
selecting the other object from the Enclose Object list that appears in many Leapfrog Geo
screens.

For both methods, the new object’s extents are fixed to the selected size. Using the Enclose
Object list does not link the two objects; it is simply using the X-Y-Z coordinates of the original
object as the basis for the new extents.

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For example, here, a geological model’s extents could be defined using the lithology segments
used as the base lithology:

When creating some objects, you have the option of sharing extents with another object. This is
the case with editable meshes ( ), where you can choose whether the mesh has its own extents
or shares extents with other objects in the project. Shared extents are updated when the original
object’s extents are updated.
If you are unsure about relationships between objects, expand them in the project tree to view
more information. Here, two meshes have been defined from the same set of points:

The first mesh shares its extents with another object in the project, which is indicated by the
hyperlink. The second mesh has no hyperlink; it has its own extents that are not updated by other
objects in the project.
Geological models and interpolants are created with a basic set of rectangular extents that can
then be refined by adding extents created from other data in the project. Creating extents is a
useful way of restricting modelling to a particular area of interest. For example, modelling can be
restricted to a known distance from drillhole data by applying a distance function as a lateral
extent. See Modifying a Geological Model’s Boundary for more information.

Extending a Surface
Geological models created in a Leapfrog Geo project automatically use the defined topography as
an upper boundary. If a model is defined that extends outside the topography, an error will occur.
A similar error occurs when surfaces used in geological models do not extend outside the model’s
extents. In all cases, Leapfrog Geo cannot process the surface and an error will be displayed.

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In this example, an error has occurred during the process of creating a geological model because
the topography (yellow) does not enclose the model extents (pink):

In order for Leapfrog Geo to be able to divide the model into separate volumes, the topography
needs to be extended to enclose the model’s boundary or the model’s boundary needs to be
restricted so it falls inside the topography. When the model is processed, the following error
results:

The solutions proposed will depend upon the data used to create the surfaces that conflict, but
fall into three broad categories:
l Reduce the size of the model’s or interpolant’s extents. Click the Edit Extents button. This
will open the object’s Boundary window and you can change the boundary.
l Enlarge the topography by manually adjusting it. Click on the Edit Topography Extents
button. This option is only available when the topography has been created from more than
one data source. See Adding Height Data to the Topography and Changing Topography
Settings.
l Use the surface’s vertices to create the boundary or contact with extents large enough to be
used in the model or interpolant. Click the Use Vertices button to create a new vertices
object and use it as the source data for the boundary or contact.
If you have a solution to the problem that is not covered by the options presented, click Do
Nothing. For example:
l If the topography is not large enough, there may be additional data available. If it is not already
in the project, import the data and add it to the topography as described in Adding Height Data

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to the Topography.
l If a surface being used to define a contact surface or boundary in a geological model or
interpolant is not large enough, you can add additional data to the surface.
Using vertices to create the boundary or contact results in the creation of a new points object
that will be saved in the Points folder.

Earlier versions of Leapfrog Geo (up to 1.3) would automatically create the new vertices
object and use it to interpolate the surface.

In the case of using topography vertices as an upper boundary, the vertices will be applied as a
lateral extent and the defined topography will not be used. For example, here the geological
model does not use the defined topography but instead uses the “GM: Topography” surface
created from the vertices:

Using topography vertices can take some time to process.

An additional disadvantage to using vertices is that the vertices object created is not linked to the
original object. When the object used to create the vertices changes, the vertices will not be
updated.

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Central Integration
Central’s integration with Leapfrog Geo lets you work in different project revisions, publish
models to the server, view documents and annotations and reply to annotations. Projects shared
within Central can be downloaded and worked on locally in Leapfrog Geo. When you have finished
working on a project, select the objects you wish to publish to Central and add notes about the
revision. New projects can be added to Central by building them from scratch or by uploading an
existing project.
The rest of this topic describes how to connect to Central from within Leapfrog Geo. It is divided
into:
l Connecting to Central
l Troubleshooting Connectivity Issues
To learn more about Central, see the Central 3.1 help.

Connecting to Central
Seequent is in the process of transitioning to using Seequent ID to connect to Central.
l If your organisation is using Central 3.0 or later, you will need to connecting using Seequent ID.
See Connecting Via Seequent ID.
l If your organisation has not yet upgraded to Central 3.0, you will need to connect manually
using the information provided by your administrator. See Manual Setup.

Connecting Via Seequent ID

If you connect to Central using your Seequent ID, open the Settings window by clicking on the
Leapfrog Geo menu. Select Central and tick the box to Enable Central integration. A
Central Projects tab will appear in the main window. Next, enable the Use Seequent
ID option.
The Central servers you connect to are set up via your Seequent ID. To connect to a specific
server, click on the Central Projects tab and click the button for the server you wish to connect
to. If a server you expect to see does not appear in the list, click the Refresh button ( ).

If your organisation is switching to using Seequent ID to connect to Central, you may be
prompted to change your Central settings when you attempt to connect to your Central
server. To do this:
1. Click on the Leapfrog Geo menu and open the Settings window.
2. Click on Central.
3. Enable the Use Seequent ID option.
4. Close the Settings window.
5. Restart Leapfrog Geo.

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The Central servers you have access to via your Seequent ID will be listed in the Central
Projects tab.

Manual Setup
If your Central server requires that you manually set up your Leapfrog Geo connection to it, you
will need to enable Central. To do this, open the Settings window by clicking on the Leapfrog
Geo menu. Select Central and tick the box to Enable Central integration. A Central
Projects tab will appear in the main window.
The first time you connect to Central, you will need to set up your connection. Request an
account from your Central administrator, who will provide you with your connection details. Once
you have these details, click on the Central Projects tab. Click the Add button to add a new
server:

Click New user to enter your activation code, then enter the information provided to you by your
Central administrator.

The activation code can be used a single time and is for the purposes of setting up your user
name and password.

Enter a new password, then accept the terms and conditions and click Save.
If you are logged out, click on the Central Projects tab and click the server you wish to connect
to.

Leapfrog Geo version 5.1 is compatible with Central Server versions 2.2, 3.0 and 3.1. If you get
a message saying that the version of Leapfrog Geo you are using is not compatible with the
Central Server you are trying to connect to, follow the instructions in the message, then try
connecting again.

Troubleshooting Connectivity Issues

Leapfrog Start checks to see if your network will support the connection of Leapfrog web-based
services to your desktop applications. If you are having trouble with your connection to Central,
see Checking Connectivity with Leapfrog Start.

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Central Projects
This topic describes how to work with Central projects in Leapfrog Geo. It is divided into:
l Viewing a Project’s History
l Sharing Projects
l Downloading a Local Copy of a Project
l New Central Projects
The Central Servers panel in the Central Projects tab shows all the Central servers you have
access to. If a server you expect to see does not appear in the list, click the Refresh button ( ).
Click a button to connect to a server. To hide the Central Servers panel, click the button.

See Connecting to Central for information on setting up your Central connection.

When you are connected to a Central server, there is an Open Portal button that will open the
Central user portal in a browser window:

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Viewing a Project’s History

Once you’re connected to a Central server, the Central Projects tab shows thumbnails of all
the projects you have access to. Use the search bar to narrow down the list of projects displayed.

Projects will be organised by location if there are multiple projects at a given location; otherwise
projects will simply appear in a list. If a project you expect to see is not listed, click the Refresh
button ( ) in the Central Servers part of the Central Projects tab. This will refresh the list of
projects for the server you are connected to.

A project’s location is set in the Central Portal. You cannot change its location from Leapfrog
Geo.

Click on a project to view its history, which will open in a new tab.
Central projects are organised into revisions and branches:
l Different points in the modelling process are captured as revisions, which are specific points in
time.
l A revision can be the basis for a new branch, exploring an alternative hypothesis.

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These are displayed visually in a project’s history tab, with local copies of projects shown in the
panel at the top of the tab:

Each local copy is numbered so that it can easily be seen what versions have local copies in the
Local column. The number in the column corresponds to the project in the Local copies panel.
You can also:
l Click a thumbnail to open a local copy.
l Click the branch/copy number button ( ) to identify the parent version of the local copy in
the project history.
l Click the Publish button ( ) to publish the copy being edited to Central.
l Click the Delete button ( ) to delete a local copy, if the project is not open.
In the Project history, revisions are displayed chronologically, from the most recent down to
the oldest. In the Graph, offshoots from a revision are branches where an alternative hypothesis
has been investigated. Changes made in a branch do not appear in other branches; branches
effectively diverge from the base revision. The dots on the graph line up with the revision
information.
To view more information about a revision, click on it in the history.

Locking Branches
When working on a branch in Leapfrog Geo, the branch can be locked so no other Central users
can make changes to it. This is useful for letting others users know that a model is being worked
on.
The Locked column indicates whether or not the branch is available to be worked on. If a branch
is locked, hold the cursor over it to see who locked it and when it will be available once again.

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To lock a branch, right-click on it in the project history and select Lock branch:

In the window that appears, set the Lock duration and add any comments. The lock can be set
for as little as one day; when the lock expires or when a new publish is completed, the branch will
be unlocked for other users. While the branch is locked, other users are still able to download
projects, create new branches and publish to branches that are not locked.

If you locked a branch, you can unlock it before the lock expires by right-clicking on it and
selecting Unlock branch:

You can also ask your Central administrator to unlock a branch.

Project Included
The Project column indicates whether or not the Leapfrog Geo project was included when the
revision was published. If there is no icon displayed, then no project was uploaded when the
revision was published. You can view the revision in the Central Browser, but you cannot work on
it in Leapfrog Geo.
When Leapfrog Geo projects are included in a revision, they can be published in a Complete state (
) or in an Unprocessed state ( ). The difference between the two is whether or not stored
modelling calculations are included in the published project. Removing stored modelling
calculations can make the upload/download size of a revision considerably smaller and is useful
when internet connectivity is poor. The tradeoff is that when the project is downloaded by a
Leapfrog Geo user, the project will have to be reprocessed before they can use it. This may take
some time.

Project Stages
The Project Stage is useful for promoting projects through an organisation’s procedures. For
example, your organisation may have project stages defined that include “Experimental”, “Ready
for Peer Review” and “Ready for Production”. Different stages are displayed in different colours
so it is easy to see at a glance what revisions belong to each stage.

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Annotations and Attachments

With Annotations, Central Browser and Leapfrog Geo users can carry out conversations about
specific aspects of the model. Annotations include a scene. If you already have the project open
in Leapfrog Geo, you can load any scene from that project’s history by clicking on it. Information
about the selected scene will be displayed and you will be prompted to load all the objects or only
the unchanged objects:

If the selected scene has a geotag, it will be added to the shape list and displayed in the scene.
Central Browser users can also attach files, which can be downloaded in Leapfrog Geo.

Sharing Projects
If you are a project’s owner, you can share it with other Central users by clicking the Share
Project button in the project’s history tab:

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Clicking Share Project opens the Central Portal, displaying the list of users for that project:

You may need to sign in to the Portal.

You can select from the other users in the system or enter a user’s email address, then assign
their permissions.
There are four levels of project permissions in Central: Owner, Editor, Viewer+Export and
Viewer.
An Owner can:
l Assign other users as the owner. A project can have more than one owner.
l Configure and add an integration to a project they own.
A user who uploads a new project to Central is automatically assigned as the project owner.
Editor access allows a user to work in a project in Leapfrog.
Viewer+Export access allows a user to open a project in the Central Browser and export data
from the project.
Viewer access allows a user to open a project in the Central Browser and make annotations.
They cannot export data from the project.

Downloading a Local Copy of a Project

Select a revision and then click Download to download a local copy of the project. The project
will be downloaded to the location on your local drive specified in the Settings > Central
window. A new revision of the project will be created in the history, as an unpublished project.

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Click the Open button in the Local copies panel to open the project:

Work in the project as you would any other Leapfrog Geo project.

New Central Projects

There are two options for putting a project into Central:
l Create a new Central project.
l Put an existing project into Central.

Creating a New Central Project

Use this option to create a new Leapfrog Geo project and put it into Central. In the Central
Projects tab, click Create blank project. Enter a name for the project and click OK. A new
Leapfrog Geo project will be created and saved in the location on your local drive specified in the
Settings > Central window.
Work in the project as you would any other Leapfrog Geo project. When you are ready to publish
the project to Central, click on the Central button in the lower left-hand corner of the screen and
select Publish:

Adding a Project to Central

Use this option to add an existing project to Central.
Open the project you wish to import, then in the Central Projects tab, click Import open
project. Enter a new name for the project, if you wish, then click OK. The project will be opened
and copied to the location on your local drive specified in the Settings > Central window.
Work in the project as you would any other Leapfrog Geo project. When you are ready to publish
the project to Central, click on the Central button in the lower left-hand corner of the screen and
select Publish.

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Publishing to Central
When you are ready to submit your project to Central, you can start the publishing process by
clicking on the Central button in the lower left-hand corner of the screen and selecting Publish:

You can also select the Publish button ( ) in the Local copies panel:

The rest of this topic describes the steps in publishing a project to Central. These are:
l Unfinished Publish Events
l Selecting Objects
l Setting the Project Workflow Stage
l Including the Project
l Adding Revision Information
l Preparing the Package
l Uploading the Package

Unfinished Publish Events

When you click Publish, you may receive a message saying there is an unfinished publish event:

This occurs when a previous publish event was interrupted. Choose from the options presented.
If the publish event was abandoned, it can be removed via the Central Portal.

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Selecting Objects
Select the objects you wish to publish from those available in the project:

When you publish a project revision to Central from Leapfrog Geo and wish to make a data object
available for use in other projects, make sure you select that object from those in the project:

For example, in the project above, the data objects that will be available for use in other projects
on the same Central server are the Topography mesh and the surfaces in the Lithology, AG_gpt
and AS_ppm models. Unticked objects such as the Distance mesh and the Clipped mesh will not
be available.

Although sub-blocked models can be published to Central, the dip will not be included.

Click Next to choose options for how the project will be uploaded.

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Setting the Project Workflow Stage

Project stages are useful for advancing projects through an organisation’s processes. If the
project is ready to be moved on to a different stage, select a different Project Workflow
Stage from the list.
Project stages can later be changed in the Central Browser.

Including the Project

Select whether or not to include the Leapfrog Geo project. There are three options:
l No. The Leapfrog Geo project will not be published. Other Central users will not be able to
download the project and work on it in Leapfrog Geo. They will, however, be able to review the
published objects and their history in the Central Browser.
l Complete.This option publishes the complete Leapfrog Geo project, including stored
modelling calculations. Other Central users will be able to download the project and work on it
in Leapfrog Geo without reprocessing the project.
l Unprocessed. An unprocessed project has a smaller upload/download size because stored
modelling calculations are removed. When an unprocessed project is downloaded again, all of
the modelling calculations will need to be reprocessed from the underlying data. Other Central
users will be able to download the project and work on it in Leapfrog Geo. Depending on the
size of the project, reprocessing may take some time.
Click Next.

Adding Revision Information

Enter information about the new revision. If you want to create a new branch, click the New
Branch button and enter a name for the branch.

Once you branch from a timeline, you cannot merge back into it. There’s no reason, however,
that you can’t keep working in a branch and start considering that the main branch, if that’s
the conclusion you and your team reach.

Preparing the Package

Click Next to begin the processes of packaging the project for publication.

Uploading the Package

Once the project has been packaged, there are two options for starting the upload:
l If you want the upload to begin automatically once the package has been prepared, tick the
Auto upload box.

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l If you want the option to cancel the upload once it has been packaged, leave the Auto upload
box unticked. Once the project has been packaged, click Publish to upload the project to
Central.
If for some reason you need to stop the upload, click on the Central button in the lower left-hand
corner of the screen and select Stop Upload:

You can resume the upload by clicking Publish in the project history. You will be prompted to
resume the unfinished publish event, as described in Unfinished Publish Events above.
If the upload is interrupted because the connection to the server is lost, you will be prompted to
finish the publish event the next time you log in to Central.
If you exit Leapfrog Geo while a publish event is in progress, you will be warned that a publish
event is in progress. You can:
l Cancel exiting Leapfrog Geo, in which case the publish event will continue.
l Confirm that you wish to exit Leapfrog Geo. The next time you connect to this Central server
or publish from this project or from another project on the same server, you will be prompted to
the resume the interrupted publish event. You can complete the interrupted publish event, if
you wish, or ignore it.

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Importing Data From Central

When you are working on a Central project, you can import some data types from other projects
on the same server. In this way, you can easily share data between projects and, if the data
object is out-of-date, you can reload it from Central.
Data types that can be imported from Central are:
l Meshes
l 2D grids

2D grids can be imported from Central but cannot be reloaded at this time.

The rest of this topic describes how to import and reload data from Central. It is divided into:
l Object Availability
l Importing Central Data Objects
l Updating Out-of-Date Objects

Object Availability
Data objects that can be imported from Central are those that have been:
l Published to Central as part of a revision via Leapfrog. These appear in the Import From
Central window in the Project History tab.
l Uploaded to the project’s Data Room via the Central Portal. These appear in the Import
From Central window in the Files tab.

For more information on the Central Portal, see the Central Portal online help.
For more information on publishing data to Central, see Publishing to Central.

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When you publish a project revision to Central from Leapfrog Geo and wish to make a data
object available for use in other projects, make sure you select that object from those in the
project:

For example, in the project above, the data objects that will be available for use in other
projects on the same Central server are the Topography mesh and the surfaces in the
Lithology, AG_gpt and AS_ppm models. Unticked objects such as the Distance mesh and the
Clipped mesh will not be available.

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Importing Central Data Objects

To import data objects from Central, first make sure you are already connected to Central. Then
right-click on the folder for the data type you wish to import and select the Import From
Central option. In the window that appears, select one of the projects in the repository.
In the next window, there are two options, the Project History tab and the Files list:

In the Project History tab, select a revision to view its published objects, then click on a model
to load its list of surfaces:

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The Files tab shows any files that have been uploaded to the Central project’s Data Room:

Whether you wish to import files from a revision or from the Data Room, use the Shift and Ctrl
keys to select as many objects as required. Click Import to import the objects, which will be
saved into the project tree. A different colour is used to indicate objects imported from Central,
and viewing the properties shows you what version of the project the mesh came from:

Leapfrog Geo also checks to see if the object imported from Central is the latest version from
that branch. In the example above, the meshes in the Current Meshes folder are displayed using a
blue mesh icon ( ), which indicates that these meshes are the latest version available on that
branch. The meshes in the Current Meshes folder, however, are displayed using a different icon (
) to indicate that there are newer versions available.

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Updating Out-of-Date Objects

2D grids cannot be reloaded at this time.

There are two options for updating an out-of-date object:

l Reload Latest on Branch imports the newest version available on the branch the out-of-
date object was imported from.
l Reload From Central displays the project history and allows you to pick any point in time on
any branch.
Right-click on a data object and choose one of these options.
If you have selected multiple objects in the project tree, the Reload Latest on Branch option is
the only one available:

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Settings
Open the Settings window by clicking on the Leapfrog Geo menu and selecting Settings:

The settings available in this window are described below:

l Display and Navigation Settings
l Overlay Settings
l Colour Scheme
l Lighting Settings
l Processing Settings
l User Interface Settings
l Central Settings
l Usage Policy Settings
l Network Settings
l Help Settings
To close the Settings window and leave settings unchanged, click the Revert button, then click
Close.

Display and Navigation Settings

In the Settings window, click on Scene to change scene display and navigation settings.

3D Acceleration Mode
Leapfrog Geo can run in one of three acceleration modes. Click the Acceleration mode button
in the Settings > Scene window to use a different mode. The modes available are:
l Software Rendering uses software only, for maximum compatibility with any hardware.
This option can be very slow displaying all but the simplest scenes, and is provided as a fall-
back if display issues cannot be resolved with either of the other two options.

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l Partial Acceleration uses hardware acceleration that has been provided on graphics cards
for many generations. In this mode, Leapfrog Geo renders scenes using “fixed function
pipeline” hardware acceleration features that have been superseded in modern graphics cards
by programmable shaders, but this legacy capability is widely supported and offers
performance advantages over software rendering. Using Partial Acceleration can
sometimes fix anomalies or problems encountered in Full Acceleration mode that may be
due to bugs in old drivers, and it should work with even old or lower-featured hardware.
l Full Acceleration is the best option, assuming you have good hardware and up-to-date
drivers. Because it makes use of programmable shaders provided by modern graphics cards, it
is the fastest of the three modes and uses your available graphics memory more efficiently. It
is the mode you should use, if your system supports it.
First, try using Full Acceleration and see how it renders scenes. If you seem to be having issues
with how data is displayed in the scene, see Running the Graphics Test for information on testing
your computer’s graphics capabilities. Note that especially when graphics cards are new on the
market, there may be a number of driver versions released to address anomalies, so the use of a
recent driver version is important. If using a laptop with dual graphics cards, use it with the power
supply connected, and select the Performance Graphics option over the Power Saving
option.
If that doesn’t resolve the graphics problems, then try Partial Acceleration mode. If possible,
avoid using Software Rendering as it can be very slow.
If your current hardware is unable to support Full Acceleration mode, it may be worth
considering upgrading your graphics card. Medium- to high-end home PC and gaming graphics
cards are sufficient. High-end workstation grade cards also work very well, but you will also be
paying for further capabilities that are not utilised by Leapfrog Geo.
The acceleration mode can also be changed by clicking the button at the bottom of the Leapfrog
Geo main window:

Font Size
This setting is the size of text used to display information on the grid and axes.

Z Axis Scale
The Z-axis scale setting lets you set a value greater than 1.0 for the z-axis relative to the x- and
y-axes. This is useful when the area under study is very planar and extends over a wide area. In
such cases, scaling the z-axis can accentuate the distribution of data along the z-axis. If you
have a project open when you change this setting, the change will be reflected in the scene so
you can experiment with different values before choosing the one that best accentuates the
distribution of data.

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The z-axis setting can also be changed by clicking the Z-Scale button at the bottom of the
Leapfrog Geo main window:

The Scale Z Axis window will appear:

Note that each project saves the z-axis scaling setting when the project is closed. In addition,
when saving scenes (see Saved Scenes), the z-axis scale is saved as part of the scene.

Rotation Settings
The Geographic rotation and Free rotation settings determine whether or not the model
displayed in the scene window can be “rolled”. With the Geographic rotation option, the
azimuth and elevation can be varied, but the z-axis is constrained to be vertical. With the Free
rotation option, however, the rotation of the model is not fixed to any axis and the model can be
freely rolled around any axis. Select the option you prefer. When Leapfrog Geo is installed,
Geographic rotation is set as the default option as it is the most commonly used.
The Rotate with left button and Rotate with right button settings determine how the
mouse is used to rotate the scene:
l When Rotate with left button is selected, you can rotate the scene by holding down the
left mouse button and dragging in the scene. Clicking and holding the right mouse button
zooms in and out of the scene.
l When Rotate with right button is selected, holding down the right mouse button and
dragging rotates the scene. However, zooming and rotating functions are not swapped.
Instead, the left mouse button can only be used for clicking on different objects in the scene.
Select this option if you tend to accidentally move the scene when you intend to click.

Camera Settings
The Orthographic projection and Perspective projection settings determine the view of
the model in the scene window.
If Perspective projection is selected, you can change the Perspective angle using the slider.
This is similar to adjusting the zoom setting on a camera. Higher angles make nearby objects
larger and more distant objects smaller. Lower angles will compress the scene. Experiment with
the settings to see the effect on objects in the scene.
Select the option you prefer.

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Overlay Settings
In the Settings window, click on Scene > Overlays to change what objects are included in the
scene.

Changes you make to these settings are automatically updated in the scene so you can easily
experiment to see what overlays you prefer.

Select Revert to return to the settings in place when the Settings window was first opened.

Screen Grid Settings

The Show screen grid setting determines whether or not the screen grid is displayed. Select
the option you prefer. The Loose Spacing, Normal Spacing and Fine Spacing options
determine the spacing of the grid.

Axis Lines Settings

The Axis Lines settings determine how X-Y-Z coordinates are displayed in the scene. When axis
lines are enabled, the axes indicate the extent of data currently displayed in the scene.
l Enable Show axis lines to display the east (red), north (green) and elevation (blue) axis lines.
l Enable Put numbers on axes to display scale ticks along the grid. These are automatically
adjusted to fit the extent of the data and the current zoom setting.
l Enable Show whole box to display the axis lines as a box that encloses the current data set.

Other Overlay Settings

The scale bar, compass ball and viewing angle text are the navigation aids in the lower right-hand
corner of the scene window.
When the slicer is in the scene and the slice is aligned with the x-, y- or z-axis, text describing the
slicer position can be displayed in the lower left-hand corner if the scene. To do this, enabled the
Slicer position text option.
When drawing polylines, tooltips are displayed. If you do not wish to view these tooltips, untick
the box for Polyline help text.

Colour Scheme
In the Settings window, click on Scene > Colour Scheme to change the colour scheme used
in the scene. The options that can be changed include:
l The background colour used in the Scene View tab
l The colour and width used to display drillhole traces

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l The colour and width of mesh edges, together with the width of the line used when a mesh is
sliced and the highlight colour used when mesh parts are selected in the scene
l The colours used for displaying the x, y and z axes
l Grid line width, style and colour
l Axes box line width, style and colour
l Slicer edge width, style and colour
Leapfrog Geo is installed with three colours schemes: Default, Black Background and White
Background. The scheme selected in the Schemes list will be used for all new Leapfrog Geo
projects and for existing projects when they are next opened.
l Experiment with the settings to see how they affect the scene window. The scene will be
updated as you make changes.
l Select Revert to return to the settings in place when the Settings window was first opened.
l To create a new scheme, click on an existing scheme. This is the scheme that will be used as a
basis for defining the new scheme. Next, click the New Scheme button and change its
settings.
l Click Factory Reset to revert to the colour schemes defined when Leapfrog Geo was first
installed.

Clicking on Factory Reset to revert to the original colour schemes deletes any custom colour
schemes.

Lighting Settings
In the Settings window, click on Scene > Lighting to change how visual effects are displayed
in the scene window. You may be able to use these settings to emphasise significance in the data
displayed in the scene.
l The Ambient level setting determines the overall brightness of the scene.
l The Specular brightness and Specular shininess settings determine how light appears to
fall on the surfaces in the scene. The Specular brightness setting has a stronger effect
when Specular shininess is soft.
You can have up to four light sources defined for a project. By default, two light sources are
defined.
Changes made to these settings are automatically applied to the scene.
l Click Revert to return to the settings in place when the Settings window was first opened.
l Click Factory Reset to revert to the lighting sources and settings defined when Leapfrog
Geo was first installed.

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Processing Settings
In the Settings window, click on Processing to change how background processing is used to
run changes to data and models. The Automatic option creates one process for each physical
CPU core on your computer or one for every 2.5 GB of RAM, whichever is smaller. However,
there is an upper limit of 8 processes.
You can manually set the number of Background processes you would like to commit
resources to. For example, you might want to use all but one process for Leapfrog Geo and
reserve one for other application use.
Select Revert to return to the settings in place when the Settings window was first opened.

User Interface Settings

In the Settings window, click on User Interface to change project tree and scene toolbar
options and to enable uploading to View.

Show Tree Lines

Ticking the box for Show Tree Lines displays objects in the project tree with lines:

Enable this option if you find it useful for displaying relationships between objects in the project
tree.

Show Save Scene Button

Ticking the Show Save Scene box adds an extra button to the scene toolbar:

Click this button to save the current scene.

You can also change the scene toolbar by right-clicking on it and selecting Customise.

Upload to View
Ticking the box for Show View upload displays the View button ( ) in the Scene View
toolbar. See Uploading to View for more information.

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Tab Position
Some Leapfrog Geo windows open in separate tabs that can be used either docked or detached.
The position in which tabs open is determined by the New tab position setting:
l Open all tabs in the main window.
l Open all tabs in separate windows.
l Tabs can open where the last tab was moved to. This setting can be used for creating a
window in which all tables and dockable windows open, with the scene window, project tree
and shape list in another window.

Central Settings
To enable Central, open the Settings window by clicking on the Leapfrog Geo menu. Select
Central and tick the box to enable Central. A Central Projects tab will appear in the main
window.

If the Use Seequent ID option is enabled, Central integration is automatically enabled and
cannot be disabled.

When you connect to Central, you can download projects and work on them locally. To change
the location where projects are saved, click the Change button under Project Files and
navigate to where you want to save projects:

The Publishing Cache settings determine where Central data is stored while publishing to
Central. If you have a small local drive and use network storage for most of your data, you can
change where temporary publishing data is stored. To do this, click on the Change button and
navigate to the required location.

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The Empty Cache button clears the publishing cache folder for the connected Central
Server. This button is only active when you are connected to a Central server and should only
be used if you are having problems publishing to Central.

The Connection settings determine how you connect to the Central server.
Seequent is in the process of transitioning to using Seequent ID to connect to Central. The Use
Seequent ID setting determines whether your connections to Central are automatically
configured via your Seequent ID or whether you need to manually set up connections to Central
servers.
l If your organisation is using Central 3.0 or later, you will need to connecting using Seequent ID.
Enable this setting.
l If your organisation has not yet upgraded to Central 3.0, you will need to connect manually
using the information provided by your administrator. Leave this setting disabled.
You will be prompted to restart when you change this setting.
The Large request timeout is used for publishing, uploading attachments and getting a
revision. All other communication with the Central server uses the Default request timeout.
The Default request timeout and Large request timeout should only be adjusted upward if
you have problems with a poor connection. The default values are 60 seconds and 600 seconds.
The Upload chunk size setting is useful if you have a poor connection. It determines the size of
the chunks used to upload large files. For example, if the Upload chunk size is 10MB and you
are uploading a 100MB file, the file will be uploaded in 10 chunks. If your connection is poor and
you are experiencing issues, you can decrease the value of the Upload chunk size.
There is an option for checking the integrity of a revision after it has been uploaded. If you wish to
do this, enable the Check file consistency after upload option.

Usage Policy Settings

When the Idle time-out setting is enabled, Leapfrog Geo will prompt you after a period of
inactivity. Follow the instructions in the message displayed.
Leapfrog Geo can use reference codes to track work on specific projects. The number of days
associated with each reference code is included in your organisation’s monthly usage report. In
the Settings > Usage Policy window, you can define reference codes on a per-project or per-
computer basis. Click the Add New Code button to add a code for either the computer or the
currently open project.
The other two settings can be used to ensure that you are regularly prompted to update the
reference code.
l Prompt at project start up ensures that a prompt is displayed for selecting a reference
code whenever a project is opened or a new project is created.
l Always required ensures that Leapfrog Geo is not used without a reference code being
selected. <No Code> is not an option.

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Network Settings
If your organisation uses a proxy server to connect to the internet, you can set this up in the
Settings > Network window.
If you choose the Autodetect proxy server option, Leapfrog Geo will detect the
authentication type, server address and port; there are no further settings for you to change.
If Autodetect proxy server does not work or if you need to switch between proxy servers in
different network environments, choose the Manually configure proxy server option and
enter the information provided by your IT department. The advanced settings are optional and
you should only change them from the default values if you have been instructed to do so by your
IT department.
You can manually configure more than one proxy server. Click the New button to add a new
profile and enter the required settings. When you want to swap from one proxy server to another,
simply select a Profile from those already defined.
If you have multiple Seequent products running on your computer, you only need to configure
network proxy settings once. Once you have, for example, configured the proxy for Leapfrog
Geo, the same settings will be used for the Central Browser.

Help Settings
If you are working on a slow connection, you can download a copy of the help that can be saved
to your hard drive. To do this:
l Click here to download a copy of the help.
l Once you have downloaded a copy of the help and installed it, select Settings from the
Leapfrog Geo menu.
l Click on the Help tab and then select Local folder.

Leapfrog Geo help is updated at each release. If you are using a downloaded copy, you will
need to download a new copy each time you update Leapfrog Geo.

Reporting a Problem
If Leapfrog Geo encounters an error, the Leapfrog Geo Problem window will be displayed.
Enter as much information as you can about the problem, then click Send.

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Getting Support
Technical support is available by visiting http://www.leapfrog3d.com/contact/support.

Checking Connectivity with Leapfrog Start

Leapfrog Start checks to see if your network will support the connection of Leapfrog web-based
services to your desktop applications.
To run Leapfrog Start, either click the Test Web Services button in the Settings > Network
window or click on the Leapfrog Geo menu and select Diagnostics > Test Web Services:

Supplying Your Licence Details

When contacting technical support, please include your licence number and a full description of
the problem or query, including any information provided in system error messages.
You can access your licence information by selecting About from the Leapfrog Geo menu:

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You may also be asked to provide a copy of the log files. To find out where these are stored,
select About from the Leapfrog Geo menu, then click on the System Info. tab. Click on the
link to open the folder that contains the log files:

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Data Types
Leapfrog Geo has tools for importing, creating and working with many different types of data,
including:
l GIS Data, Maps and Images
l Drillhole Data
l Design Models
l Points Data
l Geophysical Data
l Structural Data
l Meshes
l Polylines
l Geochemical Data

Leapfrog Geo is unit-less and adopts the units used in the data you import. For example, if your
imported data is in metres, the units displayed will be metres, and figures such as resolution,
measured distances and slicer thickness will be in metres. It is important, therefore, to be
consistent in the units used in the data you import. If you are importing data that uses
different coordinate systems, you will need to pre-process the data so that it is using the same
coordinate system.

The rest of this topic describes how to open, edit and correct errors in data tables in Leapfrog
Geo. It is divided into:
l Working with Data Tables
l Identifying Errors in Data Tables
l Exporting Data Errors
l Correcting Data Errors in Leapfrog Geo
l Common Errors and How to Fix Them
l Handling Special Values

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Working with Data Tables

To view the contents of a data table, double-click on it in the project tree. To view the contents
of the attribute table for a GIS object, right-click on the object and select Attribute Table. The
Table window will appear:

If the Ignored column is ticked, then Leapfrog Geo completely ignores that row, as though it has
been deleted. This is useful for suppressing erroneous data from being processed.

If a row in a collar table is ignored, then all other data associated with that hole (e.g. surveys
and interval measurements in other tables) are also ignored.

Collar tables have a trench column that indicates whether or not the drillhole is from a trench.
When the trench column is ticked for a drillhole, the trench will be desurveyed in a different
manner from other drillholes. See The Raw Tangent Algorithm for more information.
Cells in a table are editable, apart from the id column, which Leapfrog Geo uses as unique
identifier. Double-click in a cell to edit it. If the cell you wish to edit is already selected, press the
space bar to start editing.
When you edit a cell, the change will be indicated in bold text:

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When you save the table, the edited text will no longer be displayed in bold.
The controls in the table toolbar provide quick access to table operations:

Click on Fix Errors to begin correcting errors in the table. See Correcting Data Errors in Leapfrog
Geo and Handling Special Values below for more information.
Click on Query to open up the query editor:

See the Query Filters topic for more information on how to build and use queries.
With drillhole data, survey tables have Compatibility options for changing the desurveying
method for the survey table as a whole. See Drillhole Desurveying Options for more information.

Identifying Errors in Data Tables

Leapfrog Geo automatically identifies and flags common data errors when data tables are
imported. In the project tree, there are three ways Leapfrog Geo marks tables that contain
conflicts or errors:
l Tables marked with a red X ( ) contain errors that mean data cannot be used for processing.
These errors can be corrected by opening the Errors window, which is described in Correcting
Data Errors in Leapfrog Geo below.
l Numeric data columns marked with a red X ( ) contain non-numeric values, which means
that the rules that are used to handle non-numeric and negative values need to be reviewed. If
a table has data that contain non-numeric and negative values, the affected rows cannot be
used for further processing until the rules are verified, which is described in Handling Special
Values below.
l Tables marked with a yellow exclamation mark ( ) contain warnings. Affected rows can be
used for further processing, but the information in the warning can indicate that the data

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requires further attention. For example, if a warning indicates there is data missing for a
drillhole defined in the collar table, it may be that a drillhole has been duplicated or that not all
required data files have been loaded. Warnings are listed along with table errors in the Errors
window.
Until errors are corrected, the rows that contain those errors are excluded for all processing that
uses the table, including viewing in the scene. For example, if the ID for a collar position contains
an invalid coordinate, that collar will not be displayed in the scene as its location is not known.
Likewise, any processing will ignore data associated with this drillhole.
It is worth correcting errors as soon as possible, as correcting them later can result in significant
recomputation time.

When a table contains errors and warnings, only the errors will be apparent in the project tree
view. However, all errors and warnings relevant to a particular table will be displayed in the
Database Errors window.

There are two approaches to correcting errors in data:

l Correct the data in the primary source. Export the errors as described in Exporting Data Errors
below. Then, when the errors have been corrected, reload the drillhole data as described in
Reloading Drillhole Data.
l Correct the data in Leapfrog Geo. If you need a record of corrected errors, first export the
errors as described in Exporting Data Errors below. Then correct errors as described in
Correcting Data Errors in Leapfrog Geo.

Exporting Data Errors

If you need a record of corrected errors, first export the errors. This must be done first, as once
errors have been corrected in Leapfrog Geo, they cannot be exported, as they no longer exist.

For individual drillhole tables, points tables and structural data tables, export the errors by right-
clicking on the table and selecting Export Errors. Choose a location where the file will be saved
and click Save.
To export all errors in the drillhole data set, right-click on the Drillholes object and select Export
Errors. The Export Drillhole Errors window will appear:

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The list shows the files that will be created, one for each table that contains errors. Choose a
folder where the files will be saved, then enter a Base file name, which will be added to the front
of each file name.
Click Export to export the error files.

Correcting Data Errors in Leapfrog Geo

If you require a record of the errors in drillhole data, export the errors as described in Exporting
Data Errors above before starting to correct the errors in Leapfrog Geo.

To correct errors in a data table, right-click on the table and select Fix Errors. The Drillhole
Errors window will appear. Leapfrog Geo identifies a range of common errors, and all errors
identified in a table are grouped by type. Click on an error type to expand it and see the source of
a specific error:

You can change the size of the Drillhole Errors window and the columns in the table to view
more information easily. When you have finished fixing errors, click the Save button ( ).
Leapfrog Geo will then update the database.

Errors are automatically grouped by Type, but if there are many errors, you may find it useful
to view them grouped by Table or HoleID:

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When a row that contains an error is selected, a red box indicates the source of the error. When
two rows of data conflict, both rows will be displayed, which may be useful in determining how to
fix the error:

Some typical errors and how to correct them are described in Common Errors and How to Fix
Them below.

Replacing Values in a Column

The Replace All button in the toolbar may be useful in correcting any errors without closing the
Drillhole Errors window. With the Replace All button, you can replace an incorrect value that
occurs multiple times in a column. To do this, click the Replace All button ( ). Select the
Column to search and enter the new value:

Click Replace All Occurrences to make the changes.

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You can also select a number of rows and replace values in a selected column with a single value.
To do this, use the Shift and Ctrl keys to select the rows you wish to edit, then click the Edit
button and select Write to Selected Rows:

In the fields that appear, enter the New value, then click the Write to Selected Rows button:

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

There are many possible sources of error in the data itself and you may be able to correct the
errors directly in the Errors window. With drillhole data, however, the message given in the
Errors may actually point to an error elsewhere in the dataset, in which case you will need to
open the other table from the project tree and edit it directly.
The errors and warnings described are:
l Duplicate Points Error (Points Tables)
l Duplicate Hole ID Error
l Hole ID Not in Collar Table Error
l Collar Max Depth Error
l Invalid Max Depth Error
l From Depth Exceeds To Depth Error
l Overlapping Segments Error
l No Samples for Collars Warning
l No Surveys for Collar Warning
l Wedges Found Warning

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Duplicate Points Error (Points Tables)

Points tables will have Duplicate Points errors when rows have identical x, y and z values:

Tick Ignored for the rows you wish to ignore. If there are many duplicate points in the table, click
the Ignore Duplicates button ( ). When you save the table, all duplicate rows will be marked as
Ignored.

Duplicate Hole ID Error

Collar tables will have Duplicate Hole ID errors when collars have been assigned the same ID.
Here, rows 4 and 5 have the same ID but are clearly different holes:

Changing the hole ID for one of the drillholes will correct the error. If the collar has been recorded
twice by accident, tick the Ignored box for the duplicate collar.

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Hole ID Not in Collar Table Error

Interval tables will have Hole ID not in collar table errors when the hole ID specified in the
interval table is not found in the collar table.

Affected intervals cannot be displayed. There are two possibilities for fixing this error:
l The collar table uses the wrong hole ID. Edit the collar table to correct the hole ID.
l The interval table uses the wrong hole ID. Use the Replace All tool to the incorrect values
with the correct one. See Replacing Values in a Column above.

Collar Max Depth Error

Interval tables will have Collar max-depth exceeded errors when the depth values in the
interval table exceeds the maxdepth value defined in the collar table. The maxdepth defined in
the collar table is often a theoretical value established before drilling. If the depth value flagged
as an error is not unrealistic, click on the Fix Max Depths button ( ):

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This results in the collar table being updated with a maximum depth value that reflects the data in
the interval tables.

Invalid Max Depth Error

Collar tables will have Invalid Max Depth errors when the maxdepth value is negative or non-
numeric:

These errors are often the result of data entry mistakes and can be corrected by editing the table
in the Errors window.

From Depth Exceeds To Depth Error

Interval tables will have From depth > = to depth errors when the from and to values in a row
do not make sense:

These errors are often the result of data entry mistakes and can be corrected by editing the table
in the Errors window.
Until the error is corrected, the affected interval cannot be displayed, although all non-conflicting
intervals will still be displayed for that drillhole.

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Overlapping Segments Error

Interval tables will have Overlapping Segments errors when intervals are in the same place for
the same hole or when two holes are in the same place. Here, row 12 overlaps row 13 and the error
can be corrected in the Drillhole Errors window by entering the correct to value for row 12:

If an interval has been defined twice, click Ignored for one of the rows. Until the error is
corrected, the affected intervals cannot be displayed, although all non-conflicting intervals will
still be displayed for that drillhole.

No Samples for Collars Warning

Interval tables will have No values for Hole ID warnings when there are no values in the interval
table that correspond to a collar defined in the collar table. In this example, a hole called M090
has been defined in the collar table, but there is no data for it in the M_Assays table.

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There are three possibilities:

l There are no values in this interval table for that collar. There is no need to do anything to
remedy the warning as it will not affect further processing of the data.
l The collar table uses the wrong hole ID. This may be the case if there is also a Hole ID not in
collar table warning listed. Edit the collar table to correct the hole ID.
l There are values for that collar in the interval table but they use the wrong collar ID. Again,
there may also be a Hole ID not in collar table warning listed. Edit the interval table and
correct the hole ID for the affected intervals.

No Surveys for Collar Warning

This survey table error is similar to No Samples for Collars Warning above: there are no values in
the survey table that correspond to a collar defined in the collar table. Check that the collar table
and the survey table are using the right hole ID. You will need to edit the survey table or collar
table directly before this warning can be cleared.

Wedges Found Warning

Wedges found warnings occur in the collar table or in the survey table when drillholes appear to
be duplicates because they are very close together in space.

Leapfrog Geo flags drillholes that are less than 1° apart as possible duplicates; if you have two
drillholes that are that close together, you may need to adjust the collar location of one of the
drillholes to clear the warning. You can do this by editing the collar table.

Handling Special Values

Assay data often contains special values to represent different situations, such as grade values
that are below a detection limit, cores that have been lost or segments that were not sampled. In
addition, it is not uncommon for a drillhole to contain some intervals that have no values.

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When drillhole data tables and points data are imported, Leapfrog Geo will mark columns
containing non-numeric special values and missing intervals so that you can review these missing
and non-numeric values and determine how Leapfrog Geo will handle them. For example, here
numeric data columns that contain errors are marked with a red X:

To review these errors, double-click on the column. The Errors window will appear with the error
displayed for the selected column:

Leapfrog Geo will automatically set missing and non-numeric intervals to be omitted from further
processing. Negative values are automatically set to keep. To change the Action, select another
action from the list:
l Select replace to enter a numeric value to be used for further processing.
l Select keep to use a negative value in further processing.
For non-numeric and negative values, all values are initially treated as a single rule. However, if
values have different meanings, you can define specific rules to determine how each value is
handled. To do this, click on the Add Rule button. The window that appears will show the values
present in the data. To define a new rule for a specific value:
l Select that value in the list.
l Tick the box for The value I want is not in the list.

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l Enter the Value.

l Click OK.
In the Invalid Value Handling window, the value will be listed separately and you can choose the
Action to apply.
Once you have reviewed the rules that will be applied to the column, tick the These rules have
been reviewed box and click OK. The rules will be applied and used in further processing.

When you open a data table, the original values will be displayed. In all further processing of
that data, the assigned special values will be used.

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Query Filters
Query filters can be used to select or view a subset of rows in a table. A query filter can be
created for any type of table in a Leapfrog Geo project, including drillhole data, GIS data, points
data and structural data.

Two different query builders are used in Leapfrog Geo, the standard query builder that is used
for most data tables and the points query builder that is used for imported points data tables.

The rest of this topic describes how to build and use query filters in Leapfrog Geo. It is divided into:
l Using a Query Filter in Displaying Data
l Using a Query Filter in a Model
l The Standard Query Builder
l The Points Query Builder

Using a Query Filter in Displaying Data

To apply a query filter to the scene, select the object in the shape list, then select the filter from
the Query filter list in the shape properties panel:

For a drillhole data table, this displays only the data selected by the filter. The trace lines
remain displayed in the scene. To filter trace lines, tick the Filter trace lines box:

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Using a Query Filter in a Model

When creating or editing a model, you can use a query filter to filter the data used. For example,
here you can use one of the query filters defined for the drillhole data to create a new geological
model from the drillhole data for a specific drilling campaign:

Here a structural data table is used to create a form interpolant. The query filters on the
structural data table can be used to filter the data used in the interpolant:

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It is also possible to change the filter used for a model after the model has been created. In a
geological model, for example, you cannot change the data column used for the model, but you
can edit the model and apply a new query filter to the data:

The Standard Query Builder

The standard query builder is used for creating queries for all data tables in Leapfrog Geo except
for imported points data tables. For information on building queries for points data tables, see The
Points Query Builder below.
There are three windows that make up the standard query builder:

In the first window, the New Query Filter window, you can type in a query using the query
syntax described in Leapfrog Geo Query Syntax. Press Ctrl-Enter for a new line in longer queries.
The second window, the Build Query window helps you build some common queries by selecting
from the data columns in the table and defining different tests. Open the Build Query window

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by clicking the ... button in the New Query Filter window. See The Build Query Window for
more information on building queries in this way.
The third window, the Advanced Query window, shows all the data columns and possible
operations. See The Advanced Query Builder for more information.
To create a query filter for a data table, right-click on the table in the project tree and select New
Query Filter. The New Query Filter window will appear and you can choose which way you
prefer to build your query. Assign the filter a name and click OK to save it. It will appear in the
project tree under the table to which it applies:

Query filters defined for collar tables are available to all other drillhole data tables.

Leapfrog Geo Query Syntax

The Leapfrog Geo query syntax is based on the WHERE clause of the Structured Query
Language (SQL) with some restrictions:
l Unary operators are not allowed
l SQL functions cannot be used
l The SELECT statement should not be used (as in 'holeid in (SELECT holeid FROM ...)')
l Following statements are also prohibited: CASE, WHEN or MATCH
There is also one main SQL extension:
l IN and NOT IN will accept a partition group for the value list. E.g. 'zone IN layers.weathered'
where "layers" is a partition of the "zone" column that has a group called 'weathered'.
These are some examples of valid Leapfrog Geo query statements:
l holeid in ('m-001', 'm-002')
l holeid not in ('m-001', 'm-002')
l holeid not like 'MAR%'

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To enter a query that contains an apostrophe, enter two apostrophes. For example, the following
query will result in an error:

Adding the second apostrophe results in a valid query:

The Query box allows the following shortcut queries:

l Typing a single word will match all hole-ids starting with that string. For example, typing
"MAR" is a shortcut for "holeid like 'MAR%'"
l Typing a comma-separated list of words will match all hole-ids that exactly match the given
words. For example typing "M001, M002" is a shortcut for "holeid in ('M001', 'M002')".

The Build Query Window

Many common queries can be built using the Build Query window:

This window aims to be easy to use rather than comprehensive in its support for the full Leapfrog
Geo query syntax.
To add a criteria, click Column to view a list of columns available in the table. Select a Test and
enter a Value. What can be entered for the Value depends on the type of column and test
selected.

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Quotes are not required around text values entered in the value column as they are in SQL.
Leapfrog Geo will add quotes and brackets to the value "MX, PM" to make a valid SQL list of
strings "('MX', 'PM')" when the query is saved.
Click on the Apply button to apply to query to the context in which the dialog was opened.
Use the Delete button to delete the criteria in the selected row and the Add button to add a
blank row.

The Advanced Query Builder

The Advanced Query window provides a powerful and flexible query building using the Leapfrog
Geo query language.

Enter the query in the Criteria to Match area on the left. The query is displayed as a tree
structure with AND and OR terms as the branch nodes and conditions as the leaves. Use the
Delete button to delete a row from the query and the Add button to add a blank row. The Check
button can be used at any time to check if the current query statement is valid. Below the
buttons is a box showing the raw SQL form of the query.
Except for the arrow buttons, the buttons down the middle of the dialog are used for entering
values into the query. The arrow buttons are used for moving the currently selected criteria to a
different position in the query. The Date, List and Value buttons will open a builder dialog for the
column selected in the current row. If there is no column found or the column is of the wrong
type, an error message is displayed.
The tree on the right contains all the columns available to the query. Double-click on a column
name to insert it into the query.

The Points Query Builder

Imported points data tables use a different query builder from that used for other data tables.

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To create a query filter for a points data table, right-click on the table in the project tree and
select New Query Filter.

You can define filters by three methods:

l Construct the query using the Insert options to add columns, operators and other elements
l Write the query using query syntax directly in the query editor
l Use the query builder

Insert Query Elements Using Ready Reference

Click the Insert button to expand the window to see an adjacent ready reference. This provides
quick access to all the numeric columns, metadata variables, operators and functions that can be
used in constructing a query.

The Insert list will assist you in constructing a valid query in the same syntax as used for
Calculations and Filters. For full details on each of the Existing items and Syntax and
Functions, see Catalogue of Metadata, Syntax and Functions.
Select an item from the Insert list and the item will be added to the query at the cursor location.

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While the query is being built, it is normal to see errors appear under the partly-constructed query.
This is because the query is incomplete. Once you have completed building your query, if you still
see an error message, the description of the error can help you identify what you need to change
in the query to make it valid.
The if(::) if block option is special in that it allows for multiple rows of conditions to be defined.
Once added, putting the cursor inside the if block will result in the Add Row button becoming
available. If condition rows have been added, the Delete Row button will be available whenever
the cursor is inside a condition row.

The Undo and Redo buttons make it easy to revert a change you made to a query, or repeat a
change you have just reverted.

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Assign the filter a name and click OK to save the filter and close the query filter window. It will
appear in the project tree under the table to which it applies. Apply will change the filter in use so
the effect may be seen in the scene without closing the query filter window.

Write a Query in Query Editor

It is not necessary to use the Insert list to add elements to the query under construction. Once
you become familiar with the query syntax you may find it quicker to simply type the query
directly into the query editor window.

For full details on the syntax for this query filter editor, please see Catalogue of Metadata,
Syntax and Functions.

Write a Query Using the Query Builder

Many common queries can be built using the Build Query window:

This window aims to be easy to use rather than comprehensive in its support for the full Leapfrog
Geo query syntax.
To add a criteria, click Column to view a list of columns available in the table. Select a Test and
enter a Value. What can be entered for the Value depends on the type of column and test
selected.
Click on the Apply button to apply to query to the context in which the dialog was opened.
Use the Delete button to delete the criteria in the selected row and the Add button to add a
blank row.

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Defining a Topography
It is not necessary to define a topography to model in Leapfrog Geo, but a defined topography can
be used as an upper boundary for all models built in the project.
A key advantage of defining a topography is that it provides consistent elevation data for objects
imported to and created in the project. The quality of elevation information can be poor compared
to X- and Y-coordinates, which can create problems when using objects to build a model. A
topography can be created from the most reliable elevation data, and other objects can have
elevation set from this topography.
An important consideration when defining the topography is ensuring that it is large enough to
encompass the models you will be building in the project. If you create a small topography but
then later create a model that extends outside the topography, you will need to enlarge the
topography, which can result in considerable reprocessing of all objects in the project that use the
topography as a boundary. See Extending a Surface for more information.
This topic describes creating and working with a topography. It is divided into:
l Topography From Elevation Grid
l Topography From Surfaces, Points or GIS Vector Data
l Fixed Elevation Topography
l Adding Height Data to the Topography
l Changing Topography Settings
l Topography Display Options
l Projecting Collars onto the Topography
The topography can be created from an imported elevation grid, points data, surfaces and GIS
data. It is not necessary to decide on a single source of information, as information can be
combined, and you can add and remove data as required.
Once defined, you can export the topography as a mesh or as an elevation grid. See:
l Exporting Meshes
l Exporting an Elevation Grid

Topography From Elevation Grid

There are two ways to create the topography from an elevation grid:
l Right-click on the Topographies folder and select New Topography > Import Elevation
Grid. Import the grid as described in Importing an Elevation Grid.
l Import the grid using the Meshes folder and then right-click on the Topographies folder and
select New Topography > From Surface.
Enter a name for the topography and click OK. A hyperlink to the elevation grid will appear in the
Topographies folder under the defined topography.

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Once the topography has been defined, additional height data can be added by right-clicking
on the topography and selecting from the options available. See See "Adding Height Data to
the Topography" for more information.

Topography From Surfaces, Points or GIS Vector Data

To create the topography from a surface, points or GIS data, first import the data into the
project.
l Import surfaces into the Meshes folder.
l Import drillhole data into the project or points data into the Points folder.
l Import GIS vector data into the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder.
Next, right-click on the Topographies folder and select one of the New Topography options. A
list of suitable objects available in the project will be displayed. Select the required object and click
OK. Enter a name for the topography and click OK. A hyperlink to the source object will appear in
the Topographies folder under the defined topography.

Once the topography has been defined, additional height data can be added by right-clicking
on the topography and selecting from the options available. See See "Adding Height Data to
the Topography" for more information.

See also Changing Topography Settings below.

Fixed Elevation Topography

If you don’t have any data suitable for creating a topography, you can set a fixed elevation. To do
this, right-click on the Topographies folder and select New Topography > Fixed Elevation. In
the window that appears, enter a value for the elevation and click OK. Enter a name for the new
topography and click OK.
The new topography will appear in the project tree under the Topographies folder.
Once a topography has been defined, the only way to set a fixed elevation is to remove the
objects that have been used to define the topography. To do this, right-click on the hyperlinked
object and click Remove. You will then be able to set a fixed elevation for the topography.

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Adding Height Data to the Topography

When creating the topography, it is not necessary to decide on a single source of information, as
information can be combined. Once the topography has been defined, additional height data can
be added by right-clicking on the topography and selecting from the options available:

It is not possible to add structural data or polylines with orientation information to the
topography. If you edit the topography with a polyline, your options for editing the polyline will
be limited.

For points, surfaces and GIS vector data, you will be prompted to select from the data sources
available in the project. For an elevation grid, see Importing an Elevation Grid.
All data objects used to define the topography will appear under the topography, hyperlinked to
their parent objects:

When you have added data to the topography, you may need to enlarge the topography extents.
See Changing Topography Settings below.
To remove data objects from the topography, either:
l Delete the object from the topography. To do this, right-click on the hyperlinked object and
click Remove.
l Delete the object from the project. If you choose this option, consider carefully the effects on
other objects in the project, as once an object is deleted, it cannot be recovered.
When the topography is defined from multiple objects, you can set the resolution of the
topography by double-clicking on it. See Changing Topography Settings below.

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Changing Topography Settings

When the topography is created from points or GIS data or when the topography is created by
combining data, you can change its boundary and resolution and apply a trend. To do this, double-
click on the topography in the project tree. The Edit Topography window will appear:

Changing the Size of the Topography

In the General tab, you can change the topography extents. Use the controls in the scene or
enter the required values in the Bounding Box fields.

Topography Resolution
The resolution of the topography depends on how it was created.
l When the topography is created from a single mesh, the resolution of the topography is set
from the resolution of the mesh and can only be changed when the mesh is imported. If you
wish to change the resolution of the topography, you must first add more height data to the
topography. See Adding Height Data to the Topography.
l When the topography is created by setting a fixed elevation, the resolution cannot be set.
When the topography is created from points or GIS data or when the topography is created from
combining data, you can set its resolution in the Edit Topography window.
When you set a specific Surface resolution without enabling the Adaptive option, the
triangles used will be the same size for the whole topography. When you enable the Adaptive
option, the resolution of the topography will be affected by the availability and density of real
data. See Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo for more information on these settings.

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Applying a Trend to the Topography

In the Trend tab, you can apply a trend to the topography:

See Global Trends for more information.

Topography Display Options

To display the topography in the scene window, either:
l Right-click on the topography in the project tree and select View Object.
l Click on the topography object and drag it into the scene.
The topography will be displayed in the scene window and in the shape list:

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The topography object in the shape list provides additional controls that can be used to change
the way the topography is displayed and highlight features of interest. For example, selecting an
imported map from the list results in it being displayed draped onto the topography:

The list is organised into:

l Views. This contains options for creating and editing custom topography views and also lists
any views already defined. With custom topography views, you can view multiple GIS objects,
maps and contours. See Custom Topography Views for more information.
l Maps and Photos. This lists all images stored in the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder.
l GIS objects. This lists all GIS data objects stored in the GIS Data, Maps and Photos
folder.

Projecting Collars onto the Topography

If the collars are not lying on the topography, Leapfrog Geo can make adjustments to the collar
depth values so that the collars lie on the topography. This adjustment is reversible.
To make this adjustment, right-click on the collars table and tick the box for the Project Collars
Onto Topography option. If you then open the collar table, the depth values will reflect the
topography. Right-click on the collar table and untick the box for Project Collars Onto
Topography to return to the uncorrected collar depth values.

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GIS Data, Maps and Images

Often the first data imported into a new project is information that sets the coordinates for the
project as a whole. This includes GIS data, maps and aerial photos.
You can view the attribute table for most GIS data objects by right-clicking and selecting
Attribute Table. You can also create query filters that can be used when displaying the GIS
object. See the Query Filters topic for more information.
If, during the course of a project, GIS data changes, it can be reloaded and models that are
dependent on that data will automatically be updated.

Displaying GIS Data

In Leapfrog Geo, there are three ways of viewing GIS data:
l In its “native” form, as it was imported to the project. Add the GIS data object to the scene as
you would any other object.
l On the topography. GIS data objects added to a project are automatically projected onto the
topography and saved in the Topographies > Draped GIS Objects folder. Add the draped
GIS object to the scene.
l Combined with other data draped on the topography. See Custom Topography Views below.
The reason for having different ways of displaying GIS data is the difficulty posed by inconsistent
height data. Not all height data is correct or wanted. In practice, it is important for all the data to
be consistent. For this reason, a single elevation field is defined as part of the topography and
available data is assigned heights from this object. The native height information is available and
can be used to define the height of layers in the models.

Custom Topography Views

In Leapfrog Geo, topography can be displayed with any of the GIS data and images available in
the project. With a custom view, you can display multiple GIS data objects, maps and aerial
photos.
To create a custom view, add the topography object to the scene. Select Views > Edit views
from the GIS data list:

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The Edit GIS Views window will appear. Click New to create a new view. Enter a name for the
new view and click Create:

The new view will be created in the Edit GIS Views window, together with a list of Available
layers. Click the Add button to move layers into the Current layers list and use the Raise and
Lower buttons to arrange them:

Use the transparency and point and line size controls to emphasise data.

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Click Close. The topography will be displayed in the scene with the new view applied:

Importing Vector Data

Vector data formats Leapfrog Geo supports include:
l Shape Files (*.shp)
l MapInfo Files (*.tab, *.mif)
l ESRI Personal GeoDatabase Files (*.mdb, *.accdb)

You can also import data from MapInfo and ESRI databases. See Importing a MapInfo Batch
File and Importing Data from an ESRI Geodatabase for more information.

To import vector data, right-click on the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder and select Import
Vector Data. Navigate to the folder that contains the GIS data and select the file. You can
select multiple files using the Shift and Ctrl keys.
Click Open to begin importing the data.
If you are importing a single file, the Import GIS Vector Data window will show a summary of
the data in the selected file:

You can choose what field in the data to use for the Elevation Field from the list.

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If you are importing multiple files, all files being imported are listed in the Import GIS Vector
Data window and no summary of each file is displayed:

Data is automatically clipped to the clipping boundary, but you can change how the data is filtered
to suit any bounding box that exists in the project. If you do not wish to clip the data, untick the
Filter data box.
Click OK to add the data to the project. The object or objects will appear in the project tree under
the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder. If a topography has been defined for the project, the
imported GIS data objects will automatically be projected onto the topography and saved in the
Topographies > Draped GIS Objects folder.
You can then view an object’s attributes by right-clicking on it and selecting Attribute Table.

When importing files, you may be prompted to select whether or not to filter elevation data. If
you wish to use another data source for your elevation data, select Filter data. For example,
if you import a GIS line that has suspect elevation data, you can discard the elevation data and
set the elevation from the topography, as described in Setting Elevation for GIS Objects and
Images.

If data changes outside the project, it can be reloaded as described in Reloading GIS Data.

Importing a MapInfo Batch File

You can import a collection of GIS data exported from MapInfo. The MapInfo file can include
points, lines, polygons, images and elevation grids.
To import GIS data in this way, right-click on the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder and select
Batch Import > from MapInfo. In the window that appears, navigate to the folder that
contains the MapInfo batch file, which is an XML file. Click Open.

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The data that can be imported will be displayed and you can select which files to import:

You can select multiple files using the Shift and Ctrl keys.
Data is automatically clipped to the clipping boundary, but you can change how the data is filtered
to suit any bounding box that exists in the project. If you do not wish to clip the data, untick the
Filter data box.
Click OK to import the selected files, which will be added to the GIS Data, Maps and Photos
folder as a group ( ), with the exception of elevation grids, which will be added to the Meshes
folder.
Points, lines and polygons can be reloaded on an individual basis, which is described in Reloading
GIS Data.

Importing Data from an ESRI Geodatabase

You can import points, lines and polygons from an ESRI geodatabase. However, the import of
raster data is not supported.
To import GIS points, lines and polygons in this way, right-click on the GIS Data, Maps and
Photos folder and select Batch Import > from ESRI Geodatabase. In the window that
appears, navigate to the folder that contains the database and click Open.

Leapfrog Geo imports uncompressed ESRI geodatabases.

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The data that can be imported will be displayed and you can select which files to import:

You can select multiple files using the Shift and Ctrl keys.
Data is automatically clipped to the clipping boundary, but you can change how the data is filtered
to suit any bounding box that exists in the project. If you do not wish to clip the data, untick the
Filter data box.
Click OK to import the selected files, which will be added to the GIS Data, Maps and Photos
folder as a group ( ). Data in the group can be reloaded individually or as a group, which is
described in Reloading GIS Data.

Reloading GIS Data

If during the course of a project GIS points, lines and polygons change, they can be reloaded and
dependent models will automatically be updated. Objects originally imported as part of an ESRI
database ( ) can be reloaded individually or as part of the group.

Although the GIS data will be overwritten, any elevation data set in Leapfrog Geo will be
retained.

Reloading Points, Lines and Polygons

To reload a GIS point, line or polygon, right-click on it in the project tree and select Reload Data.
Navigate to the folder containing the GIS file and select the file. Click Open.
The process is the same as importing GIS data. Click OK to reload the data. The original data will
be overwritten and dependent objects will be updated to reflect the new data.

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Reloading an ESRI Database
To reload an ESRI database, right-click on it in the project tree and select Reload Data. In the
window that appears, select the layers to reload, then click OK.

Points, lines and polygons imported as part of an ESRI database can also be reloaded on an
individual basis.

Importing a Map or Image

Image formats Leapfrog Geo supports include:
l PNG Files (*.png)
l JPEG Files (*.jpg, *.jpeg)
l TIFF and GeoTIFF Files (*.tiff, *.tif)
l Windows Bitmap Files (*.bmp)
l Graphics Interchange Format Files (*.gif)
If images being imported contain georeference data, that information is assumed to be correct.
You can, however, edit the information if you need to.
In Leapfrog Geo, three markers ( , , ) are used to display the georeference data for imported
images. You can see these markers in the scene when you double-click on an imported image,
which opens a tab that has tools for cropping the image and editing its georeference data:

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When you switch back to the scene, you can see the georeferencing markers:

The rest of this topic describes how to work with imported images in Leapfrog Geo. It is divided
into:
l Importing a Single Image
l Importing Multiple Images
l Cropping Images
l Manually Georeferencing Images
l Overriding Georeference Data
l Exporting a Georeferenced Image

Importing a Single Image

To import a single image, right-click on the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder and select
Import Map. Navigate to the folder that contains the image, select the file and click Open.
l If the image contains georeference data, it will be imported into the GIS Data, Maps and
Photos folder.
l If the image does not contain georeference data, the Import Map window will be opened so
you can add the georeference data. See Manually Georeferencing Images below. Once you
have georeferenced the image, click Import. The image will be imported into the GIS Data,
Maps and Photos folder.

Importing Multiple Images

There are two ways to import multiple images:
l Right-click on the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder and select Import Map. Navigate to
the folder that contains the files you wish to import. Select the images and click Open. The
images will be imported and added to the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder.

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l In the File Explorer, select all the files you wish to import. Drag and drop them into the GIS
Data, Maps and Photos folder in Leapfrog Geo.
All images will be imported and added to the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder. If an image
does not contain georeference data, you will need to open the image and add the information
manually, as described in Manually Georeferencing Images below.

Cropping Images

Images larger than 16384 by 16384 pixels will be scaled down. Reducing your images in size
below this limit will avoid scaling. You can scale down images in an external image editor, or
you can crop imported images in Leapfrog Geo.

Cropping an image to only the area of interest will reduce video RAM usage and may improve
graphics performance. To crop an image, double-click on the image in the project tree. In the
window that appears, select the Crop Image button ( ) and then drag around the part of the
image you wish to use.

Click on the Remove Crop button ( ) to clear the cropping.

Manually Georeferencing Images

If an image does not contain georeference data, you will need to add it manually by adding the
three reference markers ( , , ) to the image. To select a marker, click on its marker button
(Marker 1, Marker 2 or Marker 3), then move it to the required location on the image using the
mouse or the arrow keys.

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Once each marker is correctly positioned, enter the real-world X and Y coordinates for each
marker:

There are two ways to do this:

l Enter the coordinates for each marker in the East (X) and North (Y) fields. As you enter the
coordinates, the positions of the markers will be displayed in the scene.
l Copy coordinates from the scene using the three scene markers ( , , ).

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The second method is useful when you already have other objects correctly georeferenced in the
project. For example, if you have a larger map in the project and wish to import a more detailed
map, you can copy the coordinates from the georeferenced map to the detailed one. To do this,
move the image’s tab so you can see enough of the scene to work in both windows:

Next:
l In the Import Map tab, position the marker ( , , ) on the image being imported.
l Click the corresponding copy coordinates marker ( , , ).
l Zoom in to the point in the scene window where you wish to place the marker and click.
The coordinates in the scene will be copied to the Import Map tab.

Overriding Georeference Data

If an image being imported contains georeference data, the image will automatically be imported
and added to the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder. To edit its georeference data, double-
click on the image to open it and tick the Override georeference data from image box. Edit
the information as described in Manually Georeferencing Images above.

Exporting a Georeferenced Image

Leapfrog Geo exports georeferenced images as GeoTIFFs. To do this, right-click on it in the
project tree and select Export. You will be prompted for a filename and location. Click Save.

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Setting Elevation for GIS Objects and Images

You can set the elevation for GIS objects and images by:
l Using a fixed elevation
l Using the elevation data from one of the object’s attributes
l Using the elevation data from a surface in the project
The options available depend upon the type of object.

Fixed Elevation From Attribute From Surface

GIS lines X X X

GIS points X X X

2D grids X - X

GIS lines drawn in Leapfrog Geo X - -

GIS lines extracted from polylines X - X

Images X - -

To set the elevation for a GIS object or an image, right-click on it in the project tree and select
Set Elevation. The Set Elevation window will appear, displaying the available options. Select
the option required and click OK.

Creating a New GIS Line

There are three ways to create a new GIS lines object in Leapfrog Geo:
l If you do not have GIS data for a topographical feature you wish to use in model building, you
can draw a new GIS line. See Drawing a New GIS Line
l If you have two surfaces that intersect, you can generate a new GIS line from their
intersection. You can use any surface in the project, including those that are generated in
building models. See Creating a New GIS Line from Intersecting Meshes.
l If you have a polyline you wish to use as a GIS lines object, right-click on it in the project tree
and select Extract GIS Line. The new GIS line ( ) will appear in the GIS Data, Maps and
Photos folder. It is not linked to the original polyline.
To view new GIS line draped on the topography, select the object from the GIS data > GIS
objects list, as described in Topography Display Options.

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Drawing a New GIS Line

GIS lines can be drawn on the slicer or on a surface.
Right-click on the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder and select New GIS Line > From New
Drawing. In the window that appears, enter a name for the new object and click OK.
The object will be created in the project tree and added to the shape list. The scene view will
change to view the objects in the scene from above and tools for drawing polylines will appear.
Click on the Draw lines button ( ) and start drawing in the scene, as described in Drawing in the
Scene.

When you have finished drawing, click the Save button ( ). The new line ( ) will be saved in the
project tree.
You can edit the GIS line by right-clicking on it in the project tree and selecting Edit. If it is in the
shape list, you can edit it by clicking on the Edit button ( ).

Creating a New GIS Line from Intersecting Meshes

You can create a new GIS line from two intersecting meshes. You can use any surface in the
project, including those that are generated in building models.
To create a new GIS line from two intersecting meshes, right-click on the GIS Data, Maps and
Photos folder and select New GIS Line > From Intersecting Meshes. In the window that
appears, select the meshes to use, enter a name for the new object and click OK.
The new line ( ) will be saved in the project tree. It is not linked to the meshes used to create it
and will not be updated when the meshes are updated.

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Exporting GIS Data

To export GIS data, right-click on the GIS data object in the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder
and select Export. The Export GIS window will be displayed:

Select whether elevation information will come from the topography or from the GIS object itself,
or untick the Use 2.5D format with elevations from box to export the object without
elevation information.
Click Export. You be prompted for a filename and location.

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Drillhole Data
Drillhole data forms the basis for creating models in Leapfrog Geo. Because drillhole data often
contains errors that reduce the reliability of a model, Leapfrog Geo has tools that help you to
identify and correct errors and work with the data.
Drillhole data defines the physical 3D shape of drillholes. It is made up of:
l A collar table, containing information on the location of the drillhole.
l A survey table, containing information that describes the deviation of each drillhole.
l At least one interval table, containing information on measurements such as lithology, date or
any numeric or textual values. An interval table must also include collar IDs that correspond to
those in the collar table and sample start and end depth.

If you have the Hydrogeology extension, a screens table can also be imported.

When a project is first created, the only options available via the Drillhole Data folder are for
importing data. See Importing Drillhole Data for more information on these options.
Once data has been added to the project, a Drillholes object will be created that serves as a
container for the tables imported:

You can open each table by double-clicking on the table ( ). The table will be displayed and you
can make changes. See Working with Data Tables. When there are errors in the data, the
relevant table will be marked with a red X ( ). See Correcting Data Errors in Leapfrog Geo for
more information on fixing drillhole data errors.
Leapfrog Geo also has tools for creating new lithology data columns from existing columns in
order to solve problems with the drillhole data. See Processing Drillhole Data for more information.

To delete a lithology or numeric data table, right-click on the table in the project tree and
select Delete. You will be asked to confirm your choice.
When you right-click on the drillhole or collar table object in the project tree and select Delete,
the resulting action will also remove all lithology and numeric data tables from the project. You
will be asked to confirm your choice.

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With Leapfrog Geo, you can also plan drillholes and evaluate them against any model in the
project. See Planning Drillholes for more information.
The rest of this topic discusses options for displaying drillholes and viewing statistics on drillhole
data tables. It is divided into:
l Displaying Drillholes
l Viewing Drillhole Data Table Statistics

Displaying Drillholes
Viewing drillhole data in the scene is an important part of refining drillhole data and building a
geological model. Therefore, Leapfrog Geo has a number of different tools for displaying drillhole
data that can help in making drillhole data processing and modelling decisions. Display drillhole
data in the scene by dragging the Drillholes object into the scene. You can also drag individual
tables into the scene.
Once drillhole data is visible in the scene, click on a drillhole to view the data being displayed. You
can also display the data associated with each interval by clicking on the Show text button ( )
in the shape list. Here, data display is enabled for two interval tables:

The Show trace lines button ( ) in the shape list displays all trace lines, even if there is no data
defined for some intervals. The Filter trace lines option in the shape properties panel displays
only trace lines for drillholes selected by a query filter. See the Query Filters topic for more
information.

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Displaying Drillholes as Lines or Cylinders

You can display drillholes as lines or cylinders. You can also display the data associated with each
segment. Here, the drillholes are displayed as flat lines:

The width of the lines is set in the shape properties panel.

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When the Make lines solid button ( ) is enabled, the drillhole data is displayed as cylinders and
the property that can be controlled is the Line radius:

When numeric data is displayed, there is an additional option, to use a data column in the table for
the cylinder radius:

When the log button ( ) is enabled, the log of values is used for the radius.

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Hiding Lithologies
When lithology tables are displayed, you can hide some of the lithologies to help make better
sense of the information in the scene. Click on the Edit Colours button in the shape list. In the
window that appears, use the Show/Hide buttons ( ) to determine what segments are
displayed:

To select multiple lithologies, use the Shift or Ctrl keys while clicking. You can then change the
visibility of all selected lithologies by clicking one of the visibility ( ) buttons.

Hiding lithologies in this way only changes how the data is displayed in the scene. Another way
of limiting the data displayed is to use a query filter (see the Query Filters topic), which can
later be used in selecting a subset of data for further processing.

Displaying a Legend
To display a legend in the scene, click the Show legend button ( ) for the table:

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The legend in the scene will be updated to reflect lithologies that are hidden in the scene when
you click Edit Colours and hide some lithologies.

Changing Colourmaps
To change the colours used to display lithologies, click on the Edit Colours button in the shape
list. In the window that appears, click on the colour chip for each lithology and change it as
described in Single Colour Display.

To set multiple lithologies to a single colour, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the colour chips
you wish to change, then click on one of the colour chips. The colour changes you make will be
made to all selected lithologies.

You can also import a colourmap, which is described in Importing and Exporting Colourmaps.

Viewing Multiple Interval Tables

When viewing multiple interval tables, use the line and point size controls and the transparency
settings to see all the data at once. For example, here, the geology table has been made
transparent to show the contaminant intervals inside:

Selecting from Multiple Columns

When an interval table has more than one column of data, select the column to view from the
view list:

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Some columns are editable, in which case you can click on the Edit button ( ) to start editing
the table:

Displaying Interval Data in the Scene

Drillholes can be displayed with the data associated with each segment. For example, in the
scene below, contaminant values are displayed along the drillhole:

To view data in this way, select the table in the shape list, then click on the Format Text button.
In the Text Format window, click Insert Column to choose from the columns available:

You can display multiple columns and add text:

Click OK to update the formatting in the scene. You can conceal the formatting in the scene by
clicking on the Show text button ( ) in the shape list:

Clear text formatting by clicking on the Format Text button, then on Clear.

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Displaying Drillhole Graphs

Downhole numeric data can be displayed in the scene as a bar graph and downhole points data
can be displayed as a line graph. To display downhole data in this way, add the Drillhole Graphs
object to the scene. The Drillhole Graph Style Manager will be displayed, showing the data
columns available:

Data can be displayed to the right or the left of the drillhole trace. Use the sliders to change the
Scale and the Offset from the trace.
Data can be clamped, e.g. all values above the set maximum value will be set to the maximum
value.

If there are negative values in the data, they will be displayed on the graph with a value of zero.

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Downhole points can be displayed as a line, and you can change the Colouring, Scale and
Offset of the line:

All changes made in the Drillhole Graph Style Manager are automatically updated in the
scene so you can experiment with the settings. Once you have closed the window, you can also
change the Scale and Offset by clicking on the Drillhole Graphs object in the shape list:

To select a different column to display, open the style manager by double-clicking on the
Drillhole Graphs object in the project tree or select a new column from the shape list.

If you are working in a new project into which you have just imported drillholes, the Drillhole
Graph Style Manager will open when you add it to the scene. If the Drillhole Graph Style
Manager does not open when you add the Drillhole Graphs object to the scene, it is
because the styles have already been set, perhaps by another user. You can change them by
double-clicking on the Drillhole Graphs object.

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Viewing Drillhole Data Table Statistics

To view statistics on an interval table, right-click on the table in the project tree and select
Statistics. The following options are available:

See the Analysing Data topic for more information on each option:
l Table of Statistics
l Scatter Plots
l Q-Q Plots
l Box Plots
The Interval Length Statistics graph is a univariate graph, so for more information on the
options available, see Univariate Graphs in the Analysing Data topic.
Right-click on a numeric column and select Statistics to open a univariate graph for that
column.

Importing Drillhole Data

Drillhole data can be imported from:
l Files stored on your computer or a network location. This process is described below.
l From any database that runs an ODBC interface. See Selecting the ODBC Data Source.
l From an acQuire database. See Connecting to an acQuire Database.
For each of these options, once the data source is selected, the process of importing drillhole data
is the same.

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The rest of this topic discusses the data format required and the steps for importing drillhole data.
It is divided into:
l Expected Drillhole Data Tables and Columns
l Selecting Files
l Working Through the Data

Expected Drillhole Data Tables and Columns

Leapfrog Geo expects drillhole data that is stored in a collar table, a survey table and at least one
interval table. A screens table can be imported if you have the Hydrogeology extension.
The following formats are supported:
l CSV Text File (*.csv)
l ASCII Text File (*.asc)
l Plain Text Files (*.txt)
l Data Files (*.dat)
l TSV Text Files (*.tsv)

The Collar Table

The collar table should contain five columns:
l A drillhole identifier
l The location of the drillhole in X, Y and Z coordinates
l The maximum depth of the drillhole
A collar table can also contain a trench column, and collars marked as trenches will be desurveyed
in a manner different from other drillholes. See Drillhole Desurveying Options for more
information.

Leapfrog Geo expects a 0 for a normal hole and a 1 for a trench. If there is no trench column in
the collar table, Leapfrog Geo will create one.

The drillhole ID is used to associate data in different tables with a single drillhole. The ID for a
drillhole must be identical in all tables in order for data to be associated with that drillhole.
Inconsistencies in the way drillholes are identified are common sources of errors.
The maximum depth column is optional. If it is present, is used to validate the data imported for
the interval tables. The maximum depth specified is often a planned quantity, whereas the
interval table records actual measurements. For this reason, Leapfrog Geo has an option for
fixing the maximum depth value in the collar table to match the data in an interval table.
If maximum depth information is not included in a collar file, Leapfrog Geo will determine it from
the maximum depth sampled as indicated by data in the interval tables.

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The Survey Table

For the survey table, Leapfrog Geo expects a minimum of four columns:
l A drillhole identifier
l Depth, dip and azimuth values
By default, Leapfrog Geo assumes that negative dip values point up. If this is not the case, tick
the Negative survey dip points down option.
See Drillhole Desurveying Options for more information on the drillhole desurveying algorithms
used in Leapfrog Geo.

The Screens Table

A screens table can only be imported if you have the Hydrogeology extension.

For the screens table, Leapfrog Geo expects a minimum of four columns:
l A drillhole identifier
l Start/from and end/to depths
l A value column

Interval Tables
For interval tables, Leapfrog Geo expects, at minimum, four columns:
l A drillhole identifier
l Start/from and end/to depths
l A column of measurements
If a drillhole ID in an interval table does not correspond to one in the collar table, the table can still
be imported but the interval table will contain errors.
Supported column types are:
l Lithology columns containing lithologic data, which can be used for geological modelling.
l Numeric columns containing numeric values, which can be used for interpolating data.
l Category columns, which is text representing categories such as company, geologist, or
mineralisation.
l Text columns containing text data that is not categorical, such as comments. Text columns
are not validated when imported.
l Date columns containing date data. Custom date and timestamps formats are supported.
l URL columns. Use the prefix file:/// to link to local files.

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When an interval table is displayed in the scene and an interval is selected, clicking on a link in the
URL column will open the link. This is a useful way of linking to, for example, data files or core
photo images from within Leapfrog Geo:

Selecting Files
To import drillhole data, right-click on the Drillhole Data folder and select Import Drillholes.
The Import Drillhole Data window will appear:

For the Collar, click on the Browse button to locate the collar file.

When a collar file is added to the Import Drillhole Data window, Leapfrog Geo will look for
interval tables with names such as “lithology” or “geology” in the same location and will add
them to the Interval Tables list. If an interval table file is not automatically added to the list,
click Add and browse for the required file.

If you have the Hydrogeology extension, you can also add any screens to import by clicking on the
Screens – Browse button.

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In the screen below, a collar file, a survey file and two interval tables have been selected for
import:

Working Through the Data

Clicking on Import starts the process of importing data, which involves matching the data in the
selected files with the columns Leapfrog Geo expects for each type of table. Leapfrog Geo will
display a series of windows and will attempt to match the data in the files with the columns
expected, based on the header rows in each file.
Progress in working through the data is shown at the top of the window:

The file currently displayed is shown in bold.

For *.csv files that use characters other than the comma as the separator, you can specify
the delimiter, comment leader, quote and decimal characters in the Import Drillhole Data
window. Click on CSV characters to enter the characters used in the data files:

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The row at the top of the table indicates the data type to which Leapfrog Geo will assign each
column:

Click at the top of a column to view the column assignments available. The columns highlighted
below are the column types required for the collar table:

Each type of table being imported will have different column assignments available, but all table
types will display:
l The categories columns can be assigned to (top of the list)
l The option to not import the column
l The required columns, e.g. drillhole Id, East (X), North (Y) and Elev (Z) for the collar table
l Any optional columns, e.g. Max Depth and Trench
l The option to select a custom name
If the header row for a column cannot be matched, Leapfrog Geo will mark the column as “Not
Imported” and you can select from the column assignments available. If you choose not to import
a column then wish to do so later, you can add it later using the Import Column option. See
Importing Columns.

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You can also work with the Column Summary:

If you wish to import all columns, click on the Import All Columns button, then check that all
columns have been correctly mapped.
You can select a column for import, then use it as a Unique Row ID. This can specify the column
being used in other data systems to uniquely identify rows in a table. The column must not
contain duplicate values. If a Unique Row ID is specified, Leapfrog Geo will use this column to
match rows when appending columns or reloading tables.
If the data contains date and time information and the date and time format is not detected, click
on Date and Time Formats to reveal more information:

If the date and time format you wish to use is not among the options, you can create a custom
format.
For each file, check the column mapping and click Next to proceed to the next step. If any of the
information Leapfrog Geo expects is missing, an error message will appear. Return to the table
and correct the problem described.
Once you have checked the last file, click on Finish. Once Leapfrog Geo has imported the data, it
will appear in the project tree under a new Drillholes object.

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Selecting the ODBC Data Source

To import drillhole data directly from any database that uses an ODBC interface, right-click on
the Drillhole Data folder and select Import Drillhole Data via ODBC. The Select ODBC
Data Source window will appear:

Leapfrog Geo supports database files in Access Database (*.mdb, *.accdb) formats.
Enter the information supplied by your database administrator and click OK.

Selecting Tables
Leapfrog Geo will select the collar, survey and interval tables from the data in the file, which is
displayed in the Select Tables To Import window:

Click on the Collar Table, Survey Table and Screen Table dropdown lists to select from the
data available in the file.

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To change one of the Interval Tables to a different column in the file, click on the table name to
highlight it, then click to the right of the column name to activate the dropdown list:

To remove an interval table from the list, click the - button.

To add an interval table, click the Add Interval Table button. A - button will be added to the
Interval Tables list.

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Click on the blank space to highlight it, then click to the right of the column name to activate the
dropdown list:

Click OK to begin the process of importing the data, which is similar to that described in Importing
Drillhole Data.

Connecting to an acQuire Database

There are two options for connecting to an acQuire database:
l Create a new connection. To do this, right-click on the Drillhole Data folder and select
Import Drillhole Data via acQuire > New Selection. Select the server and click
Connect. Next, enter the login details supplied by your database administrator.
l Create a connection from an existing selection file. Right-click on the Drillhole Data folder
and select Import Drillhole Data via acQuire > Existing Selection. Navigate to the
location where the selection file is stored and open the file.
Once connected to the database, you will be able to select the required data using the Select
data from acQuire window.
Optionally, click the Profiles button and choose a profile from those on the acQuire database.
Profiles are created in acQuire; see your acQuire administrator for more information.
You can also use the other tabs on the acQuire component interface to make other data
selections.
For more information on using the third-party selection tools provided in the Select data from
acQuire window, see your acQuire user documentation. When you have finished specifying the
selection, click OK to import the data. The import process is similar to that described in Importing
Drillhole Data.

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Once the drillhole data has been loaded, you can:

l Import additional interval tables. See Importing Interval Tables.
l Update the drillhole data with new data from the acQuire database. See Smart Refresh.
l Reload drillhole data. See Reloading Drillhole Data.

Smart Refresh
Smart Refresh obtains the latest drillhole data from the acQuire database without reloading
the entire contents of the database. This reduces the amount of data transfer required and
speeds data updated. If any data relating to a drillhole has changed, the whole drillhole is updated.
Any new drillholes in the database can be added.
Right-click on the Drillholes object in the project tree and select Smart Refresh. The Select
data from acQuire window will appear.
If the current data selection settings include data changes, you can click OK and the updated
data will be imported. You may also chose to modify the data selection settings, which may
append further data when you click OK.

Saving a Selection
Saving a selection saves the current acQuire database selection to file for future reuse. You can
use a selection to import the same set of drillhole data in new Leapfrog Geo projects.
To save an acQuire selection, right-click on the Drillholes object in the project tree and select
Save Selection. You will be prompted for a filename and location.

Appending Drillholes
If drillhole data is stored in multiple files or new drillhole data is available, you can import other files
into the project and add them to the existing drillhole data. To do this, right-click on the Drillholes
object and select Append Drillholes.

Append drillhole data when you have new drillholes or wish to add extra length to existing
drillholes. If you wish to refresh drillhole data, overwriting all existing drillhole data, use the
Reload Drillholes option.

The Append Drillholes window will be displayed. Appending drillhole data is similar to importing
the original data (see Importing Drillhole Data):
l If the drillhole data was loaded from a file on your computer or a network location, you will be
asked to specify the file locations. Step through the files, checking the Column Summary for
each file to ensure that the correct information will be imported, then click Finish to add the
new files.
l If the interval table is stored in an ODBC database, you will be prompted to connect to the
database. See Selecting the ODBC Data Source.

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l If your drillhole data is stored in an acQuire database, you will be prompted to connect to the
database. See Connecting to an acQuire Database.

Importing Interval Tables

Interval tables that have not been imported during the drillhole data import process can be added
to the project at any time. To add an interval table, right-click on the Drillholes object in the
project tree and select from the options available:
l If the interval table is stored in a file on your computer or a network location, select Import
From File > Interval Values. Leapfrog Geo will ask you to specify the file location, and then
will display the data in the file in the Import Interval window.
l If the interval table is stored in an ODBC database, select Import From ODBC > Interval
Values. You will be prompted to select the data source. See Selecting the ODBC Data Source.
l If your drillhole data is stored in an acQuire database, select Import From acQuire >
Interval Values. See Connecting to an acQuire Database.
Columns required are:
l A drillhole identifier
l Start/from and end/to depths
l A column of measurements
See Expected Drillhole Data Tables and Columns for more information on the supported column
types.
Select the required columns and assign the data type for each column. Click Finish to import the
file, which will appear under the Drillholes object.

Importing Columns
Columns of an interval table that have not been imported during the drillhole data import or that
are stored in a separate file can be added to the table at any time. To do this, right-click on the
interval table in the project tree and select New Column > Import Column.
Importing a column is similar to importing interval tables themselves. Leapfrog Geo will ask you to
specify the file location, and then will display the data in the file in the Add Column To Table
window. Select as many columns to import as required and assign the appropriate data type.
Before finishing, check the Column Summary to ensure that the correct information will be
imported.
It is not necessary to re-import any columns that are already part of the project. The drillhole ID
and To and From data columns, however, will be used to check the validity of the new column
against existing data. Any rows that do not match will not be imported.
Click Finish to import the new column.

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Importing Screens

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

Screens that have not been imported during the drillhole data import process can be added to the
project at any time. To do this, right-click on the Drillholes object in the project tree and select
Import From File > Screens or Import From ODBC > Screens.
When importing from a file, Leapfrog Geo will ask you to specify the file location, and then will
display the data in the file in the Import Screen window.
When importing from ODBC, you will first be prompted to select the data source. See Selecting
the ODBC Data Source.
Columns required are:
l A drillhole identifier
l Start/from and end/to depths
l A value column
Select the required columns and assign the data type for each column. Click Finish to import the
file, which will appear under the Drillholes object.
A Leapfrog Geo project can have only one screens table.

Importing Point Values Down Drillholes

To import a set of points on drillholes, right-click on the Drillholes object in the project tree and
select Import From File > Point Values or Import From ODBC > Point Values.
When importing from a file, Leapfrog Geo will ask you to specify the file location and then will
display the data in the file in the Import Depth Points window.
When importing from ODBC, you will first be prompted to select the data source. See Selecting
the ODBC Data Source.
Columns required are:
l A drillhole identifier
l Depth
Select the required columns and assign the data type for each column. Click Finish to import the
file, which will appear under the Drillholes object.

Importing LAS Points Down Drillholes

Leapfrog Geo imports LAS points down drillholes in LAS 1.2 and LAS 2.0 formats. An imported set
of LAS files appears as one object with its associated data columns plus a LAS Drillholes folder
that contains a filter for each drillhole. Importing the data preserves the metadata from the LAS

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files, which can be viewed in the Properties window for the LAS points object and in the
Properties window for each drillhole.
To import LAS points down drillholes, right-click on the Drillholes object and select Import
From File > LAS Data. Select the files you wish to import and click Open.
Next, the Import LAS Data window will appear. The data displayed in this window is combined
from the selected files, with blank and invalid values indicated by “nan”. For example, if a drillhole
file does not contain columns that are included in other drillhole files, those missing columns will
be marked as “nan”.
Leapfrog Geo expects drillhole ID and Depth columns and will attempt to match the data in the
files with the expected format. Select the columns to import, then click Finish. The files will be
added to the project tree as part of the Drillholes object, as described above.
To view LAS points, add the LAS points object ( ) to the scene. You can also display individual
drillholes by adding their filters to the scene.

LAS File Mapping

The Properties window for LAS Drillholes includes a LAS Mapping tab that shows what data
files have been used for the selected drillhole:

This is useful when data for a drillhole originates in different files.

LAS File Inconsistencies

When importing LAS files, inconsistencies in the files are handled as follows:
l If there are two files with the same curve values at the same depth, the duplicate values will
be added to the existing column and flagged as overlapping segments. See Correcting Data
Errors in Leapfrog Geo for more information about correcting drillhole data errors.

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l If there are more than two files with the same curve values at the same depth, Leapfrog Geo
will not be able to import the files. Note the conflicting files shown in the error message and
reimport the files, leaving the conflicting files out.
l If there are multiple logs of the same name in the files, Leapfrog Geo will not be able to import
the data. Edit the LAS file header outside of Leapfrog Geo to change the names.

Importing Downhole Structural Data

Leapfrog Geo supports structural measurements in .csv or text formats. This topic describes
importing downhole structural data tables. Structural data tables that include location
information can also be imported to the Structural Modelling folder. See Importing Planar
Structural Data.
To import a set of structural data on drillholes, right-click on the Drillholes object in the project
tree and select Import From File > Planar Structural Data or Import From ODBC >
Planar Structural Data.
When importing from a file, Leapfrog Geo will ask you to specify the file location and then will
display the data in the file in the Import Planar Structural Data window.
When importing from ODBC, you will first be prompted to select the data source. See Selecting
the ODBC Data Source.
Leapfrog Geo expects columns describing the drillhole identifier, the depth and the structural
orientation. Structural orientation can be specified using either dip and dip azimuth or alpha and
beta.
Match the values in the file to the required column headers, then click Finish to import the file.
The table will appear under the Drillholes object.
If the structural orientation is specified using alpha and beta, the reference line from which the
beta is measured can be the bottom or top of the drillhole. When the table is imported, the default
setting is Bottom of core. To change this, double-click on the structural data table in the
project tree. Next, click on Compatibility to change the Beta reference mark setting to Top
of core:

Drillhole Desurveying Options

Drillhole desurveying computes the geometry of a drillhole in three-dimensional space based on
the data contained in the survey table. Under ideal conditions, the drillhole path follows the

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original dip and azimuth established at the top of the drillhole. Usually, though, the path deflects
away from the original direction as a result of layering in the rock, variation in the hardness of the
layers and the angle of the drill bit relative to those layers. The drill bit will be able to penetrate
softer layers more easily than harder layers, resulting in a preferential direction of drill bit
deviation.
There are a number of paths a drillhole could take through available survey measurements, but
the physical constraints imposed by drilling are more likely to produce smoother paths. Selecting
the desurveying method that gives the best likely approximation of the actual path of the drillhole
will ensure that subsequent modelling is as accurate as possible.
Leapfrog Geo implements three algorithms for desurveying drillholes:
l The Spherical Arc Approximation Algorithm
l The Raw Tangent Algorithm
l The Balanced Tangent Algorithm
These options are described in more detail below.
Another factor that affects how drillholes are desurveyed is how dip values are handled. When
the survey table is imported, Leapfrog Geo sets the Negative survey dip points down value
according to the data in the imported table. When the majority of the dip data in the table is
positive, Leapfrog Geo assumes all these drillholes will point down and leaves the field Negative
survey dip points down disabled. When most of the values are negative, the field is enabled.
This field can be changed by double-clicking on the survey table to open it and then clicking on
Compatibility to show the table’s desurveying settings:

If you are going to change the automatically set value of Negative survey dip points down,
consider carefully the implications if there is a mix of drillholes pointing down and up.
The other Compatibility setting relates to the algorithm used in desurveying the drillholes.

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The Spherical Arc Approximation Algorithm

The default algorithm used in Leapfrog Geo is spherical arc approximation, which is sometimes
referred to as the minimum curvature algorithm. Downhole distances are desurveyed exactly as
distances along a circular arc:

The algorithm matches the survey at the starting and end positions exactly and the curvature is
constant between these two measurements. At the survey points, the direction remains
continuous and, therefore, there are no unrealistic sharp changes in direction.
If you wish to use spherical arc approximation, there is no need to change any settings.

The Balanced Tangent Algorithm

The balanced tangent algorithm uses straight lines but attempts to improve the accuracy of the
raw tangent algorithm by assigning equal weights to the starting and end survey measurements:

It is an improvement on the raw tangent algorithm but still suffers from an unrealistic
discontinuity in the drillhole path. It is, however, a better approximation of the overall drillhole path
and is reasonably accurate when the spacing between measurements is small.
To use the balanced tangent algorithm, double-click on the survey table in the project tree. Click
on Compatibility and change the Desurveying method.

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The Raw Tangent Algorithm

The raw tangent algorithm assumes the drillhole maintains the direction given by the last survey
measurement until the next new measurement is reached:

This implies that the drillhole makes sharp jumps in direction whenever a measurement is taken,
which is unlikely, except when the drillhole is being used to define a trench.
Collar tables have a trench column that indicates whether or not the drillhole is from a trench.
When the trench column is ticked for a drillhole, the trench will be desurveyed using the raw
tangent algorithm. Double-click on the collar table in the project tree, then tick the trench box
for the drillholes you wish to desurvey using the raw tangent algorithm.

Processing Drillhole Data

Once imported and corrected, drillhole data usually requires further processing before any models
are built. Use the techniques described in Displaying Drillholes and Drillhole Correlation Tool to aid
in making decisions on what further processing is required.
Often, selecting a small portion of intervals can be achieved using a query filter (see the Query
Filters topic). In some cases, however, you may wish to composite data to focus on a single unit.
There may also be issues with how drillhole data has been recorded; for example, two units have
been catalogued as one, or a single unit may be divided into multiple units.
Leapfrog Geo has a number of tools for processing drillhole data, including:
l Category Composites. Sometimes unit boundaries are poorly defined, with fragments of other
lithologies within the lithology of interest. This can result in very small segments near the
edges of the lithology of interest. Modelling the fine detail is not always necessary, and so
compositing can be used to smooth these boundaries.
l Economic Composites. Economic compositing classifies assay data into “ore” and “waste”
categories, taking into account grade thresholds, mining dimensions and allowable internal
dilution. The result is an interval table with a column of ore/waste category data and a column
of composited interval values, plus some additional columns showing the length, linear grade,
included dilution length and included dilution grade.
l Majority Composites. Category data can be composited into interval lengths from another
table or into fixed interval lengths. The compositing is based on a majority percentage where

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each interval is assigned a category based on the category that makes up the highest
percentage of the new interval.
l Numeric Composites. Compositing numeric data takes unevenly-spaced drillhole data and
turns it into regularly-spaced data, which is then interpolated. Numeric data can be
composited along the entire drillhole or in selected regions. You can also set the compositing
length from the base interval table.
l Grouping Lithologies. The group lithologies tool lets you define a new unit to which existing
units are added. For example, a sandstone deposit might appear in an interval table as poorly-
sorted and well-sorted units. The group lithologies tool lets you group both units into a single
sandstone unit.
l Splitting Lithologies. Lithology units may be incorrectly grouped, which can become apparent
when you display drillholes in the scene. The split lithologies tool lets you create new units by
selecting from intervals displayed in the scene.
l Interval Selection. If the lithologies in a column are poorly sorted, you can display the column in
the scene and use the interval selection tool to work with all the segments and sort them into
new units.
l Overlaid Lithology Column. You may have two versions of an interval column, one that
contains draft data and one that contains the final version. The final version may contain gaps,
which can be filled in using the draft version. The overlaid lithology tool lets you combine the
two columns to create a new column.
l Category Column from Numeric Data. When you have numeric data you wish to use with the
lithology and category modelling tools, you can convert the numeric data to a category
column.
l Back-Flagging Drillhole Data. Evaluating geological models on drillholes creates a new lithology
table containing the lithologies from the selected model.
Each of these tools creates a new interval table or creates a new column in an existing interval
table, preserving the original data. New tables and columns can be used as the basis for new
models in the project and can be incorporated into existing models using From Other Contacts
options. When a new table is created, you can view it in the scene along with the original table to
see the differences between the processed and the unprocessed data.
If you are working with columns in different interval tables, you can create a new merged table
that includes columns from these different tables. Columns created in Leapfrog Geo can be
included in a merged table. See Merged Drillhole Data Tables.

Category Composites
Sometimes unit boundaries are poorly defined, with fragments of other lithologies within the
lithology of interest. This can result in very small segments near the edges of the lithology of
interest. Modelling the fine detail is not always necessary, and so compositing can be used to
smooth these boundaries.

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In Leapfrog Geo, you can composite category data in two ways:

l Composite the drillhole data directly. This creates a new interval table that can be used to
build models, and changes made to the table will be reflected in all models based on that table.
This process is described below.
l Composite the points used to create an object.
The rest of this topic describes compositing drillhole data directly.
Right-click on the Composites folder, which is in the project tree as part of the Drillholes
object, and select New Category Composite. You will be prompted to select from the
category columns available in the drillhole data. Next, the New Composited Table window will
appear, showing the options for sorting intervals in the selected column:

Compositing category data sorts segments into three categories:

l Primary. This is the unit of interest. In the case of compositing on intrusion contact surfaces,
this will be the interior/intrusive lithology.
l Ignored. These are units that are, generally, younger than the unit of interest and should,
therefore, be ignored in generating contact surfaces.
l Exterior. These are units that occur outside of the unit of interest. For an intrusive lithology,
other lithologies the intrusion contacts should be classified as Exterior.

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Unspecified intervals can be handled as Ignored, Primary or Exterior.

The additional compositing parameters determine how ignored segments flanked by interior or
exterior segments are handled and the length of segments that will be filtered. Each of these
settings is discussed below.
Click OK to create the table. Once you have created a composited table, you can edit it by right-
clicking on it and selecting Edit Composited Table.

Converting Ignored Segments

The Convert enclosed ignored segments setting determines how ignored segments are
handled when they are flanked by either two interior segments or two exterior segments. If
Convert enclosed ignored segments is enabled, Leapfrog Geo will convert enclosed ignored
segments to match the surrounding segments. In cases where an ignored segment does not lie
between two interior or exterior segments, it will remain ignored.
If you wish to set a maximum size for ignored enclosed segments, tick the Shorter than box
and set the maximum length.
If Convert enclosed ignored segments is disabled, this processing does not occur and ignored
segments are never converted. When an intrusive contact surface is created, this setting is
disabled by default.
For example, this scene shows two ignored segments that are flanked by the unit of interest.
Because Convert enclosed ignored segments is disabled, the segments remain ignored:

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Enabling Convert enclosed ignored segments results in the segments being converted to the
Primary unit:

Enabling Shorter than and setting it to 4 results in the shorter segment being converted to the
Primary unit and the longer segment remaining Ignored:

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Zooming out, we can see that the ignored segments at the top of the drillholes have not been
converted:

Filtering Short Segments

The Filter primary segments and Filter exterior segments parameters determine how
short a segment must be before it is composited:
l Short Exterior segments flanked by Primary segments will be converted to Primary
segments.
l Short Primary segments flanked by Exterior segments will be converted to Exterior
segments.
When the value is set the zero, no segments will be converted.
To see how these parameters can smooth the shape of a unit of interest, let’s look at a series of
drillholes where we wish to create an intrusion boundary based on the red segments. Short
segments are highlighted in the intervals that have not been composited:

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An intrusion generated from these intervals will have more detail than is necessary for modelling.
However, when compositing settings are applied and the short intervals are converted, we can
see that the intrusion boundary is more geologically reasonable:

Viewing Category Composite Statistics

Once you have created a composited table, you can view statistics on the table. To do this, right-
click on it and select Statistics. The following options are available:

See the Analysing Data topic for more information on each option:
l Table of Statistics
l Scatter Plots
l Q-Q Plots
l Box Plots
The Interval Length Statistics graph is a univariate graph, so for more information on the
options available, see Univariate Graphs in the Analysing Data topic.

Economic Composites
Economic compositing classifies assay data into “ore” and “waste” categories, taking into
account grade thresholds, mining dimensions and allowable internal dilution. The result is an
interval table with a column of ore/waste category data and a column of composited interval
values, plus some additional columns showing the length, linear grade, included dilution length,

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included dilution grade and the percentage of the composite that is based on missing (and then
filled) interval data.
Economic compositing is primarily an input into the modelling of geometry rather than the
modelling of grade. Whereas numeric compositing transforms variable length assay intervals into
consistent intervals with a common support length, economic composite intervals can be of any
length, with the composited lengths always coinciding with the end of an assay interval. One
common use for economic compositing is to generate a reasonable mineralised envelope from
“ore” intervals, which has the benefit of being built on both mineability parameters and cut-off
grade.
Economic compositing is based on a set cut-off grade, such that values that are greater than or
equal to the cut-off value are considered “Ore” and values below are considered “Waste”.
Adjacent intervals on the same side of the cut-off grade are concatenated, producing a series of
alternating ore and waste segments. The alternating waste and ore segments are then
composited, with the segments being considered for incremental addition to an ore composite
sequentially down each drillhole. Although the compositing process produces both ore and waste
composites, it only attempts to build ore composites. Waste composites are produced when a
composite fails to meet the constraints required for an ore composite, or as initial or final
segments.
The rest of this topic describes creating and working with economic composites. It is divided into:
l Creating an Economic Composite
l Selecting Values
l Handling Missing Intervals and High Grades
l Selecting a Dilution Rule
l Setting the Cut-Off Grade
l Compositing Direction
l Two-Pass Compositing
l Using True Thickness
l The Compositing Process and Parameters
l Viewing Compositing Results

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Creating an Economic Composite

To create an economic composite, right-click on Drillholes > Composites folder and select
New Economic Composite. The New Economic Composite window will appear:

This window has three parts: a Values tab, a Compositing tab and a histogram of the raw
uncomposited data. When adjusting the histogram:
l Log scale in x changes the x-axis scale between a linear and log scale
l Bin count adjusts the number of histogram bins
Once an economic composite has been created, you can change any setting, except for the
Numeric values setting in the Values tab. Click OK to save the composite. You can edit the
economic composite by right-clicking on it in the project tree and selecting Edit Economic
Composited Table.

If you have created an interval selection from an economic composite, the selection may be
deleted if you edit the compositing parameters, along with any dependent objects, such as
vein models.

Selecting Values
In the Values tab, first select a numeric data column from the Numeric values list. A Query
filter can also be applied.

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Handling Missing Intervals and High Grades

The other settings in the Values tab determine how missing intervals and high grades are
handled.
In economic compositing, drillholes need to be fully informed for all intervals. There are two
options to deal with missing intervals: either use a supplied value or an average of the enclosing
intervals. Missing interval handling offers the options Use fixed value and Use average of
enclosing intervals. Raw assay data should be carefully reviewed and the reasons for the
missing data understood before deciding which option to adopt. The most conservative route is to
treat missing assays as having a zero grade.
You may choose to Cap high grades at a specific value so that anomalously high values do not
bias the data. You can also drag the dotted vertical red line on the histogram to adjust this value.

Selecting a Dilution Rule

The Dilution rule is set in the Compositing tab, and the option you choose will affect which of
the other settings in the Compositing tab are available and which are mandatory.
The Dilution rule selected changes the logic for creating the ore composites. There are three
options: Basic, Advanced and Advanced+.
Basic uses a simple length-weighted average of the composite and the candidate waste-ore
section and will tend to produce longer waste and ore composites. Advanced and Advanced+
are generally more conservative in that they provide greater control over waste dilution of ore.
Both Advanced and Advanced+ will tend to produce more discrete ore composites. With
Advanced+, an additional rule checks to ensure that adding a waste-ore section does not create
internal sections comprising waste-ore-waste segments that are below the cut-off grade.

Note that the compositing algorithm applies the parameters in the Compositing tab in the
order in which they are presented in the tab.

the UI of the econ comp dialog is organised in order of operation so this operation needs to
precede the composite twice option

Setting the Cut-Off Grade

The histogram can be used to identify a reasonable Cut-off grade setting. If you have positively
skewed data, tick Log scale in x to get a logarithmic scale to aid in identifying an appropriate
cut-off grade.
You can specify the Cut-off grade as a number, or you can drag the dotted vertical blue line on
the histogram to adjust this value. You will need to adjust this value, as the default is intentionally
set high, at the 99th percentile of the data.

Select the Cut-off grade only once you have determined how missing values will be handled,

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in the Values tab. See Handling Missing Intervals and High Grades above.

Compositing Direction
There are three options for the Compositing direction:
l For Down, compositing starts at the top of the hole and works downward. This is the default
setting when the Dilution rule is Basic.
l For Up, compositing starts at the bottom of the hole and works upward.
l For Both, compositing is carried out in both directions and the highest linear grade is selected,
on a per-hole basis. This is the default setting when the Dilution rule is Advanced or
Advanced+.

Two-Pass Compositing
Enable Composite twice for a two-pass composite operation, using the same parameters a
second time and the waste and ore classification results of the first pass as the input to the
second pass. This will tend to consolidate some of the ore composites into longer composites.

Using True Thickness

The Use true thickness setting requires the compositing algorithm to composite using true
thickness measured perpendicular to a specified reference plane. Dip and Dip azimuth specify
the orientation of this reference plane, which may be used to approximate the ore body
orientation or some other preferred alignment. In more laminar deposits, such as a vein model,
enabling Use true thickness will force the length-weighted composite to take into account the
true thickness of the vein and weigh the interval based on that thickness rather than the
thickness implied from the drillhole. Use true thickness can be useful in cases where the
drillhole is oblique to the trend of the vein and has recorded a thickness much larger than the
actual vein thickness.

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The Compositing Process and Parameters

Once you have selected a Dilution rule and set the Cut-off grade, the other parameters in the
Compositing tab can be used to further refine the compositing behaviour.
This illustrates a short drillhole with a cut-off grade set to 0.01:

The alternating waste and ore segments are then composited, with the segments being
considered for incremental addition to an ore composite sequentially down each drillhole.
Although the compositing process produces both ore and waste composites, it only attempts to
build ore composites. Waste composites are produced when a composite fails to meet the
constraints required for an ore composite, or as initial or final segments.
Within an ore composite, the amount of waste that is allowed to dilute the ore is constrained by
the remaining options. Because an ore composite must start in a segment classified as ore and
must also end in ore, building an ore composite candidate starts with the next ore segment in the
drillhole. An attempt is made to extend the ore composite candidate by adding segments, and
because an ore composite must end in ore, not only is the next waste segment added but also the
ore segment after that.

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Min. ore composite length specifies the minimum length for an ore composite. If a
composited length of ore does not meet this threshold, it will be added to the previous waste
composite. This is often intended to reflect a minimum mineable interval. In the above example,
the Min. ore composite length would need to be at least 3.9, the sum of the 1.8, 0.9 and 1.2
length sections, for the candidate ore composite to be accepted.
Before extending the candidate ore composite with the next waste-ore pair of segments, this
combination needs to be tested against any active constraints, the Max. included waste and
Max. consecutive waste. In this illustration, the candidate ore composite has already been
extended to include the first three segments and now the addition of the next waste-ore pair of
segments is being tested.

Max. included waste is an optional threshold that constrains the total length of waste that can
be accumulated within an ore composite. Increasing this value will permit greater dilution of ore
with waste before the candidate ore section will be rejected. If the Max. included waste is
more than 3.2, the sum of the 0.9 and 2.3 length waste segments, the extension will be
permitted. On the other hand, if Max. included waste was less than 3.2, the previously
accumulated ore candidate would be composited as ore without the addition of the current
waste-ore pair of segments.
Max. consecutive waste is an optional threshold for Basic and Advanced dilution rules, but is
required for Advanced+. It constrains the length of consecutive intervals classified as waste
that can be considered for addition to an ore composite. Increasing this value will permit a longer
consecutive waste segment to dilute a candidate ore section before the candidate is rejected as
waste. Again using the illustration above, Max. consecutive waste would have to be more than
2.3, the longest of the waste segments in the ore composite candidate, to permit the extension
of the new waste-ore pair of segments. If Max. consecutive waste was less than 2.3, the
previously accumulated ore candidate would be composited as ore without the addition of the
current waste-ore pair of segments.
If these optional tests pass, the candidate ore composite and the waste-ore section being added
to it are also tested against the other dilution rules. If the dilution rules permit the waste-ore

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section to be added to the candidate ore composite, the section is concatenated to the candidate
ore composite. Then the next waste-ore pair of segments is considered to see if the candidate
ore composite can be extended further.

If the new waste-ore section fails the threshold tests or the dilution rule, the current candidate
ore composite without the addition of the waste-ore section is tested against additional
thresholds: is its length over the Min. ore composite length, or otherwise is the composite able
to be kept because it meets the Min. linear grade threshold to Keep short high grade ore
composites? Keep short high grade ore composites is an option that allows ore
composites shorter than the Min. ore composite length, provided the Min. linear grade is
exceeded. Linear grade is the length * grade. This allows a short length of high economic value
material to be classified as ore and identified. If the current candidate ore composite can meet
one of these thresholds, the ore composite is added to the composite table, the waste segment
of the current waste-ore segment is considered a candidate waste composite, and the ore
segment is used to start a new candidate ore composite. If any of these requirements for keeping
the candidate ore composite are not met, the candidate ore composite fails, so the whole
candidate composite is considered a waste composite instead of ore, and is added to any
preceding candidate waste composite, along with the next waste segment in the drillhole.
Compositing resumes with the next ore segment in the drillhole.

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Min. waste composite length does not apply to the Basic dilution rule, but is an option for
Advanced and Advanced+. It specifies the preferred minimum length of waste composite. This
is applied after initial compositing to any waste composite that is bounded on both sides by ore.
Waste composites are expanded into the surrounding ore composites by re-classifying of
adjacent intervals as waste until the Min. waste composite length is satisfied, in such a way
that loss from the ore composites is minimised. The expansion of the waste composite is not
applied if it would affect other configured ore requirements such as Min. ore composite
length.

In the above illustration, the centre column depicts the initial status of composites prior to
assessment against a Min. waste composite length of 20. Because the waste composite in
the centre with a grade of 10.280 only has a length of 6, this waste composite will be expanded,
taking segments off the surrounding ore composites. The original segments can be seen in the
left column. The waste-ore pair of segments above the waste composite are added to it, and the
ore-waste pair of segments below it. This gives a length for the expanded waste composite of 16.
Given a Min. ore composite length of 5, the expansion stops, as the ore composite above the
expanded waste composite has only a single ore segment in it, and if the ore-waste segment pair
below was added to the expanded waste composite this would create an ore composite shorter
than the Min. ore composite length.

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Viewing Compositing Results

To view the composited data, double-click on the table in the project tree. The table includes the
status category column and true_length, linear_grade, dilution_true_length, dilution_linear_
grade and pct_missing numeric columns.

The true_length is the total length of the interval. If Use true thickness was enabled, that
calculated value will be used here instead of the drillhole interval length. The linear_grade is the
grade * length of the material of interest excluding any dilution material.
The dilution_true_length is the total length of diluting intervals for the composite interval. The
dilution_linear_grade is the linear grade * length of all the diluting material in a composite interval.
For composite intervals graded as ore, these are the length and linear grade of the waste that
dilutes the ore in the interval. For a waste composite interval, the dilution true length and dilution
linear grade are the length and linear grade of the ore that dilutes the waste.
The pct_missing value shows the percentage of the composite that is based on missing (and then
filled) interval data.

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It is useful to use the drillhole correlation tool to visualise the resulting composited data. Here a
new drillhole correlation has been created with a single selected collar (highlighted in the table
above), with the source numeric column dragged in from the assay folder, along with the data
columns from the economic composite.

To learn more about how to use the drillhole correlation tool, see Drillhole Correlation Tool.

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The drillhole correlation tool can also be useful for observing and comparing the differences
between different economic compositing options. In the following example, the effects of the
Basic, Advanced, and Advanced+ dilution rules on a dataset are being compared, as well as the
effect of the Composite twice option on each rule.

Majority Composites
Category data can be composited into interval lengths from another table or into fixed interval
lengths. The compositing is based on a majority percentage where each interval is assigned a
category based on the category that makes up the highest percentage of the new interval. If two
categories are equally represented, the category that occurs further up the drillhole (closest to
the collar) is assigned.
This is useful for comparing lithology and assay data; the intervals from an assay table can be
applied to a category column to produce a new lithology column with the shorter intervals typical
of assay tables. The majority composite column can then be used to create a merged table
containing both lithology and assay data.

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Drillhole data is composited from the Composites folder, which is in the project tree as part of
the Drillholes object. To create a majority composite, right-click on the Composites folder and
select New Majority Composite. The New Composited Table window will appear:

Select the interval table that will be used to specify the intervals for the new majority composite
or specify a fixed Compositing Length. Next, select the columns that will be composited. Click
OK to create the composite. The composite will be added to the Composites folder in the
project tree. You can edit it by right-clicking on it and selecting Edit Composited Table.
Here assay intervals are shown inside the much longer lithology intervals. The selected interval
goes from 14.0 to 23.7 metres:

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Here a majority composite has been created based on the lithology table using the assay table
intervals. The category column displayed in the scene appears similar to the category column
used to create it, but selecting an interval in the scene shows that the lithology has been
composited into smaller intervals that match the assay intervals:

Viewing Majority Composite Statistics

Once you have created a composited table, you can view statistics on the table. To do this, right-
click on it and select Statistics. The following options are available:

See the Analysing Data topic for more information on each option:
l Table of Statistics
l Scatter Plots
l Q-Q Plots
l Box Plots
The Interval Length Statistics graph is a univariate graph, so for more information on the
options available, see Univariate Graphs in the Analysing Data topic.

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Right-click on the numeric columns and select Statistics to view information about the
composited values. See Univariate Graphs in the Analysing Data topic for more information.

Numeric Composites
Compositing numeric data takes unevenly-spaced drillhole data and turns it into regularly-spaced
data, which is then interpolated. Compositing parameters can be applied to entire drillholes or only
within a selected region of the drillhole. For example, you may wish to composite Au values only
within a specific lithology.
There are two approaches to compositing numeric data in Leapfrog Geo:
l Composite the drillhole data directly. Compositing parameters can be applied to entire
drillholes or only within a selected region of the drillhole. This creates a new interval table that
can be used to build models, and changes made to the table will be reflected in all models
based on that table. This process is described below.
l Composites the points used to create an interpolant. This is carried out by generating an
interpolant and then setting compositing parameters for the interpolant’s values object. This
isolates the effects of the compositing as the compositing settings are only applied to the
interpolant.

Intervals that have no data can have a significant effect when compositing data as they are
ignored by the compositing algorithm. The effect of these missing intervals can be managed
using the Minimum coverage parameter, but it’s best to assign special values where
intervals have no data. For example, intervals that are missing data can be assigned a value of
0 or that of the background mineralisation. See Handling Special Values for more information.

The rest of this topic describes compositing drillhole data directly. It is divided into:
l Creating a Numeric Composite
l Compositing in the Entire Drillhole
l Compositing in a Subset of Codes
l Using Intervals From Another Table
l Viewing Numeric Composite Statistics

Creating a Numeric Composite

Creating a numeric composite involves the following steps:
l Selecting the compositing region
l Setting the composite length
l Setting coverage
l Setting residual length handling
l Selecting an additional weighting column (optional)
l Selecting the output columns

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To start the process of creating a numeric composite, right-click on the Composites folder and
select New Numeric Composite. You will be prompted to select the compositing region. There
are three options:
l Entire Drillhole. The same compositing parameters are applied to all values down the length
of drillholes, regardless of unit breaks. See Compositing in the Entire Drillhole.
l Subset of Codes. Different compositing parameters can be set for each code down the
length of drillholes. See Compositing in a Subset of Codes.
l Intervals from other Table. Interval lengths from another table are used to determine
composite lengths. The value assigned to each interval is the length-weighted average value,
and there are no further compositing parameters to set. See Using Intervals From Another
Table.
Each option requires a different set of compositing parameters, which are described below.
Once you have set up the composite, click OK to create the table, which will be saved to the
Composites folder. Double-clicking on the table displays the data in its columns. Edit the table
by right-clicking on it and selecting Edit Composited Table. You can view statistics on the table
or for each individual column in the table. See Viewing Numeric Composite Statistics.

Compositing in the Entire Drillhole

When compositing is carried out using the Entire Drillhole option, the drillholes are divided into
intervals wherever numeric data occurs and the parameters set in the Compositing tab are
applied to all values down the length of drillholes.

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Compositing Length
The Compositing length you set will depend on factors including the deposit style, the sampling
method and raw sample length. You can view statistics on the drillhole data table to get an idea of
the distribution of interval lengths. Right-click on the drillhole data table and select Statistics. In
the window that appears, select the Interval Length Statistics option:

Another consideration in selecting the composite length is choosing a length that will not split
units. For example, if most intervals are 2m long, choosing a length of 1m or 5m will split some
intervals so that an interval with a single value will be represented more than once in the
composite intervals. If intervals are mostly 2.5m long, then a composite length that is 2.5m or a
multiple of 2.5m would ensure that units are not split.

Note that the actual length of intervals in the composited table may be longer than that set by
the Compositing length. This arises from residual segments at the ends of drillholes and
where there is data missing down a drillhole; the length of these residual segments will, in
certain conditions, be added to the composite intervals further up the drillhole. See Residual
End Length Handling below for more information.

Minimum Coverage
The Minimum coverage parameter determines whether or not a value will be calculated for a
composite interval, based on the data available in the input data table. The Minimum coverage
is a threshold the input intervals must meet in order for a composited value to be calculated. If,
for example, the Minimum coverage is 50%, a value will be calculated for a composite interval
only when there is data in at least 50% of the drillhole that informs the composited interval.
l Setting Minimum coverage to 100% will result in composite intervals being assigned values
only when there is data for all drillhole intervals that inform the composite interval.
l Setting Minimum coverage to 0% will results in all composite intervals being assigned
values.

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Intervals that have no data can have a significant effect when compositing data as they are
ignored by the compositing algorithm. The effect of these missing intervals can be managed
using the Minimum coverage parameter, but it’s best to assign special values where
intervals have no data. For example, intervals that are missing data can be assigned a value of
0 or that of the background mineralisation. See Handling Special Values for more information.

Composite values are calculated for each composite interval. This is simply the length-weighted
average of all numeric drillhole data that falls within the composite interval.
Composite points are generated at the centre of each composite interval from the composite
values.

Residual End Length Handling

The full length of each drillhole will seldom divide up exactly into a whole number of intervals of
the specified Compositing length. For this reason, “residual segments” will occur at the end of
each borehole and where there is data missing down the length of the drillhole. In the
Compositing tab, you can set a residual end length value, then specify how residual segments
that are shorter than that value are handled. There are three options:
l With the Discard option, both the length of the residual segment and the Minimum
coverage threshold determine whether the segment is discarded or retained:
l Residual segments shorter than the specified length are discarded.
l Residual segments longer than the specified length that meet the Minimum coverage
threshold are retained as separate segments at the end of the drillhole.
l Residual segments longer than the specified length that do not meet the Minimum
coverage are discarded.
l With the Add to previous interval option, the Minimum coverage is automatically set to
zero so that the length of residual intervals is the sole factor in determining whether they are
retained as separate segments or added to the previous interval.
l Residual segments longer than the specified length are retained as separate segments.
l Residual segments shorter than the specified length are added to the previous interval.
Note that when this occurs, the actual length of that last composited interval will be longer
than the Compositing length specified.
l With the Distribute equally throughout drillhole option, the Minimum coverage is
automatically set to zero so that the length of the residual segments is the sole factor in
determining whether they are retained as separate intervals or distributed equally throughout
the other intervals.
l Residual segments longer than the specified length are retained as separate segments.
l Residual segments shorter than the specified length have their length distributed among
the other intervals. Note that when this occurs, the actual length of each composited
interval will be longer than the Compositing length specified.

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Additional Weighting Column

If you use an Additional weighting column, the column selected must contain valid (positive)
values for all of the composite’s output intervals. If this is not the case, you will receive a
message saying the table cannot be created. If the column selected as the weighting column is
also in the list of output columns, that output column will be composited using length-weighted
averaging only.

Compositing in a Subset of Codes

When compositing is carried out using the Subset of Codes option, some codes can be
excluded from the composited table or the raw data from the Base column can be used. When
compositing is applied to a code, the same parameters apply as for the Entire Drillhole option,
but different codes can use different Compositing length and Minimum coverage
parameters.

For the Action column, select from:

l Composite. Numeric data that falls within the selected code will be composited according to
the parameters set.
l No compositing. Numeric data is not composited within the selected code. The raw data will
be used in creating the new data table.
l Filter out. Numeric data within the selected code will excluded from the new data table.
See Compositing in the Entire Drillhole above for an explanation of the Length, Minimum
coverage, If residual end length and Additional weighting column parameters.
Once you have set the compositing parameters, click on the Output Columns tab to select
from the available columns of numeric data. Click OK to create the table.

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Using Intervals From Another Table

When compositing is carried out using the Intervals from other Table option, first select the
Base table. This is the table that will that will be used to determine the interval lengths in the
composited table.

The value assigned to each interval will be the length-weighted average value, and you can use an
Additional weighting column. This column must contain valid (positive) values for all of the
composite’s output intervals. If this is not the case, you will receive a message saying the table
cannot be created. If the column selected as the weighting column is also in the list of output
columns, that output column will be composited using length-weighted averaging only.
There are no further compositing parameters to set. Click OK to create the table.

Viewing Numeric Composite Statistics

Once you have created a composited table, you can view statistics on the table or for each
individual column in the table.
To view statistics for the table, right-click on it and select Statistics.

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See the Analysing Data topic for more information on each option:
l Table of Statistics
l Scatter Plots
l Q-Q Plots
l Box Plots
The Interval Length Statistics graph is a univariate graph, so for more information on the
options available, see Univariate Graphs in the Analysing Data topic.
Right-click on the table columns and select Statistics to view information about the composited
values.
The first option displays statistics on the composited values; see Univariate Graphs in the
Analysing Data topic for more information. The other two options display statistics comparing
data before and after compositing.

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Compositing Comparison
The double histogram, one displaying the distribution of the raw data and one displaying the
distribution of the composited data, enables comparison of the two distributions of the same
element before and after the compositing transformation. Impacts on the symmetry of
distributions will be evident.

In the Histogram settings, Bin width changes the size of the histogram bins used in the
plot.Percentage is used to change the Y-axis scale from a length-weighted scale to a
percentage scale.
The Box Plot options control the appearance of the box plot drawn under the primary chart. The
whiskers extend out to lines that mark the extents you select, which can be the
Minimum/maximum, the Inner fence or the Outer fence. Inner and outer values are defined
as being 1.5 times the interquartile range and 3 times the interquartile range respectively.
The Limits fields control the ranges for the X-axis and Y-axis. Select Automatic X axis limits
and/or Automatic Y axis limits to get the full range required for the chart display. Untick these
and manually adjust the X limits and/or Y limits to constrain the chart to a particular region of
interest. This can effectively be used to zoom the chart.
The bottom left corner of the chart displays a table with a comprehensive set of statistical
measures for the data set.

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Compositing Interval Lengths

This graph shows a double histogram of distributions of the interval lengths before and after
compositing.

In the Histogram settings, Bin width changes the size of the histogram bins used in the
plot.Percentage is used to change the Y-axis scale from a length-weighted scale to a
percentage scale.
The Box Plot options control the appearance of the box plot drawn under the primary chart. The
whiskers extend out to lines that mark the extents you select, which can be the
Minimum/maximum, the Inner fence or the Outer fence. Inner and outer values are defined
as being 1.5 times the interquartile range and 3 times the interquartile range respectively.
The Limits fields control the ranges for the X-axis and Y-axis. Select Automatic X axis limits
and/or Automatic Y axis limits to get the full range required for the chart display. Untick these
and manually adjust the X limits and/or Y limits to constrain the chart to a particular region of
interest. This can effectively be used to zoom the chart.
The bottom left corner of the chart displays a table with a comprehensive set of statistical
measures for the data set.

Grouping Lithologies
The group lithologies tool lets you define a new unit to which existing units are added. For
example, a sandstone deposit might appear in an interval table as poorly-sorted and well-sorted

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units. With the group lithologies tool, you can group both units into a single sandstone unit.
When you group lithologies, the original lithology column is preserved and a new lithology column
is added to the interval table. You can then select the original lithology column or the new one
when displaying data and creating models.
To start grouping two or more lithologies, right-click on the interval table in the project tree and
select New Column > Group Lithologies. The New Lithology Column window will appear:

Select the lithology column you wish to use from the Base Column list, then enter a Name for
the new lithology column. Click OK.
A window will appear displaying all lithologies in the base lithology column:

In this example, two spellings of Alluvium have been used and these lithologies should be
combined into a single lithology.

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The most straightforward way to group lithologies is to select the first of the lithologies, then
click New Group. A group will be created for the selected lithology with only that lithology as a
member:

Next, click on a lithology in the Ungrouped Lithologies pane and drag it onto the group:

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Grouping lithologies creates a new lithology column and any lithologies left in the Ungrouped
Lithologies pane will be excluded from the new column. For this reason, once you have
grouped the required lithologies, move all remaining lithologies to the Groups pane by clicking
on each lithology, then on the New Group button. This will make each remaining lithology a
new group with a single member:

When you are finished, click OK to create the new lithology column. It will appear in the project
tree as an additional lithology column in the interval table.
Select the new column from the shape list to display it:

Click on the Edit button ( ) to start editing the selected column.

The other way to group lithologies is to let Leapfrog Geo create the lithology groups.

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Automatic Lithology Groups

Leapfrog Geo can automatically create lithology groups. To do this, create a new lithology
column, as described above. Click the Auto Group button to reveal more options:

The First letter(s) and Last letter(s) options let you create groups according the names of
the existing lithologies. Click Group to create the new groups.
Here, the first two letters have been used to created a new set of lithologies:

The two alluvium lithologies have been added to a single group.

The One group per value option creates a group for each original lithology. You can then drag
and drop lithologies into different groups, move lithologies you do not wish to group back into the
Ungrouped Lithologies pane and use the Delete Groups options to remove any empty
groups.

Splitting Lithologies
With the split lithologies tool, you can create new units from a single unit by selecting from
intervals displayed in the scene. When you split lithologies, the original lithology column is

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preserved and a new lithology column is added to the interval table. You can then select the
original lithology column or the new one when displaying data and creating models.

The difference between the interval selection tool and the split lithologies tool is that with
splitting lithologies, you are limited to selecting intervals from a single lithology. If you wish to
select intervals from multiple lithologies, see Interval Selection.

To start splitting a lithology, first add the drillhole data to the scene. Then right-click on the
interval table in the project tree and select New Column > Split Lithologies. The New
Lithology Column window will appear:

Select the lithology column you wish to use from the Base Column list, then enter a Name for
the new lithology column. Click OK.
The Lithologies and Splits window will appear, together with a set of tools that will help you to
select intervals in the scene:

Alluvium (gold) appears both above and below Coarse Sand (blue) and so should be split into two
separate lithologies.
The first step is to select the lithology that will be split in the Lithologies and Splits window. In
the example above, Alluvium is already selected.

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Next, click on the Select Intervals button ( ) and click the Add Intervals button ( ). In the
scene, draw a line across each interval you wish to select.

To change the width of the line used to select intervals, click on the Change Line Width
button ( ) and enter a new value. You can keep the Set Line Width window open while you
select intervals so you can change the line width as required.

Selected intervals are highlighted in the scene. If you accidentally select the wrong interval,
either:
l Click the Remove Intervals button ( ) and draw across the interval once again.
l Hold the Ctrl key while drawing across the interval.
You can also:
l Select all visible intervals by clicking on the Select All button ( ) or by pressing Ctrl+A.
l Clear all selected intervals by clicking on the Clear Selection button ( ) or by pressing
Ctrl+Shift+A.
l Swap the selected intervals for the unselected intervals by clicking on the Invert Selection
button ( ) or by pressing Ctrl+I.

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Once you have selected some segments, click on the Assign to button in the Lithologies and
Splits window and select Create New Split:

The New Split window will appear:

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Enter a Name for the new lithology, then click OK. The new lithology will be created and the
scene updated to reflect the changes:

Once you have created a new lithology, you can add to it by selecting intervals, then selecting the
lithology from the Assign to list.
When you are finished, click the Save button ( ) and close the Lithologies and Splits window.
The new lithology column will appear in the project tree as an additional lithology column in the
interval table.
Select the new column from the shape list to display it:

Click on the Edit button ( ) to start editing the selected column.

Interval Selection
When you wish to select a small portion of intervals or you don’t have suitable parameters to use
a query filter, you can select intervals from drillholes displayed in the scene to create a new
lithology column. The original lithology column is preserved and a new lithology column is added to
the interval table. You can then select the original lithology column or the new one when
displaying data and creating models.

The difference between the interval selection tool and the split lithologies tool is that with
splitting lithologies, you are limited to selecting intervals from a single lithology. With interval
selection, you can choose intervals from any lithology displayed in the scene.

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To start selecting intervals, first add the drillhole data to the scene. Then right-click on the
interval table in the project tree and select New Column > Interval Selection. For a merged
table, right-click on it and select Interval Selection.
The New Lithology Column window will appear:

Select the lithology column you wish to use from the Base Column list, then enter a Name for
the new lithology column. Click OK.
The Interval Selection window will appear, together with a set of tools that will help you to
select intervals in the scene. To select intervals, click on the Select Intervals button ( ) and
click the Add Intervals button ( ). In the scene, draw a line across each interval you wish to
select:

Selected intervals are highlighted in the scene. If you accidentally select the wrong interval,
either:
l Click the Remove Intervals button ( ) and draw across the interval once again.
l Hold the Ctrl key while drawing across the interval.
You can also:
l Select all visible intervals by clicking on the Select All button ( ) or by pressing Ctrl+A.
l Clear all selected intervals by clicking on the Clear Selection button ( ) or by pressing
Ctrl+Shift+A.

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l Swap the selected intervals for the unselected intervals by clicking on the Invert Selection
button ( ) or by pressing Ctrl+I.

To change the width of the line used to select intervals, click on the Change Line Width
button ( ) and enter a new value. You can keep the Set Line Width window open while you
select intervals so you can change the line width as required.

When you have selected at least one interval, click on the Assign to button, then either select an
existing lithology or create a new lithology by selecting Create New Lithology:

Enter a Name for the new lithology, then click OK:

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The new lithology will be created and the scene updated to reflect the changes:

Once you have created a new lithology, you can add to it by selecting intervals, then selecting the
lithology from the Assign to list.
When you are finished, click the Save button ( ) and close the Interval Selection window. The
new lithology column will appear in the project tree as an additional lithology column in the interval
table. Select the new column from the shape list to display it:

Overlaid Lithology Column

You may have two versions of an interval column, one that contains draft data and one that
contains the final version. The final version may contain gaps, which can be filled in using the draft
version. The overlaid lithology tool lets you combine the two columns to create a new column.
Both columns must be part of the same interval table. If they are not, use the merged table tool
to create a new table that contains both columns. See Merged Drillhole Data Tables.
To create an overlaid lithology column, right-click on the interval table in the project tree and
select New Column > Overlaid Lithology Column. For a merged table, right-click on it and
select Overlaid Lithology Column.

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The New Overlaid Lithology Column window will appear:

For the Primary column, select the column that you wish to have precedence. Data in the
Fallback column will be used when no data is available from the Primary column.
Click Create to create the new column. The new column will appear in the project tree.
You can display drillhole data with the new column by selecting it from the shape list:

Category Column from Numeric Data

When you have numeric data you wish to use with the lithology and category modelling tools, you
can convert the numeric data to a category column. To do this, right-click on the numeric data
column and select New Column > Category From Numeric. In the window that appears,
select the Base Column, then enter a name for the new column. Click OK.
The next step is to sort the numeric data into categories:

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Leapfrog Geo automatically assigns three categories calculated from the distribution of data. To
add a new category, click the Add button and enter the required value. Click the Open
Statistics Tab button to view the distribution of data, which will help in deciding what
categories to define. See Univariate Graphs in the Analysing Data topic for more information on
using this tab.
Click OK to create the new column, which will appear in the project tree as part of the original
interval table.

Back-Flagging Drillhole Data

Evaluating geological models on drillholes creates a new lithology table containing the lithologies
from the selected model. This is useful for validating models created from drillhole data as you
can generate statistics for the correlation between modelled geology and drilling data.
To created a back-flagged drillhole data table, right-click on the Drillholes object in the project
tree and select New Evaluation. The New Evaluation window will appear:

Select the model to use and enter names for the column and table.
When the selected model is a faulted model, the Evaluation Type setting determines whether
the model’s output volumes, faulted output volumes or fault blocks are evaluated.
Click OK to create the new table, which will appear in the project tree as part of the Drillholes
object. The new table contains From, To and Lithology columns defined using the intersection
between the model’s output volumes and the drillholes.
For output volume evaluations, you can view the correlation between modelled geology and
actual logged drillhole segments. To do this, right-click on the table and select Statistics. In the
Correlation Statistics window, you can compare model values to drilled lithologies or vice
versa.
See:
l Comparing Modelled Values to Drilling Lithologies
l Comparing Drilling Lithologies to Modelled Values
l Refining the Geological Model to Improve Correlation Statistics

You can export the information displayed in the Correlation Statistics window in CSV
format for use in other applications. To do this, click Export.

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Comparing Modelled Values to Drilling Lithologies

Comparing model values to drilling lithologies shows how accurately drilling lithologies are
modelled in the selected geological model. High matching percentages for drilling lithologies in the
left-hand side of the window mean the model closely matches the drilling data for that lithology:

The right-hand side of the window shows the composition of the modelled values for the selected
Drilling Lithology. Here, D1 in the geological model corresponds to D1 in the lithology data for
88.2% of the length of the drillhole:

D1 in the model is actually D2 for 2.37% of the length of the drillholes, and 9.44% of the drilled D1
values fall outside of the boundary of the geological model.

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In the images that follow, we will look at the correlation between the D5 drilling lithology and
modelled D5. Here, two drillhole data tables are displayed with the D5-D4 contact surface from
the geological model:

The inner drillholes show the original drillhole data. The outer drillholes show the geological model
back-flagged onto the drillhole data table. In the highlighted drillhole, we can see there is a
discrepancy between the actual lithology data and that modelled. When we view correlation
statistics for this model, we can see that this discrepancy is explained by the fact that 17.97% of
the D5 drilling length is modelled as D4:

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You might consider this an acceptable match, but if it is too low, there are several ways to refine
the geological model so that the geological model more closely reflects the original drillholes,
which are discussed below. For this example, we will adjust the resolution of the geological model.
The modelled segment now corresponds more closely to the original drillhole data:

Viewing the correlation statistics shows that 99.62% of modelled drillholes now match the
original data:

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Comparing Drilling Lithologies to Modelled Values

Comparing drilling lithologies to model values shows the lithological composition of modelled
values. Again, high matching percentages in the left-hand side of the window mean the model
closely matches the drilling data for that modelled lithology:

The non-matching percentage indicates how much of the modelled lithology is not the drillhole
lithology. You can see in the right-hand side of the window the lithologies that make up the non-
matching portions of the modelled value.
In the images that follow, we will look at the correlation between the D5 drilling lithology and
modelled D5 once again. The non-matching percentage is 4.8, and on the right-hand side of the
window, we can see that this is exclusively drilling lithology I2:

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Adjusting the resolution of the geological model improves the matching percentage to the point
where only 0.09 percent of the D5 modelled value is drilling lithology I2:

Refining the Geological Model to Improve Correlation Statistics

If the matching percentages are too low for the lithologies of interest, there are several ways to
refine the geological model so that the geological model more closely matches the drillholes:
l Reduce the resolution of the geological model or of its contact surfaces. See Surface
Resolution for a Geological Model and Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo.
l Add more data to the model’s surfaces. See Adding Data to Surfaces.
l Snap surfaces to the data used to create them. See Honouring Surface Contacts.

Merged Drillhole Data Tables

When you have more than one drillhole interval table in a project, you can create a new table using
selected columns from existing interval tables. You can include columns created by, for example,
grouping or splitting lithologies or compositing.

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To create a merged table, right-click on the Drillholes object in the project tree and select New
Merged Table. The New Merged Table window will appear showing all interval columns
available in the project:

You can change the columns included once you have created the table.
Select the columns you wish to include in the new table and click OK. The new table will appear in
the project tree as part of the Drillholes object.
You can create query filters for a merged data table, as described in the Query Filters topic. You
can also select intervals (see Interval Selection) and create an overlaid lithology column (see
Overlaid Lithology Column). You cannot, however, use the group lithologies and split lithology
tools on a merged table.
To edit the table, right-click on it and select Edit Merged Table.

Core Photo Links

Leapfrog Geo can link drillhole data to ALS Webtrieve, Coreshed and Imago core photo
databases. When you have added a core photo link to a project, a core photo link will be displayed
when intervals are clicked on in the scene:

You can click on the link to open the corresponding core photo in your browser.

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Adding a core photo link also adds a button to the toolbar that allows for rapid viewing of core
photos:

Once you are logged in to your core photo database, enable this mode, then click on intervals in
the scene to view core photos in the browser. To disable rapid viewing mode, click on another tool
in the toolbar.
When drillhole data has been linked to a core photo database, a photo link object will appear in the
project tree:

You can only have one type of core photo link associated with the drillhole data.
To add a link, right-click on the Drillholes object and select Add Core Photo Link. In the
window that appears, select the core photo provider and click OK:

For information on setting up and using the different core photo links, see:
l The ALS CoreViewer Interface
l The Coreshed Core Photo Interface
l The Imago Core Photo Interface

An alternative to linking to a core photo database is to link to files stored locally or on a

network drive. This can be achieved by having a URL column in an interval table. When the
interval is selected in the scene, you can click the link to view the file:

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Use the prefix file:/// to link to local files.

The ALS CoreViewer Interface

This topic describes how to set up and use the ALS core photo interface. It is divided into:
l Setting Up the ALS CoreViewer Interface
l Using the ALS Interface
l Removing the ALS Link

Setting Up the ALS CoreViewer Interface

Before you can view core photos, you must first set up the ALS CoreViewer interface. To set up
the interface between Leapfrog Geo and the ALS database, right-click on the Drillholes object
and select Add Core Photo Link. In the window that appears, select ALS CoreViewer and
click OK. The ALS Core Photo Settings window will appear. The Project Name is required to
set up the link, although the Encryption Key is optional.
For Application depths measured in, ensure that the units used for depth match in Leapfrog
Geo and ALS.
For Open selection in new browser, choose whether each core photo will be opened in a
separate browser Window or Tab.

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Click OK to save the information. If login is successful, the ALS Core Photo Link button ( )
will appear in the toolbar:

A link will also appear in the project tree as part of the Drillholes object:

You can edit the link by double-clicking on it.

Using the ALS Interface

To view core photos, click on a drillhole in the scene, then click on the ALS Core Photo Link
button in the window that appears:

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Your browser will be launched and you will be prompted to log in to the ALS database. Enter the
User Name and Password, which are case-sensitive. Remember to allow the browser to save
the details so that you will not be prompted to log in each time you wish to view a photo.

Your browser settings may require that you install a plugin or make changes to settings in order
to view core photos. If you are not able to access the ALS database from Leapfrog Geo and
have ensured your Project Name, Encryption Key, User Name and Password have been
entered correctly, contact Customer Support as described in Getting Support.

The ALS Core Photo Link button ( ) in the toolbar allows you to view core photos in your
browser in rapid succession. To do this, first make sure you are already logged into the database.
Then click on the ALS Core Photo Link button ( ) to enable the rapid viewing mode. Each
time you click on an interval in the scene, the core photo link will open in your browser.

Position your browser window alongside the Leapfrog Geo scene window to view drillhole data
in Leapfrog Geo alongside the core photo data.

To disable rapid viewing mode, click on another tool in the toolbar.

Removing the ALS Link

To remove the ALS link, right-click on it in the project tree and select Delete.

The Coreshed Core Photo Interface

This topic describes how to set up and use the Coreshed core photo interface. It is divided into:
l Setting Up the Coreshed Interface
l Using the Coreshed Interface
l Removing the Coreshed Link

Setting Up the Coreshed Interface

Before you can view core photos, you must first set up the Coreshed interface. To do this, right-
click on the Drillholes object and select Add Core Photo Link. In the window that appears,
select Coreshed and click OK. The Coreshed Photo Settings window will appear. Enter the
information required and select whether each core photo will be opened in a separate browser
Window or Tab.

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Click OK to save the information. The Coreshed Photo Link button ( ) will appear in the
toolbar:

A link will also appear in the project tree as part of the Drillholes object:

You can edit the link by double-clicking on it.

Using the Coreshed Interface

To view core photos, click on a drillhole in the scene, then click on the Coreshed Photo Link
button in the window that appears:

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Your browser will be launched and you will be prompted to log in to the Coreshed database. Enter
the Username and Password, which are case-sensitive. Remember to allow the browser to
save the details so that you will not be prompted to log in each time you wish to view a photo.

Your browser settings may require that you install a plugin or make changes to settings in order
to view core photos. If you are not able to access the Coreshed database from Leapfrog Geo
and have ensured your Username and Password have been entered correctly, contact
Customer Support as described in Getting Support.

The Coreshed Photo Link button ( ) in the toolbar allows you to view core photos in your
browser in rapid succession. To do this, first make sure you are already logged into the database.
Then click on the Coreshed Photo Link button ( ) to enable the rapid viewing mode. Each
time you click on an interval in the scene, the core photo link will open in your browser.

Position your browser window alongside the Leapfrog Geo scene window to view drillhole data
in Leapfrog Geo alongside the core photo data.

To disable rapid viewing mode, click on another tool in the toolbar.

Removing the Coreshed Link

To remove the Coreshed link, right-click on it in the project tree and select Delete.

The Imago Core Photo Interface

This topic describes how to set up and use the Imago core photo interface. It is divided into:
l Setting Up the Imago Interface
l Using the Imago Interface
l Removing the Imago Link

Setting Up the Imago Interface

Before you can view core photos, you must first set up the link between Leapfrog Geo and the
Imago database. To do this, right-click on the Drillholes object and select Add Core Photo
Link. In the window that appears, select Imago and click OK. The Imago Settings window will
appear. Select whether each core photo will be opened in a separate browser Window or Tab. All
other parameters are optional.

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Click OK to save the information. The Imago Link button ( ) will appear in the toolbar:

A link will also appear in the project tree as part of the Drillholes object:

You can edit the link by double-clicking on it.

Using the Imago Interface

To view core photos, click on a drillhole in the scene, then click on the Imago Link button in the
window that appears:

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Your browser will be launched and you will be prompted to log in to the Imago database.
Remember to allow the browser to save the details so that you will not be prompted to log in each
time you wish to view a photo.
The Imago Link button ( ) in the toolbar allows you to view core photos in your browser in rapid
succession. To do this, first make sure you are already logged into the database. Then click on the
Imago Link button ( ) to enable the rapid viewing mode. Each time you click on an interval in
the scene, the core photo link will open in your browser.

Position your browser window alongside the Leapfrog Geo scene window to view drillhole data
in Leapfrog Geo alongside the core photo data.

To disable rapid viewing mode, click on another tool in the toolbar.

Removing the Imago Link

To remove the Imago link, right-click on it in the project tree and select Delete.

Reloading Drillhole Data

Reloading data is necessary when the imported data is modified externally. All drillhole data can
be reloaded by right-clicking on the Drillholes object and selecting Reload Drillholes. If you only
need to reload a single table, right-click on that table and select Reload Data.

Reloading drillhole data overwrites all existing drillhole data. If you have data you wish to add to
the project without overwriting existing data, use the Append Drillholes option.

The process is similar to that for importing drillhole data:

l If the drillhole data was loaded from a file on your computer or a network location, you will be
prompted to specify the file locations.
l If the interval table is stored in an ODBC database, you will be prompted to connect to the
database. See Selecting the ODBC Data Source.
l If your drillhole data is stored in an acQuire database, you will be prompted to connect to the
database. See Connecting to an acQuire Database.
When you reload data, Leapfrog Geo retains the table structure and refreshes the data contained
in the tables. This ensures that you do not need to reassign the data type for each column and
select the columns to be imported.

Exporting Drillhole Data

Changes made to the drillhole data in Leapfrog Geo only affect the Leapfrog Geo database, not
the original data files. You can export Leapfrog Geo drillhole data, which is useful if you wish to
keep a copy of drillhole data outside the project.

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You can:
l Export all data. See Exporting All Drillhole Data.
l Export only a single data table. See Exporting a Single Drillhole Data Table.

These export options export the drillhole data tables using To and From values to indicate
location information. If you wish to export data with X-Y-Z values, extract points data using
one of the following options:
l Extracting Contact Points from Drillhole Data
l Extracting Intrusion Values from Drillhole Data
l Extracting Interval Midpoints from Drillhole Data
Then export the data object as described in Exporting Points Data.

Exporting All Drillhole Data

To export all drillhole data, right-click on the Drillholes object and select Export. The Export
Drillhole Data window will appear:

Once you have selected how you wish to export the data, click OK. The Export Drillhole Data
Files window will appear:

The list shows the files that will be created, one for each data table. Choose the Folder where
the files will be saved, then enter a Base file name, which will be added to the front of each file
name.
Click Export to save the files.

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Exporting a Single Drillhole Data Table

To export a single drillhole data table, right-click on that table and select Export. The Export
Drillhole Data window will appear:

Once you have selected how you wish to export the data, click OK. You will be prompted for a
filename and location.

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Design Models
This topic describes how to import and work with designs and alignments in Leapfrog Geo. It is
divided into:
l Designs
l Alignments

Designs
Leapfrog Geo imports designs in the following formats:
l DGN (*.dgn)
l DWG (*.dwg)
l DXF (*.dxf)
This includes Autodesk Civil 3D objects in *.dwg format.
For DGN files:
l Xrefs are not supported and the externally referenced data will need to be imported into
Leapfrog Geo separately.
l For files that contain ‘Complex Elements’, it may be necessary to first ‘Drop Elements’ in the
Bentley design software before importing it into Leapfrog Geo.
When you are importing Civil3D objects, note that some object types can be imported into
Leapfrog Geo directly, while others must be exploded before they can be imported.

Object Imported As Notes

Alignments Design line

Corridors Design mesh

Feature lines Design line

Fittings Design mesh Needs to be exploded in Civil3D

Intersections Design line

Parcels Design line

Match lines Design line

Pipes Design mesh Needs to be exploded in Civil3D

Pressure pipes Design mesh Needs to be exploded in Civil3D

Sample lines Design line

Structures Design mesh Needs to be exploded in Civil3D

Surfaces Design mesh Needs to be exploded in Civil3D

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To import a design, right-click on the Designs folder and select Import Designs. In the window
that appears, navigate to the folder where your design is stored and select the files you wish to
import. You can use the Shift and Ctrl keys to select multiple files. Click Open.
All models and layers available in the selected files will be displayed. Here three files have been
selected for import, FLYOVER_Tunnel, Tunnel and visualization_-_apt_block:

Select the layers you want to import. If the files contain information on more than one coordinate
system, select the system you want to use from the Coordinate system list. Click OK to
import the selected objects.
The model will be added to the project tree; expand it to see the different layers. For example,
here a Tunnel file has been expanded in the project tree, showing the different layers:

The layer colours are saved in the Layer colour object ( ), which you can double-click on to
change the colours used.
The meshes and lines in the model can be used as inputs to geological models and cross sections.

Reloading Designs
To reload a design, right-click on it in the project tree and select Reload. Navigate to the folder
containing the design file and select the file. Click Open.
The process is the same as importing the model file. Click OK to reload the data. The original data
will be overwritten and dependent objects will be updated to reflect the new data.

Displaying Designs
Drag the different layers of the design into the scene to display them. Meshes can be displayed
using a Flat colour, the Face dip or the Layer colour. Design lines can be displayed using the

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Layer colour. Double-click on the Layer colour object ( ) in the project tree to change the
colours used:

Moving Designs
If all or part of the design are in the wrong location, you can move the entire design or part of it.
Right-click on the object you want to move and select the Move option. The Move Design
window will appear, together with tools in the scene for making changes. Select the part of the
model you wish to move from the Select Design Object list. Here the whole model has been
selected and there is one set of Offset values displayed in the Move Design:

Click on one of the arrows in the scene to move the design; you can only move in one plane at a
time. Updated values will be displayed in the Move Design window.

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To move just part of the model, select it from the dropdown list. The controls in the scene will
adjust only the location of the selected layer and its contents:

Click the Reset All button to return all location values to 0,0,0.
Click OK to close the Move Design window and save the new values. All parts of the model that
have been moved will be marked in the project tree with a red plus sign:

You can edit the offset values by opening the Move Design window once again.

Working With Design Meshes

You can also carry out standard operations on the design meshes, including the options available
for working with meshes described in Cleaning Up a Mesh. Double-click on a design mesh in the
project tree to view the options available. Right-click on a mesh to see the other options available.
See Meshes for more information on working with meshes in Leapfrog Geo.
A mesh marked with an exclamation mark ( ) is not closed.

Editing Design Lines

If you need to edit a design line, right-click on it and select Extract Polyline. The new polyline
object will appear in the Polylines folder. You can then edit the polyline and use it as an input to
models and cross sections.

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Exporting Designs
Leapfrog Geo can export designs and design lines in Drawing file (2013/LT2013) (*.dwg) and
Bentley Drawing Files (v8) (*.dgn) formats.
Leapfrog Geo can export design meshes in the following formats:
l Leapfrog Files (*.msh)
l Gocad Files (*.ts)
l DXF Files (11/12 [AC1009]) (*.dxf)
l Surpac Files (*.dtm, *.str)
l Gemcom Files (*.tri)
l Datamine Files (*pt.asc, *tr.asc)
l Micromine Files (*MMpt.dat, *MMtr.dat)
l DXF Polyface Files (11/12 [AC1009]) (*.dxf)
l Alias Wavefront Object Files (*.obj)
l AutoCAD Drawing Files (2013/LT2013) (*.dwg)
l Bentley Drawing Files (v8) (*.dgn)

Alignments
Leapfrog Geo imports LandXML alignments as 3D alignments. The types of LandXML alignment
objects that can be imported are lines, curves and the following spiral types:
l Clothoid
l Bloss
l Cubic parabola
l Cubic (JP)
l Sine half-wavelength diminishing tangent curve
The file should have, at a minimum, a horizontal alignment. Chainage information in the imported
alignment is taken from the horizontal alignment.
l If the file contains a profile, that will appear in the project as a 3D alignment.
l If the file contains a surface, that will appear as a projected alignment. An alignment can have
multiple projected alignments.

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To import an alignment, right-click on the Designs folder and select Import Alignments. In the
window that appears, navigate to the folder where the alignments file is stored, select the file you
wish to import and click Open to start importing the file. If there is more than one alignment in
the file, you will be prompted to select which ones to import. Otherwise, the alignment will be
imported and added to the Designs folder.
Alignments are organised in the project tree by the imported file. For example, here two files have
been imported into Leapfrog Geo. The first, 100kmAlignment.xml, contains a single alignment,
whereas the file Alignments.xml contains three separate alignments:

The alignments in the parent file object can be expanded to show the separate parts. Here the file
imported contains a single alignment, which is made up of a horizontal alignment, a 3D alignment
and a projected alignment:

The Projected Alignments folder contains any CAD projections of the alignment that were
included in the imported file.

Reloading Alignments
To reload an alignment, right-click on its file in the project tree and select Reload:

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Navigate to the folder containing the alignment file and select the file. Click Open. You will be
prompted to select which alignments to reload:

Click OK to reload the data. The original data will be overwritten and dependent objects will be
updated to reflect the new data. If there are new alignments in the file, they will be added to the
existing parent alignment.

Displaying Alignments
When an alignment is displayed, you can change how the chainage values are displayed using the
controls in the properties panel. To hide the chainage values in the scene, disable the text control (
) in the shape list.

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The colour options in the shape list control the alignment colour and the tick mark and chainage
values colour:

When the chainage values are displayed, there is also an option in the properties panel for showing
the curve points.

Using Alignments in the Project

Alignments can be evaluated onto sections as lines:

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Points Data
Points are sets of X-Y-Z coordinates, with or without associated values. In Leapfrog Geo, points
are used to define surfaces and for interpolation. You can use the Points folder to:
l Import points data
l Extract contact points, intrusion values and interval midpoints from drillhole data
l Create guide points
l Create grids of points that can be evaluated against geological and numeric models and
exported for use in other modelling
The rest of this topic describes importing and exporting points, setting elevation for points and
evaluating points. It is divided into:
l Importing Points Data
l Reloading Points Data
l Appending Points Data
l Importing a Column
l Setting Elevation for Points
l Evaluating Points Data
l Displaying Points
l Viewing Points Table Statistics
l Exporting Points Data

Importing Points Data

Leapfrog Geo supports the following file types for points data:
l CSV files (*.csv)
l ASCII text files (*.asc)
l DXF files (*.dxf)
l Leapfrog Geo 3D Point Data files (*.pl3, *.ara)
Points data can be imported from:
l Files stored on your computer or a network location. Right-click on the Points folder and
select Import Points. You will be prompted to select a file.
l From any database that runs an ODBC interface. Right-click on the Points folder and select
Import Points via ODBC. See Selecting the ODBC Data Source below.
For each of these options, once the data source is selected, the process of importing the data is
the same.

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When importing a file that has multiple features, you will be prompted to select which ones to
import. You can also choose to:
l Import the features as separate objects. Each feature will appear in the project tree as a
separate object.
l Flatten all features into one object. Leapfrog Geo will treat all features as a single object.
Once imported, the file will be added to the Points folder. If there are errors in the data, the
errors can be corrected as described in Correcting Data Errors in Leapfrog Geo.
To view the imported data, double-click on the object that has been added to the Points folder.
Once points data has been imported to the project, it can be modified and evaluated against
geological models, numeric models and estimators, as described in Evaluating Points Data.

Selecting the ODBC Data Source

When importing points data from an ODBC database, you will need to specify the ODBC data
source. Enter the information supplied by your database administrator and click OK.
Once the data source is selected, the import process is similar to that described above.

Reloading Points Data

Reloading data is necessary when the imported data is modified externally. Points data can be
reloaded by right-clicking on the table and selecting Reload Data.

Reloading points data overwrites all data in the existing table. If you have data you wish to add
to the project without overwriting existing data, use the Append Data option.

The process is similar to that for importing the original table.

Appending Points Data

If points data is stored in multiple files, you can import these files into the project and add them to
existing points data. To do this, right-click on the object you wish to append and select Append
Data. You will be prompted to select a file.
Next, the Import Tables For Appending window will be displayed.
Check the data to ensure that the correct information will be imported, then click Finish to add
the new file.

Importing a Column
Columns of points data that were not imported when the original data was imported or that are
stored in a separate file can be added to the table at any time. To do this, right-click on the points
table in the project tree and select Import Column.

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The process is similar to importing the original table; select the file and map the columns you wish
to import.

Setting Elevation for Points

You can set the elevation for points tables by projecting them onto a surface. This overwrites
elevation values in the z column of the points table, using the data from the selected surface. If
the surface does not intersect vertically with all points, you can choose how the z values for
those unprojected points will be handled.
To set the elevation for points from a surface, right-click on the points object in the project tree
and select Set Elevation. The Set Elevation window will appear:

Select from the surfaces available in the project.

Next, select how unprojected points should be handled. There are three options:
l Assign elevation values to sets the z values to a fixed elevation for all unprojected points.
l Leave elevation values empty clears the z values for all unprojected points.
l Leave unchanged makes no changes to the z values for unprojected points.
Click OK to set elevation values.

Evaluating Points Data

Once points data has been imported to the project, it can be modified and evaluated against
geological models, numeric models and estimators, as described in Evaluations.
In the case of geological models, you can also combine two or more models to evaluate the points
data and set the priority used for evaluation. To do this, click on the Combined Evaluation
button in the Select Models To Evaluate window. In the window that appears, select the
evaluations to combined, then set their priority. Click OK to create the combined evaluation, then
click OK in the Select Models To Evaluate window. The combined evaluation will be available
from the colour list.
To delete a combined evaluation, click on the Delete Combined button in the Select Models
To Evaluate window.

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Displaying Points
Points data can be displayed using a single flat colour, using a colour gradient or using the points
values. You can also import a colourmap, which is described in Colour Options.
As with drillholes, points data can be displayed as flat points or as spheres. When Make points
solid button ( ) is enabled for points data, the data points are displayed as spheres. Here, the
values are displayed as flat points:

You can restrict the range of values displayed using the Value filter in the properties panel.
When using the spheres option ( ), the points can be displayed using the values. To do this, the
Radius values list displays the columns available:

Select the column that will be used to determine the point size.
The Point radius control then determines the maximum point size displayed in the scene.

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Viewing Points Table Statistics

To view statistics on points data tables, right-click on a points table and select Statistics. The
following options are available:

See the Analysing Data topic for more information on each option:
l Table of Statistics
l Scatter Plots
l Q-Q Plots
l Box Plots

Exporting Points Data

To export points data, right-click on the points data object in the project tree and select Export.
For many points objects, you will be prompted to select which rows to include. Points data can be
exported in the following formats:
l CSV Files (*.csv)
l DXF Files (11/12 [AC1009]) (*.dxf)
l Drawing Files (2013/LT2013) (*.dwg)
l Bentley Drawing Files (v8) (*.dgn)
Additional export options are available for some types of points, which are described below.
Once you have selected how you wish to export the data, click Export. You will be prompted for
a filename and location.

Exporting Intrusion Values

Intrusion values can be extracted from drillhole data as described in Extracting Intrusion
Values from Drillhole Data.

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There are two options for exporting intrusion values:

l Export only the contact points. To do this, right-click on the intrusion values object and select
Export. If you choose this option, you can export the points in CSV format (*.csv), DXF
format (*.dxf) or DWG format (*.dwg).
l Export all the points used in creating an intrusion. To do this, right-click on the intrusion values
object and select Export Volume Points. If you choose this option, you can only export the
points in CSV format (*.csv).
In both cases, you will be prompted for a filename and location.

Exporting Interval Midpoints

Interval midpoints can be extracted from drillhole data, which is described in Extracting
Interval Midpoints from Drillhole Data. You can also export midpoints directly from an RBF
interpolant, which is described in Exporting Numeric Model Midpoints.

To export interval midpoints, right-click on the points data object in the project tree and select
Export. Interval midpoints can be exported in the following formats:
l CSV text file (*.csv)
l Snowden Supervisor CSV file (*.csv)
l Isatis 3D points file (*.asc)
The values exported are the midpoints of each segment, the X-Y-Z values and the hole ID. The
Snowden Supervisor and Isatis 3D points formats also include the interval length.
In each case, you will be prompted for a filename and location.

Extracting Points from Drillhole Data

This topic describes extracting different types of points from imported drillhole data. It is divided
into:
l Extracting Contact Points from Drillhole Data
l Extracting Intrusion Values from Drillhole Data
l Extracting Interval Midpoints from Drillhole Data

If you wish to save and export points data with X-Y-Z information, use these options, then
right-click on the data object to export the data as described in Exporting Points Data.

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Extracting Contact Points from Drillhole Data

Contact points define the boundary between two lithology layers. You can extract contact points
from interval tables to create a new points object in the Points folder. The values extracted are
the x-y-z values of the contact points.
To extract contact points from an interval table, right-click on the Points folder and select New
Contact Points. A window will appear listing the lithology and category columns available in the
project:

Select the required column and click OK.

Next, the New Contact Points window will appear:

Select the lithology required from the Select primary lithology list, then select the adjacent
lithologies you wish to extract in the Contacting lithologies list.

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Unspecified intervals are intervals that have no data. By default, unspecified intervals are ignored
when creating new contact points, but you can also treat them as the primary lithology or as
contacting lithologies.
For complex geologies, the up and down directions for the surface may not be clear. If this is the
case, untick the Horizontal Plane box. A reference plane will appear in the scene, with the up-
facing surface labelled A and the downward-facing surface labelled B:

Controlling the position of the reference plane is similar to controlling the position of the moving
plane:
l Use the handles in the scene window to move the plane.
l Set the Dip and Dip Azimuth values in the New Contact Points window. The reference
plane will be updated in the scene.
Once the reference plane is correctly oriented, click the Set From Plane button.
A reference plane set for contact points in the Points folder will be applied wherever the contact
points are used.
Click OK to create the points, which will appear in the project tree under the Points folder. To
edit the points, double-click on them.
Extracted contact points can be exported as described in Exporting Points Data.

Extracting Intrusion Values from Drillhole Data

You can extract intrusion points from interval tables to create a new points object in the Points
folder.
To extract intrusion values from an interval table, right-click on the Points folder and select New
Intrusion Values. A window will appear listing the lithology and category columns available in
the project:

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Select the required column and click OK.

Next, the New Intrusion window will appear:

Select the intrusion lithology, then move any younger lithologies to the Ignore list.
Unspecified intervals are intervals that have no data. By default, unspecified intervals are ignored
when extracting intrusion values, but you can also treat them as the interior lithology or as
exterior lithologies.
The settings in the Compositing tab are described in Category Composites.
Click OK to create the new points object, which will appear in the project tree under the Points
folder. To edit the points, double-click on the points object ( ) in the project tree. See Intrusion
Point Generation Parameters below.
When you view the intrusion points in the scene, you can display only the contact points or all the
points used determining the extrusion values. To display all points, click on the points object in the
shape list and tick the box for Show volume points:

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Extracted intrusion points and values can be exported as described in Exporting Points Data.

Intrusion Point Generation Parameters

To change the way intrusion values are generated, double-click on the points object ( ) in the
project tree:

The Edit Intrusion window will appear, displaying the Point Generation tab.
Here, the surface and volume points are displayed to show the effects of the Surface offset
distance and Background fill spacing parameters:

The Surface offset distance parameter sets the top and bottom ends of the interval and
affects how a surface behaves when it approaches a contact point. A smaller distance restricts
the angles that an approaching surface can take. Another factor that affects the angles a
surface will take is whether or not a trend has been applied to the surface.
The Background Fill Spacing parameter determines the approximate length of segments in
the remaining intervals. If the remaining interval is not a multiple of the Background Fill
Spacing value, Leapfrog Geo will automatically adjust the spacing to an appropriate value. A
smaller value for Background Fill Spacing means higher resolution and, therefore, slightly
smoother surfaces. However, computation can take longer.

Extracting Interval Midpoints from Drillhole Data

You can extract interval midpoints from raw or composited numeric and category tables to
create a new points object in the Points folder. The extracted points will be dynamically linked to
the original drillhole segments and can be evaluated against other data in the project. The values
extracted are the midpoints of each segment, the X-Y-Z values and the hole ID.

If you are exporting points data for use in Snowden Supervisor, use this option for extracting

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points from drillhole data. If you wish to export midpoints from an interpolant, see Exporting
Numeric Model Midpoints.

To extract midpoints from an interval table, right-click on the Points folder and select New
Interval Mid Points. In the window that appears, select the required Source table, then select
which data columns to use:

Apply a query filter, if required, then click OK. The new points object will appear in the project tree
under the Points folder. To edit the points, double-click on the points object ( ) in the project
tree.
Changes made to the source data table, such as changes to compositing parameters or special
values rules, will be reflected in the extracted points object.
Extracted interval midpoints can be exported as described in Exporting Points Data.

Creating Guide Points

Guide points can be created from any category point data in the project and added to surfaces.
Category data that can be used to create guide points includes:
l Downhole category point data
l LAS points
l Category data on imported points
l Interval midpoints
Guide points are classified into interior or exterior, and each guide point is assigned a distance
value that is the distance to the nearest point on the opposite side. Interior values are positive and
exterior values are negative.
Guide points are a good way of using blasthole data to control surfaces: create the guide points
from the downhole points, then add the guide points to the surface.

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To create guide points, right-click on the Points folder and select New Guide Points. A window
will appear listing the category columns available in the project:

Select the categories to assign to Interior (the positive side) and Exterior (the negative side).
You can also filter out distant values by ticking the Ignore distant values box and entering a
value. Often distant values have little effect on a surface and filtering out these values can
improve processing time.
Click OK. The guide points will appear in the project tree under the Points folder. To edit the
points, double-click on them.
Guide points can be exported as described in Exporting Points Data.

Grids of Points
You can create a grid of points that can be evaluated against geological and numeric models and
exported for use in other modelling packages. This topic describes creating and working with grids
of points. It is divided into:
l Creating a Grid of Points
l Evaluating a Grid of Points
l Statistics for a Grid of Points
l Exporting a Grid of Points

Creating a Grid of Points

You can create a grid of points that can be evaluated against geological models and interpolants
and exported for use in other modelling packages.

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To create a grid of points, right-click on the Points folder and select New Grid of Points. The
New Grid of Points window will appear, together with controls in the scene that will help in
setting the grid’s boundary:

Set the Spacing and Reference Point, which will control the number of points in the grid. You
can set the Reference Point by clicking in the scene. To do this, first click on the Select button (
) for the Reference Point, then click in the scene. The coordinates in the scene will be copied
to the New Grid of Points window.
For the Extents, you can select an object from the Enclose Object list to use the extents of
another object in setting the grid’s extents. You can also change the size and position of the grid
using the controls in the scene:
l The orange handle adjusts the Base Point.
l The red and pink handles adjust the Boundary Size.
l The blue handles adjust the Azimuth.

If you have set the extents from another object and then rotated the grid, you will need to
reset the extents by selecting the object again from the Enclose Object list.

The Number of Points in the grid will be updated as you change settings in the New Grid of
Points window. If the number of points will be very large, rendering of the grid in the scene will be
disabled.
You will be able to change the settings in this window once the grid has been created.
Click OK to create the grid, which will appear in the Points folder. Double-click on the grid to
change its settings.

Evaluating a Grid of Points

Once you have created the grid, you will be able to evaluate it against geological models,
interpolants and distance functions in the project. Right-click on the grid and select Evaluations,

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then select from the models available. The evaluations will be shown in the project tree as part of
the grid:

Evaluations will be exported with the grid. See Exporting a Grid of Points below.

Statistics for a Grid of Points

To view statistics on a grid of points, right-click on the grid and select Statistics.

See the Analysing Data topic for more information on each option:
l Table of Statistics
l Scatter Plots
l Q-Q Plots
l Box Plots

Exporting a Grid of Points

You can export a grid of points in the following formats:
l CSV file (*.csv)
l GSLIB Data file (*.dat)
l Surpac Block Model file (*.mdl)
l Isatis Block Model file (*.asc)
l Geo 3D Point Data file (*.pl3, *.ara)

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For CSV, Surpac Block Model and Isatis format files, all evaluations on the grid of points will be
exported as part of the file. For all other file types, only numeric evaluations will be exported.
To export a grid of points, right-click on it in the project tree and select Export. Select the format
required, enter a filename and location, then click Save.

Categorising Points
When you wish to select a small portion of points and you don’t have suitable parameters to use a
query filter, you can select points in the scene and assign them to categories. This adds a new
column to the points object, preserving the original data.
To start categorising points, right-click on the points object ( ) in the project tree and select
New Category Selection.
The New Category Selection window will appear:

If you select an existing column as the Source Column, you can assign selected points to the
existing categories or create new categories. If you select <None> for the Source Column, you
will have to define each category manually.
When you click OK, the points object will be added to the scene, along with a set of tools for
selecting points. To select points, click on the Select Points button ( ) and click the Add
Points button ( ). In the scene, draw a line across each point you wish to select:

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Selected points are highlighted in the scene. If you accidentally select the wrong point, either:
l Click the Remove Points button ( ) and draw across the point once again.
l Hold the Ctrl key while drawing across the point.
You can also:
l Select all visible points by clicking on the Select All button ( ) or by pressing Ctrl+A.
l Clear all selected points by clicking on the Clear Selection button ( ) or by pressing
Ctrl+Shift+A.
l Swap the selected points for the unselected points by clicking on the Invert Selection
button ( ) or by pressing Ctrl+I.

To change the width of the line used to select points, click on the Change Line Width button (
) and enter a new value. You can keep the Set Line Width window open while you select
points so you can change the line width as required.

When you have selected at least one point, click on the Assign to button, then select Create
New Lithology:

Dac

Enter a Name for the new category, then click OK.

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The new category will be created and the scene updated to reflect the changes:

Once you have created a new category, you can add to it by selecting further points, then
selecting the category from the Assign to list.
When you are finished, click the Save button ( ) and close the Category Selection window.
The new category column will appear in the project tree as an additional column in the points
table. Select the new column from the shape list to display it.

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Geophysical Data
The types of geophysical points and grids that can be imported into Leapfrog Geo are:
l 2D Grids
l ASEG_DFN Files
l UBC Grids
l GOCAD Models

2D Grids
Leapfrog Geo imports the following 2D grid formats:
l Arc/Info ASCII Grid (*.asc, *.txt)
l Arco/Info Binary Grid (*.adf)
l Digital Elevation Model (*.dem)
l Intergraph ERDAS ER Mapper 2D Grid (*.ers)
l ESRI .hdr Labelled Image (*.img, *.bil)
l SRTM .hgt (*.hgt)
l Surfer ASCII or Binary Grid (*.grd)
l Grid eXchange File (*.gxf)
l Geosoft Grid (*.grd)

MapInfo files can be imported into the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder. 2D grids in these
files will be saved into the into the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder. See Importing a
MapInfo Batch File for more information.

To import a 2D grid, right-click on either the Geophysical Data folder and select Import 2D
Grid. Navigate to the folder that contains grid and select the file. Click Open to begin importing
the data.
The Import 2D Grid window will appear, displaying the grid and each of the bands available.
Select the data type for each band and set the georeference information, if necessary. See
Importing a Map or Image for information on georeferencing imported files.
Once the grid has been imported, you can set its elevation, which is described in Setting Elevation
for GIS Objects and Images.

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When you display the grid in the scene, select the imported bands from the shape list:

Grids can be displayed as points ( ) or as cells and the values filtered, as described in Displaying
Points.

ASEG_DFN Files
Leapfrog Geo imports ASEG_DFN points in *.dfn format. To import an ASEG_DFN file, right-
click on the Geophysical Data folder and select Import ASEG_DFN. Leapfrog Geo will ask you
to specify the file location. Click Open to import the file. In the window that appears, enter a
name for the file, then click OK. Next set the X, Y and Z coordinates and click OK. If you select no
column for the Z coordinates, all Z values will be set to zero.
The file will appear in the Geophysical Data folder.

UBC Grids
Leapfrog Geo imports UBC grids in *.msh format, together with numeric values in properties files
in *.gra, *.sus, *.mag and *.den formats. UBC grids can be evaluated against geological and
numeric models, which can then be exported with the grid.

Importing a UBC Grid

To import a UBC grid, right-click on the Geophysical Data folder and select Import UBC
Model. In the window that appears, click Browse to locate the file to be imported. Click Add to
add any properties file, although these are not required.
For any properties file, click the Inactive Value field to mark cells as inactive. Doing so does not
change the data but ensures that cells with the inactive value can be hidden when the grid is
displayed in the scene. If you do not set this value when importing the grid, you can set it later by
double-clicking on the grid in the project tree.
Click Import. The grid will appear in the Geophysical Data folder.

Evaluating UBC Grids
UBC grids can be evaluated against geological and numeric models as described in Evaluations.
However, UBC grids cannot be evaluated against fault blocks and mutli-domained RBF
interpolants, although they can be evaluated against the parent geological model and the parent
numeric model.

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Mapping Category Evaluations

When a UBC grid is exported with a category evaluation, category data is mapped to an editable
numeric value. You can edit this by double-clicking on the grid in the project tree, then clicking on
the Export Mappings tab:

Change the numeric value assigned to each lithology, if required. You can also change the value
assigned to blocks that have no lithology.

The Export Mappings tab does not appear for UBC grids that have no geological model
evaluations.

Exporting a UBC Grid
To export a UBC grid, right-click on it in the project tree and select Export. Select the
evaluations to export with the grid, then select a folder. Click OK to export the grid.
A UBC grid can also be exported as points to a CSV file. To do this, right-click on the grid and
select Export as Points. You will then be prompted to select a file name and location. Once you
have clicked Save, select the CSV export options for null values and numeric precision, then click
OK.
The CSV file will contain:
l X, Y and Z columns, which represent the centre of each grid block
l I, J and K columns, which is the grid block index. I is in the range 1 to NI, J is in the range 1 to NJ
and K is in the range 1 to NK, where NI, NJ and NK are the grid dimensions.
l One or more data columns

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GOCAD Models
To import a GOCAD model, right-click on the Geophysical Data folder and select Import
GOCAD Model. Leapfrog Geo will ask you to specify the file location. Click Open to import the
file.
In the window that appears, set the Subsample Rate and enter a Name for the model. Click OK
to import the model, which will appear under the Geophysical Data folder.
You can then evaluate geological models, interpolants and distance functions in the project on the
model. In the case of geological models, you can also combine two or more models to evaluate on
the model. To evaluate a model, right-click on the model object in the project tree and select
Evaluations. See Evaluations for more information.
A GOCAD model can be exported as points to a CSV file. To do this, right-click on the grid and
select Export as Points. You will then be prompted to select a file name and location. Once you
have clicked Save, select the CSV export options for null values and numeric precision, then click
OK.
The CSV file will contain:
l X, Y and Z columns, which represent the centre of each grid block
l I, J and K columns, which is the grid block index. I is in the range 1 to NI, J is in the range 1 to NJ
and K is in the range 1 to NK, where NI, NJ and NK are the grid dimensions.
l One or more data columns

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Structural Data
In Leapfrog Geo, you can create and edit planar structural data tables directly or from other
objects in the project. Structural data can also be used to create and edit many surfaces.
Downhole planar structural data and lineations can also be imported, although structural data
imported in this way cannot be edited.
This topic describes how to work with structural data in Leapfrog Geo. It covers:
l Creating New Planar Structural Data Tables
l Importing Planar Structural Data
l Importing Lineations
l Displaying Structural Data
l Viewing Statistics on Structural Data
l Assigning Structural Data to Categories
l Editing the Orientation of Planar Structural Data
l Declustering Planar Structural Data
l Setting Elevation for Structural Data
l Estimating Planar Structural Data
See Stereonets and Form Interpolants for information on tools for analysing structural data.

Leapfrog Geo calculates strike using the American right-hand rule; when looking in the strike
direction, the plane should dip to the right.

Creating New Planar Structural Data Tables

There are two ways to create a new planar structural data table in Leapfrog Geo:
l Create a new table as part of creating or editing another object. See Editing Surfaces with
Structural Data.
l Create a new table using the Structural Modelling folder. Use this technique when, for
example, you are creating structural data points from a map or image. Right-click on the
Structural Modelling folder and select New Planar Structural Data. In the window that
appears, enter a name for the new table and click OK.
Before creating the new data table, add the map, image or data object you wish to work from to
the scene and orient the scene for drawing the new data points.

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When a new structural data table is created, it will be added to the scene. The Planar
Structural Data window will open, together with a set of tools for adding structural data points:

Click on the New Structural Data Point button ( ) and click and drag along the strike line in
the scene to add a new data point:

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You can adjust the data point using the controls in the Planar Structural Data window:

Importing Planar Structural Data

Leapfrog Geo supports planar structural measurements in .csv or text formats. This topic
describes importing structural data tables that include location information. Downhole structural
data can also be imported, as described in Importing Downhole Structural Data.
Structural data containing location information can be imported from:
l Files stored on your computer or a network location. Right-click on the Structural
Modelling folder and select Import Planar Structural Data. You will be prompted to select
a file.
l From any database that runs an ODBC interface. Right-click on the Structural Modelling
folder and select Import Planar Structural Data via ODBC. See Selecting the ODBC Data
Source below.

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For each of these options, once the data source is selected, the process of importing the data is
the same. Leapfrog Geo will display the data and you can select which columns to import:

Leapfrog Geo expects East (X), North (Y), Elev (Z), Dip and Dip Azimuth columns. The
Polarity column is optional. The Base Category column can be used for filtering data once it
has been imported.
Click Finish to import the data. The structural measurements will appear in the Structural
Modelling folder.
Once the data has been imported, you can reload and append the data and add columns to the
data in a similar manner to drillhole data. See Appending Drillholes, Reloading Drillhole Data and
Importing Columns for more information.

Selecting the ODBC Data Source

When importing planar structural data from an ODBC database, you will need to specify the
ODBC data source. Enter the information supplied by your database administrator and click OK.
Once the data source is selected, the import process is similar to that described above.

Importing Lineations
Lineations containing location information can be imported from files stored on your computer or
a network location in .csv or text formats. To do this, right-click on the Structural Modelling
folder and select Import Lineations. You will be prompted to select a file.
Leapfrog Geo expects East (X), North (Y), Elev (Z), Trend and Plunge columns. The
Polarity column is optional. The Category column can be used for filtering data once it has been
imported.

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Click Finish to import the data. The lineations will appear in the Structural Modelling folder.
Once the data has been imported, you can reload and append the data and add columns to the
data in a similar manner to drillhole data. See Appending Drillholes, Reloading Drillhole Data and
Importing Columns for more information.

Displaying Structural Data

Planar structural data is displayed as disks and lineations are displayed as cones. There are
several ways to change how this data is displayed. In the scene below, planar structural data is
displayed using the Flat colour option, with positive (red) and negative (blue) sides shown:

You can change the colours used to display the positive and negative sides using the controls in
the shape list. You can also display the data points as Thick disks, Flat disks or as Outlined flat
disks. You can change the Disk radius and the Disk size using the controls in the shape
properties panel.
Another way of displaying planar structural data is to display the categories as different colours:

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You can change the colours used to display the different categories by clicking on Edit Colours
in the shape list. In the window that appears, click on the colour chip for each category and
change it as described in Single Colour Display.

To set multiple categories to a single colour, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the colour
chips you wish to change, then click on one of the colour chips. The colour changes you make
will be made to all selected categories.

The categories displayed can also be filtered by other columns in the data table, as described in
Filtering Data Using Values and Categories.
In the scene below, lineations are displayed using the Flat colour option in green:

Click the colour chip to change the colour used to display the cones in the shape list or select one
of the table’s columns:

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The length of the cones displayed in the scene is set in the properties panel. This can be a Fixed
Length, defined by the Cone length setting, or it can be scaled using the values from one of the
table’s columns:

Another way of displaying lineations is to display the categories as different colours:

You can change the colours used to display the different categories by clicking on Edit Colours
in the shape list. In the window that appears, click on the colour chip for each category and
change it as described in Single Colour Display.

To set multiple categories to a single colour, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the colour
chips you wish to change, then click on one of the colour chips. The colour changes you make
will be made to all selected categories.

The categories displayed can also be filtered by other columns in the data table, as described in
Filtering Data Using Values and Categories.

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Viewing Statistics on Structural Data

To view statistics on structural data and lineations, right-click on a table and select Statistics.
The following options are available:

See the Analysing Data topic for more information on each option:
l Table of Statistics
l Scatter Plots
l Q-Q Plots
l Box Plots

Bingham Analysis
The Bingham Analysis option shows the value, trend and plunge for each of the eigenvectors,
along with the Bingham mean plane and best-fit great circle:

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You can select specific rows and copy them to the clipboard or copy all data to the clipboard. You
can also export the data in *.csv format.

Fisher Statistics
The Fisher Statistics option shows the Fisher mean plane and confidence for the data in the
selected table:

You can select specific rows and copy them to the clipboard or copy all data to the clipboard. You
can also export the data in *.csv format.

Assigning Structural Data to Categories

There are two ways to initiate structural data selection: from the data object in the project
tree/shape list and from a stereonet. The advantage of initiating structural data selection
from a stereonet is that the data will be displayed both on the stereonet and in the scene
window. This provides the most flexibility for analysing what data belongs to what category.
See Selecting Data in the Stereonet and Using the Scene Window with the Stereonet for more
information.

If you wish to assign planar structural data points or lineations to categories, right-click on the
data table in the project tree and select New Category Selection. First, select the Source
Column. If you select an existing column as the Source Column, you can assign selected data
points to existing categories or create new categories. If you select <None> for the Source
Column, you will have to define each category manually.

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Select points by clicking on the Select points tool ( ), then drawing over those points in the
scene:

Once you have selected points, you can assign them to existing categories or create new ones.
To create a new category, click on the Assign to > Create New Category button:

Enter a name for the new category and click OK.

When you have finished selecting points and adding them to categories, close the Category
Selection window to close the editor.

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Editing the Orientation of Planar Structural Data

If you need to edit the orientation of planar structural data points, you can do so in two ways:
l Edit the data in the table directly by double-clicking on the structural data table in the project
tree. See Working with Data Tables.
l Edit the structural data orientation in the scene.
To edit the structural data in the scene, right-click on the table in the project tree and select Edit
Orientation in Scene. If the table is displayed in the scene, in the shape list, click on the Edit
button ( ). The Planar Structural Data window will appear in the scene, together with
controls for editing the data points. To edit a data point, click on it. Information about the
selected point will be displayed in the Planar Structural Data window, together with controls in
the scene you can use to adjust the point:

You can also add new data points in the same manner described in Creating New Planar
Structural Data Tables.

Declustering Planar Structural Data

If a planar structural data table contains multiple duplicate or near-duplicate measurements, you
can create a declustered structural data set that will make the table easier to work with.
Declustering is intended to work with large, machine-collected data sets rather than smaller sets
that might be edited manually.
Declustering preserves the original data table and creates the set as a “filter” by applying two
parameters: the Spatial search radius and the Angular tolerance.
l The Spatial search radius determines the size of the declustering space. All points inside the
Spatial search radius are compared searching for duplicates.

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l The Angular tolerance measures whether points have the same or similar orientation. The
orientation of all points inside the Spatial search radius is measured and the mean taken. If
a point’s orientation is less than the Angular tolerance from the mean, then the point is
regarded as a duplicate. The point that is retained is the one that is closest to the mean.
When a structural data set has a numeric column that gives some indication of the
measurement’s uncertainty, this column can be used to prioritise values. Select the Priority
column and set how the values should be handled.
Another factor in declustering the points is the category columns selected. When you choose
multiple category columns, all criteria must match for points to be regarded as duplicates. What
this means is that points will be kept if they have different category values in just one column,
even if they meet the criteria for duplicates established by the Spatial search radius and the
Angular tolerance and match in other columns. For example, in this table, assume that applying
the Spatial search radius and the Angular tolerance parameters without using the Lithology
category results in three points. However, including the Lithology column results in five points,
indicated by the colours:

The more columns you select, the lower the likelihood that points will be regarded as duplicate.
The declustered set can be used like an ordinary structural data table. However, it is a filter on a
planar structural data table and can be used as such when the parent table is displayed in the
scene. For example, here the filters available for the planar structural data table include the query
filters ( ) defined for the table as well as the declustered set ( ):

To create a declustered structural data set, right-click on the Structural Modelling folder and
select New Declustered Structural Data. Select the source data table and a query filter, if
required. Set the parameters and the columns you wish to use, then click OK. The declustered set
will be added to the Structural Modelling folder.
Edit the set by right-clicking on it in the project tree and selecting Edit Declustered Structural
Data.

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Setting Elevation for Structural Data

You can set the elevation for planar structural data points or lineations by projecting the data onto
a surface. Any elevation data in the data table will be overwritten by the elevation values from
the selected surface.
To set the elevation for planar structural data points or lineations, right-click on the table in the
project tree and select Set Elevation. The Set Elevation from Surface window will appear:

Select from the surfaces available in the project.

Unprojected points are data points that do not vertically intersect the selected surface. There are
two options for handling these points:
l Leave the elevation field empty.
l Assign a fixed elevation value.
Click OK to set elevation values.

Estimating Planar Structural Data

You can generate a set of planar structural measurements from points, polylines and GIS lines. To
do this, right-click on the points or lines object in the project tree and select Estimate
Structural Data. In the window that appears, enter a name for the structural data table, then
click OK. The new structural data table will appear in the project tree and you can view and edit it
as described in Displaying Structural Data and Editing the Orientation of Planar Structural Data.

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Meshes
In Leapfrog Geo, meshes are used to represent surfaces in the form of vertices and triangles that
define the 3D shape of the surface. Meshes can be open or closed. Meshes are generated as part
of the model-building process, but can also be imported into a project or created directly in the
project. Leapfrog Geo has several tools for adjusting meshes.
The Meshes folder contains all meshes imported into Leapfrog Geo and created in Leapfrog Geo
outside of the model building process.
Two types of meshes are stored in the Meshes folder:
l Non-editable meshes ( ) are meshes imported into Leapfrog Geo and meshes created in
Leapfrog Geo from the moving plane, Meshes > Mesh Operations tools and by extracting
mesh parts from other surfaces in the project.
l Editable meshes ( ) are created in Leapfrog Geo from data objects such as points data, GIS
data and polylines. Editable meshes can be refined by adding more data. Editable meshes can
be interpolated meshes (using FastRBF) or triangulated meshes (using Delaunay
triangulation). Interpolated meshes can also be created from structural data and values
objects.
The rest of this topic is divided into:
l Cleaning Up a Mesh
l Importing a Mesh
l Reloading a Mesh
l Displaying Surfaces
l Exporting Meshes

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Cleaning Up a Mesh
There are several options for cleaning up a mesh that can be applied to meshes imported into
Leapfrog Geo and to non-editable meshes created in Leapfrog Geo.
To clean up a mesh, double-click on the mesh in the Meshes folder or right-click on the mesh and
select Open. The Cleanup Mesh window will be displayed:

The Cleanup Mesh window will also be displayed when you import meshes.
The first option, Combine identical vertices, is intended for snapping cases where vertices
occupy the exact same point in space. When enabled, vertices that have the exact same
coordinates will be merged.

When enabled, Combine identical vertices occurs before the other processing actions in
the Cleanup Mesh window.

The next option, Remove self-intersections for volumes, retriangulates self-intersecting

triangles and trims away remaining open surfaces, whether they lie inside or outside the mesh.
Before applying the Remove self-intersections for volumes option, check whether the
mesh is open or closed. To do this, right-click on it in the project tree and select Properties.
Closed should be True:

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A mesh may appear to be closed in the scene but the Closed property will be false. Such a mesh
may be made up of open parts that do not join up perfectly to make a closed mesh. If Remove
self-intersections for volumes is enabled for such a mesh, it may disappear when it is
trimmed.
Remove self-intersections for volumes should not be enabled for surface-like open meshes.
You may wish to enable Remove self-intersections for volumes if a mesh is reporting as
open but is more volume-like than surface-like. Such a mesh may have a single open part that
needs to be removed, or it may have open parts that line up perfectly and can be retriangulated to
form a closed mesh.
The next four options are automatically applied to meshes created in or imported into Leapfrog
Geo:
l Consistently orient faces ensures that a mesh can be used for inside/outside testing.
l Remove non-vertex points removes points that are not used by any triangles.
l Remove degenerate faces removes triangles with duplicate vertices.
l Orient concentric parts ensures that internal parts have the correct orientation.
Other options are:
l Invert mesh orientation reverses the polarity of the mesh.
l Remove vertical edges removes any vertical faces from the mesh boundary.
l Rotate locations about X axis lets you rotate the mesh 90 degrees clockwise or
anticlockwise.
l Move Mesh lets you offset the mesh by a vector. Tick the Move Mesh box and enter the
required values. The offset values can be changed by opening the Clean Mesh window once
again.
Select the options required, then click OK.
The mesh will be added to the project tree under the Meshes folder.

Importing a Mesh
Mesh formats Leapfrog Geo supports include:
l Leapfrog Geo Attribute Binary Mesh Formats (*.msh, *.ara)
l Datamine Files (*.asc, *.dm)
l DXF Polyface Files (11/12 [AC1009]) (*.dxf)
l Gemcom Files (*.tri)
l Alias Wavefront Object Files (*.obj)
l Surpac DTM Files (*.dtm)
l GOCAD Files (*.ts)
l Leapfrog Model Files (*.lfm)
l Micromine Files (*.dat)
l Bentley Drawing Files (v8) (*.dgn)

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l AutoCAD Drawing Files (2013/LT2013) (*.dwg)

l Vulcan Files (*.00t) (with Maptek Link)

If you have the Maptek Link extension, you can also import meshes in VULCAN .00t format.
Contact Customer Support as described in Getting Support for more information about the
Maptek Link extension.

Once a mesh has been imported to the project, you can evaluate it against any interpolant or
distance function in the project. See Evaluations for more information.
To import a mesh, right-click on the Meshes folder and select Import Mesh. Navigate to the
folder that contains the mesh file and select the file. You can select multiple files using the Shift
and Ctrl keys. Click Open to import the file.
The Cleanup Mesh window will be displayed. See Cleaning Up a Mesh. Select the options
required, then click OK.
The mesh will be added to the project tree under the Meshes folder.

Meshes imported into Leapfrog Geo may exhibit geometries that cannot be used
computationally by Leapfrog Geo. See Visualising Issues with Imported Meshes for
information on how to identify issues with imported meshes.

Meshes with Textures

Leapfrog Geo can import OBJ meshes with textures. If you have the Maptek Link extension, you
can also import Vulcan meshes with textures.

Textured OBJ Meshes

For OBJ meshes, a materials file (.mtl) is required, together with the referenced images. Image
formats supported include:
l PNG Files (*.png)
l JPEG Files (*.jpg, *.jpeg)
l TIFF and GeoTIFF Files (*.tiff, *.tif)
l Windows Bitmap Files (*.bmp)
l Graphics Interchange Format Files (*.gif)
The texture is automatically imported when the mesh is imported and will appear in the project
tree under the mesh.

Textured Vulcan Meshes

This feature is only available if you have the Maptek Link extension.

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When importing a Vulcan mesh that contains a path to an associated texture, Leapfrog Geo will
also import the texture. If the path to the texture does not exist, you can import it once the mesh
has been imported. Do this by right-clicking on the mesh in the project tree and selecting Import
Texture. Navigate to the folder containing the texture file and click Open. The texture will be
imported and stored in the project tree as part of the mesh.

Reloading a Mesh
Meshes imported into Leapfrog Geo and created from extracting mesh parts can be reloaded. To
do this, right-click on the mesh in the project tree and select Reload Mesh. Navigate to the file
that should be used and click Open.

Displaying Surfaces
Leapfrog Geo assigns different colours to each side of a surface.
A basic mesh will have an inside (coloured red) and an outside (coloured blue):

In the case of contact surfaces, each side will be assigned a lithology. “Unknown” will be used if
multiple lithologies are contacted. Contact surfaces can be displayed using the assigned
lithologies or the younging direction:

When a contact surface is displayed by its younging direction, the younger side of the surface will
be displayed in green and the older side in brown.
Veins can also be displayed coloured with the thickness values.
Surfaces that are part of a geological model or interpolant are, by default, displayed clipped to the
model boundary:

Disable the Clipped surface button ( ) to view the surface unclipped.

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Draping an Image on a Mesh

You can drape images on any mesh in the Meshes folder. To do this, right-click on the mesh in
the Meshes folder and select one of the Drape Image options.
l For the Import Image option, you will be prompted for a file location. Navigate to the folder
containing the image you wish to drape, select the file and click Open. Set georeferencing
information for the image, if required, then click OK. See Importing a Map or Image for more
information on georeferencing images. The imported image will appear in the project tree
under the mesh.
l For the Select Existing Image option, select from the images available in the project and
click OK. A hyperlink to the image will appear in the project tree under the mesh.
You can drape as many images as required. When the mesh is displayed in the scene, you will be
able to select any draped images from the list of display options.

When you import and georeference an image, you can then export it as a GeoTIFF. To do this,
right-click on it in the project tree and select Export. You will be prompted for a filename and
location. Click Save.

Exporting Meshes
Leapfrog Geo exports meshes in the following formats:
l Leapfrog Files (*.msh)
l Gocad Files (*.ts)
l DXF Files (*.dxf)
l Surpac Files (*.dtm, *.str)
l Gemcom Files (*.tri)
l Datamine Files (*pt.asc, *tr.asc)
l Micromine Files (*MMpt.dat, *MMtr.dat)
l DXF Polyface Files (MineCAD) (*.dxf)
l Alias Wavefront Object Files (*.obj)
l Drawing Files (2013/LT2013) (*.dwg)
l Bentley Drawing Files (v8) (*.dgn)

If you have the Maptek Link extension, you can also export meshes in VULCAN .00t format.
Contact Customer Support as described in Getting Support for more information about the
Maptek Link extension.

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You can export single meshes or batch export meshes from the Meshes folder or from individual
models. Each of these is described below:
l Exporting a Single Mesh
l Exporting Multiple Meshes from the Meshes Folder
l Exporting Multiple Meshes from Models

Exporting a Single Mesh

To export a mesh, right-click on the mesh and select Export. The Export Mesh Parts window
will appear:

An Export clipped mesh option is available for meshes that are clipped to a boundary:

If the quality of the mesh produced is not acceptable, clip the mesh as described in Clipping a
Mesh, then export the mesh.

Select the Parts to Export, then click OK. You will be prompted for a filename and location.

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When exporting a mesh that has multiple parts, you can distinguish between the different parts
by clicking on them in the Export Mesh Parts window. Here, the mesh was added to the scene
before the Export Mesh Parts window was opened. Clicking on a mesh part in the list selects
that part in the scene:

If the mesh is not in the scene when the Export Mesh Parts window is opened, selecting a part
in the list will display it in the scene without reference to the other parts of the mesh:

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Use the Shift and Ctrl keys to select and view multiple mesh parts in the scene:

Exporting Multiple Meshes from the Meshes Folder

To export multiple meshes from those in the Meshes folder, right-click on the Meshes folder
and select Export Meshes. In the window that appears, select the meshes you wish to export:

The filename that will be used for each mesh is shown in the Filenames column. To change the
filename for any of the meshes, click on its name in the Filenames column.
Next, select the format required and where to save the exported meshes. Available formats are:
l Leapfrog Model Files (*.lfm)
l Leapfrog Files (*.msh)
l Gocad Files (*.ts)
l DXF Files (*.dxf)

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l Surpac Files (*.dtm, *.str)

l Gemcom Files (*.tri)
l Datamine Files (*pt.asc, *tr.asc)
l Micromine Files (*MMpt.dat, *MMtr.dat)
l DXF Polyface Files (MineCAD) (*.dxf)
l Alias Wavefront Object Files (*.obj)
l Drawing Files (2013/LT2013) (*.dwg)
l Bentley Drawing Files (v8) (*.dgn)
Click Export to save the meshes.

Exporting Multiple Meshes from Models

You can export multiple meshes from individual geological models, numeric models, combined
models and static models. To export meshes in this way, right-click on a model or interpolant and
select Export. In the window that appears, select the volumes and surfaces you wish to export:

For geological models, if you wish to export surfaces other than the output volumes, untick the
Only Output Volumes option.

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For faulted geological models, you also can select from the faulted volumes by ticking the
Faulted Volumes box:

The filename that will be used for each mesh is shown in the Filenames column. To change the
filename for any of the meshes, click on its name in the Filenames column.
Next, select the format required and where to save the exported meshes. Available formats are:
l Leapfrog Model Files (*.lfm)
l Leapfrog Files (*.msh)
l Gocad Files (*.ts)
l DXF Files (*.dxf)
l Surpac Files (*.dtm, *.str)
l Gemcom Files (*.tri)
l Datamine Files (*pt.asc, *tr.asc)
l Micromine Files (*MMpt.dat, *MMtr.dat)
l DXF Polyface Files (MineCAD) (*.dxf)
l Alias Wavefront Object Files (*.obj)
l Drawing Files (2013/LT2013) (*.dwg)
l Bentley Drawing Files (v8) (*.dgn)
For any of the export options other than Leapfrog Model Files format, you can save the meshes
as a zip file.

The Leapfrog Model File format exports a single *.lfm file. If the file is imported into the
Meshes folder, each output volume will appear as a single mesh.

Click Export to save the meshes.

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Visualising Issues with Imported Meshes

Meshes imported into Leapfrog Geo may exhibit geometries that cannot be used
computationally by Leapfrog Geo. For example, problems arise when a mesh has holes, self-
intersections or is non-manifold, and such meshes need to be fixed before they can be used in
Leapfrog Geo. Leapfrog Geo provides some tools that may fix some meshes, but blindly utilising
them can result in undesirable side effects, so it is best to have a good understanding of the
precise nature of the problems prior to selecting and utilising any repair options. Alternatively,
understanding the location and nature of the problem may permit manual intervention in the tool
generating the mesh that is being imported to Leapfrog Geo. This topic describes how to identify
issues in imported meshes. It is divided into:
l Examining Mesh Properties
l Visualising Self Intersections
l Visualising Borders
l Options for Handling Mesh Issues

Examining Mesh Properties

After importing a mesh, right click on it in the project tree and select Properties. Information in
the General tab can give some insight into any problems with the mesh. These are the
Properties window for an open mesh (left) and a closed one:

The Closed, Consistent and Manifold properties are shown for all meshes:
l A “closed” mesh is one for which no borders have been detected.
l A mesh is regarded as “consistent” when its inside can be distinguished from its outside.
l A manifold mesh is a closed mesh for which Leapfrog Geo can calculate a volume. If there are
issues with parts of the mesh and the volume cannot be calculated, the mesh will be flagged

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as “non-manifold”, which, in Leapfrog Geo, is a general term for geometry issues that limit a
mesh’s use.
Information about Borders, Edges and Length is shown for open meshes:
l “Borders” are boundary edges that are not connected to another triangle.
l “Edges” indicates the number of triangle edges that make up the border.
l “Length” is the total length of all border edges.
When Leapfrog Geo detects errors in the mesh, additional information is provided in an Errors
tab.

Visualising Self Intersections

A mesh with self-intersections is often regarded as open, which limits the mesh’s use in Leapfrog
Geo. The Errors tab in the Properties window provides a full list of each self-intersection
triangle, but this is not useful for visualising where the self-intersections occur. There are three
options for visualising self-intersections, which can be used alone or together.
The first option is to add the mesh to the scene and display it by its self intersections, which is one
of the colouring options available in the shape list:

The self intersections may be so tiny that visualising them in this way is not useful. You could then
use the second option for displaying self-intersections with the self intersections object in the
project tree:

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The self intersections object is a sub-mesh that replicates the parts of its parent mesh that have
the problematic self-intersections. Its like a copy of the mesh with the valid parts filtered out, and
it can be displayed in the scene in the same manner as other meshes. Remove the whole mesh
from the scene and add only the self intersections object:

Make sure Show faces ( ) is on and Smooth faces ( ) is off. Pick front and back face
shading colours that contrast with your chosen background colour, pale shades on dark
backgrounds, dark shades on pale backgrounds.
The problematic triangles can be invisibly small. Pressing the Home button and zooming in to fill
the screen can work well if triangles are few and close together.

Use the scroll wheel to quickly zoom in and out, and click-and-drag the left-and-right mouse
buttons to pan.

If, however, the self intersections are spaced at opposite ends of the original mesh, you probably
still won’t be able to see them, in which case, the third option for displaying self intersections may
be useful. This involves using the Extract Mesh Parts window to view different parts of the
mesh. To do this, clear the scene. Next, right-click on the mesh (not on its self intersections) and
select Extract Mesh Parts:

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In the window that appears, you can sort the mesh parts by their volume and view only the
smaller volumes, those likely to be the self intersections, one by one:

Once you’ve identified the areas of interest, add the whole mesh to the scene. Because you will
have the mesh itself and its self intersections displayed, you can independently control the
visibility of each. On the whole mesh, change the colouring selector to self intersections and the
mesh will show hot colours where the mesh is intersected. Try turning Show faces ( ) off but
Show edges ( ) on to see just the wireframe of the mesh. You can also adjust the opacity of
the mesh to make the whole mesh into a pale background so that the self intersection mesh
stands out. To get a better picture of the geometry of the mesh around the self-intersecting
triangles, move the scene around to see the shape better in 3D. Click the middle mouse button
(scroll wheel button) on a self-intersecting triangle to set the centre of rotation on that triangle.
Then click-and-drag the scene up and down and left and right and around to orbit around the point
of interest. This will help you visualise the context better.

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The self-intersecting triangles can at times look very simple, but zooming in very close to the
corners, edges and contacts between triangles may reveal some very small triangles you hadn’t
previously noticed.

The Cleanup Mesh window has a Remove self-intersections for volumes option that can
be useful in fixing some self intersections:

The Cleanup Mesh window can be opened by double-clicking on an imported mesh in the
project tree. See Cleaning Up a Mesh for more information.

The Remove self-intersections for volumes repair option retriangulates self-intersecting

triangles and trims away remaining open surfaces, whether they lie inside or outside the mesh.
l Before applying the Remove self-intersections for volumes option, check whether the
mesh is open or closed. A mesh may appear to be closed in the scene but the Closed property
will be false. Such a mesh may be made up of open parts that do not join up perfectly to make
a closed mesh. If Remove self-intersections for volumes is enabled for such a mesh, it
may disappear when it is trimmed.
l Remove self-intersections for volumes should not be enabled for surface-like open
meshes. You may wish to enable Remove self-intersections for volumes if a mesh is

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reporting as open but is more volume-like than surface-like. Such a mesh may have a single
open part that needs to be removed, or it may have open parts that line up perfectly and can
be retriangulated to form a closed mesh.
If you enable this option, check the resulting mesh’s properties and that is appears in the scene as
you expect.

Visualising Borders
Leapfrog Geo may regard a mesh as open when it appears to be closed. Here a mesh that appears
to be a closed volume is displayed in the scene:

To visualise where the borders are on the mesh, enable the Show borders option in the
properties panel. In this example, a small border can be identified:

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Options for Handling Mesh Issues

Key questions to ask with regard to mesh issues are:

l Can the mesh be fixed in the application of origin?
l Do you need to use the affected part of the mesh?
l Can you extract the parts of the mesh you need to work with?

The best option for issues with an imported mesh is to fix the issues in the application of origin,
and diagnosing the issues in Leapfrog can be of some help in doing so. But when fixing the mesh
outside Leapfrog Geo is not possible, there are mesh repair options available through the Cleanup
Mesh window. This is opened when meshes are imported, but you can also open it by double-
clicking on a mesh:

However, some options can have unexpected results and so it is best to have a good
understanding of the precise nature of the problems prior to selecting and utilising any repair
options. The Cleanup Mesh window can be opened by double-clicking on an imported mesh in
the project tree. See Cleaning Up a Mesh for more information.
When these mesh repair options cannot fix the problems, consider whether you need to use the
problem part of the mesh. It could be that the issues you have identified lie outside the are in
which you are modelling. If Leapfrog Geo does not limit the use of this mesh in your model, using
the mesh might not be an issue.
If you do not need to use the problem part of the mesh but Leapfrog Geo limits your use of the
mesh due to the errors identified, you could use the Extract Mesh Parts tool to extract the
parts of the mesh you want to work with, leaving out the the parts that have issues.
If you cannot resolve issues with a mesh, contact support as described in Getting Support. When
doing so:
l Include a zipped copy of the project that includes the mesh.
l Identify the source of the mesh.

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Non-Editable Meshes
Leapfrog Geo provides you with several tools for creating non-editable meshes:
l Mesh from the Moving Plane
l Combining Meshes
l Clipping a Volume
l Clipping a Mesh
l Merging 2D Meshes
l Extracting Mesh Parts
These tools produce non-editable meshes ( ).

Mesh from the Moving Plane

When a vertical wall, flat fault plane or other flat geological surface is required, the moving plane
can be used to create a simple mesh.
To create a new mesh from the moving plane, first display the plane in the scene by clicking on
the Show Plane button ( ). Use the controls in the scene to position the plane, then right-click
on the Meshes folder and select Mesh From Moving Plane. The Mesh From Plane window
will appear:

Set the Resolution for the mesh, enter a name and click OK. The new mesh will appear in the
Meshes folder.
See Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo for more information on the resolution setting.

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Combining Meshes
To create a new mesh from two existing closed meshes, right-click on the Meshes folder and
select Mesh Operations > Boolean Volume. The Boolean Volume window will appear:

The Available list shows all closed meshes available in the project. Select a mesh by double-
clicking on it or by clicking on it, then on the arrow.
The Operation type can be Intersect or Union.
Click OK to save the new mesh, which will appear in the Meshes folder. To edit the mesh,
double-click on it. The Boolean Volume window will appear.
When any of the meshes used to create the volume is modified, the volume will be updated.

Clipping a Volume
To clip a closed mesh using another mesh, right-click on the Meshes folder and select Mesh
Operations > Clip Volume. The Clip Volume window will appear. Select the meshes you wish
to use and whether to retain the inside or outside of the clipped mesh.
Click OK to save the new mesh, which will appear in the Meshes folder. To edit the mesh,
double-click on it.
When either of the meshes used to create the clipped volume is modified, the clipped volume will
also be updated.

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Clipping a Mesh
This option creates a new mesh that consists of the parts of a Clip mesh that are inside, outside
or overlap with the Using mesh. To clip one mesh using another mesh or boundary in this manner,
right-click on the Meshes folder and select Mesh Operations > Clip Mesh. The Clip Mesh
window will appear:

Select the meshes to use, then choose whether to retain the inside or the outside of the clipped
mesh. Tick the Include overlap box to include the overlap between the two meshes as part of
the new mesh.
Click OK to save the new mesh, which will appear in the Meshes folder. To edit the mesh,
double-click on it. The Clip Mesh window will appear.
When either of the meshes used to create the clipped mesh is modified, the clipped mesh will be
updated.

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Merging 2D Meshes
This option creates a new mesh from two or more open meshes and specifies the priority in which
input meshes will be used to create the final mesh. This is useful when, for example, a single mesh
is required that represents the topography (with less detail) and the area around a site (with more
detail). To merge 2D meshes, right-click on the Meshes folder and select Mesh Operations >
Merge Meshes 2D. In the window that appears, select the meshes you wish to use.

If you use more than one detailed mesh or base mesh, the meshes higher in the list will have
higher priority over those lower down in the list.
The Buffer distance value determines the zone in which the selected meshes are merged and
the Resolution setting determines the resolution of that zone. For example, here the Buffer
distance is 250:

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Click OK to save the new mesh, which will appear in the Meshes folder. To edit the mesh,
double-click on it.
When any of the meshes used to create the merged mesh are modified, the merged mesh will be
updated.

Extracting Mesh Parts

To extract the triangles from a mesh and create a new mesh, right-click on the surface and
select Extract Mesh Parts. The Extract Mesh Parts window will appear:

The Extract clipped mesh option is only available for meshes that are clipped to a boundary.
The largest part is initially selected. You can sort the mesh parts by Volume or by Area by
clicking the heading of the respective column. Other options are:
l Select all parts by clicking the Select All button. To de-select all parts click the Remove All
button.
l Inside-out parts have negative volume. To remove them, click the Remove Inside-Out
button.
l To remove parts smaller than a given size, first click the Select All button. Select the last
item you want to keep and click the Remove Below Current button.
Click OK to save the new mesh, which will appear in the Meshes folder. The mesh generated is a
non-editable mesh ( ).

Meshes created in this way are not connected to the mesh they were created from. Changes
to the original mesh will not be reflected in the selected parts.

If the quality of the mesh produced is not acceptable, clip the mesh as described in Clipping a
Mesh.

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Interpolated Meshes
An interpolated mesh is a type of editable mesh ( ). An interpolated mesh uses FastRBF to fit
and interpolate surface data. The FastRBF is useful for creating meshes from sparse datasets or
when data has large areas where there are no points. Interpolated meshes can be created from
points data, GIS data, polylines, structural data and values objects.
Interpolated meshes can be edited by adding more data to the mesh and changing settings.
This topic describes creating and working with interpolated meshes. It is divided into:
l Creating an Interpolated Mesh
l Refining an Interpolated Mesh
l Surface Resolution Settings
l Snap Settings
l Other Options

Creating an Interpolated Mesh

The steps for creating a mesh from data in the project are similar, regardless of the data used to
create the mesh. The exception is creating an offset mesh, which requires additional parameters.
See Offset Meshes for more information.
To create an interpolated mesh from data in the project, right-click on the Meshes folder and
select from the New Mesh options.
Here, a new mesh is being created from points:

Select the required object from the list.

When defining the mesh’s extents, you can set the extents to be independent of other objects in
the project (Own extents) or you can use the extents of another object (Shared with). When
you select the Shared with option, the mesh will be updated when the extents object it shares is
updated.
Leapfrog Geo automatically sets the surface resolution based on the data available in the project.
You can experiment with the surface resolution and adaptive settings once you have created the
mesh. See Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo for more information on the effects of these
settings.
Enter a name for the new mesh and click OK.

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If you are creating the mesh from a polyline, you will be prompted to select an existing polyline or
draw a new one. If you draw a new polyline, it will not be able to be used elsewhere in the project
unless it has been shared. To share the polyline, expand the mesh in the project tree, right-click on
the polyline and select Share.
The new mesh will appear in the Meshes folder. Expand the mesh in the project tree to see how
it was made. As further refinements are made to the mesh, that information will also be added to
the mesh in the project tree.

Refining an Interpolated Mesh

Editable interpolated meshes ( ) can be refined by adding data, as described in Adding Data to
Surfaces. The options available depend on how the mesh was created.
To add data to an editable mesh, right-click on it and select one of the options from the Add
menu. A list of objects available in the project will be displayed. Select the required object and
click OK. The mesh will be updated and the object used to modify it will appear under it in the
project tree.
You can also refine editable interpolated meshes by changing the trend, transforming values,
adjusting the interpolant and changing the boundary. To do this, double-click on the mesh. The
Edit Mesh window will be opened:

See Offset Meshes for the options available for meshes from offset points.

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Surface Resolution Settings

See Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo for more information on the Surface resolution
settings in the General tab.

Snap Settings
The mesh can be set to snap to the data objects used to create it. There are four options:
l Off. The mesh does not snap to the data.
l All data. The mesh snaps to data within the Maximum snap distance.
l Drilling only. The mesh snaps only to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole
data within the Maximum snap distance but not to other data. For example, the mesh will
honour points data derived from drillhole data, but not points data imported into the Points
folder.
l Custom. The mesh snaps to selected data objects within the Maximum snap distance.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,
it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

When Snap to data is set to Custom, you can then set whether or not Snap is enabled for the
objects used to create the mesh, as discussed in Honouring Surface Contacts. Custom is the
most flexible options as you can select the specific data objects the mesh will or will not snap to.
If you will be exporting the mesh for use in another application, you may wish to adjust the snap
settings.
Data used to create the mesh will appear in the Input list. When you add more data to the mesh,
those objects will also be listed. You can remove those additional objects by expanding the mesh
in the project tree, then right-clicking on the data object and selecting Remove.

Other Options
In the Boundary tab, you can change whether the mesh boundary is independent of other
objects in the project (Own extents) or you can use the extents of another object (Shared
with). When you select the Shared with option, the mesh will be updated when the extents
object it shares is updated.
Options available in other tabs are similar to those available for interpolants. See:
l Structural Trends
l Clipping and Transforming Values for an RBF Interpolant
For information on the parameters in the Interpolants tab, see the Interpolant Functions topic.

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2D Interpolant Meshes
A 2D interpolant can be created using any points object in the project. A 2D interpolant is built
using the same algorithm as the project’s topography surface (see Defining a Topography). This
often this gives a smoother result in less time than when using the same data to build a 3D
interpolated mesh. A 2D interpolant can work with vertically-oriented data such as fault planes,
whereas building a topography is meant to work with primarily horizontal data.
To create a 2D interpolant, right-click on the Meshes folder and select New 2D Interpolant
Mesh. In the window that appears, select from the points objects available in the project.

The mesh’s extents can be independent of other objects in the project or you can use the extents
of another object. Surface resolution can be adaptive or non-adaptive. You can set a reference
plane to set the direction of the best fit through the data; this is useful when working with data
that is not primarily horizontal.

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Offset Meshes
You can create a new interpolated mesh by offsetting an existing mesh with any points object in
the project. To do this, first ensure the points and mesh you wish to use are already in the project.
Next, right-click on the Meshes folder and select New Mesh > From Offset Points. In the
window that appears, select the Mesh and Points to use:

When the mesh is created, it will automatically snap to the points, and points outside the
Distance Limits will be ignored. These settings can be changed once the mesh has been
created.

An offset mesh may be distorted if points used to offset the mesh lie too far outside the mesh
extents. If this occurs, set a Maximum distance to exclude points far away from the mesh
extents.

Enter a name for the new mesh and click OK. The new mesh will appear in the Meshes folder.
To edit the mesh, double-click on it. The Edit Offset Mesh window will appear:

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The mesh can be set to snap to the data objects used to create it. There are four options:
l Off. The mesh does not snap to the data.
l All data. The mesh snaps to data within the Maximum snap distance.
l Drilling only. The mesh snaps only to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole
data within the Maximum snap distance but not to other data. For example, the mesh will
honour points data derived from drillhole data, but not points data imported into the Points
folder.
l Custom. The mesh snaps to selected data objects within the Maximum snap distance.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,
it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

When Snap to data is set to Custom, you can then set whether or not Snap is enabled for the
objects used to create the mesh, as discussed in Honouring Surface Contacts. Custom is the
most flexible options as you can select the specific data objects the mesh will or will not snap to.
If you will be exporting the mesh for use in another application, you may wish to adjust the snap
settings.
Data used to create the mesh will appear in the Input list. When you add more data to the mesh,
those objects will also be listed. You can remove those additional objects by expanding the mesh
in the project tree, then right-clicking on the data object and selecting Remove.
You can modify an offset mesh by adding data, as described in Refining an Interpolated Mesh.

It is not possible to add structural data or polylines with orientation information to an offset
mesh. If you edit an offset mesh with a polyline, your options for editing the polyline will be
limited.

You can also edit the mesh’s boundary, but you cannot apply a trend, clip and transform values or
adjust the interpolant as you can for other interpolated editable meshes.

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Triangulated Meshes
A triangulated mesh is a type of editable mesh ( ). A triangulated mesh uses Delaunay
triangulation to create the mesh and can handle more points than an interpolated mesh.
Triangulated meshes can be created from points data, GIS data and polylines. Large datasets
representing horizontal surfaces can be used to create a triangulated mesh.
The steps for creating a mesh from data in the project are similar, regardless of the data used to
create the mesh. To create a triangulated mesh from data in the project, right-click on the
Meshes folder and select from the New Triangulated Mesh options.
Here, a new triangulated mesh is being created from points:

Select the required object from the list.

When defining the mesh’s extents, you can set the extents to be independent of other objects in
the project (Own extents) or you can use the extents of another object (Shared with). When
you select the Shared with option, the mesh will be updated when the extents object it shares is
updated.
The Use error threshold setting lets you exclude data points that fall within the threshold. This
can be useful if you are using a large dataset and you require a more coarse surface that omits
some data. When Use error threshold is disabled, the mesh will follow all the data.
Here, a mesh created from points has the Use error threshold disabled. The mesh follows all
the points:

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Here, a mesh has been created with the Distance set to 20. The mesh ignores points that fall
outside the threshold:

You will be able to change the Use error threshold setting once the mesh has been created.
Enter a name for the new mesh and click OK.
If you are creating the mesh from a polyline, you will be prompted to select an existing polyline or
draw a new one. If you draw a new polyline, it will not be able to be used elsewhere in the project
unless it has been shared. To share the polyline, expand the mesh in the project tree, right-click on
the polyline and select Share.
The new mesh will appear in the Meshes folder and you can edit its settings by double-clicking on
it.
To add data to a triangulated mesh, right-click on it and select one of the options from the Add
menu. A list of objects available in the project will be displayed. Select the required object and
click OK. The mesh will be updated and the object used to modify it will appear under it in the
project tree.

It is not possible to add structural data or polylines with orientation information to a

triangulated mesh. If you edit a triangulated mesh with a polyline, your options for editing the
polyline will be limited.

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Elevation Grids
Leapfrog Geo imports and exports elevation grids in common formats.

Importing an Elevation Grid

Elevation grid formats Leapfrog Geo supports include:
l Arc/Info ASCII Grid Files (*.asc, *.txt)
l Arc/Info Binary Grid Files (*.adf)
l Digital Elevation Model Files (*.dem)
l Surfer ASCII or Binary Grid Files (*.grd)
l SRTM Files (*.hgt)
l ESRI.hdr Labelled Image Files (*.img, *.bil)
l GeoTIFF Image Files (*.tiff, *.tif)
There are two ways to import an elevation grid:
l Import the grid to the Meshes folder. Right-click on the Meshes folder and select Import
Elevation Grid.
l Import the grid as part of creating a topography. Right-click on the Topographies folder and
select New Topography > Import Elevation Grid.
Navigate to the folder that contains the elevation grid file and open the file. The Import
Elevation Grid window will be displayed:

Leapfrog Geo automatically sets a Surface resolution based on the information in the file, but
you can change the value if you wish. A lower value will produce more detail, but calculations will
take longer. See Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo for more information.

When importing an elevation grid, note that the resolution cannot be changed once the file has
been imported.

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Data is automatically clipped to the clipping boundary, but you can change how the data is filtered
to suit any bounding box that exists in the project. If you do not wish to clip the data, untick Clip
data to bounding box.
The Margin value determines how far outside the selected Bounding box the elevation grid will
extend.
The No Data Handling option determines whether NoData values are displayed as gaps or at a
fixed elevation setting.
Click Import. If you are creating a new topography, you will then be prompted to enter a name
for it and click OK.
The elevation grid will be added to the Meshes folder. If you imported the grid as part of creating
a topography, a hyperlink to the grid in the Meshes folder will appear as part of the defined
topography.

Exporting an Elevation Grid

For any mesh in a project, you can export an elevation grid for use in other software. Formats
Leapfrog Geo can export are:
l ARC/Info ASCII Grid (*.asc)
l ESRI.hdr Labelled (*.bil)
l ENVI Raster Image (*.img)
l Surfer ASCII Grid (*.grd)

If you have the Maptek Link extension, you can also export an elevation grid in VULCAN v7
.00g format. Contact Customer Support as described in Getting Support for more information
about this extension.

To export an elevation grid, right-click on the mesh and select Export Elevation Grid. The
Export Grid window will appear:

The Snap to Grid option changes the extents of the exported grid so that they coincide with the
elevation grid spacing.
Enter the information required, then click Export to enter a filename and choose a location and
format for the file.

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Thickness Grids
For any mesh in a project, you can export a grid made up of the area between two surfaces.
Formats Leapfrog Geo can export are:
l ARC/Info ASCII Grid (*.asc)
l ESRI.hdr Labelled (*.bil)
l ENVI Raster Image (*.img)
l Surfer ASCII Grid (*.grd)
To export a thickness grid, right-click on the mesh and select Export Thickness Grid. The
Export Thickness Grid window will appear:

Select the surfaces required from the lists.

Enter the information required, then click Export. You will be prompted for a filename and
location.

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Polylines
Leapfrog Geo imports many common polyline formats and also has tools for drawing and
exporting polylines. This topic describes:
l Creating Polylines
l Displaying Polylines
l Sharing and Unsharing Polylines
l Importing Polylines
l Reloading Polylines
l Exporting Polylines
See Drawing in the Scene for information on drawing and editing polylines.

Creating Polylines
There are three ways to create polylines in Leapfrog Geo:
l Create a new polyline using the Polylines folder. These polylines are stored in the Polylines
folder.
l Create a new polyline as part of working with another tool. For example, a polyline can be
drawn to create a lateral extent in a geological model. These polylines are stored in the tool
used to create them and cannot be used elsewhere in the project unless they have been
shared. To share a polyline, right-click on it and select Share. The polyline will be moved to the
Polylines folder and can be used elsewhere in the project.
l Create a new polyline from a GIS line. To do this, right-click on the GIS lines object ( or ) in
the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder and select Extract Polyline. The new polyline
object will appear in the Polylines folder. It is not linked to the original GIS lines object.
See Drawing in the Scene for information on drawing and editing polylines.

Displaying Polylines
When polylines are displayed in the scene, you can control the colour of the positive and negative
surfaces of the line and of the line itself. In this example, the positive side of the polyline is red, the
negative side is blue and the polyline itself is green:

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For contact surfaces, the colour of the positive and negative sides of a ribbon will be
determined by the lithologies or categories assigned to either side of the surface.

With the Node size and Point size controls in the properties panel, you can change the size of
nodes and points in the scene to make working with the polyline easier.
Polylines have a Surface ribbon( ) and Normal ribbon( ) to help you to determine the
orientation of the polyline in the scene. The surface ribbon reflects the orientation of the polyline
and the normal ribbon is perpendicular to the surface ribbon. For example, click on the Surface
ribbon button ( ) to determine which side of the polyline is positive (red) and which side is
negative (blue):

If you are having trouble seeing the ribbons, you can change their size using the Ribbon width
control in the properties panel.
Other aspects of polyline display are useful when creating and editing polylines. See Drawing in
the Scene.

Sharing and Unsharing Polylines

Some polylines are created as part of working with other objects and are not available elsewhere
in the project. An example of this is a polyline drawn as part of creating a model boundary. To
share the polyline, right-click on the object in the project tree and click Share. The shared polyline
will be copied to the relevant location in the project tree and a hyperlink added to the object it was
shared from.

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Polylines that have been shared can be unshared by making a local copy of the polyline. To do
this, right-click on the shared polyline and select Create Local Copy:

The polyline in the Polylines folder remains, but a local copy of it is made and the hyperlink to the
Polylines folder copy is deleted. This means you can now work on, for example, the Polylines
folder copy without changes to it affecting the geological model’s copy.

Importing Polylines
Polyline formats Leapfrog Geo supports include:
l Datamine Polylines (*.asc)
l Surpac String Polylines (*.str)
l Gemcom Polylines (*.asc)
l Micromine Polylines (*.str, *.asc)
l MineSight Polylines (*.srg)
l Gocad Polylines (*.pl, *.ts)
l Drawing Interchange Polylines (*.dxf)
l Old Leapfrog Polylines (*.lfpl)
l Leapfrog Polylines (*.csv, *.txt)
l AutoCAD Drawing Files (2013/LT2013) (*.dwg)
l Bentley Drawing Files (v8) (*.dgn)
There are two ways to import a polyline:
l Right-click on the Polylines folder and select Import Polyline. In the Import Polyline
window, navigate to the location where the polyline file is saved and select it. Click Open.
l Drag and drop polyline files directly into Leapfrog Geo.
If the polyline file is in Leapfrog, Gocad or DXF formats, the importing will start immediately. For
all other formats, the Polyline Import window will appear. If the polyline file is in one of the
standard formats listed above, the default settings can be used. Click Import to finish the
process. If, however, you wish to specify polyline import parameters, two pieces of information
are required:
l The columns the polyline vertex coordinates are in
l How the polyline sections are separated in the file

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Select the vertex coordinate columns by clicking on the heading at the top of a column and
selecting one of East (X), North (Y) or Elev (Z) from the list.
When importing a file that has multiple features, you will be prompted to select which ones to
import. You can also choose to:
l Import the features as separate objects. Each feature will appear in the project tree as a
separate object.
l Flatten all features into one object. Leapfrog Geo will treat all features as a single object.
The polyline will be imported and added to the project tree under the Polylines folder.
See Drawing in the Scene for information on drawing and editing polylines.

Reloading Polylines
Reloading data is necessary when the imported data is modified externally. To reload a polyline,
right-click on it in the project tree and select Reload Data.

Reloading a polyline overwrites any changes you have made to the polyline. Any dependent
objects will be updated, which can take some time.

Select the file to be reloaded and click Open. The polyline will be updated, as will any dependent
objects.

Exporting Polylines
Export a polyline by right-clicking on it and selecting Export. Leapfrog Geo exports polylines in
the following formats:
l Leapfrog Polylines (*.lfpl)
l Leapfrog Polylines (*.csv)
l Drawing Interchange Polylines (*.dxf)
l Surpac String Polylines (*.str)
l Gocad Polylines (*.pl, *.ts)
l MineSight Polylines (*.srg)
l Datamine Polylines (*.asc)
l Micromine Polylines (*.str, *.asc)
l Drawing File (2013/LT2013) (*.dwg)
l Bentley Drawing Files (v8) (*.dgn)

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Geochemical Data
The Geochemistry folder and related features are only available with the Geochemistry
extension. Contact Customer Support as described in Getting Support for more information
about this extension.

With the Geochemistry folder, you can establish a live link to ioGAS and visualise geochemical
data in real time. You can also transfer data between Leapfrog Geo and ioGAS, including data to
which query filters have been applied.
This topic describes how to connect to ioGAS and transfer data between ioGAS and Leapfrog
Geo. It is divided into:
l Sending Data to ioGAS
l Importing ioGAS Data
To connect to ioGAS, make sure ioGAS is running. Next, right-click on the ioGAS object in the
project tree and select Connect:

Once the connection is established, any dataset open in ioGAS will be available from the ioGAS
object and can be displayed in the Leapfrog Geo scene window:

The status of the connection to ioGAS is indicated in Leapfrog Geo, and the data file open in
ioGAS appears in the Geochemistry folder (e.g. demo.gas).
You can view the data in Leapfrog Geo by adding the ioGAS data object to the scene. When
attributes are changed in ioGAS, the display will be updated in Leapfrog Geo. You can also:
l Send from and to data columns across the ioGAS link, analyse the data in ioGAS and import
calculated columns as interval tables. This data can then be used for modelling in Leapfrog
Geo. See Sending Data to ioGAS.
l Import ioGAS data into Leapfrog Geo as points or intervals. See Importing ioGAS Data.

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To terminate the connection to ioGAS, right-click on the ioGAS object and select Disconnect:

Once the connection to ioGAS is terminated, ioGAS data (*.gas) will no longer be available in
Leapfrog Geo.

Sending Data to ioGAS

ioGAS version 6.1 and later recognise holeid, From and To columns sent from Leapfrog Geo.
Earlier versions of ioGAS can only import point data.

To send data to ioGAS, you must first create a data object from the drillhole data in the project.
This process uses data from a single interval table to create a new ioGAS object that can then be
opened in ioGAS.

Note that interpretation tables cannot be used to send data to ioGAS. If you wish to send an
interpretation table to ioGAS, export it from Leapfrog Geo and then import it back into the
project.

There are two considerations when creating an ioGAS data object:

l Are all data columns you wish to send over the ioGAS link in the same table? Creating an
ioGAS data object uses a single interval table. If the data you wish to send is in different tables,
create a merged table.
l Are lithology intervals similar in length to assay data intervals or are there significant
differences? The solution is to apply a majority composite to the lithology data using the
interval lengths from the assay table and then create a merged table containing all the data
columns you wish to send over the link.
See Merged Drillhole Data Tables and Majority Composites for more information.
To create a new ioGAS data object, right-click on the ioGAS object and select New ioGAS
Data:

You can filter the data you send to ioGAS using any of the query filters defined in the project.
Make sure the query filter you wish to use has been defined before you start creating a new
data column.

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In the window that appears, select the table you wish to use for the Base table, then select the
columns to send to ioGAS. If you wish to filter the data, select the query filter required from the
list.

Enter a Name for the data column and click OK. The new data column will appear as part of the
ioGAS folder:

Note that any filter applied to the data is part of the new data object and will be sent to ioGAS
over the link.
The next step is to open the data in ioGAS.

Opening the Data in ioGAS

Ensure that Leapfrog Geo is connected to ioGAS.

Make sure no tasks are being processed in Leapfrog Geo before opening the link from ioGAS.
An error may result in ioGAS if Leapfrog Geo is processing tasks.

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In ioGAS, select File > Open Link Data. Once the column has been opened, you can use the
tools available in ioGAS to analyse the data. That the data is open in ioGAS is indicated in the
project tree:

If a connection cannot be made between Leapfrog Geo and ioGAS, it could be that the
Timeout setting in ioGAS is too low. To change this, navigate to the folder
C:\Users\....\AppData\Roaming\ioGAS\userConfig. Open the file
link.ini in a text editor and set the Timeout parameter to a higher value. The Timeout is
in milliseconds.

If you have the data visible in the Leapfrog Geo scene, changes made will be displayed in Leapfrog
Geo. Here the ioGAS attribute manager has been used to assign colours to the selected values in
ten equal ranges:

The changes to attributes are automatically updated in the Leapfrog Geo scene window as long
as the link is live.

Sending a New Data Column Back to Leapfrog Geo

To save the changes and send a new data column back to Leapfrog Geo while the ioGAS link is
live, select one of the Make Variable From options from the Data menu in ioGAS.

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In Leapfrog Geo, the column will be added to the base interval table used to create the new
lithology. Here, a column called MRV_Au ( ) has been added to the base table:

When the connection to ioGAS is terminated, the ioGAS data column will remain in the project
tree as part of the ioGAS folder. Data columns created in ioGAS will also be available and will
appear in the base interval table.

Importing ioGAS Data

When Leapfrog Geo is connected to ioGAS and a dataset is open, you can import the ioGAS data
into Leapfrog Geo. There are two options:
l Importing ioGAS Data as Points
l Importing ioGAS Data as Intervals
When data is imported as points, it is added to the Points folder. When imported as intervals,
data is added to an existing interval table or used to create a new interval table. Whichever
method is selected, if the data is changed in ioGAS, it will need to be reimported.
ioGAS version 6.1 and later can send a “Filter” attribute to Leapfrog Geo. If you wish to import this
attribute, set it to a category column. This imported column will appear in Leapfrog Geo as a
query filter:

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Importing ioGAS Data as Points

To import ioGAS data as points, right-click on the ioGAS data object in the project tree and select
Import as Points:

In the window that appears, select the data columns you wish to import and how they will be
imported. Click Finish to import the data, which will appear in the Points folder. You can then
display the points in the scene and work with them as you would any other points object. The new
points object will remain in Leapfrog Geo once the connection to ioGAS is terminated.

Importing ioGAS Data as Intervals

To import ioGAS data as intervals, right-click on the ioGAS data object in the project tree and
select Import as Interval Values. Select the table to which the imported column will be added
or select the option to create a new table. Click Import.
l For a new table, select the columns you wish to import and enter a name for the table. Click
Finish. The new table will be added to the Drillholes object.
l For adding the data to an existing table, the process is similar to that for adding a column.
Select the columns to import, then click Finish.

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Open Mining Format (OMF) Export and Import

Open Mining Format is a convenient format for exchanging data with other applications because
multiple geosciences objects can be moved as a single file. Leapfrog Geo supports the export and
import of Open Mining Format v0.9.
OMF export and import are available from the Leapfrog Geo menu:

OMF Export
To export surfaces from a project in OMF format, click on the Leapfrog Geo menu and select
OMF > Export. A list of objects in the project will be displayed:

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Select the objects you wish to export, then specify the file name and the folder where it will be
saved. Click OK to export the file.
Exporting the file may take some time if you have selected a large number of objects.

OMF Import
To import data from an OMF file, click on the Leapfrog Geo menu and select OMF > Import.
In the window that appears, select the file you wish to import and click Open. The objects in the
file will be displayed:

Select the objects you wish to import and click OK. Selected objects will be imported and added
to the project tree. GIS data will be added to the GIS Data, Maps and Photos folder and points,
meshes and block models will be added to their respective folders.

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Analysing Data
Leapfrog Geo has a number of tools that help you to analyse your data.
l The most basic information about an object is contained in the object’s Properties window,
which is specific to the type of object. Right-click on the object in the project tree and select
Properties. See Object Properties in the The Project Tree topic for more information.
l Viewing statistical information about objects helps you to analyse your data. This is described
further below.
l Visualising data using the shape list and the shape properties panel is an important part of
interpreting and refining data and making modelling decisions. The tools available depend on
the type of object being displayed, and many objects can be displayed evaluated on other
objects.
l Stereonets are useful for visualising structural data and identifying trends in 2D. Errors in
categorisation of structural data can also become apparent when the data is viewed on a
stereonet.
l Form interpolants are useful for visualising structural data and identifying broad trends in 3D.
The form interpolant’s meshes can then be used to control other surfaces in the project.
l With the drillhole correlation tool, you can view and compare selected drillholes in a 2D view.
You can then create interpretation tables in which you can assign and adjust intervals and
create new intervals. Interpretation tables are like any other interval table in a project and can
be used to create models.
l You can plan drillholes, view prognoses for models in the project and export planned drillholes in
.csv format. Leapfrog Geo can also import planned drillholes.
The rest of this topic describes the different statistics visualisations available in Leapfrog Geo.

Statistics
The statistics options available in Leapfrog Geo depend on the type of object. Common statistics
visualisations are described below:
l Table of Statistics
l Scatter Plots
l Q-Q Plots
l Box Plots
l Univariate Graphs
Variations of these are described relative to the data objects for which they are relevant.

Leapfrog Geo uses fixed 25%/75% quartiles.

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Table of Statistics
For many data tables, you can view a table of statistics for multiple attributes. If the table has
one or more category columns, data can, optionally, be grouped by category. To open a table of
statistics, right-click on a data table then select Statistics. In the window that appears, select
the Table of Statistics option.
In this example, we have the initial table of statistics for a merged table that has two category
columns and four numeric columns, plus an Interval Length column. However, nothing is
displayed in the table because data columns have not yet been selected.

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Select from the Numeric items available for the table. In this case, all columns have been
selected, including the Interval Length column:

Click the Add button to select from the category columns available in the table. An entry will be
added to the Categories list. Click on the arrow to select from the available category columns:

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Statistics for the selected category column will be displayed in the table. You can change what
categories are displayed by clicking on the second button and enabling or disabling categories:

If there is more than one category column, you can set lower levels. Here there are two category
columns displayed in the table, “ROCK” and “Domain”:

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You can hide empty categories (those with a count of zero) and inactive rows using the options
below the Categories list:

Group by category and Group by numeric item provide further options for the table
organisation. Here the Group by numeric item option has been selected:

You can filter the data using any Query filter defined for the data table. Statistics for interval
tables can be unweighted or weighted by interval length.

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Change the columns displayed in the table by clicking on the Edit Columns button:

Once you have set up a table of statistics on a particular table, its settings will be saved so you
can easily review the statistics and export the table using the same settings.

To export the table in CSV format, click on the Export button in the toolbar ( ).
Other controls in this window are as follows:
l The arrow buttons at the top of the window ( and ) allow you to quickly expand or collapse
the rows.
l Click rows to select them.
l Select multiple rows by holding down the Shift or Ctrl key while clicking rows.
l The Copy button ( ) copies the selected rows to the clipboard so you can paste them into
another application.

Scatter Plots
Scatter plots are useful for understanding relationships between two variables. An additional
variable can be introduced by setting the Colouring option to a data column. The example below
plots the two variables lead and zinc against each other, with gold being indicated by the
colouring. You can make either axis a log scale with the Log scale in X and Log scale in Y
options. A Query filter may be applied also.
The appearance of the chart can be modified by adjusting the Point size, Point shape, and
White background settings.
Enable Show X = Y line to aid in assessing how far off equal the distributions are.
When you select Show linear regression, a regression line is added to the chart and a function
equation is added below the chart title.

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Show conditional expectation plots a line that attempts to find the expected value of one
variable given the other. The X axis is divided into a number of bins specified by Bin count, and
the data in each bin is used to predict the expected Y value.

By default, the limits of the chart are automatically set to range between zero and the upper limit
of the variable data. You can adjust this by turning off Automatic X axis limits and/or
Automatic Y axis limits and specifying preferred minimum and maximum values for each axis.
Select points in the scatter plot by clicking and dragging your mouse pointer to draw freehand
around the points.

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Selected points can be filtered in the scene by selecting the scatter plot from the Query filter
options in the shape properties panel.

The Add button ( ) and the Remove button ( ) determine whether selected points are being
added to or removed from the selection. For example, if you draw a polygon around a set of points
with the Add button enabled, the points will be added to the selection.
You can also:
l Remove points from a selection while the Add button ( ) is enabled by holding down the Ctrl
key and selecting points.
l Select all visible points by clicking on the Select All button ( ) or by pressing Ctrl+A.
l Clear all selected points by clicking on the Clear Selection button ( ) or by pressing
Ctrl+Shift+A.
l Swap the selected points for the unselected points by clicking on the Invert Selection
button ( ) or by pressing Ctrl+I.

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Q-Q Plots
Quantile-Quantile plots are useful for validating your assumptions about the nature of
distributions of data. Select the data columns to show on the X Axis and Y Axis (which can
optionally be set as log scales). You can also select an X filter and/or Y filter to limit the values
used from the data columns.
Enable Show X = Y line to plot the mirror line for the chart, which may not always be obvious
when the X and Y axis have different scales.
Show quartile line draws a line through two points on the chart, the lower quartiles and the
upper quartiles for each of the axes.

Box Plots
The box plot (or box-and-whisker plot) provides a visualisation of the key statistics for a data set
in one diagram.
Select a Numeric column to display, enabling Log scale if it helps to visualise the data more
clearly. If the table includes category data, set the Category column to one of the category
columns to help visualise the data. Select which categories to include from the Categories list.
You can also use a pre-defined Query filter to limit the data included in the chart.
Note these features of the plot:
l The mean is indicated by the red diamond.
l The median is indicated by the line that crosses the inside of the box.

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l The box encloses the interquartile range around the median.

l The whiskers extend out to lines that mark the extents you select, which can be the
Minimum/Maximum, the Outer fence or the Inner fence. Outer and inner values are
defined as being three times the interquartile range and 1.5 times the interquartile range
respectively.

Note that a reminder of the reference for the Outer fence and Inner fence can be found by
holding your mouse cursor over these fields to see the tooltip.

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Univariate Graphs

There are several different visualisation options. Histogram shows a probability density function
for the values, and Cumulative Histogram shows a cumulative distribution function for the
values as a line graph:

There are three options that show the charts with a log scale in the X-axis:
l Select Histogram and enable Histogram of the log to see the value distribution with a log
scale X-axis.

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l Select Cumulative Histogram and enable Histogram of the log to see a cumulative
distribution function for the values with a log scale X-axis.
l Log Probability is a log-log weighted cumulative probability distribution line chart.

Percentage is used to change the Y-axis scale from a length-weighted scale to a percentage
scale.
Bin width changes the size of the histogram bins used in the plot.
The Box Plot options control the appearance of the box plot drawn under the primary chart. The
whiskers extend out to lines that mark the extents you select, which can be the
Minimum/maximum, the Inner fence or the Outer fence. Inner and outer values are defined
as being 1.5 times the interquartile range and 3 times the interquartile range respectively.
Some univariate graphs may include a Filtering option containing where a Query filter defined
for the data set can be selected.
The Limits fields control the ranges for the X-axis and Y-axis. Select Automatic X axis limits
and/or Automatic Y axis limits to get the full range required for the chart display. Untick these
and manually adjust the X limits and/or Y limits to constrain the chart to a particular region of
interest. This can effectively be used to zoom the chart.
The bottom left corner of the chart displays a table with a comprehensive set of statistical
measures for the data set.

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Drillhole Correlation Tool
With the drillhole correlation tool, you can view and compare selected drillholes in a 2D view. You
can then create interpretation tables in which you can assign and adjust intervals and create new
intervals. Interpretation tables are like any other interval table in a project and can be used to
create models. You can also save and export correlation set layouts and styles that can be
exported and used in other Leapfrog Geo projects.
This topic describes creating correlation sets and creating interpretation tables. It is divided into:
l Selecting Collars
l The Correlation Set Window
l Correlation Column Layouts
l Managing Styles
l Interpretation Tables

Selecting Collars
To select collars, you need to create a drillhole correlation set, which you can do from the scene.
First, add the collars you wish to work with to the scene. A useful way of limiting the number of
collars displayed is to draw a slice in the scene and set it to a thick slice ( ) and set the slice width
to hide collars on either side of the slice.
Next, right-click on the Drillhole Correlation folder and select New Drillhole Set. The new
set will be created and opened, but is empty until you select collars. Click the Select Collars
button ( ) to switch to the scene and begin selecting collars:

The line in the scene indicates the order in which collars will appear in the set.

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l To select collars one-by-one, click on the Select collar button ( ), then on the Add collar
button ( ). Click on a collar to add it to the nearest end of the set. Hold down the Ctrl key
while clicking to remove a collar from the set.
l To temporarily switch to the Select button ( ), hold down the Shift key while clicking.
l To select all collars visible in the scene, click on the Select all collars button ( ). This will
select collars using the best fit line.
l To remove a collar from the selection, click on the Remove collar button ( ), then click on
the collar you wish to remove from the set.
l To clear the selection, click on the Clear collar selection button ( ).
If you want to change the order, you can easily do so in the set tab once you have selected
collars.
Once you have selected the required collars, click the Save button ( ). The selected collars will
be added to the set window:

The Correlation Set Window

Remove collars from the correlation set by either editing the set in the scene, as described in
Selecting Collars above, or right-click on a column and select Remove collar:

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You can change how data is displayed by clicking on the column header, then selecting Format:

The options available depend on the type of column being formatted.

Click on drillholes and drag them in the correlation set window to change the order in which they
appear:

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Add columns to the set by dragging them from the project tree into the set window. Here, four
columns have been added to the set. From right to left they are a lithology column, an assay data
column, a points data column formatted as a line and a points data column formatted as points:

You can then format the columns to get a better view of relationships between them. Format
columns by right-clicking on their headers and selecting Format:

The styles used to display columns can be used by other sets in the project and can be exported
to other projects. See Managing Styles below.
You can also drag some types of columns on top of other columns, although it is not possible to
display category data on top of other category data. You can select multiple columns using the
Shift and Ctrl keys.

Navigating in the Correlation Set Window

Navigate in the correlation set window using the following mouse and keyboard combinations:
l Use the scroll wheel to move up and down.
l Hold down the Shift key while scrolling to move right and left.

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l Hold down the Ctrl key while scrolling to zoom in and out.
l Hold down the Alt key while scrolling to stretch the data vertically.

Correlation Column Layouts

Once you have organised data columns and how they are displayed, you can save this
information as a column layout that can be applied to other correlation sets. To do this, click the
Layout button in the toolbar and select Save Current Layout from the list:

You will be prompted for a name. Click OK to save the layout, which can then be applied to other
correlation sets by selecting the layout from the list.
To view the layouts available in the project, right-click on the Drillhole Correlation folder in the
project tree and select Layout Manager. In the window that appears, you can easily see what
columns are used for each layout and apply a layout to all correlation sets in a project:

You can also export column layouts for use in other projects and import layouts from other
projects. Clicking Export all exports layouts as a text file.

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Managing Styles
The styles used to display data columns can also be exported to other projects. To view the styles
used in the project, right-click on the Drillhole Correlation folder in the project tree and select
Style Manager:

Click Edit to change a style, which will update objects that use the selected style throughout the
project.
Click Export all to export the styles in the project as a text file that can be imported into other
projects.

Interpretation Tables
With interpretation tables, you can assign and adjust intervals and create new intervals.
Interpretation tables are like any other interval table in a project and can be used to create
models.
To create an interpretation table, click the New Interpretation button in the correlation set
window. The New Interpretation Table window will be displayed:

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There are three options for creating an interpretation table:

l Create the table without using a base table. Each drillhole will have an empty legend and a
single empty interval from 0 to its maximum depth. Select <None> for the Source Column.
l Create the table from a base column but have no intervals. This copies the base column’s
legend but no intervals. Select the Source Column, then select Empty Table.
l Create a copy of a table. Select the Source Column, then select All Intervals.
Click OK to create the table. A new interpretation table will be added to the project tree under the
Drillholes object and the column will be added to the correlation set window:

Assigning Lithologies
If you have created the interpretation table without using a base table, you will need to assign
lithologies to the new table. Do this as part of working with the table in the correlation set
window, which is described below.

Modifying the Interpretation Table

In the correlation set window, the blue line is used to create intervals. Position the blue line then
right-click on it and select one of the options:

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l The Copy from option assigns intervals from the base table.
l The Insert interval option adds an empty interval that overrides any intervals already
defined.
l The Unassign interval option clears the lithology assigned to the interval.
l The Assign interval option opens the legend for the interpretation table so you can select a
lithology to assign to the interval. If you need to add lithologies, you can do so in this window.
For example, to create an interval at the top of the table called “High Density”, move the blue line
near to where you wish to create the interval. You do not need to be precise as you can adjust the
interval once you have added it. Right-click and select Insert interval:

In the legend window, click the Add button and add a lithology called “High Density”:

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Click OK, then select the new lithology to close the legend window. The new lithology has been
assigned to the interval:

To resize the interval, click and drag the interval end points:

You can move the interval end point and snap it to a data point in another column. To do this:
1. Click on the interval end point and drag it into position without releasing the mouse button.
2. Move the mouse across to the data point you wish to snap to.
3. Release the mouse.
You can also snap to points along the depth axis.
Continue making changes to the interpretation table, using the Undo button to step backwards if
necessary. Save changes to update the table.

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Stereonets
Stereonets are useful for visualising structural data and identifying trends in 2D. Errors in
categorisation of structural data can also become apparent when the data is viewed on a
stereonet.
There are two types of stereonets available in Leapfrog Geo: equatorial stereonets and polar
stereonets. The process of creating a stereonet is the same for both types; you can change the
type of stereonet by clicking the Options button in the stereonet window. Both Fisher and
Bingham statistics are available for stereonets.
This topic describes how to work with stereonets in Leapfrog Geo. It covers:
l Creating a Stereonet
l Displaying the Stereonet in the 3D Scene
l Plot Options
l Data Display Options
l Viewing Stereonet Statistics
l Selecting Data in the Stereonet
l Using the Scene Window with the Stereonet
l Exporting a Stereonet

Creating a Stereonet
Create a stereonet by right-clicking on the Stereonets folder (in the Structural Modelling
folder) and selecting New Stereonet. The stereonet is created and opened in a new tab. Click
the Add button to add any structural data table in the project to the stereonet:

You can also drag and drop structural data objects from the project tree into the stereonet.
See Plot Options and Data Display Options below for information on the different options
available for stereonets.

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Displaying the Stereonet in the 3D Scene

You can display the stereonet in the 3D scene by dragging the stereonet from the project tree into
the scene or by clicking on the View button ( ) in the stereonet window:

You can display planes and poles in the 3D scene, but not contours. In the shape list, you can
control whether planes or poles are displayed in the scene:

Otherwise, the appearance of the stereonet in the 3D scene is controlled from the stereonet
window.
In the scene, you can:
l Resize the stereonet in the scene. Click on it and use the green arrows to resize it.
l Move the stereonet around in the scene. The controls are the same as those for the moving
plane.
l Centre the stereonet on its input data. To do this, click on the stereonet in the shape list and
then select from its inputs in the Move to list.

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Plot Options
Click Options to change plot options:

There are two types of stereonets available, Equatorial and Polar. You can also choose
between Equal area (Schmidt) and Equal angle (Wulff) projections.
The Desample rate affects how quickly data is displayed by combining points with duplicate
orientations, as determined by the Desample rate value. A low value will filter fewer data points,
whereas a higher value will filter out more data. Setting the Desample rate to 0 plots all points,
which may be slow for very large data sets that have not been declustered. The Desample rate
applies only to how data is displayed; it does not affect the data in the table.
Note that the settings in Edit plot options window only apply to the current stereonet. If you
want to create a stereonet “template” for your project, you can create a new stereonet with
different plot options and make copies of it in the project tree:

Data Display Options

Planar structural data can be displayed as planes ( ), poles ( ) or contours ( ), using the
colouring from any column in the structural data table. Lineations can be displayed as poles ( )

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or contours ( ). Contour methods available are Schmidt, Exponential Kamb and Kamb, and
contours can be displayed filled or outlined.
Click on a line or pole to view information about the data point:

The information displayed includes whether or not there are duplicates of the selected data point
in the data set.

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Click the mean button ( ) to view the Fisher mean on the stereonet, which is displayed as a line
for planar structural data and as an X for lineations. You can also display the Bingham best-fit
plane ( ) and eigenvectors e1, e2 and e3:

For planar structural data, you can also display the Bingham mean plane ( ):

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A legend can be displayed for the stereonet as a whole ( ) and for the contours ( ). The
stereonet’s legend is generated from the categories that are visible in the list of colourings. Here,
the categories displayed are from the Bedding column:

You can apply query filters from those available in the project.
Declustered data can be viewed on stereonets in two ways:
l Declustered data can be viewed directly on the stereonet. Simply drag the declustered table
into the stereonet.
l If the declustered data’s parent data table is displayed on the stereonet, the declustered data
is available as a filter.
For example, here a structural data table is displayed on a stereonet along with a declustered
table. The declustered table is available as a query filter for its parent object:

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Viewing Stereonet Statistics

To view statistics on the data displayed on the stereonet, click either the Bingham button or the
Fisher button:

You can select specific rows and copy them to the clipboard or copy all data to the clipboard.

Selecting Data in the Stereonet

You can select data in the stereonet and assign it to new categories or existing ones. To do this,
click on the data table in the stereonet window and select New selection from the colouring list:

The New Category Selection window will appear:

The poles will be displayed in the stereonet, if they are not already visible, and the data table will
also be added to the scene window, together with tools for selecting points in the scene.

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Organising the stereonet tab and the Scene View tab so they are displayed side-by-side can
be useful in working with the data as you can select data in the stereonet or in the scene
window. This is described further in Using the Scene Window with the Stereonet below.

If you select an existing column as the Source Column, you can assign selected points to the
existing categories or create new categories. If you select <None> for the Source Column, you
will have to define each category manually.
When you click OK, a set of tools for selecting data will be added to the stereonet window:

There are two tools for selecting data in the stereonet, the polygon tool ( ) and the bullseye ( )
tool.
l Use the polygon tool ( ) to draw around the points you wish to select. Closing the polygon will
select the points, and you can click on the vertices to refine the shape of the selection. Click
outside of the selection to clear the polygon.
l Use the bullseye tool ( ) to:
l Click on points one-by-one.
l Click and drag around points.

The Add button ( ) and the Remove button ( ) determine whether selected points are being
added to or removed from the selection. For example, if you draw a polygon around a set of points
with the Add button enabled, the points will be added to the selection.
You can also:
l Remove points from a selection while the Add button ( ) is enabled by holding down the Ctrl
key and selecting points.
l Select all visible points by clicking on the Select All button ( ) or by pressing Ctrl+A.
l Clear all selected points by clicking on the Clear Selection button ( ) or by pressing
Ctrl+Shift+A.

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l Swap the selected points for the unselected points by clicking on the Invert Selection
button ( ) or by pressing Ctrl+I.
l Show or hide all unassigned points using the Unspecified Measurements button ( ).
Statistics are shown for the currently selected set of points:

You can choose what type of statistics to display for selected points:

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Once you have selected a set of points, click the Assign to button in the stereonet window, then
select Create New Category. In the window that appears, enter a name for the category and
assign a colour:

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Click OK. The new category will be created and the stereonet will be updated to reflect the
changes:

The scene window will also be updated.

Once you have created a new category, you can add to it by selecting further points, then
selecting the category from the Assign to list.
When you are finished, click the Save button ( ) and close the category editor. You can make
further edits by clicking the Edit button ( ) in the stereonet window.

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Using the Scene Window with the Stereonet

You can also select points in the scene window by clicking on the Select points tool ( ), then
drawing over those points in the scene:

Controls for assigning points to categories will remain in the stereonet window, and both the
stereonet window and the scene window will be updated to reflect the selected and assigned
points.

Exporting a Stereonet
Stereonets can be exported in the following formats:
l PDF Files (*.pdf)
l Scalable Vector Graphics Files (*.svg)
l PNG Image Files (*.png)
Click the Export button. Select a format and navigate to the folder where you wish to save the
file. Enter a name and click Save.

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Form Interpolants
A form interpolant is an RBF interpolant that uses planar structural data to control the RBF
gradient. The RBF gradient resembles the geology orientation, which makes form interpolants
useful for visualising structural data and identifying broad trends in 3D. The form interpolant’s
meshes can then be used to control other surfaces in the project.
This topic describes how to work with form interpolants in Leapfrog Geo. It covers:
l Creating a Form Interpolant
l The Form Interpolant in the Project Tree
l Form Interpolant Statistics
Once a form interpolant has been created, experiment with different Distance values. To do
this, double-click on the interpolant in the project tree and click on the Outputs tab.

Creating a Form Interpolant

To create a form interpolant, right-click on the Form Interpolants folder (in the Structural
Modelling folder) and select New Form Interpolant. In the window that appears, click the
Add button to add structural data tables to the interpolant:

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Data can be filtered using the query filters defined for the selected structural data tables:

Once you have created the interpolant, you can easily add and remove structural data tables
and change the filtering.

When generating the form interpolant, you can use the tangents and polarity or only the
tangents. To use both, leave the Use Polarity box ticked. To use only the tangents, untick the
box.
The Boundary filter setting determines how data is handled when it lies outside the
interpolant’s boundary:
l Boundary filter enabled. The interpolant is only influenced by the data that falls inside the
boundary.
l Boundary filter disabled. The interpolant is influenced by the data both inside and outside the
boundary.

Setting a Trend
In the Trend tab, you can set a trend using the moving plane or by entering the required values.
You can also use the Set to list to choose different options used in the project. Isotropic is the
default option used when the function is created.
The Ellipsoid Ratios determine the relative shape and strength of the ellipsoids in the scene,
where:
l The Maximum value is the relative strength in the direction of the green line on the moving
plane.
l The Intermed. value is the relative strength in the direction perpendicular to the green line on
the moving plane.
l The Minimum value is the relative strength in the direction orthogonal to the plane.

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Adding Isosurfaces
The isosurfaces generated for the form interpolant are determined by the settings in the
Outputs tab. If you wish to add more isosurfaces to the interpolant, click the Add button and
enter the required Iso Value. Click on an isosurface and then on the Remove button to delete it.
The Default resolution setting is used for all new isosurfaces.

The Form Interpolant in the Project Tree

In the project tree, the form interpolant contains objects that represent different parts of the
interpolant:

l The Extents object represents the interpolant’s boundary settings, from the Boundary tab.
l The Trend object describes the trend applied in the interpolant. See Global Trends for more
information.
l The structural data object ( ) contains a link to the data used in generating the interpolant.
See Form Interpolant Statistics for more information.
l The Isosurfaces folder contains the isosurfaces defined in the Outputs tab.
To display the form interpolant:
l Drag the interpolant into the scene.
l Right-click on the interpolant and select View Isosurfaces.

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Form Interpolant Statistics

To view information about the data used for the form interpolant, right-click on the structural
data object ( ) under the interpolant and select Properties. The General tab includes
information about how the data has been declustered:

You cannot change how data is declustered in the form interpolant, but if you wish to have more
control over this, create a declustered structural data set and use it as the input for the form
interpolant. See Declustering Planar Structural Data for more information.

Planning Drillholes
In Leapfrog Geo, planned drillholes are organised into drillhole groups. You can evaluate models
onto the drillhole group and view drilling prognoses for all drillholes in the group.

Planned drillhole groups were introduced in Leapfrog Geo 4.3. When a project from an earlier
version is opened in Leapfrog Geo 4.3, all existing planned drillholes will automatically be
assigned to groups, based on the phases of each drillhole.
If necessary, you can move planned drillholes between groups by opening both groups, then
dragging drillholes between the groups. This copies drillholes from group to group, so once
copied, you will need to delete the planned drillhole from the group it does not belong to.

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Planned drillholes are added to a project from a drillhole group, and these are stored in the
Planned Drillholes folder. When displayed in the scene, the planned drillhole is made up of a
collar point, a target location and a path defined by lift and drift parameters:

The rest of this topic is divided into:

l Adding Planned Drillholes
l Planning Options
l Drilling Prognoses
l Exporting Planned Drillholes
l Importing Planned Drillholes

Adding Planned Drillholes

To plan a drillhole, first add the data objects to the scene that you will use in helping to define the
drillhole, such as the topography and any existing drillholes. Next, right click on the Planned
Drillholes folder and select New Drillhole Group. In the window that appears, you can define
basic information about the group, including the Prefix used for each drillhole added to the group:

Start defining drillholes by clicking the Add Drillhole button.

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You can change whether Collar or Target is selected when this window is opened by clicking
on the Defaults button. See Planning Options below.

A name is automatically generated for the new planned drillhole based on the Prefix defined for
the group.
There are three ways to define the drillhole collar or target:
l Click in the scene to set the collar or target location. First, click on the Select button ( ) for
the Collar or Target, then click in the scene to define the Collar or Target. The drillhole will
appear in the scene and you can adjust the coordinates using the controls in the Drillhole
Planning window. Click the Slice along drillhole button to draw a slice in the scene. This is
useful in adjusting the drillhole path and in defining subsequent drillholes.
l Draw the drillhole in the scene. Click on the Select button ( ) for the Collar or Target, then
click and drag in the scene to define a basic path for the drillhole. If you are defining the drillhole
from the collar down, click first on or near the topography. Likewise, if you are defining the
drillhole from the target up, click first at or near the target point.
l Enter the coordinates for the Collar or the Target in the Drillhole Planning window.
Clicking the Move Collar onto the Topography button adjusts the elevation of the drillhole so
that it lies on the topography.
Click the Next Hole button to create another planned drillhole. The new planned drillhole will be
created at a specific distance from the currently displayed planned drillhole using the Path
settings for the currently displayed drillhole and the Offset To Next Hole settings in the
Drillhole Planning Options window. See Planning Options below.

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Once you have specified the collar or target, adjust the drillhole path:
l Lift is how much the drillhole deviates upward.
l Drift is how much the drillhole deviates laterally.
l Leapfrog Geo automatically calculates the Depth value when the drillhole is defined by the
Target location.
l Adding an End of hole length extends the drillhole past the Target location.
Once you have finished defining planned drillholes, click OK to return to the Drillhole Group
window.

You can change the automatically generated name by clicking on the drillhole in the list and
editing the text.

Search for planned drillholes in the list by pressing Ctrl-F. A Find window will appear that you
can use to search the list.

Click the Edit button ( ) to change the settings for a planned drillhole, or click OK to save the
group.
Any model in project can be evaluated on a drillhole group, and evaluations can be exported when
the group is exported as interval tables. See Exporting Planned Drillholes below. Right-click on the
group in the project tree and select Evaluations. The Sample Distance setting applies to
numeric evaluations and determines the spacing between downhole evaluation points.
You can also define filters for a drillhole group. A filter makes it easier to select a subset of the
drillhole when the group is displayed in the scene. To define a filter, right-click on the group and
select New Filter. Select which drillholes to include in the filter and enter a name for it. The filter
will be saved in the project tree as part of the group.
Display planned drillhole by dragging the group into the scene. Hide drillholes in the scene using
any defined filters or by opening the group and using the show/hide button ( ).

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You can copy planned drillholes between groups by opening both groups, then dragging drillholes
between the groups. For example, here the drillholes selected in the first group are being copied
into the second group:

This copies drillholes from group to group, rather than moving them, so once copied, you will need
to delete the planned drillhole from the group it does not belong to.

Planning Options
Drillhole planning options are set on a per-project basis. To change drillhole planning options, right-
click on the Planned Drillholes folder or on a drillhole group and select Edit Planned Drillholes
Defaults. The Drillhole Planning Options window will appear:

Select whether new planned drillholes are specified by the Collar or by the Target.
The Offset To Next Hole values apply when defining multiple drillholes in the Drillhole
Planning window.

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Enter the information required and click OK. The new settings will be applied to the next new
planned drillhole added to the project.

Drilling Prognoses
Planned drillholes can be evaluated against any model in the project. To view drilling prognoses for
a drillhole, right-click on a drillhole group in the project tree and select Drilling Prognoses. The
Drilling Prognoses tab will appear:

The dropdown list contains all evaluations on the drillhole group, along with a Merged Intervals
option that combines the information from all evaluations. You can copy the information
displayed to your computer’s clipboard by selecting rows, then clicking the Copy button ( ). The
information in the selected rows will be copied as tab delimited text, which can be copied into a
spreadsheet application such as Excel.

Exporting Planned Drillholes

There are two ways to export planned drillholes: export their parameters or export interval tables
that contain the drillholes.

Export Parameters
Exporting planned drillhole parameters exports the drillholes as a *.csv file. To export parameters
for planned drillholes, right-click on a drillhole group and select Export Parameters. In the
window that appears, select the drillholes you want to export. The total length will be updated as
you add or remove drillholes.
In Leapfrog Geo, positive dip points down for planned drillholes. To invert the dip for exported
planned drillholes so that negative dip points down, tick the box for Invert dip on export.
Click Export. Navigate to where you wish to save the file, then click Save.

Export as Interval Table

To export planned drillholes as an interval table, right-click on a drillhole group and select Export
as Interval Table. Select the evaluations you wish to include, then click Export. In the Export
Planned Drillholes window, the files that will be created are listed, one each for the collar and

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survey table and one for each selected evaluation. Change the Base file name, if required,
choose a folder in which to save the files, then click Export to save the files.

Importing Planned Drillholes

Leapfrog Geo imports planned drillholes from files in CSV format. The columns expected are:
l A drillhole identifier
l X-Y-Z coordinates for the planned drillhole
l Azimuth
l Dip
l Lift rate
l Drift rate
l Distance
l Extension
l Target Depth
l Comment
When importing planned drillholes, you can import them into a new group or into an existing group.
To import planned drillholes, right-click on the Planned Drillholes folder or on a group and select
Import Planned Drillholes. If the IDs in the file are already in the project, you will be prompted
to resolve the conflict:

You can:
l Rename the imported drillholes. Leapfrog Geo will automatically assign new names and import
the planned drillholes.
l Exclude planned drillholes that already exist in the project. Planned drillholes will only be
imported if they have an identifier that does not already exist in the project.
l Replace existing planned drillholes with the imported drillholes. Use this option if you are
importing information previously exported from the project and subsequently updated in an
external application.
Click OK to process the file.
If there are no conflicts, the planned drillholes will be added to the project.

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Calculations and Filters

Calculations and Filters uses data and estimators to derive new values, resource
classifications and more. A powerful and versatile tool, it offers a simple and intuitive editor so
you do not need to be an expert programmer to make use of its pure functional language to define
calculations. Even complex calculations can be developed with ease.
The rest of this topic describes:
l Defining Calculations and Filters for block models, imported points and some derived points.
l A Catalogue of Metadata, Syntax and Functions. It describes each of the items in the pinnable
Insert list and includes intentionally trivial examples to illustrate the use of the item, along
with an explanation of the effect of the expression.

Defining Calculations and Filters

This topic describes how to define calculations and filters for block models, imported points and
some derived points. It is divided into:
l The Calculations Window
l Creating a New Calculation or Filter
l Understanding Errors Reported in the Errors Pane
l Building Calculations and Filters
l Null Values

The topic that follows, Catalogue of Metadata, Syntax and Functions, details each of the
items in the pinnable Insert list and includes intentionally trivial examples to illustrate the use
of the item, along with an explanation of the effect of the expression.
A printable guide is available that contains this topic and the Catalogue of Metadata, Syntax
and Functions topic. The guide is a useful reference to help you get started with the
Calculations and Filters editor. To download this guide, click here.

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The Calculations Window

Right-click on an object to find the Calculations and Filters option.

When the Calculations window is first opened, the Insert list is pinned to the right-hand side.
You can untick the Pin Window box to get more screen space.

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You can then select items by clicking on the Insert menu.

Items in this list are divided into Existing items and Syntax and functions. Existing items
include handy metadata items you can use immediately, e.g. block size and volume
measurements. It also includes evaluations that can be selected, such as estimators. Syntax
and functions contains mathematical operators and other calculation elements, along with
special values such as 'blank' and 'error' and pre-made functions such as unit conversions and log
(n).
The toolbar in the Calculations window has three buttons that relate to copying, importing and
exporting calculations and filters between block models, points objects and projects:

To copy calculations and filters from another points object or block model, click the Copy button (
) and select the source to copy from.
To export calculations and filters, click the Export button ( ). You will be prompted for a file
name and location. The information is saved in *.lfcalc format, which is a binary file format. This
format cannot be read or written by any other program.
To import calculations, click on the Import button ( ) and select a calculations file to import.
The arrow buttons ( and ) allow you to quickly expand or collapse all calculations and filters.
You can also individually expand or collapse a calculation or filter by clicking on the ⇒ symbol next
to the calculation or filter name.

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Creating a New Calculation or Filter

Click the New Item button to add a calculation to the Calculations window.

The New Item windows gives you the choice of creating a variable, a numeric calculation, a
category calculation, or a filter. Select one of these options, enter a name for the new item and
click OK.
The item will appear in the list on the left-hand side of the Calculations window.

If you want to delete an item, click on it in the list, then select Delete:

Variables
A Variable is an expression that is given a name to make it simple to refer to the expression in
other parts of the Calculations window. Note that ‘variable’ is a homonym/homograph that in a
different context has a different meaning; ‘variable’ is at times used to refer to a mineral such as

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gold or silver. In the context of calculations and filters, the meaning is aligned with the use of the
word in mathematics and scripting languages.
Using a variable in calculations can make the calculations easier to read and understand. It also
makes it simple to reuse an expression multiple times in different places. Any time you find the
same expression appearing in different calculations, or in different parts of a calculation, split that
expression out into a variable. You can even use a variable to represent a constant value, such as
a particular density measure. You can use it to hold a value you want to change as you
experiment. If the value is used in multiple places in other expressions and calculations, using a
variable in those places means you only need to change the value in one place instead of many.

Numeric Calculations
A Numeric calculation is an expression that evaluates to a number, or a number for each point
or block evaluation used as input. A numeric calculation can be viewed in the 3D scene as a points
object or block model.

Category Calculations
A Category calculation is an expression that evaluates to text, usually used to label a category
or classification such as a lithology or grade description. If a points object or block evaluation is
used as input, each point or block will be assigned a text label to categorise it according to the
evaluation value. A category calculation can be viewed in the 3D scene as a points object or block
model.

Filters
A Filter is an expression that limits the data to specified constraints. When viewing a points
object or block model in the scene view, filters can be selected in the properties panel's Query
filter option to constrain which points or blocks are displayed.

Understanding Errors Reported in the Errors Pane

Items in the Existing items list or in the Syntax and functions list can be selected and added
to the Calculations pane. While a calculation or filter is incomplete, the Error pane will identify
what is needed to make the calculation valid.

The errors pane will report when the syntax of an expression cannot be validly interpreted. It
cannot report when the expression is not correctly structured to do what was intended.

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While you are in the process of constructing an expression, errors will be reported when the
incomplete expression cannot be validly interpreted:

The messages provide the reason the expression is not valid or complete, but it cannot tell you
how to complete or correct the equation.

Other errors will be displayed when the type of result doesn't match the sort of calculation
selected when it was created. A numeric calculation needs to produce numbers, a category
calculation needs to produce text results, and filters need to produce true or false (boolean)
results.

Text needs to be identified by enclosing it with quotation marks, so it is not mistaken by the
calculation engine as some sort of unspecified constant.

A processing error indicates a problem executing part of the calculation for at least one of the
points or blocks. The function may be syntactically correct, but the calculation cannot be
performed for one or more points or blocks for some other reason. In the example below, number
will not be able to be calculated if the Y index is ever below 3, as that will result in a divide by zero
error. Because the Y index ranges from 1 upwards, this does indeed cause a processing error. Not
all processing errors will be divide by zero errors. The list of problems that will be reported as
processing errors includes:
l divide by zero
l log of zero or a negative number
l log base of 1
l raising a negative number to a fractional power
l sqrt of a negative number

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l numeric overflow, producing a number outside the range -1e308 to 1e308

l a null value (blank, outside, without_value) in a set
l multiple instances of the same value in a set
l referencing a column that has been deleted
l referencing a column that contains processing errors
Some processing errors will report that the problem is due to 'above errors', referring to errors
higher in the errors list.
Processing errors will include a count of the number of affected blocks.

You may have more than one error shown. As a rule of thumb, address the errors at the top first,
as this corrective action may address the subsequent error.

Building Calculations and Filters

Items in the Existing items list or in the Syntax and functions list can be selected and added
to the Calculations pane. Wherever a dotted box appears in the Calculations pane, you can add
items and operators. Select an insertion point by clicking the dotted box where the item is
required. You will see that the colour of the dotted box turns from black to orange to indicate that
it is the currently selected entry box. Insert an item from one of the lists by clicking on it.

Select additional operators, constants, evaluations or other items as required, or type in values.

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Some items you insert include placeholders that need to be replaced. For example, here, a value
needs to be entered at the cursor position and the terms ‘lower’ and ‘upper’ need to be replaced
with other items.

The if (::) conditional statement can have additional rows added to it. Insert the cursor where you
want to insert a row and then click the Add Row button ( ) and a row will be added above the
selected line.

You can hold the Shift key to add the row below the cursor. To delete the selected row, click the
Delete Row button ( ).

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A calculation or filter can be renamed after it has been created. Click on its name and select
Rename from the menu that appears:

Examples of Variables
Variables can produce numeric, boolean, or text results. You may create a variable because using
a variable in other expressions can make them easier to read and understand, or it can let you
change a value in just one place, even though it is used in many expressions.

While producing results similar to numeric calculations, category calculations or filters, variables
cannot be viewed on the block model in the 3D scene.

Example of a Numeric Calculation

Numeric calculations must produce numeric results, or an error will be reported.

The results of the numeric calculation for the block model or points object can be viewed in the 3D
scene by right-clicking on the numeric calculation entry in the project tree and selecting View
Object.

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Example of a Filter
In this example, one of the selectors from the Complex Comparisons options was chosen from
the insert list. The value that will be tested is to be added at the insertion point between the
comparators, and the placeholder words ‘lower’ and ‘upper’ need to be replaced with constants.

Here the numeric column [time] has been specified as the value that will be tested, and lower and
upper limits have been specified.

When you select View Object for the filter in the project tree, the Query filter is set to the
selected filter in the shape properties panel.

Example of a Category Calculation

This example uses a category calculation to organise events into quarters for the year 2014 using
the if(::) conditional statement.
The if(::) conditional statement contains two lines by default. Note the guiding cues within the
dotted entry boxes. The first line describes the test to be performed that, if it evaluates as true,
will produce a specified result. The ‘otherwise’ condition on the second line captures all the tested
conditions that did not evaluate as true in the test on the first line, and these all produce an
alternate result:

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In this case, all the values outside of the range of the filter [Y2014] are outside the period of
interest. We add the filter as the ‘test’ condition, and specify the label "2014" as the first result,
and use the label "Not Considered" in the bottom line for the ‘otherwise’ condition. So the labels
are not mistaken by the calculation engine as some sort of unspecified constant, make sure
labels are identified using quotation marks:

We need to extend this trivial example for organise the period into quarters, and to do this we can
nest if(::) conditional statements. Replace the "2014" label with a new if(::) item:

Now if values pass the filter in the first test, they then get to be sorted using the second if(::)
block. This time we will test the month field and if it is less than or equal to 3 we will classify this
as "Q1":

Shift-click the Add Row button ( ), and a new conditional row is added below the current one,
where we can specify that a Month value less than or equal to 6 will be classified as "Q2". Only
values between 4 and 6 will be classified as "Q2" as the first line will have already classified all the
values under 4 as "Q1".
Repeat to add another row specifying a Month value less than or equal to 9 to be classified as
"Q3".
This leaves the ‘otherwise’ row in the nested if(::) block to catch values above 9 which are
labelled "Q4":

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The new 2014_quarter calculation we have constructed can be added to the scene view. Click
the Edit Colours button in the shape list to select which categories are visible.

Null Values
Leapfrog Geo can differentiate between different types of invalid or null values, which are shown
in the Calculations window:

Block models have additional invalid values:

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You can see how many points or blocks of each normal or invalid status occur in an evaluation by
right-clicking on the evaluation in the project tree and selecting Properties:

Invalid values can be displayed in the scene. When a block model is displayed in the scene, you
can choose between displaying evaluation values or the Status. Highlighted below is a Kriging
evaluation, shown displayed on the block model. Next to the Kriging evaluation in the dropdown
list is a Status option:

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When the status option is selected, the model is displayed by block status. Click Edit Colours to
change what status values are displayed.

With block model statistics, you can view statistics for all evaluations and calculations made
on a block model or sub-blocked model. Statistics can be broken down into categories and
organised by numeric evaluations and calculations.

Catalogue of Metadata, Syntax and Functions

This catalogue details each of the items in the pinnable Insert list for Calculations and Filters.
Each item includes an intentionally trivial example to illustrate the use of the item, along with an
explanation of the effect of the expression.

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Existing Items
This section covers the items listed in the left-hand side of the pinnable Insert list:

To pin these lists to the Calculations tab, enable the Pin Window option:

Metadata

id
This metadata item is available for imported points objects. It is the row ID from the points table.
Example

Explanation
The filter even rows will select for points with a row [id] that has no remainder when divided by 2.

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x, y and z
These three metadata items are the variables for locating each point in a points object in X, Y and
Z coordinates. Select an item to add it to the expression at the insertion point. Note that
whenever one of these metadata items is added to an expression, it is wrapped in square
brackets. This is not available for block objects; use xc, xy and xz instead.
Example

Explanation
The numeric calculation YX will be assigned the value of the location of [y] multiplied by the
location of [x].

xc, yc and zc
These three metadata items are the variables for locating the centroid of each block, in X, Y and Z
coordinates. Select an item to add it to the expression at the insertion point. Note that whenever
one of these metadata items is added to an expression, it is wrapped in square brackets. This is
not available for points objects; use x, y and z instead.
Example

Explanation
The numeric calculation top will be assigned the value of the location of [zc] the altitude of each
block centroid from the zero reference, plus half the height of the block.

dx, dy and dz
These three metadata items are the variables for the block dimensions in X, Y and Z coordinates.
Select an item to add it to the expression at the insertion point. Note that whenever one of these
metadata items is added to an expression, it is wrapped in square brackets. This is not available
for points objects.
Example

Explanation
The numeric calculation surface area will be calculated by figuring the area of each face of the
block by multiplying the X and Y dimensions, X and Z dimensions and Y and Z dimensions and
adding them together.

volume
This metadata item provides the volume for each block. Note that when this metadata item is
added to an expression, it is wrapped in square brackets. This is not available for points objects.

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Example

Explanation
The numeric calculation density will be assigned the value of the variable [mass] divided by the
metadata item [volume].

xi, yi and zi
These three metadata items are the variables for locating each block by X, Y and Z index. Select
an item to add it to the expression at the insertion point. Note that whenever one of these
metadata items is added to an expression, it is wrapped in square brackets. This is not available
for points objects.
Example

Explanation
The numeric calculation remaining will be assigned the value of the block's AU_gpt evaluation,
unless [zi] the Z index of the block is greater than or equal to 40, in which case the block status
will be set to the invalid value outside.

Evaluations
Each of these items are automatically added to the list whenever an evaluation is added to the
object. When added to an expression, the item represents a placeholder in the calculation for an
estimated value, as the expression is evaluated for each of the locations in turn.
Note you can expand each evaluation in the list to see the attributes for the estimation
evaluation that may also be selected instead of or in addition to the estimated value.
Example

Explanation
The numeric calculation halved is defined by the evaluation [AU_gpt] divided by 2. Each location
in the object will have its own value for AU_gpt, and this calculation uses those values to create a
new value named halvedfor each location, using the formula above.

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Variables, Calculations and Filters

Each time you create a new variable, numeric calculation, category calculation, or filter in
Calculations, it will also be added to the Existing items list. You can select them from this list
and they will be inserted into your new expression at the insertion point. Note that whenever one
of these named items is added to an expression, it is wrapped in square brackets.

Example

Explanation
This example is only attempting to illustrate how variables, calculations and filters that have
already been defined can be referenced by name in new calculations; the calculation highlight is
not intended to be useful.
It is good practice to break your calculations down into parts, giving each part a relevant and
readily identifiable, unambiguous and easily understood name. This will make your calculations
more readable and clear. Using Variables to define a constant with a name makes it easy to
understand the utility of that particular constant when you use it in a calculation. You may also be
able to re-use certain parts such as filters or constant variables, so you do not need to define the
same thing repeatedly.
Be careful not to inadvertently name something incorrectly, such as naming a volume as "area",
as this could give rise to difficult-to-locate errors in your calculation.

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Syntax and Functions

This section covers the items listed in the right-hand side of the pinnable Insert list.

To pin these lists to the Calculations tab, enable the Pin Window option:

Statements

(…) Brackets
Brackets are used to enclose an expression so the operations on the values within the brackets
take precedence over operations outside the brackets.
Example

Explanation
1+2 will be calculated prior to calculating the result of the expression, following the standard order
of mathematical operations.

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if(::) If block
The If block is used for conditional logic. This allows multiple pathways to results depending on
selected conditions, or categorisation based on values.
An If block will be evaluated by each test → result, row by row, separately and in order
downwards by row. Each test has an output that can be ‘true’, ‘false’, or an invalid value ‘error’,
‘blank’, ‘without_value’ or ‘outside’. The result output is produced by the execution of the result
expression. The If block output follows these rules:
l If a test output is ‘error’, the If block output is ‘error’ and no further processing of subsequent
rows is done.
l If a test output is ‘false’, the result expression is not executed, and the next row is considered.
l If a test is ‘true’, the result expression is executed and the result output is used for the If
block output and no further processing of subsequent rows is done.
l If all the tests are ‘false’, the ‘otherwise’ result expression is executed and its output is used.
l If a test output is an invalid value (without_value, blank, outside) the result expression is not
executed and the test output’s invalid value is remembered. The subsequent rows are then
run.
l If a subsequent test output is ‘true’ after an earlier one produced an invalid value, the previous
test output is discarded and the new row’s result expression output is used as the output for
the If block.
l If all test outputs are invalid status values, the highest priority status of all the remembered
invalid statuses is used as the output result. The priority of non-error invalid status values is:
outside > without_value > blank.
Additionally, it is possible to choose to produce invalid values as the output of result expressions.
Example

Explanation
Cu_pct is the name of an evaluation applied to all the points in a points object. As the if(::) If
block calculation is run for each point, the evaluation for each point replaces this variable name in
the expression. If the value is greater than the value of the constant pi, the result for that point
will be the text string "Blue". Otherwise, if the value is less than or equal to pi, the result will be the
string "Red".
Additional rows may be added. Each row follows on from the left-over results of the line before,
simplifying the logical expression that may be used.

Explanation

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Note the addition of the line [Cu_pct] > e → "Purple". This line can be interpreted to mean: if the
value estimated for a point is less than or equal to pi, but greater than e the result shall be
"Purple". The part about it being less than or equal to pi is implied because the line follows the
previous line [Cu_pct] > pi → "Blue".
Note that expression elements before and after the if expression can be entered. This allows the
if(::) If block to form part of a more complex or extensive expression.

Explanation
The earlier conditional classification has now been embedded within a concatenation function,
forming the first part of a two-part string concatenation. The concatenation function is adding
the text string "-ish" to whatever is produced by the if(::) If block. Thus, if the value of the
block being evaluated is 1.2, the result of the colour categorisation calculation will be "Red-ish".

Basic Operators

+ Add
An arithmetic addition operation.
Example

Explanation
next is assigned the value of the current imported points row [id] plus 1.

- Subtract
An arithmetic subtraction operation.
Example

Explanation
prev is assigned the value of the current imported points row [id] minus 1.

* Multiply
An arithmetic multiplication operation. Note that implied multiplication, putting factors adjacent
to one another, is not supported. The * operator must be explicitly used.
Example

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Explanation
product is assigned the value of [x] times [scale].

/ Divide
An arithmetic division operation.
Example

Explanation
quotient is assigned the value of [numerator] divided by [denominator].

% Modulo
An arithmetic modulo operation. This is an integer division operation that returns the remainder
instead of the integer quotient.
Example

Explanation
remainder is assigned the value of [numerator] modulo [denominator], or in other words,
[numerator] is divided by [denominator] to produce an integer quotient , the number of times
[denominator] goes into [numerator], and a remainder, which is the number returned by this
modulo function.

^ Power
A mathematical exponentiation operation where a base is raised to the power of the exponent.
Example

Explanation
area is assigned the value of pi * [radius]2 (because ^2 is interpreted as ‘to the power of the
exponent 2’ or 'squared'). Because [radius] happened to be defined as equalling 2, the result of
the expression pi * 22 is 12.56637..., as can be seen from the result at the end of the expression.

and Logical and

A logical and operation.
Example

Explanation

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filter will be true if the point is classified in the 'Dacite' part of the geological model AND the [z]
coordinate for the point is above 2800; it will be false if either of these conditions are not true.

or Logical or
A logical or operation.
Example

Explanation
Dacite and ED will be true if the point is classified in the 'Dacite' part of the geological model OR
the the point is classified in the 'Early Diorite' part of the geological model, but it will be false if
neither of these conditions is true.

not Logical not

A logical not operation.
Example

Explanation
Not Dacite will be true if the point is classified in the geological model as anything other than
'Dacite'. The logical operator not inverts the logical expression that follows the operator.

= Equal
A logical equality operator.
Example

Explanation
Dacite will be true if the point is classified in the 'Dacite' part of the geological model, and will be
false for all other values.

!= Not equal
A logical not-equal operator.
Example

Explanation
Not Dacite will be true if the point is classified in the geological model as anything other than
'Dacite', and will be false when it is 'Dacite'.

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< Less than

A logical less-than operator.
Example

Explanation
density under 1 will be true when the variable [density] is less than 1, and false otherwise.

< Less or equal

A logical less-than-or-equals operator.
Example

Explanation
density le 1 will be true when the variable [density] is less than or equal to 1, and false otherwise.

< Greater than

A logical greater-than operator.
Example

Explanation
density over 1 will be true when the variable [density] is more than 1, and false otherwise.

< Greater or equal

A logical greater-than-or-equals operator.
Example

Explanation
density ge 1 will be true when the variable [density] is more than or equal to 1, and false otherwise.

Complex Comparisons

Lower < n < upper

A pair of comparisons, with a logical result to indicate if the tested value n is between the lower
value provided and the upper value provided.
Example

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Explanation
filter will be true when the point evaluation [AU_gpt] is between the values of 5 and 8 (but not
equalling 5 or 8); it will be false otherwise.

Lower <= n < upper

A pair of comparisons, with a logical result to indicate if the tested value n is between the lower
value provided and the upper value provided, or equal to the lower value.
Example

Explanation
filter will be true when the point evaluation [AU_gpt] is between the values of 5 and 8 (but not
equalling 8); it will be false otherwise.

Lower < n <= upper

A pair of comparisons, with a logical result to indicate if the tested value n is between the lower
value provided and the upper value provided, or equal to the upper value.
Example

Explanation
filter will be true when the point evaluation [AU_gpt] is between the values of 5 and 8 (but not
equalling 5); it will be false otherwise.

Lower <= n <= upper

A pair of comparisons, with a logical result to indicate if the tested value n is between (or equal to
either) the lower value provided and the upper value provided.
Example

Explanation
filter will be true when the point evaluation [AU_gpt] is greater than or equal to 5 and less than or
equal to 8; it will be false otherwise.

x in {a,b,...}
A logical inclusion expression. This will return true if x matches any element of the set of listed
items.
Example

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Explanation
If [colour] is one of the items in the list within the curly brackets, filter will be true. If [colour] is
anything else, filter will be false.

x not in {a,b,...}
A logical exclusion expression. This will return true if x fails to match any element of the set of
listed items.
Example

Explanation
If [colour] is not one of the items in the list within the curly brackets, filter will be true. If [colour]
matches any item in the list, filter will be false.

Invalid Values
Invalid values are different types of results for “numeric” categorisation calculations that need
special non-numeric results for certain category results. These have special meanings of their
own without having to resort to interpreting negative numbers and zero as having special
meaning.
blank means having no value, the value in the imported file is blank or has non-numeric data
without_value is often used to mean the estimator cannot produce a value (specific to blocks)
outside is used to indicate the block is outside the boundary of the domain (specific to blocks)
error generates an error, and provides an ‘error’ status value for the affected block or point
error(‘message’) is similar to error but includes a custom message.
Multiple case example

Explanation
If the variable [area] is equal to 0, the point will be marked with the special value blank. If the
variable [area] is less than 0, the point will be marked with the special value outside. If [area] is
greater than 0 and the variable [result] is equal to 0, the point will be marked with the special
value without_value. If [area] is greater than 0 and [result] is greater than 0, the point will be will
be assigned the value of the variable [result]. If [area] is greater than 0 and [result] is less than 0,
the point will be given the special value error and status with the message 'negative result'.

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is_normal(a)
A function that tests a to see if it is a normal value or an invalid value. If a is normal, it returns true.
If a is invalid, it returns false.
Example

Explanation
If [number] has a normal value, filter will be true for that block. If it produces an invalid value, filter
will be false.

is_blank(a)
A function that tests a to see if it is a blank invalid value. If a is blank, it returns true. If a is normal
or another invalid value, it returns false.
Example

Explanation
If [number] has a blank status, filter will be true for that block. If it produces any other invalid
value or a normal value, filter will be false.

is_without_value(a)
A function that tests a to see if it is a without_value invalid value. If a is without_value, it returns
true. If a is normal or another invalid value, it returns false.
Example

Explanation
If [number] has a without_value status, filter will be true for that block. If it produces any other
invalid value or a normal value, filter will be false.

is_outside(a)
A function that tests a to see if it is an outside invalid value. If a is outside, it returns true. If a is
normal or another invalid value, it returns false.
Example

Explanation
If [number] has an outside status, filter will be true for that block. If it produces any other invalid
value or a normal value, filter will be false.

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Mathematics

pi Constant
The constant pi is an existing item you do not need to define yourself. It is defined to 15 decimal
places as 3.141592653589793.
Example

Explanation
area will be calculated as pi multiplied by the square of [radius]. Note that pi is not enclosed in
square brackets like user-created variables and constants, as it is an internal constant.

e Constant
The constant e, the base of the natural logarithm, is an existing item you do not need to define
yourself. It is defined to 15 decimal places as 2.718281828459045.
Example

Explanation
comp will be calculated as e to the power of ([rate] minus 1). Note that e is not enclosed in square
brackets like user-created variables and constants, as it is an internal constant.

log(n) Base 10
The common logarithm, the logarithm with base 10, i.e. log10(n) or lg(n). This function will
calculate the common logarithm of the value provided as n.
Example

Explanation
scaled will be calculated as log10 of [measure].

log(n, base)
The logarithm of a number n to the base base.
Example

Explanation
scaled will be calculated as log2 of [measure].

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ln(n) Natural log, base e

The natural logarithm, the logarithm with base e, i.e. loge(n). This function will calculate the
natural logarithm of the value provided as n.
Example

Explanation
scaled will be calculated as loge of [measure].

exp(n) Natural exponent

The natural exponent. This function will provide the result of en.
Example

Explanation
em will be calculated as e [measure].

sqrt(n) Square root

The principle square root of the provided number n.
Example

Explanation
sqrtmwill be calculated as the square root of [measure].

abs(n) Absolute value

The absolute value of a number is it's value with the sign of the number disregarded. The absolute
value of -42 is 42. The absolute value of 42 is also 42.
Example

Explanation
absm will be whatever [measure] is, but without its sign; it will always be positive as a result.

Limits and Rounding

min (n, m, ...)

Returns the lowest of all the values in the set provided.

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Example

Explanation
low will be the lowest of the three values provided, the metadata items for the X, Y, and Z point
coordinates.

max (n, m, ...)

Returns the highest of all the values in the set provided.
Example

Explanation
high will be the highest of the three values provided, the metadata items for the X, Y, and Z point
coordinates.

clamp(n, lower)
This clamp function tests the value n against the threshold lower and if it is less than lower the
result will be lower; otherwise the result will be n. The effect is to push all the values below the
threshold up to the threshold.
Example

Explanation
The output for modified will range from 0.25 up to the maximum value of [AU_gpt].If [AU_gpt] is
less than 0.25, the output will be 0.25 instead. Otherwise, the output will be [AU_gpt].

clamp(n, lower, upper)

This clamp function tests the value n against the threshold lower and if it is less than lower the
result will be lower; it tests the value n against the threshold upper and if it is more than upper the
result will be upper; otherwise the result will be n. The effect is to squish all the values into a box
between the lower and upper thresholds.
Example

Explanation
The output for modified will range from 0.25 up to 8. If [AU_gpt] is less than 0.25, the output will
be 0.25 instead. If [AU_gpt] is more than 8, the output will be 8 instead. Otherwise, the output
will be [AU_gpt].

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round(n)
This function rounds the input value n to the nearest whole number.
Example

Explanation
The variable negative will be given the value -13 as the nearest whole number to -12.6789 used as
the input to the function. The variable positive will be given the value 13 as the nearest whole
number to 12.6789 used as the input to the function.

round(n, dp)
This function rounds the input value n to the number of decimal places specified by dp, a positive
integer.
Example

Explanation
The variable negative will be given the value -12.3457, the value of -12.3456789 rounded to 4
decimal places. The variable positive will be given the value 12.3457, the value of 12.3456789
rounded to 4 decimal places.

roundsf(n, sf)
This function rounds the input value n to the number of significant figures specified by sf, which
must be a positive integer >= 1. Rounding to a given number of significant figures is often
preferred in scientific applications over rounding to a given number of decimal places, as outputs
can be rounded to the same amount of significance as the inputs.
Example

Explanation
The variable negative will be given the value -12.35, the value of -12.3456789 rounded to 4
significant figures. The variable positive will be given the value 12.35, the value of 12.3456789
rounded to 4 significant figures.

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floor(n)
This function removes the fractional part of a real number n and returns the integer number below
the real number n. This remains true when n is a negative number.
Example

Explanation
The variable negative will be given the value -13, the integer below -12.3456789. The variable
positive will be given the value 12, the integer below 12.3456789.

ceiling(n)
This function removes the fractional part of a real number n and returns the integer number
above the real number n. This remains true when n is a negative number.
Example

Explanation
The variable negative will be given the value -12, the integer above -12.3456789. The variable
positive will be given the value 13, the integer above 12.3456789.

truncate(n)
This function simply removes the fractional part of a real number n and returns the integer
number without the fractional part. This means that for positive real numbers, the result will be
the integer less than the real number n, but for negative real numbers, the result will be the
integer greater than the real number n.
Example

Explanation
The variable negative will be given the value -12, the integer part of -12.3456789. The variable
positive will be given the value 12, the integer part of 12.3456789.

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Text

'abc' Text value

Use this item to add a text sequence to an expression. Selecting the item will add two single
quotation marks with the cursor between, ready for the text sequence to be typed. You can of
course simply type the quote marks into the expression yourself. Double quotations marks also
work identically to the single quotation marks used by this item. If you need to include a quote
mark inside your text sequence, you need to "escape" the character so it is not interpreted as the
end of the text sequence, by entering two quotation marks for each quotation mark you want
inside the text sequence. Alternatively, you can use a different type of quotation mark as the
sequence wrappers; for instance to write Seequent's Region with an internal apostrophe, you
might wrap the sequence with double quotation marks: "Seequent's Region".
Example

Explanation
The text sequence Seequent's Region (note: without the wrapping quotation marks and with only
one possessive apostrophe) will be used wherever the variables name1 or name2 are used in
expressions. Both techniques for including apostrophes in the text sequence have the same
result.

Enter text...
This selection opens a dialog box prompting you for text. After you enter it and click OK, the text
will be entered at the cursor, wrapped with quotation marks. This is an easy way to resolve any
issues about internal quotation marks, as the dialog box will convert the text into the necessary
character sequence required to generate your desired text.
Example

Explanation
This will produce a converted character sequence that produces a valid string and insert it to the
expression at the insertion point.

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concat(t, u, ...)
This concatenates a series of text sequences together.
Example

Explanation
Each of the text sequences in the input are run together and combined. If [direction] is 'North'
then name will be Seequent_North_Region. If [direction] is 'South' then name will be Seequent_
South_Region.

startswith(t, 'prefix')
This function returns true if the text sequence t starts with prefix, and false otherwise. This is
case insensitive; 'prefix' will match 'PREFIX'.
Example

Explanation
filter will be true if [name] starts with Seequent.

endswith(t, 'suffix')
This function returns true if the text sequence t ends with suffix, and false otherwise. This is case
insensitive; 'suffix' will match 'SUFFIX'.
Example

Explanation
filter will be true if [name] ends with Region.

contains(t, 'part')
This function returns true if the text sequence t contains part somewhere within, and false
otherwise. This is case insensitive; 'part' will match 'PART'.
Example

Explanation
filter will be true if [name] contains North somewhere within the character sequence.

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like(t, 'pattern')
This function returns true if the text sequence t matches pattern, where [pattern] is follows
SQL-style LIKE matching rules. This is case insensitive, and pattern must match the whole of t,
not just a portion of it. Use _ as a wildcard for a single character, and % as a wildcard for any
number of characters (including no characters).
Example

Explanation
filter will be true if [name] matches the pattern %Seequent_Region%. Examples of [name] that
will match include:
l SEEQUENT1Region
l SEEQUENT1REGION
l Seequent2region
l NorthernSeequent1Region
l SEEQUENT3regionExtra
l #seequentXregion#
Examples that will not match include:
l Seequent12Region
l SeequentReg1ion
l SeequentRegion

regexp(t, 'pattern')
This function returns true if the text sequence t matches pattern, where [pattern] is follows
regular expression matching rules. This is case insensitive.
Example

Explanation
filter will be true if [name] matches the regexp pattern Seequent.Region. Examples of [name]
that will match include:
l SEEQUENT1Region
l SEEQUENT1REGION
l Seequent2region
l NorthernSeequent1Region
l SEEQUENT3regionExtra
l #seequentXregion#

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Examples that will not match include:

l Seequent12Region
l SeequentReg1ion
l SeequentRegion

Date/Time

'now' Current timestamp

Use this item to add the current date-and-timestamp at the insertion point.
Example

Explanation
While entering an expression, the 'now' selection has been chosen and a date-and-timestamp
has been entered at the insertion point.

'today' Current date

Use this item to add the current datestamp at the insertion point.
Example

Explanation
While entering an expression, the 'today' selection has been chosen and a date-and-timestamp
has been entered at the insertion point.

dateonly(timestamp)
This function takes a date-and-timestamp and cuts off the timestamp to leave just the date.
Example

Explanation
While the [past] variable has a full date-and-timestamp, the dateonly function strips the time off
and leaves just the date.

Pick timestamp...
This selection opens a dialog box prompting you for a date and a time that will be entered at the
insertion point when you click OK.
Example

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Explanation
Use the year picker, month picker, date selector and Time field to specify a date and time. If the
above date is entered, it will be represented in the expression as @2020-01-22 00:00:00.

Pick date...
This selection opens a dialog box prompting you for a date that will be entered at the insertion
point when you click OK.
Example

Explanation
Use the year picker, month picker and date selector to specify a date. If the above date is
entered, it will be represented in the expression as @2020-01-22.

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Unit Conversion

Mass/weight...
This selection opens a dialog box prompting for the From Unit and To Unit for the conversion.

When you have selected the two units, the dialog box disappears and the conversion function you
require will have been inserted into the expression at the cursor, and the cursor repositioned so
you can enter the source of the value to be converted.
Example

Explanation
The troy_oz_to_g function has been entered by the dialog box, and the variable [troyOz] has
been entered as the input. The numeric calculation grams will be given the output of the troy_oz_
to_g function.

Distance...
This selection opens a dialog box prompting for the From Unit and To Unit for the conversion.

When you have selected the two units, the dialog box disappears and the conversion function you
require will have been inserted into the expression at the cursor, and the cursor repositioned so
you can enter the source of the value to be converted.
Example

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Explanation
The ft_to_m function has been entered by the dialog box, and the variable [feet] has been
entered as the input. The numeric calculation metres will be given the output of theft_to_m
function.

Area...
This selection opens a dialog box prompting for the From Unit and To Unit for the conversion.

When you have selected the two units, the dialog box disappears and the conversion function you
require will have been inserted into the expression at the cursor, and the cursor repositioned so
you can enter the source of the value to be converted.
Example

Explanation
The ha_to_acre function has been entered by the dialog box, and the variable [hectares] has
been entered as the input. The numeric calculation acres will be given the output of theha_to_
acre function.

Volume...
This selection opens a dialog box prompting for the From Unit and To Unit for the conversion.

When you have selected the two units, the dialog box disappears and the conversion function you
require will have been inserted into the expression at the cursor, and the cursor repositioned so
you can enter the source of the value to be converted.
Example

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Explanation
The acre_ft_to_m3 function has been entered by the dialog box, and the variable [acre-ft] has
been entered as the input. The numeric calculation volm3 will be given the output of theacre_ft_
to_m3 function.

Temperature...
This selection opens a dialog box prompting for the From Unit and To Unit for the conversion.

When you have selected the two units, the dialog box disappears and the conversion function you
require will have been inserted into the expression at the cursor, and the cursor repositioned so
you can enter the source of the value to be converted.
Example

Explanation
The degF_to_K function has been entered by the dialog box, and the variable [fahrenheit] has
been entered as the input. The numeric calculation Kelvin will be given the output of thedegF_to_
K function.

Pressure...
This selection opens a dialog box prompting for the From Unit and To Unit for the conversion.

When you have selected the two units, the dialog box disappears and the conversion function you
require will have been inserted into the expression at the cursor, and the cursor repositioned so
you can enter the source of the value to be converted.
Example

Explanation
The psi_to_kPa function has been entered by the dialog box, and the variable [pressure_psi] has
been entered as the input. The numeric calculation pressure_kPa will be given the output of
thepsi_to_kPa function.

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Energy...
This selection opens a dialog box prompting for the From Unit and To Unit for the conversion.

When you have selected the two units, the dialog box disappears and the conversion function you
require will have been inserted into the expression at the cursor, and the cursor repositioned so
you can enter the source of the value to be converted.
Example

Explanation
The MJ_to_kWh function has been entered by the dialog box, and the variable [MegaJoules] has
been entered as the input. The numeric calculation kiloWatt Hours will be given the output of the
MJ_to_kWh function.

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Modelling
This section describes how to build models in Leapfrog Geo.
l Geological models can be built from lithology data or from any other suitable data in the
project. Visualising data in the scene is an important step in determining the model that will be
built, and the tools for doing this are described in Visualising Data. Once this has been
determined, the next step is to define a basic geological model and refine its boundaries.
Modelling contact surfaces and setting their cutting relationships determine how the basic
model volume is divided into lithologies. Models can also have a fault system that, once
activated, will subdivided the model into fault blocks.
l With the Numeric Models folder, you can interpolate downhole numeric data, composited
drillhole data and points data.
l Combined models use information from up to four geological models, interpolants and
distance functions in order to visualise relationships between different types of data in the
project.
l With the Hydrogeology extension, geological models created in Leapfrog Geo can be used as
the basis for MODFLOW and FEFLOW models. You can create flow models directly in
Leapfrog Geo and assign hydrological/material properties based on the lithologies in the
geological model. Flow models can be exported for use in other applications, and you can
import existing flow models and use them as the basis for the construction of new models.
Flow models can be displayed in the scene, and time-dependent data can also be visualised.
l Leapfrog Geo can import Isatis files, UBC grids and block models in CSV format. Leapfrog
Geo can import Isatis files and block models in CSV format. Block models imported in CSV
format must be regular, rotated only about the Z axis. Block models and sub-blocked models
can also be created directly in Leapfrog Geo and exported for use in other applications.
Creating block models within Leapfrog Geo has the advantage that the resolution can easily
be changed. Geological models and interpolants can be evaluated on block models, as
described in Evaluations below.

Evaluations
In Leapfrog Geo, models can be evaluated onto other objects in the project. To do this, right-click
on an object and select Evaluations:

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See Back-Flagging Drillhole Data for information on evaluating drillholes on geological models.
See Evaluating on Sections for information on evaluating surfaces on cross sections and fence
sections.
See Evaluating Points Data for information on evaluating surfaces on points.

A window will appear listing all objects in the project that can be used for an evaluation. Once you
have selected one or more objects, click OK.
The evaluations will be added to the object in the project tree:

When you display objects in the scene, you can select the evaluations from the view list:

Assigning Attributes to Volumes

For geological models, numeric models and combined models, you can assign attributes to the
model volumes. To do this, right-click on the model in the project tree and select Volume
Attributes. In the window that appears, click the Add Attribute button to add a new column.

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Enter a name for the column and click OK. You can then edit the values in the table. When you
click in the scene, the values will be included in the information displayed about the selected
volume:

Attribute information cannot be displayed in the Central Browser.

When you save scenes for viewing in Leapfrog Viewer, manually entered attributes will be
displayed when volume information is displayed.

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Geological Models
The model building process involves several key steps:
l Creating the project and setting up the modelling environment
l Importing drillhole data and correcting errors
l Importing other required data
l Visualising the data in the scene and inspecting it to make sense of the model that will be built.
It is at this stage that you might create new drillhole data columns to select data that will be
the basis of geological models.
l Creating a basic GM, then refining its boundary and defining a fault system
l Modelling the contact surfaces
l Setting the cutting relationships between the different contact surfaces and generating
volumes
A fault system can also be defined that divides the geological model into subunits in which the
internal structure can be defined independent of the other subunits in the model. This is described
in Faulted Models.
The rest of this topic describes the process of creating a geological model. It is divided into:
l Creating a New Geological Model
l The Geological Model in the Project Tree
l Geological Model Display
l Copying a Geological Model
l Creating a Static Copy of a Geological Model
l Geological Model Volumes and Surfaces Export Options
l Extracting Model Volumes
A geological model can be created using only a basic set of parameters. The only parameter that
cannot be changed once the model has been created is the base lithology.

Creating a New Geological Model

To create a new geological model, right-click on the Geological Models folder and select New
Geological Model. The New Geological Model window will open, together with a set of
controls in the scene that help in defining the model extents.

The Base Lithology

Select the drillhole data column that will be used as the basis of a model from the Base
Lithology Column list. If you do not wish to use lithology data as the basis for the model, select
<None>. This may be the case if, for example, you want to build a model from points data or
from an imported map. If you select <None>, you will need to manually define the lithologies that
will be modelled.

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If more than one column of lithology data is available for creating models, be sure to choose
the correct one as it cannot be changed once the initial model has been created. If after
creating and modifying the model, you find you need to modify the drillhole data, resulting in a
new lithology column, you can use that new column to create contact surfaces using Other
Contacts options.

You can also filter the drillhole data used to build the geological model using query filters. To do so,
select the required query filter from the Filter data list. Once the model has been created, you
can remove the filter or select a different filter.

Surface Resolution
The surface resolution setting Leapfrog Geo automatically uses as the default is based on the
data available in the project. Set the surface resolution for the model as a whole and choose
whether or not the resolution will be adaptive. See Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo for more
information on the effects of these settings.
Later, while refining the model, you can change the resolution of each surface and enable or
disable adaptive resolution. See Surface Resolution for a Geological Model.

Model Extents
A geological model is initially created with a basic rectangular set of extents aligned with the
south/north and east/west axes. You can define the model’s extents in three ways:
l Enter the coordinates.
l Select Enclose Object and choose from the list of objects in the project. If the model is
based on drillhole data, select the lithology segments from the Enclose Object list.
l Use the controls that appear in the scene. The orange handle adjusts the centre of the plane
and the red handles adjust the size.
See Object Extents for more information.
Enter a Name for the model that describes the purpose of the model. This Name will be used in
naming the objects that will be added to the model. Click OK to create the new model. The new
geological model will be created and added to the Geological Models folder.
See Editing a Geological Model for information on how to change the basic settings for the model.

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The Geological Model in the Project Tree

The objects under the geological model in the project tree represent different parts of the model:

l The Boundary object defines the limits of the geological model. When the model is first
created, this is the rectangular model extents. If a topography has been defined, it is
automatically used for as the upper boundary. See Modifying a Geological Model’s Boundary
for more information about modifying the boundary.
l The Fault System object defines faults and their interactions in the model. See Faulted
Models.
l The Lithologies object describes all the lithological units to be modelled and the colours that
are used to display them on the screen. It is generated automatically from all the lithologies
identified in drillhole data selected when the model is created. If no column was selected, you
will need to define the lithologies manually before you start modelling the lithology layers.
l The Surface Chronology object describes the contact surfaces in the model, organised in
chronological order, from youngest to oldest. These surfaces and their chronology determine
how the volume inside the model extents is divided into lithological units. When the model is
first created, the Surface Chronology is empty, but it will eventually hold all contact
surfaces and inputs to them.
l The Output Volumes folder contains all the volumes generated in building the geological
model. When the model is first created, the Surface Chronology is empty and so there is
only a single output volume in the Output Volumes folder. This volume fills the model’s
extents and is called “Unknown”. Once contact surfaces have been generated and added to
the Surface Chronology object, new volumes will be generated and added to the Output
Volumes folder.

Geological Model Display

Right-click on the geological model in the project tree to view its display options:
l The View Object option adds the geological model to the shape list as a single object. You can
also display the geological model in this way by dragging it from the project tree into the scene.
Change the visibility of the model’s volumes by clicking the Edit Colours button in the shape
list.

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l The View Output Volumes option adds the model to the scene as a series of output
volumes. It is the equivalent of dragging the Output Volumes folder into the scene. Change
the visibility of the model’s volumes individually.
l The View Surface Chronology option displays the surfaces that are used to divided up the
model.
l The View Fault Block Boundaries option is only available when a fault system has been
defined and enabled for the model. Selecting View Fault Block Boundaries displays the
fault blocks without displaying the lithology layers.

Copying a Geological Model

Creating a copy of a geological model is a useful way of experimenting with changes to a model.
To copy a geological model, right-click on it in the project tree and select Copy. Enter a name for
the copy of the model and click OK. The copy will be added to the project tree.

Creating a Static Copy of a Geological Model

Creating a static copy preserves a snapshot of a geological model that does not change, even
when changes are made to the data on which the original model was dependent. This is a useful
way of storing historical models and comparing models. Static copies can be exported from
Leapfrog Geo, as described in Geological Model Volumes and Surfaces Export Options below.
To create a static copy of a geological model, right-click on it in the project tree and select Static
Copy. Enter a name for the copy of the model and click OK. The copy will be added to the
Geological Models folder.
In the project tree, the static copy ( ) is made up of a Legend object ( ), the output volumes (
) and all surfaces created in building the model.

Static models created in versions of Leapfrog Geo before 2.2 copied only the output volumes
and the legend, and the static model appeared in the shape list only as a single line. When
these static models are upgraded and displayed in the scene, the individual output volumes will
be added to the shape list.

To view the date a static copy was created, right-click on it in the project tree and select
Properties. The date the copy was created is shown in the General tab.

Geological Model Volumes and Surfaces Export Options

There are three options for exporting a geological model’s output volumes and surfaces. These
are:
l Export an output volume or a surface as a mesh. Right-click on it in the project tree and click
Export. You will be prompted for a file name and location. See Exporting a Single Mesh.
l Export an output volume as a thickness grid. Right-click on it in the project tree and click
Export Thickness Grid. See Thickness Grids.

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l Export multiple output volumes and surfaces. Right-click on the geological model in the
project tree and select Export. See Exporting Multiple Meshes from Models.
When exporting output volumes, the Merge output lithology volumes setting in the
geological model’s General tab (see Editing a Geological Model) determines how the output
volumes are handled when they are exported. If this setting is enabled, internal walls and surface
seams will be removed from volumes of the same lithology.

Extracting Model Volumes

There are number of options for extracting meshes from geological model output volumes. These
options are available by right-clicking on volumes in the Output Volumes folder and selecting
Extract Mesh. There are five options:
l Mesh Parts
l Component Surfaces
l Younger Surfaces
l Older Surfaces
l Boundary Surfaces
The Mesh Parts option is the same as the option available on meshes elsewhere in the project.
See Extracting Mesh Parts.
The Younger Surfaces, Older Surfaces and Boundary Surfaces options extract different
parts of the selected volume, which are saved into the Meshes folder. Here, the boundary
surfaces are shown in blue, the younger surfaces in yellow and the older surfaces in purple:

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Component Surfaces extracts a separate surface for each volume the selected volume
interacts with, including the boundary. The component surfaces are named after the boundary
they are derived from and saved into a subfolder in the Meshes folder. For example, here meshes
have been extracted for each contact with the Intermineral diorite volume:

Editing a Geological Model

Once a geological model has been created, you can change the model’s resolution and other basic
settings by double-clicking on the model in the project tree. The Geological Model window will
open with the General tab selected. The other tabs in the Geological Model window represent
the different parts of the geological model. It is generally more useful, however, to work with
these parts of the model on an individual basis by either double-clicking on the object in the
project tree or right-clicking and seeing what options are available.
The rest of this topic describes how to change the basic settings for a geological model. It is
divided into:
l Changing the Query Filter
l Surface Generation Options
l Volume Generation Options

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Changing the Query Filter

Although the Base lithology column cannot be changed once a geological model has been
created, you can change the filters applied to the data. Any filters defined for the lithology table
used to define the model can be applied to the Base lithology column:

Individual surfaces in the geological model can inherit the query filter from the parent geological
model or can use a different filter. To change what query filter is used for a surface, double-click
on the points used to create the surface and change the Query filter setting in the Lithology
tab:

You may first need to disable the Inherit from GM option to change the Query filter.

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Surface Generation Options

The Surface Generation options apply to the model as whole, but can be overridden for
individual surfaces.

See Surface Resolution for a Geological Model for information on changing the Surface
resolution and Adaptive settings for individual surfaces.
When Exact clipping is enabled, model surfaces will be generated without “tags” that overhang
the model boundary. This setting is enabled by default when you create geological model.
Surfaces created in building the geological model can be set to snap to the data used in the model.
There are three options:
l Off. Surfaces do not snap to the data used to create them.
l All data. Surfaces snap to all data within the Maximum snap distance, which includes
drillhole data and any data added to surfaces as part of the model refinement process.
l Drilling only. Surfaces snap to drillhole data within the Maximum snap distance but not to
other data used to modify surfaces.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,
it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

If you need surfaces to honour drillhole data but treat other data objects as interpretations, select
Drilling only. If you want finer control over what objects are snapped to, you can do this on a
surface-by-surface basis. See:
l Surfacing Options for Deposits and Erosions
l Surfacing Options for Intrusions
l Surfacing Options for Veins
l Changing Surfacing Options for an Offset Surface
l Surfacing Options for a Structural Surface

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Volume Generation Options

The Merge output volumes setting determines whether or not output volumes of the same
lithology are merged when the volumes are exported. If Merge output volumes is set to Fast
or Robust, internal walls and surface seams will be removed from volumes of the same lithology.
Either option is suitable when you are using output volumes as extents for other models.
The difference between Fast and Robust is the algorithm used:
l Fast removes back-to-back triangles before generating output volumes. This option was new
in Leapfrog Geo version 4.0 and is the default option selected when a geological model is
created.
l Robust is the Merge output lithology volumes option from versions of Leapfrog Geo
before 4.0. Robust uses the volume cutter, which tracks where the triangles originated and is,
therefore, a slow option for building output volumes.
If there are issues with surfaces exported to other modelling packages using the Do not merge
output volumes setting, try the Fast setting. If there are still issues, try the Robust setting.

When projects created in earlier versions of Leapfrog Geo are opened in Leapfrog Geo 5.1, the
Volume Generation setting for any existing geological models will not be changed.

Surface Resolution for a Geological Model

When you create a geological model (see Creating a New Geological Model), the surface
resolution is set for the model as a whole. When surfaces and boundaries are created as part of
the model-building process, their resolution is inherited from the geological model:
l For deposit and erosion contact surfaces, stratigraphic sequences and model boundaries, the
resolution is the same as the geological model.
l For intrusion contact surfaces, the resolution is half that set for the geological model.
l For vein contact surfaces, the resolution is the same as the geological model, but the
Adaptive option does not apply.
You can change the resolution and enable or disable the adaptive isosurfacer on a surface-by-
surface basis. This is useful if you want to build a detailed model of some lithologies without
increasing processing time for other volumes.

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To change the resolution settings for a contact surface, double-click on the surface in the project
tree, then click on the Surfacing tab:

For a lateral extent or fault, simply double-click on the surface in the project tree to change its
resolution settings.
Untick the Inherit resolution from GM box to change the resolution settings for a surface.
This setting may be disabled, depending on the data used to create the boundary or surface.
The resolution of intrusion contact surfaces is also affected by the point generation parameters.
See Intrusion Point Generation Parameters for more information.

Modifying a Geological Model’s Boundary

Geological models are created with a basic set of rectangular extents that can then be refined
using other data in the project. These extents usually correspond to the ground surface and
known boundaries. Creating extents can also be used to restrict modelling to a particular area of
interest; for example, modelling can be restricted to a known distance from drillholes by applying
a distance function as a lateral extent. Extents do not need to be strictly vertical surfaces, and
can be model volumes. It is also possible to define a base that serves as the geological model’s
base.

When a topography is defined for the project, it will be automatically applied as a geological
model’s upper boundary when the model is created.

The rest of this topic describes how to create and work with geological model extents. It is
divided into:
l Creating Extents for a Geological Model
l Changing an Extent’s Settings
l Adding Data to an Extent
l Editing an Extent with a Polyline
l Editing an Extent with Structural Data
l Removing an Extent from a Geological Model

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Creating Extents for a Geological Model

To create an extent, expand the geological model in the project tree. Right-click on the
Boundary object and select from the New Lateral Extent or New Base options. Follow the
prompts to create the extent, which will then appear in the project tree under the model’s
Boundary object. For example, this geological model has two lateral extents, one from a polyline
and the other from GIS data:

New extents are automatically applied to the boundary being modified. Leapfrog Geo usually
orients a new extent correctly, with red presenting the inside face of the extent and blue
representing the outside face. If this is not the case, you can change the orientation by right-
clicking on the extent in the project tree and selecting Swap Inside.

Extent From a Polyline

You can create an extent from a polyline that already exists in the project or you can draw a new
one. If you want to use an imported polyline, import it into the Polylines folder before creating
the new extent.
To create a new extent from a polyline, right-click on the model’s Boundary object and select
New Lateral Extent > From Polyline or New Base > From Polyline. In the window that
appears, select whether you will create a new polyline or use an existing one:

For lateral extents, you can create the extent as a Vertical Wall or Surface. If you create
the lateral extent as a Surface, you will be able to modify it using additional data, as described
below. A lateral extent created as a Vertical Wall, however, cannot be modified. A base is
always created as a surface and so can be modified as described below.

Click OK to generate the new extent. If you have chosen to create a New Drawing, the drawing
controls will appear in the scene and you can begin drawing, as described in Drawing in the Scene.
The new extent will appear in the project tree as part of the Boundary object.

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If the surface generated does not fit the polyline adequately, you can increase the quality of
the fit by adding more points to the polyline. See Drawing in the Scene for information on
adding points to polylines.

Extents created from polylines can be modified by adding points data, GIS vector data and
structural data. You can also add polylines and structural data to the extent. See Adding Data to
an Extent, Editing an Extent with a Polyline and Editing an Extent with Structural Data for more
information.

Extent From GIS Vector Data

GIS data in the project can be used to create a lateral extent or a base for a geological model.
Once the data you wish to use has been imported into the project, right-click on the model’s
Boundary object and select New Lateral Extent > From GIS Vector Data or New Base >
From GIS Vector Data.
In the window that appears, select the data object you wish to use:

For lateral extents, you can create the extent as a Vertical Wall or Surface. If you create
the lateral extent as a Surface, you will be able to modify it using additional data, as described
below. A lateral extent created as a Vertical Wall, however, cannot be modified. A base is
always created as a surface and so can be modified as described below.

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If you select the Surface option, you can use the GIS data object with its own elevation data or
projected onto the topography:

Using the On Topography option makes sense for GIS data as it is, by nature, on the
topography. The On Topography option also mitigates any issues that may occur if elevation
information in the GIS data object conflicts with that in the project.
Click OK to create the new extent. The new extent will appear in the project tree as part of the
Boundary object.
Extents created from GIS data can be modified by adding points data, GIS vector data and
structural data. You can also add polylines and structural data to the extent. See Adding Data to
an Extent, Editing an Extent with a Polyline and Editing an Extent with Structural Data for more
information.

Extent From Points

To create a new extent from points data, right-click on the Boundary object for the model you
are working on and select New Lateral Extent > From Points or New Base > From Points.
The Select Points To Add window will be displayed, showing points data available in the
project:

Select the information you wish to use and click OK.

The new extent will appear in the project tree as part of the Boundary object.
Extents created from points can be modified by adding points data, GIS vector data and
structural data. You can also add polylines and structural data to the extent. See Adding Data to

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an Extent, Editing an Extent with a Polyline and Editing an Extent with Structural Data for more
information.

Extent From Structural Data

Planar structural data can be used to create a lateral extent or a base for a geological model. You
can create a new structural data table or use a table that already exists in the project. If you want
to use categories of structural data in creating the extent, use an existing table and create filters
for those categories before creating the lateral extent.
To start, right-click on the Boundary object for the model you are working on and select New
Lateral Extent > From Structural Data or New Base > From Structural Data. The New
Structural Data window will be displayed, showing structural data available in the project:

Select the New Drawing option to draw the structural data points directly in the scene.
Select the Existing Structural Data option to use a table in the Structural Modelling folder.
With this option, you will be able to select from the categories available in the data table, if query
filters have been created for those categories:

Click OK to generate the new extent. If you have chosen to create a New Drawing, the drawing
controls will appear in the scene and you can begin drawing, as described in Creating New Planar
Structural Data Tables. To share the new structural data table, right-click on it and select Share.
The table will be saved to the Structural Modelling folder.
The new extent will appear in the project tree as part of the Boundary object.
Extents created from structural data can be modified by adding points data, GIS vector data and
structural data. You can also add polylines and structural data to the extent. See Adding Data to
an Extent, Editing an Extent with a Polyline and Editing an Extent with Structural Data for more
information.

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Extent From a Surface

To use a surface as an extent for a geological model, right-click on the model’s Boundary object
and select New Lateral Extent > From Surface or New Base > From Surface. The Select
Boundary window will appear, showing all the meshes that can be used as an extent:

Select the required mesh and click OK. The extent will be added to the model’s Boundary object.
You cannot modify an extent created from a mesh by adding data, editing with polylines or
structural data or by applying a trend. However, the extent is linked to the mesh used to create it,
and updating the mesh will update the extent.

Extent From Distance to Points

Leapfrog Geo can calculate the distance to set of points and use the resulting distance buffer as
a lateral extent for a geological model. To create a new lateral extent from a distance buffer,
right-click on the Boundary object for the model you are working on and select New Lateral
Extent > From Distance To Points. The Smoothed Distance Buffer window will appear:

Select the Distance and set an Anisotropy, if required.

The Ellipsoid Ratios determine the relative shape and strength of the ellipsoids in the scene,
where:
l The Maximum value is the relative strength in the direction of the green line on the moving
plane.

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l The Intermed. value is the relative strength in the direction perpendicular to the green line on
the moving plane.
l The Minimum value is the relative strength in the direction orthogonal to the plane.
You can also use the Set to list to choose different options Leapfrog Geo has generated based
on the data used to build the model. Isotropic is the default option used when the model is
created.
Click OK to create the new extent, which will appear in the project tree as part of the Boundary
object.
To change the extent’s settings, expand the model’s Boundary object in the project tree and
double-click on the extent. Adjust the Distance and Anisotropy, if required.
The resolution of extents is automatically inherited from the geological model. You can change
the resolution for an extent if you want more or less detail than for the geological model as a
whole. To do so, untick the box for Inherit resolution from GM and change the setting.
Extents created from a distance to points function can be modified by adding points data and GIS
vector data. See Adding Data to an Extent.

Extent From a Distance Function

A distance function calculates the distance to a set of points and can be used to bound a
geological model. You can use an existing distance function as a lateral extent or create a new
one.
To use a distance function as a lateral extent, right-click on the Boundary object for the model
you are working on and select New Lateral Extent > From Distance Function. If there are no
distance functions in the project, you will be prompted to create a new one. See Distance
Functions for information on defining and editing the distance function.
When there are already distance functions in the project, you will be prompted to choose
between creating a new function or using an existing one:

To use an existing function, select it from the list and set a Buffer distance. Click OK to create
the lateral extent.
When you create a new distance function, it will be part of the model’s Boundary object and will
not be available elsewhere in the project. To share it within the project, expand the lateral extent
in the project tree and right-click on the distance function. Select Share. The distance function
will be saved to the Numeric Models folder.

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To change the extent’s settings, expand the model’s Boundary object in the project tree and
double-click on the extent. The Edit Distance Buffer window will appear.

The resolution of extents is automatically inherited from the geological model. You can change
the resolution for an extent if you want more or less detail than for the geological model as a
whole. To do so, untick the box for Inherit resolution from GM and change the setting.

Base From Lithology Contacts

To create a base from lithlogy contacts, right-click on the Boundary object and select either
New Base > From Base Lithology or New Base > From Other Contacts.

The only difference in the two methods is that when creating a base from other contacts, you
must first select the lithology column from those available in the project.

When defining the base, select the primary lithology and the contacts to use:

For complex geologies, the up and down directions for the base may not be clear. If this is the
case, untick the Horizontal Plane box. A reference plane will appear in the scene, with the up-

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facing surface labelled A and the downward-facing surface labelled B. Controlling the position of
the reference plane is similar to controlling the position of the moving plane:
l Use the handles in the scene window to move the plane.
l Set the Dip and Dip Azimuth values in the New Contact Points window. The reference
plane will be updated in the scene.
Once the reference plane is correctly oriented, click the Set From Plane button.
Click OK to create the base, which will appear under the Boundary object. The new base will
automatically be added to the model.

Each geological model can have only one base defined, so if you wish to define a new base, you
must first delete the existing base from the model. Do this by right-clicking on the Base object
and selecting Delete. You can also choose not to use the base you have defined. See
Removing an Extent from a Geological Model for more information.

Changing an Extent’s Settings

For geological model extents created from polylines, GIS data, points and structural data, you can
change the extent’s settings by double-clicking on it in the project tree.

In the Surfacing tab, you can change surface resolution and contact honouring options, which
are described below. In the Trend tab, you can apply a trend to the extent, which is described in
Applying a Trend.

Surface Resolution
For geological models, the resolution of extents and whether or not the adaptive isosurfacer is
used is automatically inherited from the geological model. You can change these settings for an
extent if you want more or less detail than for the geological model as a whole. To do so, untick
the box for Inherit resolution from GM and make the required changes.

Contact Honouring
Often, surfaces should honour drillhole data and treat data objects such as polylines and GIS data
as interpretations. For extents, the Snap to data setting in the Surfacing tab determines

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whether or not the extent honours the data used to create it. Options are:
l Off. The extent does not snap to the data used to create it. This is the default setting.
l All data. The extent snaps to all data within the Maximum snap distance, which includes
drillhole data and any data added to the extent.
l Drilling only. The extent snaps to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data
within the Maximum snap distance, but not to other data used to modify the extent. For
example, the extent will honour points data derived from drillhole data, but not points data
imported into the Points folder.
l Custom. The extent snaps to the data objects indicated in the Inputs tab that are within the
Maximum snap distance.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,
it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

The snap setting for the geological model will be used if Snap to data is set to Inherit from
GM.
Whatever the setting, you can see what objects are snapped to by clicking on the Inputs tab.
If you need the extent to honour drillhole data but treat other data objects as interpretations,
select Drilling only. To honour some data objects while treating others as interpretations, select
Custom, then click on the Inputs tab to enable snapping for individual objects.

Applying a Trend
You can adjust an extent created from polylines, GIS data, points and structural data by applying
a trend to it. To do this, add the extent to the scene. Next, double-click on the extent in the
project tree and click the Trend tab.
Often the easiest way to apply a trend is to click on the Draw plane line button ( ) and draw a
plane line in the scene in the direction in which you wish to adjust the surface. You may need to
rotate the scene to see the plane properly.
The Ellipsoid Ratios determine the relative shape and strength of the ellipsoids in the scene,
where:
l The Maximum value is the relative strength in the direction of the green line on the moving
plane.
l The Intermed. value is the relative strength in the direction perpendicular to the green line on
the moving plane.
l The Minimum value is the relative strength in the direction orthogonal to the plane.

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Once you have adjusted the plane to represent the trend you wish to use, click the Set From
Plane button to copy the moving plane settings.
The Set to list contains a number of different options Leapfrog Geo has generated based on the
data used in the project. Isotropic is the default option used when the extent was created.
Settings made to other surfaces in the project will also be listed, which makes it easy to apply the
same settings to many surfaces.
Click OK to apply the changes.
See Global Trends for more information.

Adding Data to an Extent

Extents created from polylines, GIS data, points and structural data can be modified by adding
points data objects, GIS vector data and structural data. Extents created from a distance to
points function can be modified by adding points data and GIS vector data. To add data to an
extent, right-click on the extent in the project tree and select the data type you wish to use from
the Add menu.
l Points data. Select from the points data objects available in the project and click OK.
l GIS vector data. Select from the GIS vector data available in the project and click OK.
l Structural data. Select from the structural data tables available in the project. If the selected
table has query filters defined, you can apply one of these filters by selecting the required
query from the list. Click OK to add the selected data to the extent. An alternative to adding
an existing structural data table to an extent is to edit the extent with structural data. This is
described in Editing an Extent with Structural Data below.
You can also add a polyline that already exists in the project. To do this, right-click on the extent in
the project tree and select Add > Polyline. You will be prompted to choose from the polylines in
the Polylines folder.

Editing an Extent with a Polyline

You can edit an extent using a polyline, which is described in Editing Surfaces with Polylines. A
polyline used to edit an extent will be added to the project tree as part of the extent. To edit the
polyline, right-click on it and select Edit Polyline or add it to the scene and click the Edit button (
) in the shape list. If you wish to remove the polyline from the extent, right-click on it in the
project tree and select Delete or Remove.
To add an existing polyline to a geological model extent, use the Add > Polyline option.

Editing an Extent with Structural Data

You can edit an extent using structural data, which is described in Editing Surfaces with
Structural Data. A structural data table will be added to the project tree as part of the extent. To
edit the table, right-click on it and select Edit In Scene or add it to the scene and click the Edit
button ( ) in the shape list. If you wish to remove the table from the extent, right-click on it in
the project tree and select Delete or Remove.

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Removing an Extent from a Geological Model

If you have defined an extent and want to remove it from the model, there are two options. The
first is to right-click on the extent in the project tree and click Delete. This deletes the extent
from the model, but does not delete parent objects from the project unless they were created as
part of the model, e.g. a polyline used as a lateral extent but not shared within the project. Use
this option only if you are sure you do not want to use the extent.
The second method is useful if you are making changes to the extent and do not want to
recompute the model with each change. Double-click on the model’s Boundary object or double-
click on the model and click on the Boundary tab. The Boundaries part of the window lists all
objects used as extents for a geological model:

Untick the box for extents to temporarily disable them in the model. The model will be
reprocessed, but you can then work on the extent without reprocessing the model. Disabled
extents will be marked as inactive in the project tree:

Model Lithologies
To view the lithologies used for a geological model, you can:
l Double-click on the geological model in the project tree and then click on the Lithologies tab.
l Double-click on the Lithologies object for the geological model in the project tree.

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All the lithologies defined for the geological model are displayed, together with the colours used to
display them:

Click a colour chip to change the colours used to display the lithologies.

To set multiple lithologies to a single colour, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the colour chips
you wish to change, then click on one of the colour chips. The colour changes you make will be
made to all selected lithologies.

If the geological model was created from drillhole data, the lithologies are automatically
generated from that data. There is also an additional lithology, “Unknown”, which is used to label
lithologies that cannot be labelled using known lithologies. This is the case when a geological
model is first created and no contact surfaces have been defined. The entire model volume has
no identified lithologies and so is assigned as “Unknown”.
An alternative to setting unidentified lithologies to “Unknown” is to select one of the defined
lithologies as the “background lithology”. To do this, double-click on the model’s Surface
Chronology and set Background lithology to one of the available lithologies. When you set the
background lithology for a geological model and then enable the fault system, the background
lithology will be copied to each fault block.
If there is no drillhole data in the project or if the model is not based on drillhole data, you will need
to define the lithologies one-by-one. To do this, click on the Add button, enter a name for the
lithology and choose a colour.

Faulted Models
This topic describes how to use the fault system to create and organise faults:
l The Fault System
l Fault Interactions
l Activating the Fault System

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l Copying the Surface Chronology to an Empty Fault Block

l Faulted Model Display Options
Each geological model is created with a Fault System object that is used to construct faults.
Once the faults are active in the geological model, the geological model will be divided into
separate fault blocks, which will appear in the project tree as part of the model:

Each fault block has its own Surface Chronology, which can be modified without affecting
other fault blocks in the geological model. There is no top-level Surface Chronology for the
geological model once the Fault System has been activated. This means that lithology layers
can be constructed for a faulted model in two ways:
l Define the Surface Chronology before enabling the Fault System. All surfaces defined for
the unfaulted model will automatically be copied to each fault block. Some surfaces defined
for the model as a whole will not occur in every fault block, which can be corrected by working
with the surfaces in each fault block.
l Enable the Fault System before any surfaces are defined in the unfaulted model, then define
the Surface Chronology for each fault block. An aid to working with a faulted model in this
way is the ability to copy contact surfaces from one faulted block to another. See Copying the
Surface Chronology to an Empty Fault Block below.
Which approach is best depends on the model being built. You may already know where the faults
are and choose to define them and subdivide the geological model before defining any lithology
layers. On the other hand, sometimes it is not apparent where the faults are until the layers have
been built, in which case you can add the new fault, activate it in the model, then work with the
surfaces in each fault block.

The Fault System

When a geological model is first created, the Fault System object is empty. To create faults,
right-click on the Fault System object and select from the options available. Many of these
options are similar to those for creating lateral extents. For more information, see:
l Extent From a Polyline
l Extent From GIS Vector Data
l Extent From Points

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l Extent From Structural Data

l Extent From a Surface

Faults created from polylines and GIS vector data can be created as vertical walls or surfaces.
Faults created as surfaces can be modified by adding further data, as described in Editing
Faults.

Creating a fault from the base lithology or other contacts is similar to creating contact surfaces.
See Deposits and Erosions From the Base Lithology and Deposits and Erosions From Other
Lithology Contacts for more information.
Faults will appear in the project tree as part of the Fault System object and can be expanded to
show how they were created:

Once faults have been created, you can modify them as described in Editing Faults.

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Fault Interactions
Once all the faults required have been created, you can start defining the interactions between
the faults by double-clicking on the Fault System object. The Geological Model will be opened
with the Fault System tab displayed:

To add an interaction, click on a fault, then click the Add button. Select the Interaction Type
and set how the faults interact:

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Once you have defined each fault interaction, click OK to generate the fault system. Add the
Fault System object to the scene to check that the faults interact correctly.
You can also edit fault interactions by double-clicking on individual faults. The Edit Fault window
will open, which shows only the interactions for the selected fault:

Faults are not active in the geological model until the box is ticked for each fault in the Fault
System window, as described in Editing Faults. This means you can check the fault system
without regenerating the geological model.

Activating the Fault System

Activating the fault system divides the geological model into fault blocks, which can result in
considerable processing time for complex models. It is important, therefore, to define fault
interactions before enabling the fault system, otherwise a large number of fault blocks could
be generated that significantly increase processing time. See Fault Interactions above.

To activate the fault system in the geological model, double-click on the Fault System object
once again and tick the box for each fault. The model will be divided into separate fault blocks
that can be worked with in a similar manner to the geological model as a whole.

Copying the Surface Chronology to an Empty Fault Block

If you are working with a faulted model and have defined the Surface Chronology for one fault
block, you can copy the Surface Chronology to the empty fault blocks. To do this, right-click
on the Surface Chronology for which you have defined surfaces and select Copy Chronology
To. In the window that appears, select the fault blocks you want to copy contacts to and click
OK. The surfaces will be copied and you can modify them without affecting the surfaces in the
other fault blocks.

Faulted Model Display Options

Drag the model into the scene or right-click on it and select View Object; these options add the
model to the shape list as a single object and you can change the visibility of each lithology by

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clicking the Edit Colours button. You can also add the model to the scene as a series of output
volumes by right-clicking on the model and selecting View Output Volumes.
Another display option lets you view the individual fault blocks without displaying the lithology
layers. Right-click on the model and select View Fault Block Boundaries.
To work with a specific fault block, click on it in the scene. The window that appears displays the
name of the selected fault block:

You can also view the output volumes for each individual fault block by right-clicking on the fault
block in the project tree and selecting View Output Volumes.

Editing Faults
Once a fault has been defined, you can refine it in several ways:
l Add other data. This option is available for faults created as surfaces, but not for those
created as vertical walls. Right-click on the surface to see the options available, which will
depend on how the surface was created.
l Edit the surface with a polyline. Right-click on the surface in the project tree and select either
Edit > With Polyline. See Editing Surfaces with Polylines for more information.
l Edit the surface using structural data. Right-click on the surface and select Edit > With
Structural Data. See Editing Surfaces with Structural Data for more information.
The rest of this topic describes other options for editing faults. It is divided into:
l Surfacing Options for Faults
l Changing Fault Inputs
l Applying a Trend to a Fault

Surfacing Options for Faults

To change surfacing options for a fault, double-click on the fault in the project tree, then click on
the Surfacing tab.
See Surface Resolution for a Geological Model and Honouring Surface Contacts for information
about the settings in the Surfacing tab.

The settings in the Surfacing tab will be disabled if the fault inputs have been replaced with a

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mesh.

Boundary Filtering
When data objects are added to a fault, there are two ways to handle the data that lies outside
the fault boundary:
l Filter the data. The fault is only influenced by the data that falls inside the fault boundary.
l Leave the data unfiltered. The fault is influenced by the data both inside and outside the fault
boundary.
The Boundary filter setting determines how data used to define the fault is filtered:
l Off. Data is not filtered.
l All data. All data is filtered.
l Drilling only. Only drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data are filtered.
l Custom. Only the data objects specified in the Inputs tab are filtered.

Snapping to Data
There is a Snap to data setting for a geological model as a whole that is set in the Geological
Model > General tab (see Editing a Geological Model). Snap to data can also be set on a
surface-by-surface basis by double-clicking on the surface in the project tree and then clicking on
the Surfacing tab.
For faults, the options are:
l Inherit from GM. The setting for the geological model as a whole is used. This is the default
setting.
l Off. The fault surface does not snap to the data used to create it.
l All data. The fault surface snaps to all data within the Maximum snap distance, which
includes drillhole data and any data added to the fault.
l Drilling only. The fault surface snaps to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole
data within the Maximum snap distance but not to other data used to modify the fault. For
example, the fault surface will honour points data derived from drillhole data, but not points
data imported into the Points folder.
l Custom. The fault surface snaps to the data objects indicated in the Inputs tab.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,
it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

If you need the fault surface to honour drillhole data but treat other data objects as
interpretations, select Drilling only. To honour some data objects while treating others as

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interpretations, select Custom, then click on the Inputs tab to enable snapping for individual
objects.

Changing Fault Inputs

For faults, the Inputs tab shows all the data objects used to create the fault and whether the
Snap and Boundary filter options are enabled for each object used to define the fault. If an
input has any query filters defined, you can select one in this window.

You can also replace the fault’s inputs with a single mesh or add more data to the fault.

Replacing Fault Inputs with a Single Mesh

To replace the fault inputs with a single mesh, click on the Mesh option, then select from the
meshes available in the project.

When you select a single mesh to define the fault, all other inputs listed in the Inputs tab will
be removed from the fault. This can result in objects being deleted from the project. For
example, if the fault has been edited using a polyline, the polyline will be deleted when the
inputs are replaced with the mesh. If you wish to retain such inputs, be sure to share the object
before changing the inputs. See Sharing Objects for more information.

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The snap and boundary filtering controls in the Surfacing tab will be disabled as the settings
from the geological model will be used. The settings in the Trend tab will also be disabled as it is
not possible to set a trend for a fault defined from a mesh.

Adding Data to the Fault

To add more data to the fault, click on the Select Objects button, then select from the suitable
objects available in the project.

Snap Settings for Individual Inputs

The Snap setting determines whether or not the faults surface honours a particular data object.
Often, surfaces should honour drillhole data and treat data objects such as polylines and GIS data
as interpretations, as discussed in Honouring Surface Contacts. To change snap settings for a
fault, click on the Surfacing tab and set Snap to data to Custom. You will then be able to
change Snap settings in the Inputs tab.

Boundary Filtering Settings for Individual Inputs

When data objects are added to a fault, there are two ways to handle the data that lies outside
the fault boundary:
l Filter the data. The fault is only influenced by the data that falls inside the fault boundary.
l Leave the data unfiltered. The fault is influenced by the data both inside and outside the fault
boundary.
To change the Boundary filter settings for each object used to define a fault, click on the
Surfacing tab and set Boundary filter to Custom. You will then be able to change Boundary
filter settings in the Inputs tab.

Applying a Trend to a Fault

To apply a trend to a fault, either:
l Double-click on the fault in the project tree, then click on the Trend tab.
l Right-click on the fault in the project tree and select Adjust Surface. This opens the Edit
Fault window with the Trend tab displayed.
See Global Trends for information on using the controls in this tab.

The settings in the Trend tab will be disabled if the fault inputs have been replaced with a
mesh.

Contact Surfaces
Defining the internal structure of a geological model involves generating contact surfaces that
correspond to the boundaries between lithological units, refining the contact surfaces, arranging
them in chronological order and then using the surfaces and the chronological order to divide the
geological model into units. The Surface Chronology object represents the collection of

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contact surfaces and defines how they interact to produce the volumes of the geological model.
Factors that influence the interaction of contact surfaces with the volumes of the geological
model are:
l The order of the contact surfaces in the Surface Chronology. See Contact Surfaces in the
Surface Chronology.
l The type of contact surface. See Contact Surfaces Types for more information.
l The orientation of the older and younger sides of the surface. See Younging Direction.
The remainder of this topic describes how the different types of contact surface interact and will
help you in deciding how to model different units. For specific information on creating the
different types of contact surfaces, see:
l Deposits and Erosions
l Intrusions
l Veins
l Vein Systems
l Stratigraphic Sequences

Contact Surfaces in the Surface Chronology

When a geological model is first created, it is simply a volume that is assigned the background
lithology. This background lithology is initially “Unknown”, as although the model has lithologies
defined, Leapfrog Geo cannot determine what lithology to use for the background lithology.
The contact surfaces and their order in the Surface Chronology determine how they divide this
larger “Unknown” volume into known lithological units. The scene below shows the Surface
Chronology for four deposit contact surfaces and two intrusion contact surfaces, bounded by
the geological model extents (pink). The two intrusion contacts are labelled as Unknown on the
outside and the intrusion lithology on the inside:

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The Surface Chronology is open, showing the contact surfaces in chronological order, with the
youngest at the top of the list. This is the order in which contact surfaces will be used to cut the
“Unknown” volume of a newly created model. The different types of contact surfaces cut older
volumes in different ways, which are described below in Contact Surfaces Types.
For the model shown above, the first contact surface to cut the geological model volume is the
oldest surface, D5 - D4 contacts. The volume is divided into D5 (red) below and D4 (green) above:

When the next contact surface (D4 - D3 contacts) is enabled in the model, the volume above the
contact surface is labelled with the lithology assigned to the surface’s younger side (blue):

Therefore, any volume in a geological model is labelled with the lithology assigned to the youngest
side of the surface that last cut the volume.
With a simple deposit geological model, as long as each side of each contact surface is assigned a
lithology, all volumes will be labelled with known lithologies. Intrusive contact surfaces, however,
are often of unknown lithology on the outside, as they contact multiple lithologies. When the two
intrusive surfaces in the model above are enabled but all deposit surfaces are disabled, the
unknown lithology is replaced with each intrusive lithology on the inner sides of each contact
surface, but outside each intrusive contact surface the lithology is not known:

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If the outside of the older contact surface (green) is assigned a lithology (red), the volume
outside each intrusion is known and, therefore, the surrounding volume can be labelled:

If, however, the outside of the younger intrusion is known but the outside of the older intrusion is
unknown, it is not possible to determine the lithology of the surrounding volume as the lithology on
the outer side of the surface making the first cut is not known:

Contact Surfaces Types

The different types of contact surfaces result in different shapes and cut older volumes in
different ways. The contact surface types are:
l Deposit. Deposit contact surfaces tend to be sheet-like, with the primary lithology on the
young side and the contacting/avoided lithologies on the older side. Deposits do not cut older
volumes. A volume defined by a deposit contact surface will, therefore, appear conformably
on top of older volumes.
l Erosion. Erosion contact surfaces are similar to deposits, but cut away other contact
surfaces on the older side of the erosion contact surface.
l Intrusion. Intrusion contact surfaces are rounder in shape, with an interior lithology that
represents the intrusion lithology. The intrusion removes existing lithologies and replaces them
with the intrusive lithology on the younger side of the contact surface. Often, the older side of
an intrusion contact surface is labelled “Unknown” as typically intrusions displace multiple
older lithologies.
l Vein. Vein contact surfaces remove existing lithologies and replace them with the vein
lithology within the boundaries defined by hangingwall and footwall surfaces and points and a
reference surface.

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These terms are indicative of the resulting shape and cutting behaviour of a surface rather than
of the geological formations that can be modelled. In fact, it might make sense to model
something like basement granite as a deposit rather than as an intrusion when it forms the lowest
layer in the geological model. If there are no older layers for an intrusion-type contact surface to
remove and it is apparent from the drillhole data that the lithology simply fills the lowermost parts
of the model, then it makes sense to model it as a deposit.
An important consideration in building contact surfaces is that they have an older side and a
younger side. This is described in more detail in Younging Direction below, but it is sufficient to
understand, at this point, that younging direction is one factor in determining how the different
types of contact surfaces cut older surfaces.

Deposit and Erosion Contact Surfaces

Deposits and erosions are both roughly flat surfaces. The difference between the two is that
deposits appear conformably on top of underlying older volumes and do not occur in regions
defined by older deposits, while erosions remove existing lithologies on the older side of the
erosion. This difference is illustrated here, using a model made up of three deposits, A, B and C:

The contact surfaces that define the three output volumes are the B-C contacts surface (pink)
toward the top of the model extents and the A-B contacts surface (gold) lower down:

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An erosion contact surface (C-D contacts) added to the model cuts across the A-B and B-C
contacts. The younger (purple) side of the C-D contact surface faces up:

Once the model is recalculated, the erosion (D) has cut away the deposits on the older side of the
erosion:

However, if the C-D contact surface is changed to be a deposit surface, D only occurs on the
younger side of the C-D contact surface and does not cut away the A, B and C volumes:

See Deposits and Erosions for information on techniques for creating deposits and erosions.

Intrusion Contact Surfaces

An intrusion is a type of contact surface that removes existing lithologies and replaces them
with the intrusive lithology. Intrusions are rounder in shape than deposits and erosions, with an
interior lithology that represents the intrusion lithology on the inside of the shape.

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Adding an intrusion (E) surface added to the example model above as the youngest surface cuts
away the other lithologies on the inside of the surface:

Note that the intrusion contacts multiple units. This is typical of intrusion contact surfaces as an
intrusion will usually displace multiple older lithologies. Although the outside of the intrusion is not
labelled with a lithology, the lithology of each volume the intrusion comes into contact with can
be known from the lithologies assigned to the deposit contact surfaces.
However, when all contact surfaces are intrusions, the lithology of the surrounding volume
cannot be known, which results in intrusion volumes surrounded by an Unknown volume:

In this instance, the contact surfaces each have a known side and an unknown side:

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Adding the drillholes to the scene helps in understanding what lithology the outside of each
intrusion should be:

In this case, opening the Surface Chronology and assigning AvT as the background lithology
results in a model for which all volumes are labelled with a known lithology:

See Intrusions for information on techniques for creating intrusions.

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Vein Contact Surfaces

Veins remove existing lithologies and replace them with the vein lithology within the boundaries
defined by hangingwall and footwall surfaces and points and a reference surface. Here, a slice
has been made horizontally through a model made up of three deposits:

Adding five dykes modelled as veins and enabling them in the model results in the veins cutting
away each deposit at the point of contact:

Here the sliced deposits are displayed but the veins are hidden in order to show how they cut
away the deposits:

See Veins for information on techniques for creating veins.

Younging Direction
An important factor in determining how surfaces interact is the younging direction of each
surface. Each contact surface has a younger side and an older side. For deposit and erosion

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contact surfaces, Leapfrog Geo will, by default, put the younger side up, since this is geologically
reasonable in most situations. If, for example, you know that the geology is overturned, you can
change the younging direction once the surface has been created.
For intrusion contact surfaces, the younger side of the surface is the inside, although this can be
swapped if Leapfrog Geo has assigned it incorrectly, as may be the case with flatter intrusion
surfaces.
When contact surfaces are displayed in the scene, you can choose whether to display the
surfaces using the lithology or the younging direction. When the younging direction is displayed,
the younger side is typically green and the older side is brown:

When a contact surface is displayed using the younging direction, Leapfrog Geo by default
colours the younger side green and the older side brown.

Deposits and Erosions

This topic describes creating and editing deposits and erosions. The topic is divided into:
l Creating Deposits and Erosions
l Deposits/Erosions in the Project Tree
l Refining Deposits and Erosions
l Surfacing Options for Deposits and Erosions
For a general introduction to how deposits and erosions interact with other contact surfaces, see
Deposit and Erosion Contact Surfaces in Contact Surfaces.

Creating Deposits and Erosions

Lithology data is often the most reliable data source to use when building geological surfaces, and
it is best to derive contact surfaces from lithology data when it is available. If no lithology data is
available, you can create deposits and erosions from other data in the project. You can also create
offset surfaces from other surfaces in the project, which is useful for creating a series of
surfaces. See Offset Surfaces for more information.

Deposits and Erosions From the Base Lithology

It is best to derive contact surfaces from lithology data, when it is available. There are two ways
to create contact surfaces from lithology data:
l Using the base lithology column assigned when the model was created. This is the process
described below.

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l Using other lithology information available in the project. This is useful when you have created
an additional lithology column as part of correcting and working with the drillhole data. For
example, if when building a geological model it becomes apparent that changes need to be
made to the drillhole data, you can import additional data or create a new column using the
split lithology, group lithology or interval selection tools. See Deposits and Erosions From Other
Lithology Contacts for more information.
Selecting the From Base Lithology option opens the New Contact Points window:

Select the lithology you wish to use to create the surface from the Select primary lithology
list; this will be the older lithology (lower down) in the geological model. The
Contacting/Avoided lithologies list shows the lithologies that contact the primary lithology
and the number of contacts. This helps in selecting which contacts to use to create the contact
surface.

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The options in the Lithology tab are useful for creating a surface when one lithology is
interbedded with another. For example, here we can see that the coarse sand is interbedded with
alluvium:

The solution to this is to create two surfaces from the Alluvium contacts, one using the contacts
above (younger contacts) and the other using the contacts below (older contacts):

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Note that the gravel contacts should be excluded for the surface created from the Use
contacts below option, as we can see from the drillhole data that gravel appears lower down in
the model than the surface we are creating. Do this by dragging the contacts that should be
excluded to the Ignored lithologies list:

Unspecified intervals are intervals that have no data. By default, unspecified intervals are ignored
when creating a contact surface, but you can also treat them as the primary lithology or as
avoided lithologies.

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For complex geologies, the up and down directions for the surface may not be clear. If this is the
case, untick the Horizontal Plane box. A reference plane will appear in the scene, with the up-
facing surface labelled A and the downward-facing surface labelled B:

Controlling the position of the reference plane is similar to controlling the position of the moving
plane:
l Use the handles in the scene window to move the plane.
l Set the Dip and Dip Azimuth values in the New Contact Points window. The reference
plane will be updated in the scene.
Once the reference plane is correctly oriented, click the Set From Plane button.

Setting a reference plane for contact points is different from applying a global trend to a
surface. To apply a global trend to a surface, double-click on the surface in the project tree and
click on the Trend tab. See Global Trends.

Data can be composited at the drillhole level or on a surface-by-surface basis. To composite the
data used to generate the contact surface, click on the Compositing tab. See Category
Composites for more information.
Click OK to create the contact surface, which will appear in the project tree under the Surface
Chronology. See Refining Deposits and Erosions below for more information on refining the
contact surface.

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Deposits and Erosions From Other Lithology Contacts

Creating deposit and erosion contact surfaces using the From Other Contacts option is useful
when you have created an additional lithology column as part of correcting and working with the
drillhole data. For example, if when building a geological model it becomes apparent that changes
need to be made to the drillhole data, you can import additional data or create a new column using
the split lithology, group lithology or interval selection tools. See Splitting Lithologies, Grouping
Lithologies and Interval Selection for more information.
The process is similar to creating a surface from the base lithology column, but you must first
select the lithology column you will use:

Select the First Lithology and Second Lithology, if known. Click OK. The New Contact
Points window will appear. Assign the Primary lithology, Contacting/Avoided lithologies
and the Ignored lithologies. These can only be selected from the model’s base lithology.
The rest of the process is similar to defining a contact surface from the base lithology. See
Deposits and Erosions From the Base Lithology above for more information.
Be sure to add the contact surface to the scene to view it and check that it is oriented correctly.
See Refining Deposits and Erosions below for more information on the different techniques that
can be used for adjusting a contact surface.

Deposits and Erosions From Other Data

If suitable lithology data is not available, deposits and erosions can be created from other data in
the project, such as GIS data, structural data, points, polylines and surfaces. The steps for
creating deposits and erosions from other data are similar, regardless of the data used to create
the surface:
l Right-click on the Surface Chronology and select one of the data types from the New
Deposit/Erosion menu.
l Select the data object that will be used to define the surface. This must already be in the
project, unless you are using a polyline, in which case you are given the option to create a new
polyline.
l Select the First lithology and Second lithology. These are the lithologies that will be
assigned to each side of the contact surface. The lithologies you can choose from are those
defined for the geological model in the Lithologies object (see Model Lithologies).

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l Set whether the First lithology is older or younger than the Second lithology. Leapfrog Geo
will, by default, put the younger side of a contact surface up, but this can be changed later.
Here, a points data object is being used to create a deposit:

For polylines, you first set the lithologies and the younging order:

Click OK to move on to the next step:

You can draw the polyline in the scene directly by selecting the New Drawing option. You can
also use any polyline in the project by selecting the Existing Polyline option. You can then select
the required polyline from the list.
The new contact surface will appear in the project tree under the Surface Chronology. Add the
contact surface to the scene to view it and check that it is oriented correctly.
Expand the surface in the project tree to see how it was made. Here, a number of surfaces have
been created using different types of data:

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If creating a surface from a new polyline, the polyline will not be able to be used elsewhere in the
project unless it has been shared. To share the polyline, expand the contact surface in the project
tree, right-click on the polyline and select Share. The polyline will then be available elsewhere in
the project.
As further refinements are made to the surface, that information will also be added to the
contact surface in the project tree.

Deposits/Erosions in the Project Tree

The name Leapfrog Geo automatically assigns to a deposit or an erosion is the lithologies assigned
to each side of the surface. In the project tree, expand the surface to see how it was made:

Double-click on the surface to edit it. Double-click on the contact points object ( ) to edit the
lithology and change compositing parameters.
As further refinements are made to the surface, that information will also be added to the project
tree. See Refining Deposits and Erosions below for more information.

Refining Deposits and Erosions

You can refine deposits and erosions in several ways:
l Add other data. Right-click on the surface to see the options available, which will depend on
how the surface was created. See Adding Data to Surfaces for more information.
l Edit the surface with a polyline. Right-click on the surface in the project tree and select either
Edit > With Polyline. See Editing Surfaces with Polylines for more information.
l Edit the surface using structural data. Right-click on the surface and select Edit > With
Structural Data. This option is available for deposits and erosions created from lithology data
and other data in the project, but not for offset surfaces. See Editing Surfaces with Structural
Data for more information.
To edit the surface’s settings, double-click on it in the project tree. In the Lithologies tab,
change the lithologies assigned to each side of the surface, if required.
You can swap the younging direction if the direction was assigned incorrectly when the surface
was created. The change will be reflected in the scene. Note that changing the younging direction
does not change which lithology is older or younger.
The difference between deposit and erosion contact surfaces is how they cut older lithologies, as
described in Contact Surfaces. For this reason, it is possible to change between the two types
using the Contact Type setting.
For information on other techniques for refining deposits and erosions, see:
l Surfacing Options for Deposits and Erosions
l Offset Surfaces

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Surfacing Options for Deposits and Erosions

Surfacing options for deposits and erosions can be changed by double-clicking on the surface in
the project tree and then clicking on the Surfacing tab. There are additional settings related to
boundary filtering and snapping to data in the Inputs tab.

Boundary Filtering
When data objects are added to a surface, there are two ways to handle the data that lies outside
the surface’s boundary:
l Filter the data. The surface is only influenced by the data that falls inside the surface’s
boundary.
l Leave the data unfiltered. The surface is influenced by the data both inside and outside the
surface’s boundary.
The Boundary filter setting determines how data used to define the surface is filtered:
l Off. Data is not filtered.
l All data. All data is filtered.
l Drilling only. Only drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data are filtered.
l Custom. Only the data objects specified in the Inputs tab are filtered.

Snapping to Data
Often, surfaces should honour drillhole data and treat data objects such as polylines and GIS data
as interpretations. See Honouring Surface Contacts.
There is a Snap to data setting for a geological model as a whole that is set in the Geological
Model > General tab (see Editing a Geological Model). Snap to data can also be set on a
surface-by-surface basis by double-clicking on the surface in the project tree and then clicking on
the Surfacing tab.
For individual contact surfaces, the options are:
l Inherit from GM. The setting for the geological model as a whole is used. This is the default
setting.
l Off. Surfaces do not snap to the data used to create them.
l All data. Surfaces snap to all data within the Maximum snap distance, which includes
drillhole data and any data added to the surfaces.
l Drilling only. Surfaces snap to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data
within the Maximum snap distance but not to other data used to modify the surfaces.
l Custom. Surfaces snap to the data objects indicated in the Inputs tab for each surface.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in

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interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,
it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

If you need a surface to honour drillhole data but treat other data objects as interpretations,
select Drilling only. To honour some data objects while treating others as interpretations, select
Custom, then click on the Inputs tab to enable snapping for individual objects.

Setting the Surface Resolution

See Surface Resolution for a Geological Model for information about the surface resolution
settings in the Surfacing tab.

Applying a Trend to a Deposit/Erosion

There are two ways to change the trend for a deposit or an erosion:
l Right-click on the surface in the project tree and select Adjust Surface.
l Double-click on the surface in the project tree and then click on the Trend tab.
See Global Trends for more information.

Intrusions
This topic describes creating and editing intrusions. The topic is divided into:
l Creating Intrusions
l Intrusions in the Project Tree
l Displaying Intrusion Points
l Refining Intrusions
l Surfacing Options for Intrusions
l Applying a Trend to an Intrusion
l Clipping Values for Intrusions
l Interpolation Settings
For a general introduction to how intrusions interact with other contact surfaces, see Intrusion
Contact Surfaces in Contact Surfaces.

Creating Intrusions
Lithology data is often the most reliable data source to use when building geological surfaces, and
it is best to derive contact surfaces from lithology data when it is available. If no lithology data is
available, you can create intrusions from other data in the project.
One thing to keep in mind for all intrusion contact surfaces is that an intrusion removes all the
existing material on the younger side of the contact surface. Therefore:
l An intrusion should always have the younger side of its surface labelled with the intruded
material. This is called the “interior lithology”.

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l The older side will typically be labelled “Unknown” as an intrusion will usually displace multiple
older lithologies. This is called the “exterior lithology”.

Intrusions from Lithology Contacts

Lithology data is often the most reliable data source to use when building geological surfaces, and
it is best to derive contact surfaces from lithology data when it is available. There are two ways
to create intrusions from lithology data:
l Using the base lithology column assigned when the model was created.
l Using other lithology information available in the project. This is useful when you have created
an additional lithology column as part of correcting and working with the drillhole data. For
example, if when building a geological model it becomes apparent that changes need to be
made to the drillhole data, you can import additional data or create a new column using the
split lithology, group lithology or interval selection tools.
To create a new intrusion from lithology contacts, right-click on the Surface Chronology object
and select either New Intrusion > From Base Lithology or New Intrusion > From Other
Contacts. The only difference in the two methods is that when creating an intrusion from other
contacts, you must first select the lithology column from those available in the project and
specify the First lithology and the Second lithology.
Select the intrusive lithology as the interior lithology. Other lithologies will be displayed in the
Exterior lithologies list. Drag any younger lithologies to the Ignore list.

Unspecified intervals are intervals that have no data. By default, unspecified intervals are ignored
when creating an intrusion, but you can also treat them as the interior lithology or as exterior
lithologies.

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Sometimes intrusive boundaries are poorly defined, with fragments of country rock intermixed
with the intrusive body. This can result in very small segments near the edges of the intrusion.
Modelling the fine detail is not always necessary, and so compositing can be used to smooth
these boundaries. Compositing parameters are set in the Compositing tab:

The settings in this tab are described in Category Composites.

Click OK to create the intrusion, which will be added to the project tree as part of the Surface
Chronology object.

Intrusions from Other Data

If suitable lithology data is not available, intrusions can be created from other data in the project,
such as GIS data, structural data, points, polylines and surfaces. The steps for creating intrusions
from other data are similar, regardless of the data used to create the surface:
l Right-click on the Surface Chronology and select one of the data types from the New
Intrusion menu.
l Select the data object that will be used to define the surface. This must already be in the
project, unless you are using a polyline, in which case you are given the option to create a new
polyline.
l Select the First lithology and Second lithology. These are the lithologies that will be
assigned to each side of the contact surface. The lithologies you can choose from are those
defined for the geological model in the Lithologies object (see Model Lithologies).
l Set whether the First lithology is older or younger than the Second lithology. Leapfrog Geo
will, by default, put the younger side of a contact surface up, but this can be changed later.
Here, a points data object is being used to create an intrusion:

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For polylines, you first set the lithologies and the younging order:

Click OK to move on to the next step:

You can draw the polyline in the scene directly by selecting the New Drawing option. You can
also use any polyline in the project by selecting the Existing Polyline option. You can then select
the required polyline from the list.
The new intrusion will appear in the project tree under the Surface Chronology. Add the
contact surface to the scene to view it and check that it is oriented correctly.
Expand the surface in the project tree to see how it was made.
If creating a surface from a new polyline, the polyline will not be able to be used elsewhere in the
project unless it has been shared. To share the polyline, expand the contact surface in the project
tree, right-click on the polyline and select Share. The polyline will then be available elsewhere in
the project.
As further refinements are made to the surface, that information will also be added to the
contact surface in the project tree.

Intrusions in the Project Tree

The name Leapfrog Geo automatically assigns to an intrusion is the name of the intrusive
lithology. In the project tee, expand the intrusion to see how it was made:

Double-click on the intrusion to edit it. Double-click on the points object ( ) to edit the intrusion
lithology, change compositing parameters and change point generation options.
As further refinements are made to the surface, that information will also be added to the project
tree. See Refining Intrusions below for more information.

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Displaying Intrusion Points

When you view the intrusion points in the scene, you can display only the contact points or all the
points used in creating the intrusion. To display all points, click on the points object ( ) in the
shape list and tick the box for Show volume points. Here, only the contact points are displayed:

When the volume points are displayed, points with negative values are those outside the surface,
while points with positive values are those inside:

You can change the way intrusion points are generated by double-clicking on the points object ( )
in the project tree. See Intrusion Point Generation Parameters.

Refining Intrusions
You can refine intrusions in several ways:
l Add other data. Right-click on the surface to see the options available, which will depend on
how the surface was created. See Adding Data to Surfaces for more information.

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l Edit the surface with a polyline. Right-click on the surface in the project tree and select either
Edit > With Polyline. See Editing Surfaces with Polylines for more information.
l Edit the surface using structural data. Right-click on the surface and select Edit > With
Structural Data. See Editing Surfaces with Structural Data for more information.
To edit an intrusion’s settings, double-click on it in the project tree. In the Lithologies tab,
change the lithologies assigned to each side of the surface, if required.

Surfacing Options for Intrusions

Surfacing options for an intrusion can be changed by double-clicking on the surface in the project
tree and then clicking on the Surfacing tab. There are additional settings related to boundary
filtering and snapping to data in the Inputs tab.

Boundary Filtering
When data objects are added to a surface, there are two ways to handle the data that lies outside
the surface’s boundary:
l Filter the data. The surface is only influenced by the data that falls inside the surface’s
boundary.
l Leave the data unfiltered. The surface is influenced by the data both inside and outside the
surface’s boundary.
The boundary of an intrusion can be the geological model boundary or a fault block boundary.
The Boundary filter setting determines how data used to define the surface is filtered:
l Off. Data is not filtered.
l All data. All data is filtered.
l Drilling only. Only drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data are filtered.
l Custom. Only the data objects specified in the Inputs tab are filtered.

Snapping to Data
Often, surfaces should honour drillhole data and treat data objects such as polylines and GIS data
as interpretations, as discussed in Honouring Surface Contacts.
There is a Snap to data setting for a geological model as a whole that is set in the Geological
Model > General tab (see Editing a Geological Model). Snap to data can also be set on a
surface-by-surface basis by double-clicking on the surface in the project tree and then clicking on
the Surfacing tab.
For individual contact surfaces, the options are:
l Inherit from GM. The setting for the geological model as a whole is used. This is the default
setting.
l Off. Surfaces do not snap to the data used to create them.
l All data. Surfaces snap to all data within the Maximum snap distance, which includes
drillhole data and any data added to the surfaces.

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l Drilling only. Surfaces snap to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data
within the Maximum snap distance but not to other data used to modify the surfaces.
l Custom. Surfaces snap to the data objects indicated in the Inputs tab for each surface.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,
it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

If you need a surface to honour drillhole data but treat other data objects as interpretations,
select Drilling only. To honour some data objects while treating others as interpretations, select
Custom, then click on the Inputs tab to enable snapping for individual objects.

Surface Resolution
See Surface Resolution for a Geological Model for information about the surface resolution
settings in the Surfacing tab.
Clicking Additional options adds Value Clipping and Interpolant tabs to the window and also
allows the use of a structural trend in the Trend tab:

These are described in Applying a Trend to an Intrusion, Clipping Values for Intrusions and
Interpolation Settings below.

Applying a Trend to an Intrusion

There are two ways to change the trend for an intrusion:
l Right-click on the surface in the project tree and select Adjust Surface.
l Double-click on the surface in the project tree and then click on the Trend tab.
See Global Trends for more information.

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You can also use a structural trend for an intrusion. To do this, click the Additional options
button in the Surfacing tab, then click on the Trend tab.

Click on Structural Trend, then select the required trend from the list. See Structural Trends
for more information.

Clipping Values for Intrusions

You can change settings for intrusions by double-clicking on the contact surface in the project
tree. The Value Clipping tab is only available for intrusion contact surfaces.
In the Value Clipping tab, you can manipulate the data distribution by clipping the data:

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Clipping caps values that are outside the range set by the Lower bound and Upper bound
values. For example, if you change the Upper bound from 16.00 to 10.00, distance values above
10.00 will be regarded as 10.00.
The Automatic clipping setting has different effects based on whether a global trend or
structural trend is set in the Trend tab:
l When a global trend is applied, Leapfrog Geo automatically clips the values. That is, the
Automatic clipping setting is Do clipping and Leapfrog Geo sets the Lower bound and
Upper bound from the data. To disable clipping, untick Automatic clipping, then untick Do
clipping. To change the Lower bound and Upper bound, untick Automatic clipping, then
change the values.
l When a structural trend is applied, Leapfrog Geo automatically does not clip the values. To clip
values, untick Automatic clipping, then tick Do clipping. Again, Leapfrog Geo sets the
Lower bound and Upper bound values from the data and you can change them, if required.

Interpolation Settings
You can change settings for an intrusion by double-clicking on the intrusion in the project tree and
clicking on the Interpolant tab. For more information on the settings in this tab, see the
Interpolant Functions topic.

Veins
This topic describes creating and editing veins. It is divided into:
l Creating Veins
l Veins in the Project Tree
l Displaying Veins
l Refining Veins
l Surfacing Options for Veins
l The Vein Reference Surface
l The Vein Boundary
l Editing Vein Segments
For a general introduction to how veins interact with other contact surfaces, see Vein Contact
Surfaces in Contact Surfaces.
A vein is a type of contact surface that removes existing lithologies and replaces them with the
vein lithology within the boundaries defined by hangingwall and footwall surfaces constructed
from selected input data. A reference surface is defined that is the best fit for the hangingwall
and footwall surfaces. The reference surface can be curved or planar.

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Creating Veins
Options for creating veins are:
l From lithology data, using the base lithology used to define the geological model or other
contacts available in the project. See Veins From Lithology Contacts below.
l From GIS vector data, point data and polylines. See Veins From Other Data below.
l Creating a vein system. This results in a single lithology that represents all the veins in a model.
Veins and their interactions are defined within the vein system. See Vein Systems.

Veins From Lithology Contacts

To create a new vein from lithology contacts, right-click on the Surface Chronology object and
select either New Vein > From Base Lithology or New Vein > From Other Contacts. The
only difference in the two methods is that when creating a vein from other contacts, you must
first select the lithology column from those available in the project and specify the Vein
lithology and Outside lithology.
In the New Vein window, select the Vein lithology:

When extracting the hangingwall and footwall points, Leapfrog Geo automatically includes points
at the ends of the drillholes. To exclude these points, untick the Include points at the ends of
holes. Once the vein has been created, this setting can be changed by double-clicking on the vein
segments object ( ) in the project tree.
Click OK to create the vein, which will be added to the project tree as part of the Surface
Chronology object.

Veins From Other Data

If suitable lithology data is not available, veins can be created from other data in the project, such
as GIS data, points and polylines. The steps for creating veins from other data are similar,
regardless of the data used to create the surface:
l Right-click on the Surface Chronology and select one of the data types from the New Vein
menu.
l Select the data objects for the Hangingwall and Footwall. These objects must already be in
the project.
l Select the Vein lithology and the Outside lithology. The lithologies you can choose from
are those defined for the geological model in the Lithologies object (see Model Lithologies).

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Here, points data is being used to create a vein:

Select points data objects for both the Hangingwall and Footwall, then click OK to create the
new vein. The new contact surface will appear in the project tree under the Surface
Chronology. Expand the vein in the project tree to see how it was made.

Veins in the Project Tree

Veins are stored in the project tree as part of the Surface Chronology object. Further
modifications can be made to the vein by working on the objects that make up the vein. Expand
the vein in the project tree to view these objects.
Here, the hangingwall and footwall surfaces and points are displayed in the scene for a vein
defined from lithology data. The reference surface (yellow) and the vein segments (red and blue
cylinders) used to create the vein are also shown:

This vein is made up of:

l Hangingwall and footwall surfaces ( ), which, when expanded, show the hangingwall and
footwall data objects used to create the surfaces.
o Export hangingwall and footwall surfaces as described in Exporting Meshes and Exporting
an Elevation Grid.
o Add points and GIS vector data to the meshes by right-clicking on them and selecting Add.
o Edit the hangingwall and footwall surfaces with polylines by right-clicking on the surface
and selecting one of the Edit options.

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o Change contact honouring and boundary filtering options as described in Surfacing Options
for Veins below.
l Vein segments and pinch out segments ( ) extracted from drillhole data. These are only
included when a vein is created from lithology contacts.
l A reference surface ( ) calculated as the best fit surface using the hangingwall and footwall
surfaces.
o The reference surface can be curved or planar.
o You can add points, GIS vector data and polylines to a curved reference surface.
o If a curved reference surface is made up of multiple objects, you can switch between the
objects and change how they are filtered in order to see the effects on the vein.
l A boundary object ( ), which is empty when the vein is first created.

It is not possible to add structural data or polylines with orientation information to the
hangingwall, footwall and reference surfaces. If you edit these surfaces with a polyline, your
options for editing the polyline will be limited.

Displaying Veins
You can change the way the different objects that make up the vein are displayed using options in
the shape list:

Refining Veins
To edit a vein’s settings, double-click on it in the project tree. In the Lithologies tab, change the
lithologies assigned to each side of the surface, if required. For information on the settings in the
Surfacing and Inputs tabs, see Surfacing Options for Veins below.

Surfacing Options for Veins

Surfacing options for veins can be changed by double-clicking on the surface in the project tree
and then clicking on the Surfacing tab. There are additional settings related to boundary filtering
and snapping to data in the Inputs tab.

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Boundary Filtering
When data objects are added to a surface, there are two ways to handle the data that lies outside
the surface’s boundary:
l Filter the data. The surface is only influenced by the data that falls inside the surface’s
boundary.
l Leave the data unfiltered. The surface is influenced by the data both inside and outside the
surface’s boundary.
The boundary of a vein can be the geological model boundary or a fault block boundary.
The Boundary filter setting determines how data used to define the surface is filtered:
l Off. Data is not filtered.
l All data. All data is filtered.
l Drilling only. Only drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data are filtered.
l Custom. Only the data objects specified in the Inputs tab are filtered.
The Filter segments by boundary setting in the Inputs tab is enabled by default when the
Boundary filter setting in the Surfacing tab is All data or Drilling only. When Filter
segments by boundary is enabled, the vein surface will only be influenced by the segments
that falls inside the vein boundary.

Snapping to Data
Often, surfaces should honour drillhole data and treat data objects such as polylines and GIS data
as interpretations, as discussed in Honouring Surface Contacts.
There is a Snap to data setting for a geological model as a whole that is set in the Geological
Model > General tab (see Editing a Geological Model). Snap to data can also be set on a
surface-by-surface basis by double-clicking on the surface in the project tree and then clicking on
the Surfacing tab.
For individual contact surfaces, the options are:
l Inherit from GM. The setting for the geological model as a whole is used. This is the default
setting.
l Off. Surfaces do not snap to the data used to create them.
l All data. Surfaces snap to all data within the Maximum snap distance, which includes
drillhole data and any data added to the surfaces.
l Drilling only. Surfaces snap to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data
within the Maximum snap distance but not to other data used to modify the surfaces.
l Custom. Surfaces snap to the data objects indicated in the Inputs tab for each surface.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,

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it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

If you need a surface to honour drillhole data but treat other data objects as interpretations,
select Drilling only. To honour some data objects while treating others as interpretations, select
Custom, then click on the Inputs tab to enable snapping for individual objects.

Surface Resolution
Note that although you can change the Surface resolution for a vein, the Adaptive option is
not available, even when the resolution for the geological model is set to be Adaptive.

Vein Thickness
Veins have two thickness settings that force the vein to maintain a minimum or maximum
thickness. If footwall and hangingwall points are in pairs, it is not usually necessary to set the
Minimum thickness or Maximum thickness.
l If the vein intersects itself, set the Minimum thickness to a value that is less than the
minimum distance between any two contact points.
l If the vein widens out toward the edges of the geological model set the Maximum thickness
to a value that limits the effects of long segments.
If the Pinch out option is enabled, you will not be able to set the Minimum thickness.
If you set the Maximum thickness and Pinch out, the Pinch out is applied before the
Maximum thickness.

Note that if Snap to data is enabled, snapping occurs after the vein thickness has been
calculated. If it appears that the vein surface is not honouring the thickness setting, check
what data the surface is snapping to.

Vein Pinch Out

Vein walls can be set to pinch out where drillhole data indicates they do not occur. This is
achieved by creating ‘outside’ intervals on drillholes that do not have an interior vein segment.
These intervals are then flipped with respect to interior vein intervals, which, in effect means the
footwall and hangingwall orientation has the opposite sense to the nearest interior intervals. This
forces the hangingwall and footwall surfaces to cross, thereby pinching out.

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The Pinch out option is disabled when a vein is first created. To enable it, double-click on the vein
in the project tree and click on the Surfacing tab. Tick the box for Pinch out. Click OK to
process the changes. The vein will be updated and pinch out points ( ) will be added to the vein in
the project tree.
For this vein, the surface occurs even where the vein lithology (green cylinders) does not occur
and terminates at the boundary of the geological model:

When the vein is set to pinch out, it tapers out where the vein lithology does not occur:

You can change how much the vein pinches out by excluding some pinch out segments. To do
this, right-click on the pinch out segments ( ) in the project tree and select Edit in Scene. The
Pinch Out Properties window will appear in the scene. Click on a segment to view information
about it and set it to be Excluded, if required. Note that the segments displayed in the scene
below are the pinch out segments rather than the drillhole segments shown in earlier scenes. The
grey segments are excluded and the currently selected segment is highlighted in the scene:

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Click the Save button ( ) to view the effect of the excluded pinch out segments on the vein.
Excluding the two segments results in the vein terminating at the boundary of the geological
model:

The Vein Reference Surface

A vein includes a reference surface ( ) that is the best fit for the objects that make up the
hangingwall and footwall surfaces. There are two types of reference surface.
l Curved. A curved reference surface can be used to make a vein follow the medial trend of the
source data, which leads to a more natural modelled shape. This is the type of reference
surface used by default for veins created from lithology data. A curved reference surface can
be used for veins created from other types of data by adding data to the reference surface, as
described in Adding Data to the Reference Surface.
l Planar. A planar reference surface is simply the best linear fit between the hangingwall and
footwall surfaces. See Using a Planar Reference Surface.
To adjust the reference surface ( ), double-click on it in the project tree or right-click on it and
select Open. The Reference Surface window will appear, showing the data used to for the
reference surface. This is the reference surface for a vein created from lithology data, and so the
midpoints for the vein lithology are used as Input values:

Boundary filtering for the midpoints used to create a curved reference is controlled by the
setting for the vein itself. See Boundary Filtering in Surfacing Options for Veins for more

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information.

Adding Data to the Reference Surface

In order for a vein created from data other than lithology data to use a curved reference surface,
other data must be added to it.

It is not possible to add structural data or polylines with orientation information to the
reference surface. If you edit the reference surface with a polyline, your options for editing the
polyline will be limited.

To add data, right-click on the reference surface in the project tree and select Add or Edit. Once
you have added data, the Curved reference surface option will be enabled in the Reference
Data window and the objects used to adjust the surface will appear in the list of Input values:

You can enable or disable the different data objects to see their effects on the vein by ticking and
unticking the Active box.
The Boundary filter setting for each object determines whether or not the data that lies outside
the reference surface’s boundary is filtered.
l Tick Boundary filter so that the surface is only influenced by the data that falls inside the
reference surface’s boundary.
l Untick Boundary filter if you want the surface to be influenced by the data both inside and
outside the reference surface’s boundary.
Click OK to process the changes.

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Using a Planar Reference Surface

Veins created from objects other than lithology data use a planar reference surface, and this
option can also be selected for veins created from lithology data. To use a planar reference
surface, select the Planar reference surface option in the Reference Surface window. The
plane will be displayed in the scene, together with handles that can be used to adjust it:

These handles work in the same manner as the moving plane controls, as described in The Moving
Plane.
Click OK to update the reference surface and view the results.

The Vein Boundary

Once a vein has been created, you can change its boundary by:
l Adding a Polyline to the Vein Boundary
l Adjusting the Vein Boundary Plane

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Adding a Polyline to the Vein Boundary

To change the boundary using a polyline, right-click on the boundary object ( ) in the project tree
and select Edit. The current vein boundary will appear in the scene, together with drawing
controls. Begin drawing the new boundary, as described in Drawing in the Scene, ensuring that
the polyline drawn closes and does not intersect itself.

When you save the boundary, the vein will be updated to reflect the changes to the boundary. If
you want to revert to the original boundary, right-click on the boundary object ( ) and select
Delete Polyline.

Adjusting the Vein Boundary Plane

To adjust the boundary plane, right-click on the boundary object ( ) in the project tree and select
Adjust Plane. The Adjust Boundary Plane window will appear and handles to adjust the plane
will appear in the scene:

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Click OK to apply the changes to the vein. To revert to the original boundary plane, right-click on
the boundary object and select Adjust Plane. In the Adjust Boundary Plane window, click on
the Set to Default button and click OK.

Editing Vein Segments

When a vein has been created from contact points, you can change the vein segment settings by
double-clicking on the vein segments object ( ) in the project tree. This opens the Edit Vein
window.
When extracting the hangingwall and footwall points, Leapfrog Geo automatically includes points
at the ends of the drillholes. To exclude these points, untick the Include points at the ends of
holes.

Vein Segment Orientation

If you need to change the orientation of individual vein segments, e.g. for curved veins, you can
do this by right-clicking on the vein segments object ( ) in the project tree and selecting Edit In
Scene. If the vein segments object is already in the scene, you can edit it by clicking the Edit
button ( ) in the shape list.
The Vein Segment Orientations window will appear in the scene. Click on a vein segment to
view information about that segment:

Points A and B are labelled in the scene and can be changed by unticking the box for each point
and choosing whether to exclude the point or make it a hangingwall or footwall point. Once you
have finished editing vein segments, click the Save button ( ).
If you wish to return to the default settings, ensure the Auto box is ticked for each point.

Vein Systems
This topic describes creating a vein system for a geological model. The topic is divided into:
l Creating a Vein System
l Adding Veins to the Vein System
l Editing the Veins

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l Changing Vein System Lithology Settings

l Setting Vein Interactions
An alternative to defining veins one-by-one is to create a vein system. The vein system
represents a single lithology within the geological model. For example, for a model of a
sedimentary system cross-cut by vertical intersecting dykes, we could model the veins one-by-
one, in which case each “vein” in the model is represented by a separate lithology:

Modelled as a vein system, however, the veins are grouped into a vein system object ( ) that
defines the lithology for the vein system as a whole:

Note that the individual veins are part of the vein system.
The vein system defines how the veins interact, and veins can be added to it using the same
techniques used to create individual veins.

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Creating a Vein System

To create a vein system, right-click on the Surface Chronology and select New Vein
System. In the window that appears, select the Vein lithology:

If the vein system contacts only one lithology, set the Outside lithology. Otherwise, leave
Outside lithology set to Unknown.
Click OK. An empty vein system ( ) will be added to the project tree under the Surface
Chronology. Double-click on it to change the lithologies.

Adding Veins to the Vein System

Once the vein system has been created, you can create veins using the same techniques
described in Veins From Lithology Contacts and Veins From Other Data.
To add veins to the vein system, right-click on the vein system and select one of the New Vein
options. Veins will appear in the project tree as part of the vein system object and can be
expanded to show how they were created.

Editing the Veins

The techniques for editing vein system veins are the same as those for veins created one-by-one.
See Refining Veins.

Changing Vein System Lithology Settings

You can change the lithology settings for a vein system by double-clicking on the vein system ( )
in the project tree. In the Lithology tab, change the Vein lithology or the Outside lithology.

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Setting Vein Interactions

Once all the veins required have been created, you can start defining the interactions between
them by double-clicking on the vein system ( ), then clicking on the Vein System tab:

The veins appear in the list from highest priority to lowest. Organise the veins in chronological
order before defining interactions.

The Vein priority determines which veins other veins can interact with. You cannot define an
interaction for the highest priority vein in the list, and other veins in the list can interact only
with those of higher priority.

Here, Vein B can only interact with Vein A, the higher priority vein:

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The lowest priority vein, Vein D, can interact with all the other veins in the system:

To define an interaction, click on a vein, then click the Add button. Add an interaction for each
vein and then set the Side on which they interact.

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Once you have defined the required vein interactions, tick the box for each vein, then click OK.
Add the Vein System object to the scene to check that the veins interact correctly.
You can also edit vein interactions by double-clicking on the individual veins, which opens the Edit
Vein window:

Veins and the vein system are not active in the geological model until the box is ticked for each
vein in the Edit Vein System window and the vein system is enabled in the Surface
Chronology. This means you can check the vein system without regenerating the geological
model.

Stratigraphic Sequences
When you have a series of continuous layers in a geological model, you can model each layer
separately, as part of a single stratigraphic sequence or using the offset surface tool. Modelling a
stratigraphic sequence works best for sequences uniform in thickness with a consistent stacking
order. If a layer varies in thickness, the contact surface may not match the contact points in
some places. This will be a consideration when choosing whether to model layers as separate
layers, as offset surfaces or as part of a stratigraphic sequence. For information on the offset
surface tool, see Offset Surfaces.
Once you have created a stratigraphic sequence, you can refine it by adding and removing layers
and by adjusting the surfaces produced.
This topic describes using the stratigraphic sequence tool and is divided into:
l Creating a Stratigraphic Sequence
l Editing the Stratigraphic Sequence
l Editing Individual Surfaces

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Creating a Stratigraphic Sequence

To create a stratigraphic sequence, right-click on the Surface Chronology object and select
New Stratigraphy. The New Stratigraphic Sequence window will appear:

Select the lithologies at the top and bottom of the stratigraphic sequence. To do this, select the
Lithology Above and Lithology Below from the lithologies available in the geological model:

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Next, click the Add Lithologies button to view available lithologies:

Select the lithologies that you want to use in the stratigraphic sequence, then click OK to add the
layers to the Stratigraphic Lithologies list. Make sure they arranged in the correct order.
In the New Stratigraphic Sequence window, select whether the Bottom Contact Type is
an erosion or a deposit.
When the Surfaces avoid drillhole segments option is enabled, the surfaces in the
stratigraphic sequence will not cut through intervals of lithologies that are selected for the
stratigraphic sequence.

Stratigraphic sequences created in earlier versions of Leapfrog Geo (before 3.0) used only the
contact information; intervals were ignored and stratigraphic sequence surfaces could cut
through intervals. To upgrade a stratigraphic sequence created in earlier versions, edit the
stratigraphic sequence to enable Surfaces avoid drillhole segments.

Next, click on the Surfacing tab to set the surfacing settings for each surface created for the
sequence:

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For the Boundary filter and Snap to data options, it is possible to override these settings for
the individual contact surfaces that are part of the stratigraphic sequence. To do this, select
Custom. Once the stratigraphic sequence has been created, expand it in the project tree and
double-click on each surface to change its surfacing options, as described in Contact Honouring
and Boundary Filtering for Individual Surfaces below.

Boundary Filtering
When data objects are added to a surface, there are two ways to handle the data that lies outside
the surface’s boundary:
l Filter the data. The surface is only influenced by the data that falls inside the surface’s
boundary.
l Leave the data unfiltered. The surface is influenced by the data both inside and outside the
surface’s boundary.
The Boundary filter setting determines how data used to define the surface is filtered:
l Off. Data is not filtered.
l All data. All data is filtered.
l Drilling only. Only drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data are filtered.
l Custom. Only the data objects specified in the Inputs tab are filtered.
All contact surfaces that make up a stratigraphic sequence will inherit the Boundary filter
setting from the stratigraphy unless Boundary filter is set to Custom.

Snapping to Data
There is a Snap to data setting for a geological model as a whole that is set in the Geological
Model > General tab (see Editing a Geological Model). Snap to data can also be set on a
surface-by-surface basis by double-clicking on the surface in the project tree and then clicking on
the Surfacing tab.
For a stratigraphic sequence, the options are:
l Inherit from GM. The setting for the geological model as a whole is used. This is the default
setting.
l Off. Surfaces do not snap to the data used to create them.
l All data. Surfaces snap to all data within the Maximum snap distance, which includes
drillhole data and any data added to the surfaces.
l Drilling only. Surfaces snap to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data
within the Maximum snap distance but not to other data used to modify the surfaces.
l Custom. Surfaces snap to the data objects indicated in the Inputs tab for each surface.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,

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it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

All contact surfaces that make up a stratigraphic sequence will inherit the Snap to data setting
from the stratigraphy unless Snap to data is set to Custom.

Surface Stiffness
The Surface Stiffness controls the smallest bend a surface will make, where a higher value will
result in a smoother surface that bends less. The default value is 0, which is no stiffening.
Click OK to create the stratigraphy, which will be added to the project tree as part of the
Surface Chronology object.

Editing the Stratigraphic Sequence

The objects that make up the stratigraphic sequence include the generated contact surfaces and
any points that result in pinch-out errors:

Correcting Pinch-Out Errors

Add the pinch-out errors object ( ) to the scene to view the points that are causing errors. To
find out more about the errors, right-click on the sequence and select List Errors.
In the Stratigraphic Errors window, information is provided about the different errors that
occur in the stratigraphic sequence, with pinch-out errors and other errors listed separately:

Use this information, together with the pinch-out error points, to either remove lithologies from
the sequence or adjust surfaces using any of the tools available for individual surfaces, as
described in Editing Individual Surfaces below.

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Remove lithologies from the sequence by double-clicking on the sequence in the project tree,
then reorganising the lithologies in the Chronology tab. For example, here, the pinch-out errors
shown in the window above have been corrected by removing the affected surfaces from the
sequence and changing the Lithology Above and Lithology Below:

You can also ignore an error by ticking the Ignored box in the Stratigraphic Errors window.

Surfacing Options
To change a stratigraphic sequence’s surfacing options, double-click on the sequence in the
project tree and click on the Surfacing tab. See Boundary Filtering and Snapping to Data above
for more information on the settings in this tab. Note that boundary filtering and snap settings
can also be set for the individual surfaces that make up the stratigraphic sequence, which is
described in Contact Honouring and Boundary Filtering for Individual Surfaces below.

Applying a Trend
To apply a global trend to a stratigraphic sequence either right-click on it in the project tree and
select Adjust Surface or double-click on the stratigraphic sequence and then click on the
Trend tab. You can then apply a trend to the surface as described in Global Trends.

Editing Individual Surfaces

Individual surfaces that make up a stratigraphic sequence can be modified by:
l Contact Honouring and Boundary Filtering for Individual Surfaces
l Adding Data to Individual Surfaces
l Editing Surface Contacts

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Contact Honouring and Boundary Filtering for Individual Surfaces

There are general boundary filtering and snap settings for the stratigraphic sequence as a whole,
but it is possible to override these settings for the individual surfaces that are part of the
stratigraphic sequence. To do this, first double-click on the stratigraphic sequence itself, then
click on the Surfacing tab.
l To change boundary filtering for an individual surface, Boundary filter must be set to
Custom for the stratigraphic sequence.
l To change the snap setting for an individual surface, Snap to data must be set to Custom
for the stratigraphic sequence.
Next, double-click on an individual surface in the project tree. The window that appears shows all
the data objects used to create the surface:

See Boundary Filtering and Snapping to Data for more information.

Adding Data to Individual Surfaces

You can also refine the individual surfaces in a stratigraphic sequence in several ways:
l Add other data. Right-click on the surface to see the options available, which will depend on
how the surface was created. See Adding Data to Surfaces for more information.
l Edit the surface with a polyline. Right-click on the surface in the project tree and select either
Edit > With Polyline. See Editing Surfaces with Polylines for more information.

It is not possible to add structural data or polylines with orientation information to individual
surfaces in a stratigraphic sequence. If you edit a surface with a polyline, your options for
editing the polyline will be limited.

Editing Surface Contacts

You can edit the contacts used to generate the surface by expanding the contact surface in the
project tree and double-clicking on the points object ( ). See Extracting Contact Points from
Drillhole Data for more information on the settings in the Edit Contacts window.

Offset Surfaces
The offset surface tool is useful way of creating a series of deposit or erosion contact surfaces
from a reference mesh. The surface can be offset from the reference mesh by points or by a

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fixed distance, and additional options for offsetting to points can be adjusted once the surface
has been created.
Here a deposit contact surface (blue) has been created using the reference mesh (green) offset
to points (red):

Important considerations when creating offset surfaces is the characteristics of the reference
mesh, especially in relation to the geological model’s boundary.
l It is best to use a reference mesh that extends beyond the model’s boundary. If the reference
mesh is too small, the offset surface may be distorted where the reference mesh does not
occur.
l If the reference mesh changes significantly near the model’s boundary, offset surfaces may
show unexpected changes. Offset surfaces are projected in the direction the reference mesh
is going, and if the reference mesh changes direction just inside the boundary, that change will
be reflected in the offset surface. This is normal if there is data that takes the reference mesh
in a different direction, but if this is not desirable for the offset surface, consider making the
geological model’s boundary smaller.
The rest of this topic describes creating and working with an offset surface. It is divided into:
l Creating an Offset Surface
l The Offset Surface in the Project Tree
l Refining an Offset Surface
l Changing Surfacing Options for an Offset Surface
l Changing Offset Limits
l Changing the Reference Mesh
l Editing the Reference Mesh

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Creating an Offset Surface

To start creating an offset surface, right-click on the Surface Chronology and select New
Deposit/Erosion > From Offset Surface. The New Offset Surface window will appear:

In the window that appears, you need to select a reference mesh, then either select Surface
points to offset to or set a Constant offset.
Click Select reference mesh to view the meshes available in the project.
If you wish to offset from the reference mesh using a fixed distance, click Constant offset and
set the Distance. For Direction, selecting Forward offsets the surface on the younger side of
the reference mesh, and selecting Backward offsets on the older side.
If you wish to offset to points, click Add. You can offset to:
l Base lithology contacts or other lithology contacts in the project.
l Other data in the project. GIS data, points data and polylines can be used.
If you offset to points, you will be able to set additional options such as distance limits once the
surface has been created. See Changing Offset Limits below for more information.
Select the First Lithology and Second Lithology from the lithologies defined for the model. If
you have added base lithology contacts or other contacts to the surface, these will be set
automatically from the data used.
Click OK to create the surface, which will appear in the project tree as part of the Surface
Chronology.

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The Offset Surface in the Project Tree

The name Leapfrog Geo automatically assigns to an offset surface is the lithologies assigned to
each side of the surface. In the project tree, expand the surface to see how it was made:

Double-click on the surface to edit it. Double-click on the contact points object ( ) to edit the
lithology and change compositing parameters.
As further refinements are made to the surface, that information will also be added to the project
tree. See Refining an Offset Surface below for more information.

Refining an Offset Surface

You can refine an offset surface by:
l Adding other data. Right-click on the surface to see the options available, which will depend on
how the surface was created. See Adding Data to Surfaces for more information.
l Editing the surface with a polyline. Right-click on the surface in the project tree and select
either Edit. See Editing Surfaces with Polylines for more information.

It is not possible to add structural data or polylines with orientation information to an offset
surface. If you edit an offset surface with a polyline, your options for editing the polyline will be
limited.

To edit the surface’s settings, double-click on it in the project tree. In the Lithologies tab,
change the lithologies assigned to each side of the surface, if required.
You can swap the younging direction if the direction was assigned incorrectly when the surface
was created. The change will be reflected in the scene. Note that changing the younging direction
does not change which lithology is older or younger.
An offset surface can be created as a deposit or as an erosion. The difference between deposit
and erosion contact surfaces is how they cut older lithologies, as described in Contact Surfaces.
For this reason, it is possible to change between the two types using the Contact Type setting.

An offset surface cannot be adjusted by applying a trend.

Changing Surfacing Options for an Offset Surface

Surfacing options for an offset surface can be changed by double-clicking on the surface in the
project tree and then clicking on the Surfacing tab. There are additional settings related to
boundary filtering and snapping to data in the Inputs tab.

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Boundary Filtering
When data objects are added to a surface, there are two ways to handle the data that lies outside
the surface’s boundary:
l Filter the data. The surface is only influenced by the data that falls inside the surface’s
boundary.
l Leave the data unfiltered. The surface is influenced by the data both inside and outside the
surface’s boundary.
The Boundary filter setting determines how data used to define the surface is filtered:
l Off. Data is not filtered.
l All data. All data is filtered.
l Drilling only. Only drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data are filtered.
l Custom. Only the data objects specified in the Inputs tab are filtered.

Snapping to Data
Often, surfaces should honour drillhole data and treat data objects such as polylines and GIS data
as interpretations, as discussed in Honouring Surface Contacts.
There is a Snap to data setting for a geological model as a whole that is set in the Geological
Model > General tab (see Editing a Geological Model). Snap to data can also be set on a
surface-by-surface basis by double-clicking on the surface in the project tree and then clicking on
the Surfacing tab.
For individual contact surfaces, the options are:
l Inherit from GM. The setting for the geological model as a whole is used. This is the default
setting.
l Off. Surfaces do not snap to the data used to create them.
l All data. Surfaces snap to all data within the Maximum snap distance, which includes
drillhole data and any data added to the surfaces.
l Drilling only. Surfaces snap to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data
within the Maximum snap distance but not to other data used to modify the surfaces.
l Custom. Surfaces snap to the data objects indicated in the Inputs tab for each surface.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,
it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

If you need a surface to honour drillhole data but treat other data objects as interpretations,
select Drilling only. To honour some data objects while treating others as interpretations, select
Custom, then click on the Inputs tab to enable snapping for individual objects.

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There is also a snap setting that can be used when offset limits are used. This option is discussed
in Changing Offset Limits below.

Surface Resolution
The surface resolution for an offset surface can be inherited from the geological model or it can
be set specifically for the surface. To change the surface resolution for an offset surface, double-
click on the surface in the project tree and then click on the Surfacing tab. See Surface
Resolution for a Geological Model for information about the surface resolution settings in the
Surfacing tab.

Smoothing
The Smoothing parameter in the Surfacing tab can be used for all offset types other than
Constant. If your reference surface is highly curved, you may see distortions in the offset
surface. If this is the case, set Smoothing to a higher value.
Increasing the Smoothing parameter will generally result in faster processing when offsetting to
large distances. If you are finding that processing time is excessively long for an offset surface,
consider increasing Smoothing. In some situations, however, increasing Smoothing can
exaggerate imperfections in the reference surface.
If you are offsetting by a small distance and processing is taking longer than expected, consider
setting Smoothing to None.

Changing Offset Limits

There are four options for Offset limits in the Surfacing tab. Three relate to offsetting to
points and the fourth to offsetting to a fixed distance from the reference mesh.
l The None option is the default setting used when a surface is created as an offset to points.
No distance limits are used in creating the offset surface, and it simply follows the points used.
l The Unidirectional limits option allows you to set distance limits in one direction. Points
outside the limits will be disregarded.
l The Bidirectional limits option allows you to set distance limits in both directions, and points
outside these limits are disregarded. This setting is useful for modelling folded surfaces such as
veins.
l The Constant offset option offsets the surface to a fixed distance from the reference
mesh.
The Forward direction is the younger side of the reference mesh.
If the Snap to data outside limits setting is enabled, the surface will honour data, even if it is
outside the distance limits. This option will be greyed out if Snap to data is off.

Changing to a Constant Offset

To use a constant offset rather than points, select the Constant offset option and set the
Distance and Direction to offset the surface. Selecting Forward offsets the surface on the
younger side of the reference mesh, whereas selecting Backward offsets on the older side.

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If you created a surface as an offset to points and switch to using a constant offset, the points
added to the surface when it was created will be disabled.

Changing to an Offset to Points

If you created an offset surface using a constant offset, you can change the surface to offset to
points, but you must first add data to it. Do this by right-clicking on it in the project tree and
selecting Add. Once you have added the data you wish to use, double-click on the surface and
click on the Surfacing tab. Change the Offset limits option from Constant offset to one of
the other three options.

Changing the Reference Mesh

To change the surface used as the reference mesh, click on the Inputs tab, then click on the
reference mesh:

Select from the surfaces available in the project, keeping in mind the considerations discussed in
Changing the Reference Mesh.

Editing the Reference Mesh

You can also edit the reference mesh as you would other surfaces. All dependent offset surfaces
will be updated as you make changes to the reference mesh.
Changing the younging direction of the reference mesh affects how offset surfaces are
generated.
l For a constant offset surface, the younging direction of the reference mesh determines the
forward and backward direction of the offset surface and, therefore, determines the location
of the offset surface. Changing the younging direction of the reference mesh results in
dependent offset surfaces changing location; the updated offset surface will be the mirror
image of the original relative to the reference mesh.
l For surfaces offset to points, the location is determined by the points themselves. If the
reference mesh’s younging direction is changed, the offset surface’s younging direction will
also be flipped. The offset surface will still honour the contact data and will still appear at the
same location relative to the reference mesh.

Structural Surfaces
A structural surface uses contact data and non-contact structural data to create a surface. A
structural surface can interact with other volumes in the model as a deposit, an erosion or an

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intrusion contact surface. The shape of the structural surface is suggested by the non-contact
structural data used.
When creating a structural surface, there are two options for declustering the non-contact
structural data:
l The input data is automatically declustered as part of creating the structural surface. There
are no additional controls that determine how the data is declustered.
l Use a declustered structural data set as the non-contact input to the surface. This approach is
recommended over the first approach as you can change how the data is declustered.
The rest of this topic describes how to create and work with a structural surface. It is divided into:
l Creating a Structural Surface
l The Structural Surface in the Project Tree
l Refining a Structural Surface
l Surfacing Options for a Structural Surface
l Non-Contact Structural Inputs Settings
l Applying a Trend to a Structural Surface
l Value Clipping

Creating a Structural Surface

To create a new structural surface, right-click on the Surface Chronology and select New
Structural Surface. The New Structural Surface window will appear:

Use the Add buttons to add non-contact structural data and on-surface contacts, then set the
First lithology and Second lithology. Other settings are:
l Query Filter. Select from the query filters defined for the selected structural data object.
l Use Polarity. Untick the box to use tangents only.

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l Contact Type. Structural surfaces can be deposit, erosion or intrusion contacts. The same
algorithm is used for each setting; the only difference is in how the surface interacts with
other surfaces.

The Structural Surface in the Project Tree

The name Leapfrog Geo automatically assigns to a structural surface is the lithologies assigned
to each side of the surface. In the project tree, expand the surface to see how it was made:

As further refinements are made to the surface, that information will also be added to the project
tree. See Refining a Structural Surface below for more information.

To add more non-contact structural data to the surface, right-click on it in the project tree and
select Add > Structural Data. In the window that appears, tick the box for Non-contact
Structural Data:

Refining a Structural Surface

You can refine structural surfaces in several ways:
l Add other data. Right-click on the surface to see the options available, which will depend on
how the surface was created. See Adding Data to Surfaces for more information.
l Edit the surface with a polyline. Right-click on the surface in the project tree and select either
Edit > With Polyline. See Editing Surfaces with Polylines for more information.
l Edit the surface using structural data. Right-click on the surface and select Edit > With
Structural Data. See Editing Surfaces with Structural Data for more information.
To edit the surface’s settings, double-click on it in the project tree. In the Lithologies tab,
change the lithologies assigned to each side of the surface, if required.
You can swap the younging direction if the direction was assigned incorrectly when the surface
was created. The change will be reflected in the scene. Note that changing the younging direction
does not change which lithology is older or younger.

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The Contact Type setting determines how the structural surface interacts with other
lithologies, as described in Contact Surfaces. A structural surface can be a deposit, erosion or
intrusion contact surface.
For information on other techniques for refining structural surfaces, see Surfacing Options for a
Structural Surface below.

Surfacing Options for a Structural Surface

Surfacing options for a structural surface are accessed by double-clicking on the surface in the
project tree and clicking on the Surfacing tab. There are additional settings related to boundary
filtering and snapping to data in the Inputs tab.

Setting the Surface Resolution

See Surface Resolution for a Geological Model for information about the surface resolution
settings in the Surfacing tab.

Boundary Filtering
When data objects are added to a surface, there are two ways to handle the data that lies outside
the surface’s boundary:
l Filter the data. The surface is only influenced by the data that falls inside the surface’s
boundary.
l Leave the data unfiltered. The surface is influenced by the data both inside and outside the
surface’s boundary.
The boundary of a structural surface can be the geological model boundary or a fault block
boundary.
The Boundary filter setting determines how data used to define the surface is filtered:
l Off. Data is not filtered.
l All data. All data is filtered.
l Drilling only. Only drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data are filtered.
l Custom. Only the data objects specified in the Inputs tab are filtered.

Snapping to Input Data

Often, surfaces should honour drillhole data and treat data objects such as polylines and GIS data
as interpretations. See Honouring Surface Contacts.
There is a Snap to data setting for a geological model as a whole that is set in the Geological
Model > General tab (see Editing a Geological Model). Snap to data can also be set on a
surface-by-surface basis by double-clicking on the surface in the project tree and then clicking on
the Surfacing tab.
For individual contact surfaces, the options are:
l Inherit from GM. The setting for the geological model as a whole is used. This is the default
setting.

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l Off. Surfaces do not snap to the data used to create them.

l All data. Surfaces snap to all data within the Maximum snap distance, which includes
drillhole data and any data added to the surfaces.
l Drilling only. Surfaces snap to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data
within the Maximum snap distance but not to other data used to modify the surfaces.
l Custom. Surfaces snap to the data objects indicated in the Inputs tab for each surface.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,
it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

If you need a surface to honour drillhole data but treat other data objects as interpretations,
select Drilling only. To honour some data objects while treating others as interpretations, select
Custom, then click on the Inputs tab to enable snapping for individual objects.

Non-Contact Structural Inputs Settings

For the non-contact structural inputs, you can:
l Change the Query Filter setting. Select from the query filters defined for the selected
structural data object.
l Change the Use Polarity setting. Untick the box to use tangents only.
l Change the Boundary filter setting, if the Boundary filter setting in the Surfacing tab is
set to Custom.

Applying a Trend to a Structural Surface

There are two ways to change the trend for a structural surface:
l Right-click on the surface in the project tree and select Adjust Surface.
l Double-click on the surface in the project tree and then click on the Trend tab.
See Global Trends for more information.

Value Clipping
In the Value Clipping tab, you can manipulate the data distribution by clipping the data. Clipping
caps values that are outside the range set by the Lower bound and Upper bound values. For
example, if you change the Upper bound from 16.00 to 10.00, distance values above 10.00 will
be regarded as 10.00.
When Automatic clipping and Do clipping are enabled, Leapfrog Geo sets the Lower bound
and Upper bound from the data. To change the Lower bound and Upper bound, untick
Automatic clipping, tick Do clipping and then change the values.

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The Surface Chronology

When you create a contact surface, it appears in the project tree under the Surface
Chronology object, but it is not enabled and, therefore, does not affect the geological model
volumes. This means you can work on the surface without having to reprocess the model
whenever you make a change to the surface. In Leapfrog Geo, you can easily define, enable
and remove contact surfaces from a model, and you can experiment with modelling lithologies
using different techniques in order to arrive at a geologically reasonable model.

To add a contact surface to the surface chronology, double-click on the Surface Chronology
object. The Surface Chronology window will be displayed:

In the project tree, the surfaces are also arranged in chronological order:

The Surface Chronology determines the overall chronological order of the contact surfaces in
the model. If you build your models from the bottom up, you will find that often the contact
surfaces are in the correct chronological order when you first open the Surface Chronology
window. However, you can easily rearrange the chronology using the Younger and Older
buttons. Tick the boxes for surfaces you wish to include in the model. When you click OK, the
included surfaces will be used to subdivide the geological model into lithological volumes. The
volumes will appear in the Output Volumes folder.
Output volumes are named according to the lithologies assigned to each side of the contact
surfaces that bound each volume. If the lithology assigned to an output volume cannot be
determined, it will be assigned the Background lithology.

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If you are working with a faulted model and have defined the Surface Chronology for one
fault block, you can copy the Surface Chronology to the empty fault blocks. See Copying
the Surface Chronology to an Empty Fault Block.

Refined Models
When you have built a geological model and want to model further within one of the volumes, you
can do this by creating a refined geological model. This changes the way the original (parent)
geological model is organised in the project tree and makes it possible to create a sub-model
within one or more of the lithological volumes.

Before starting to refine lithological volumes, it is a good idea to make a copy of the original
geological model.

To start refining a lithological volume, first create the refined geological model. To do this, right-
click on the Geological Models folder and select New Refined Model:

In the window that appears, select the geological model to refine and then select from its
lithologies.

Next, set the Base lithology column, Filter data and Surface resolution. You cannot
change the Base lithology column once the refined geological model has been established, but
you will be able to change the resolution and data filter settings.
Click OK to create the refined lithology.

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A new refined model ( ) will be created in the project tree and the parent geological model will be
moved into it. Here, a model called “M Campaign GM” has been used to created a new refined
model, with the QzP volume selected as the refined lithology ( ):

The sub-model ( ) is created inside the refined geological model and has its own Boundary,
Lithologies, Surface Chronology and Output Volumes objects.
You can work with the sub-model in the same manner you would a normal geological model. The
exceptions are:
l The sub-model’s boundary cannot be refined directly. However, changes to the parent
geological model will be updated in the sub-model’s boundary.
l The sub-model cannot have its own fault system. If the parent geological model is faulted, the
sub-model will have its own fault blocks in which you can work.
See Editing the Sub-Model for information on refining the sub-model.
You can still work with the parent geological model in the usual manner. Any changes to the
parent geological model that change the extents of the sub-model will be reflected in the sub-
model’s boundary.
You can create additional sub-models by right-clicking on the refined model ( ) and selecting
Refine Lithology.
A sub-model can be viewed and evaluated in the same manner as normal geological models.
However, sub-models cannot be used as layer guides for flow models.

Deleting the refined geological model deletes all models it contains. To return to the original
project tree organisation for a geological model, delete the sub-models:

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Once there are no more sub-models, the refined model object is also deleted, leaving the
parent geological model.

The refined model has its own Lithologies table, which contains all the lithologies from the
parent model and any sub-model lithologies. You cannot add lithologies to this table, but you can
change the colours used to display them in the scene, as described in Model Lithologies. To add
more lithologies to a refined model, add them to the lithology table in either the sub-model or the
parent geological model.
The refined model also has its own Output Volumes folder that combines information from the
parent geological model and the sub-model. If no surfaces have been created in the sub-model,
adding the refined model to the scene will simply display the volumes from the parent geological
model. If surfaces have been created in the sub-model, then the volumes of the sub-model will be
displayed alongside the volumes from the parent geological model.

Editing the Sub-Model

Work with the sub-model in the same manner described in Editing a Geological Model. See
Contact Surfaces and The Surface Chronology.
The sub-model can have resolution settings that are different from those of the parent model.
See Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo and Surface Resolution for a Geological Model.

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To change the lithology’s resolution settings, double-click on the sub-model ( ) in the project
tree. The Geological Model window appears:

This window has only three tabs:

l There is no Boundary tab because the sub-model’s boundary can only be modified by
modifying the parent geological model.
l There is no Fault System tab because a sub-model cannot have its own fault system.

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Numeric Models
The FastRBF algorithm employs interpolation functions to estimate values from known data.
From these estimated values, geological surfaces are constructed as part of the model-building
process.
With the Numeric Models folder, you can create numeric models and change their parameters.
l An RBF interpolant describes a physical quantity that varies continuously in space. An RBF
interpolant can be used to model, for example, grade distribution, with isosurface values set to
represent both minimum concentrations of interest and regions of high value. See RBF
Interpolants.
l A multi-domained RBF interpolant is an RBF interpolant that has a number of individual sub-
interpolants that are bounded by the fault blocks or output volumes of a selected geological
model. Changes to all sub-interpolants can be made by editing the parent interpolant, while
sub-interpolants can be edited to account for local influences on the values used, the trend
and interpolation parameters. See Multi-Domained RBF Interpolants.
l An indicator RBF interpolant calculates the likelihood that values will fall above and below a
specific threshold. An indicator RBF interpolant can be used to produce a volume inside which
further modelling is carried out. For example, you can create an indicator RBF interpolant for
grade values above a certain threshold, and then use the inside volume as a lateral extent for
another model. See Indicator RBF Interpolants.
l A distance function calculates the distance to a set of points. As with an indicator RBF
interpolant, a distance function is useful for restricting processing to a specific region. To do
this, create a distance function, select the objects to use, then add at least one buffer. You
can then use one of the distance function’s isosurfaces as a lateral extent for another model.
See Distance Functions.
Values that can be interpolated include downhole numeric data, composited drillhole data and
points data. See Interpolant Functions for a general introduction to interpolation.
The rest of this topic describes:
l Importing a Variogram Model
l Copying a Numeric Model
l Creating a Static Copy of a Numeric Model
l Exporting Numeric Model Volumes and Surfaces
l Exporting Numeric Model Midpoints

Importing a Variogram Model

Leapfrog Geo can import spheroidal variogram models exported from Snowden Supervisor. The
settings that can be imported are:
l The anisotropy settings in the Trend tab
l The Nugget, Total Sill, Base Range and Alpha settings in the Interpolant tab

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To import a variogram model, first create an interpolant. Next, right-click on the interpolant and
select Import Variogram Parameters. In the window that appears, navigate to the folder that
contains the XML file and select it. Click Open. The interpolant will be updated with the
parameters in the XML file.

The imported variogram model overwrites the parameters in the interpolant, which cannot be
undone. If you wish to save the original settings, make a copy of the interpolant before
importing the new parameters.

Once the interpolant has been updated, you can edit it further by double-clicking on the
interpolant in the project tree.

Copying a Numeric Model

Creating a copy of a numeric model is a useful way of experimenting with changes to a model.
To copy a numeric model, right-click on it in the project tree and select Copy. Enter a name for
the copy of the model and click OK. The copy will be added to the project tree.

Creating a Static Copy of a Numeric Model

Creating a static copy preserves a snapshot of a numeric model that does not change, even when
changes are made to the data on which the original model was dependent. This is a useful way of
storing historical models and comparing models. Static copies can be exported from Leapfrog
Geo, as described in Exporting Numeric Model Volumes and Surfaces below.
To create a static copy of a numeric model, right-click on it in the project tree and select Static
Copy. Enter a name for the copy of the numeric model and click OK. The copy will be added to
the Numeric Models folder.
The objects that make up a static copy of a numeric model depend on the type of model:
l For an RBF interpolant, a static copy is made up of a Legend object, a Boundary object, and
all isosurfaces and output volumes created in building the model.
l For a multi-domained RBF interpolant, a static copy is made up of a Legend object, a
Boundary object, and the output volumes created in building the model. There are also static
copies of the sub-interpolants, which are the same as static copies of RBF interpolants.
l For an indicator RBF interpolant, a static copy is made up of a Legend object, a Boundary
object, the model’s isosurface and the output volumes.

Static models created in versions of Leapfrog Geo before 2.2 copied only the output volumes
and the legend, and the static model appeared in the shape list only as a single line. When
these static models are upgraded and displayed in the scene, the individual output volumes will
be added to the shape list.

To view the date a static copy was created, right-click on it in the project tree and select
Properties. The date the copy was created is in the General tab.

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Exporting Numeric Model Volumes and Surfaces

There are three options for exporting a numeric model’s output volumes and surfaces. These are:
l Export an output volume or a surface as a mesh. Right-click on it in the project tree and click
Export. You will be prompted for a file name and location. See Exporting a Single Mesh.
l Export an output volume as a thickness grid. Right-click on it in the project tree and click
Export Thickness Grid. See Thickness Grids.
l Export multiple output volumes and surfaces. Right-click on the interpolant in the project tree
and select Export. See Exporting Multiple Meshes from Models.

Exporting Numeric Model Midpoints

To export interval midpoints from a numeric model, right-click on the model’s values object ( )
and select Export. Interval midpoints can be exported in the following formats:
l CSV text file (*.csv)
l DXF file (*.dxf)
l Snowden Supervisor CSV file (*.csv)
l Isatis 3D points file (*.asc)
l Drawing Files (2013/LT2013) (*.dwg)
The values exported are the midpoints of each segment, the X-Y-Z values and the hole ID. The
Snowden Supervisor and Isatis 3D points formats also include the interval length, when the model
has been created from drillhole data.
In each case, you will be prompted for a filename and location.

You can extract interval midpoints from drillhole data and then export them from the Points
folder. See Extracting Interval Midpoints from Drillhole Data for more information.

RBF Interpolants
If the data is both regularly and adequately sampled, different RBF interpolants will produce
similar results. In practice, however, it is rarely the case that data is so abundant and input is
required to ensure an interpolant produces geologically reasonable results. For this reason, only a
basic set of parameters are required when an RBF interpolant is first created. Once the
interpolant has been created, you can refine it to factor in real-world observations and account
for limitations in the data.
The rest of this topic describes how to create and modify RBF interpolants. It is divided into:
l Creating an RBF Interpolant
l The RBF Interpolant in the Project Tree
l Interpolant Display
l RBF Interpolant Statistics

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l Modifying an RBF Interpolant’s Boundary with Lateral Extents

l Changing the Settings for an RBF Interpolant

Creating an RBF Interpolant

To create an RBF interpolant, right-click on the Numeric Models folder and select New RBF
Interpolant. The New RBF Interpolant window will be displayed:

This window is divided into four parts that determine the values used to create the interpolant,
the interpolant boundary, any compositing options and general interpolant properties.

If you are unsure of some settings, most can be changed later. However, the Numeric
values object selected when the interpolant is created cannot be changed.

Values Used
In the Values To Interpolate part of the New RBF Interpolant window, you can select the
values that will be used and choose whether or not to filter the data and use a subset of those
values in the interpolant.
You can build an interpolant from either:
l Numeric data contained in imported drillhole data.
l Points data imported into the Points folder.
All suitable data in the project is available from the Numeric values list.

Applying a Query Filter

If you have defined a query filter and wish to use it to create the interpolant, select the filter from
the Query filter list. Once the interpolant has been created, you can remove the filter or select a
different filter.

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Applying a Surface Filter

All available data can be used to generate the interpolant or the data can be filtered so that only
the data that is within the interpolant boundary or another boundary in the project influences the
interpolant. The Surface Filter option is enabled by default, but if you wish to use all data in the
project, untick the box for Surface Filter. Otherwise, you can select the Interpolant
Boundary or another boundary in the project.
You can use both the Query Filter option and the Surface Filter option together.

The Interpolant Boundary

There are several ways to set the Interpolant Boundary:
l Enter values to set a Custom boundary.
l Use the controls in the scene to set the Custom boundary dimensions.
l Select another object in the project from the Enclose Object list, which could be the numeric
values object being interpolated. The extents for that object will be used as the basis for the
Custom boundary dimensions.
l Select another object in the project to use as the Interpolant Boundary. Click the Existing
model boundary or volume option and select the required object from the list.
Once the interpolant has been created, you can further modify its boundary. See Modifying an
RBF Interpolant’s Boundary with Lateral Extents and Adjusting the Interpolant Boundary below.

Compositing Options
When numeric values from drillhole data are used to create an interpolant, there are two
approaches to compositing that data:
l Composite the drillhole data, then use the composited values to create an interpolant. If you
select composited values to create an interpolant, compositing options will be disabled.
l Use drillhole data that hasn’t been composited to create an interpolant, then apply
compositing settings to the interpolated values. If you are interpolating values that have not
been composited and do not have specific Compositing values in mind, you may wish to
leave this option blank as it can be changed once the model has been created.
If you are interpolating points, compositing options will be disabled.
See Numeric Composites for more information on the effects of the Compositing length, For
end lengths less than, Minimum coverage and Additional weighting column settings.

General Interpolant Properties

Set the Surface resolution for the interpolant and whether or not the resolution is adaptive.
See Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo for more information on the effects of these settings.
The resolution can be changed once the interpolant has been created, so setting a value in the
New RBF Interpolant window is not vital. A lower value will produce more detail, but
calculations will take longer.

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The Volumes enclose option determines whether the interpolant volumes enclose Higher
Values, Lower Values or Intervals. Again, this option can be changed once the interpolant has
been created.
Enter a Name for the new interpolant and click OK.
Once you have created an RBF interpolant, you can adjust its properties by double-clicking on it.
You can also double-click on the individual objects that make up the interpolant.
See also:
l Copying a Numeric Model
l Creating a Static Copy of a Numeric Model
l Exporting Numeric Model Volumes and Surfaces

The RBF Interpolant in the Project Tree

The new interpolant will be created and added to the Numeric Models folder. The new
interpolant contains objects that represent different parts of the interpolant:

l The Boundary object defines the limits of the interpolant. See Adjusting the Interpolant
Boundary.
l The Trend object describes the trend applied in the interpolant. See Changing the Trend for an
RBF Interpolant.
l The points data values object contains all the data used in generating the interpolant. See
Adjusting the Values Used.
l The Isosurfaces folder contains all the meshes generated in building the interpolant.
l The Output Volumes folder contains all the volumes generated in building the interpolant.
Other objects may appear in the project tree under the interpolant as you make changes to it.

Interpolant Display
Display the interpolant by:
l Dragging the interpolant into the scene or right-clicking on the interpolant and selecting View
Output Volumes. Both actions display the interpolant’s output volumes.
l Right-clicking on the interpolant and selecting View Isosurfaces.

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RBF Interpolant Statistics

You can view the approximated mean for each output volume by right-clicking on the interpolant
and selecting Properties. Click on the Statistics tab:

You can copy the information displayed in the Statistics tab to the clipboard for use in other
applications.

Modifying an RBF Interpolant’s Boundary with Lateral Extents

RBF interpolants are created with a basic set of rectangular extents that can then be refined
using other data in the project. These extents usually correspond to the ground surface and
known boundaries. Creating extents can also be used to restrict modelling to a particular area of
interest; for example, modelling can be restricted to a known distance from drillholes by applying
a distance function as a lateral extent. Extents do not need to be strictly vertical surfaces and
can be model volumes.

Creating Lateral Extents

To create an extent, expand the RBF interpolant in the project tree. Right-click on the Boundary
object and select from the New Lateral Extent options. Follow the prompts to create the
extent, which will then appear in the project tree under the interpolant’s Boundary object.
New extents are automatically applied to the boundary being modified. Leapfrog Geo usually
orients a new extent correctly, with red presenting the inside face of the extent and blue
representing the outside face. If this is not the case, you can change the orientation by right-
clicking on the extent in the project tree and selecting Swap Inside.

Extent from a Polyline

You can create an extent from a polyline that already exists in the project or you can draw a new
one. If you want to use an imported polyline, import it into the Polylines folder before creating

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the new extent.

To create a new extent from a polyline, right-click on the interpolant’s Boundary object and
select New Lateral Extent > From Polyline. In the window that appears, select whether you
will create a new polyline or use an existing one:

You can create the extent as a Vertical Wall or Surface. If you create the lateral extent as a
Surface, you will be able to modify it using additional data, as described below. A lateral
extent created as a Vertical Wall, however, cannot be modified.

Click OK to generate the new extent. If you have chosen to create a New Drawing, the drawing
controls will appear in the scene and you can begin drawing, as described in Drawing in the Scene.
The new extent will appear in the project tree as part of the Boundary object.

If the surface generated does not fit the polyline adequately, you can increase the quality of
the fit by adding more points to the polyline. See Drawing in the Scene for information on
adding points to polylines.

Extents created from polylines can be modified by adding points data, GIS vector data and
structural data. You can also add polylines and structural data to the extent. See Adding Data to
an Extent, Editing an Extent with a Polyline and Editing an Extent with Structural Data for more
information.

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Extent from GIS Vector Data

GIS data in the project can be used to create a lateral extent for an RBF interpolant. Once the
data you wish to use has been imported into the project, right-click on the interpolant’s
Boundary object and select New Lateral Extent > From GIS Vector Data.
In the window that appears, select the data object you wish to use:

You can create the extent as a Vertical Wall or Surface. If you create the lateral extent as a
Surface, you will be able to modify it using additional data, as described below. A lateral
extent created as a Vertical Wall, however, cannot be modified.

If you select the Surface option, you can use the GIS data object with its own elevation data or
projected onto the topography:

Using the On Topography option makes sense for GIS data as it is, by nature, on the
topography. The On Topography option also mitigates any issues that may occur if elevation
information in the GIS data object conflicts with that in the project.
Click OK to create the new extent. The new extent will appear in the project tree as part of the
Boundary object.
Extents created from GIS data can be modified by adding points data, GIS vector data and
structural data. You can also add polylines and structural data to the extent. See Adding Data to
an Extent, Editing an Extent with a Polyline and Editing an Extent with Structural Data for more
information.

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Extent from Points

To create a new extent from points data, right-click on the interpolant’s Boundary object and
select New Lateral Extent > From Points. The Select Points To Add window will be
displayed, showing points data available in the project:

Select the information you wish to use and click OK.

The new extent will appear in the project tree as part of the Boundary object.
Extents created from points can be modified by adding points data, GIS vector data and
structural data. You can also add polylines and structural data to the extent. See Adding Data to
an Extent, Editing an Extent with a Polyline and Editing an Extent with Structural Data for more
information.

Extent from Structural Data

Planar structural data can be used to create a lateral extent for an RBF interpolant. You can
create a new structural data table or use a table that already exists in the project. If you want to
use categories of structural data in creating the extent, use an existing table and create filters for
those categories before creating the lateral extent.
To start, right-click on the interpolant’s Boundary object and select New Lateral Extent >
From Structural Data. The New Structural Data window will be displayed, showing
structural data available in the project:

Select the New Drawing option to draw the structural data points directly in the scene.

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Select the Existing Structural Data option to use a table in the Structural Modelling folder.
With this option, you will be able to select from the categories available in the data table, if query
filters have been created for those categories:

Click OK to generate the new extent. If you have chosen to create a New Drawing, the drawing
controls will appear in the scene and you can begin drawing, as described in Creating New Planar
Structural Data Tables. To share the new structural data table, right-click on it and select Share.
The table will be saved to the Structural Modelling folder.
The new extent will appear in the project tree as part of the Boundary object.
Extents created from structural data can be modified by adding points data, GIS vector data and
structural data. You can also add polylines and structural data to the extent. See Adding Data to
an Extent, Editing an Extent with a Polyline and Editing an Extent with Structural Data for more
information.

Extent from a Surface

To use a surface as lateral extent for an RBF interpolant, right-click on the interpolant’s
Boundary object and select New Lateral Extent > From Surface. The Select Boundary
window will appear, showing all the meshes that can be used as an extent:

Select the required mesh and click OK. The extent will be added to the interpolant’s Boundary
object.
You cannot modify an extent created from a mesh by adding data, editing with polylines or
structural data or by applying a trend. However, the extent is linked to the mesh used to create it,
and updating the mesh will update the extent.

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Extent from Distance to Points

Leapfrog Geo can calculate the distance to set of points and use the resulting distance buffer as
a lateral extent for an RBF interpolant. To create a new lateral extent from a distance buffer,
right-click on the interpolant’s Boundary object and select New Lateral Extent > From
Distance To Points. The Smoothed Distance Buffer window will appear:

Select the Distance and set an Anisotropy, if required.

The Ellipsoid Ratios determine the relative shape and strength of the ellipsoids in the scene,
where:
l The Maximum value is the relative strength in the direction of the green line on the moving
plane.
l The Intermed. value is the relative strength in the direction perpendicular to the green line on
the moving plane.
l The Minimum value is the relative strength in the direction orthogonal to the plane.
You can also use the Set to list to choose different options Leapfrog Geo has generated based
on the data used to build the interpolant. Isotropic is the default option used when the
interpolant is created.
Click OK to create the new extent, which will appear in the project tree as part of the Boundary
object.
To change the extent’s settings, expand the interpolant’s Boundary object in the project tree
and double-click on the extent. Adjust the Distance and Anisotropy, if required.
Extents created from a distance to points function can be modified by adding points data and GIS
vector data. See Adding Data to an Extent.

Extent from a Distance Function

A distance function calculates the distance to a set of points and can be used to bound an RBF
interpolant. You can use an existing distance function as a lateral extent or create a new one.
To use a distance function as a lateral extent, right-click on the interpolant’s Boundary and
select New Lateral Extent > From Distance Function. If there are no distance functions in

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the project, you will be prompted to create a new one. See Distance Functions for information on
defining and editing the distance function.
When there are already distance functions in the project, you will be prompted to choose
between creating a new function or using an existing one:

To use an existing function, select it from the list and set a Buffer distance. Click OK to create
the lateral extent.
When you create a new distance function, it will be part of the interpolant’s Boundary object and
will not be available elsewhere in the project. To share it within the project, expand the lateral
extent in the project tree and right-click on the distance function. Select Share. The distance
function will be saved to the Numeric Models folder.
To change the extent’s settings, expand the interpolant’s Boundary object in the project tree
and double-click on the extent. Adjust the Distance and Anisotropy, if required.

Changing a Lateral Extent’s Settings

For lateral extents created from polylines, GIS data, points and structural data, you can change
the extent’s settings by double-clicking on it in the project tree.

In the Surfacing tab, you can change surface resolution and contact honouring options, which
are described below. In the Trend tab, you can apply a trend to the extent, which is described in
Applying a Trend.

Surface Resolution
For RBF interpolants, the resolution of lateral extents is inherited from the settings in the
interpolant’s Outputs tab, but the adaptive isosurfacer is automatically disabled. Enter a
different Surface resolution value, if required, and tick Adaptive to enable the adaptive
isosurfacer.

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Contact Honouring
Often, surfaces should honour drillhole data and treat data objects such as polylines and GIS data
as interpretations. For extents, the Snap to data setting in the Surfacing tab determines
whether or not the extent honours the data used to create it. Options are:
l Off. The extent does not snap to the data used to create it. This is the default setting.
l All data. The extent snaps to all data within the Maximum snap distance, which includes
drillhole data and any data added to the extent.
l Drilling only. The extent snaps to drillhole data and data objects derived from drillhole data
within the Maximum snap distance, but not to other data used to modify the extent. For
example, the extent will honour points data derived from drillhole data, but not points data
imported into the Points folder.
l Custom. The extent snaps to the data objects indicated in the Inputs tab that are within the
Maximum snap distance.

Take care in enabling snapping and in selecting what data the surface will snap to, as the more
data you include, e.g. by setting a large Maximum snap distance or selecting All data for
Snap to data, the greater the possibility that errors in the data or assumptions inherent in
interpretations (e.g. polylines) will cause distortions in the meshes. If you do enable snapping,
it is best to snap only to drilling data. See Honouring Surface Contacts for more information on
these settings.

Whatever the setting, you can see what objects are snapped to by clicking on the Inputs tab.
If you need the extent to honour drillhole data but treat other data objects as interpretations,
select Drilling only. To honour some data objects while treating others as interpretations, select
Custom, then click on the Inputs tab to enable snapping for individual objects.

Applying a Trend
You can adjust an extent created from polylines, GIS data, points and structural data by applying
a trend to it. To do this, add the extent to the scene. Next, double-click on the extent in the
project tree and click the Trend tab.
Often the easiest way to apply a trend is to click on the Draw plane line button ( ) and draw a
plane line in the scene in the direction in which you wish to adjust the surface. You may need to
rotate the scene to see the plane properly.
The Ellipsoid Ratios determine the relative shape and strength of the ellipsoids in the scene,
where:
l The Maximum value is the relative strength in the direction of the green line on the moving
plane.
l The Intermed. value is the relative strength in the direction perpendicular to the green line on
the moving plane.
l The Minimum value is the relative strength in the direction orthogonal to the plane.

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Once you have adjusted the plane to represent the trend you wish to use, click the Set From
Plane button to copy the moving plane settings.
The Set to list contains a number of different options Leapfrog Geo has generated based on the
data used in the project. Isotropic is the default option used when the extent was created.
Settings made to other surfaces in the project will also be listed, which makes it easy to apply the
same settings to many surfaces.
Click OK to apply the changes.
See Global Trends for more information.

Adding Data to an Extent

Extents created from polylines, GIS data, points and structural data can be modified by adding
points data objects, GIS vector data and structural data. Extents created from a distance to
points function can be modified by adding points data and GIS vector data. To add data to an
extent, right-click on the extent in the project tree and select the data type you wish to use from
the Add menu.
l Points data. Select from the points data objects available in the project and click OK.
l GIS vector data. Select from the GIS vector data available in the project and click OK.
l Structural data. Select from the structural data tables available in the project. If the selected
table has query filters defined, you can apply one of these filters by ticking Use query filter
and then selecting the required filter from the list. Click OK to add the selected data to the
extent. An alternative to adding an existing structural data table to an extent is to edit the
extent with structural data. This is described in Editing an Extent with Structural Data below.
You can also add a polyline that already exists in the project. To do this, right-click on the extent in
the project tree and select Add > Polyline. You will be prompted to choose from the polylines in
the Polylines folder.

Editing an Extent with a Polyline

You can edit an extent using a polyline, which is described in Editing Surfaces with Polylines. A
polyline used to edit an extent will be added to the project tree as part of the extent. To edit the
polyline, right-click on it and select Edit Polyline or add it to the scene and click the Edit button (
) in the shape list. If you wish to remove the polyline from the extent, right-click on it in the
project tree and select Delete or Remove.
To add an existing polyline to a lateral extent, use the Add > Polyline option.

Editing an Extent with Structural Data

You can edit an extent using structural data, which is described in Editing Surfaces with
Structural Data. A structural data table will be added to the project tree as part of the extent. To
edit the table, right-click on it and select Edit In Scene or add it to the scene and click the Edit
button ( ) in the shape list. If you wish to remove the table from the extent, right-click on it in
the project tree and select Delete or Remove.

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Removing an Extent from an Interpolant

If you have defined an extent and want to remove it from the interpolant, there are two options.
The first is to right-click on the extent in the project tree and click Delete. This deletes the
extent from the interpolant, but does not delete parent objects from the project unless they were
created as part of the interpolant, e.g. a polyline used as a lateral extent but not shared within the
project. Use this option only if you are sure you do not want to use the extent.
The second method is useful if you are making changes to the extent and do not want to
recompute the interpolant with each change. Double-click on the interpolant’s Boundary object
or double-click on the interpolant and click on the Boundary tab. The Boundaries part of the
window lists all objects used as extents for the interpolant. Untick the box for extents to
temporarily disable them in the interpolant. The interpolant will be reprocessed, but you can then
work on the extent without reprocessing the interpolant. Disabled extents will be marked as
inactive in the project tree.

Changing the Settings for an RBF Interpolant

To change the settings for an RBF interpolant, you can either double-click on the interpolant in
the Numeric Models folder or right-click and select Open. When creating an RBF interpolant,
only a basic set of parameters is used. The Edit RBF Interpolant window provides finer controls
over these basic parameters so you can refine the interpolant to factor in real-world observations
and account for limitations in the data.
For a multi-domained RBF interpolant, these parameters can be changed for the parent
interpolant, and the trend, clipping, transformation and interpolation settings can be changed for
the sub-interpolants.

Adjusting the Values Used

The Values tab in the Edit Interpolant window shows the values used in creating the
interpolant and provides options for filtering the data. Although you cannot change the values
used to create an interpolant, you can filter the values using the Query filter and Surface
filter options.
You can adjust the values using a contour polyline or by adding points. Both options are available
by expanding the interpolant in the project tree, then right-clicking on the values object:

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These options are described below in Adding a Contour Polyline and Adding Points.
To apply a query filter, tick the Query filter box in the Values tab and select the available
queries from the list.
To change the object used as the Surface filter, select the required object from the list. Note
that the list contains an object that defines the interpolant’s own boundary, which can be
adjusted in the Boundary tab.

Adding a Contour Polyline

Adding a contour polyline is a useful tool for manually adjusting a surface to make it more
geologically reasonable. To start adding a contour polyline, draw a slice where you wish to adjust
the surface and decide what value you will assign to the contour line. Next, right-click on the
values object and select New Contour Polyline. The next step is to choose whether you will
draw a new polyline or use one already in the project:

Only GIS lines, polylines imported into Leapfrog Geo or polylines created using the straight line
drawing tool can be used to create contour lines.

Enter the value to be used for the contour and a name for it. Click OK. If you have chosen the
New Drawing option, the new object will be created in the project tree and drawing tools will
appear in the scene. Start drawing in the scene as described in Drawing in the Scene. When you
have finished drawing, click the Save button ( ). The new contour will automatically be added to
the interpolant and will appear in the project tree as part of the interpolant’s values object.

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To change the value assigned to a contour polyline, double-click on the interpolant in the project
tree. In the Values tab, contour polylines and their assigned values are shown in the User
contour values table:

To change the value on a contour, click in the Value column and edit the entry.
To edit the polyline, right-click on it in the project tree and select Edit Polyline or add it to the
scene and click the Edit button ( ) in the shape list. If you wish to remove a contour polyline
from the interpolant, right-click on it in the project tree and select Delete or Remove.

Adding Points
To add points to an RBF interpolant, right-click on the values object in the project tree and select
Add Values. Leapfrog Geo will display a list of all suitable points objects in the project. Select an
object and click OK.
A hyperlink to the points object will be added to the values object in the project tree. To remove
the points object, right-click on the points object and select Remove.

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Compositing Parameters for an RBF Interpolant

When an RBF interpolant has been created from data that has not been composited, compositing
parameters can be changed by double-clicking on the interpolant in the project tree, then clicking
on the Compositing tab.

The Compositing tab will only appear for interpolants created from drillhole data that has not
been composited.

You can composite in the entire drillhole or only where the data falls inside the interpolant
boundary. See Numeric Composites for more information on the effects of the Compositing
length, For end lengths less than and Minimum coverage settings.

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Adjusting the Interpolant Boundary

See Modifying an RBF Interpolant’s Boundary with Lateral Extents above for information on
creating and working with lateral extents.
To change an RBF interpolant’s boundary, double-click on the interpolant in the project tree, then
click on the Boundary tab:

Controls to adjust the boundary will also appear in the scene.

Tick the Use Topography box to use the topography as a boundary. The topography is normally
not used as a boundary for interpolants and so this option is disabled when an interpolant is first
created.
The Boundaries list shows objects that have been used to modify the boundary. You can disable
any of these lateral extents by unticking the box.

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Lateral extents can be used to restrict modelling to a particular area of interest; for example,
modelling can be restricted to a known distance from drillholes by applying a distance function as
a lateral extent.

Clipping and Transforming Values for an RBF Interpolant

To clip data and apply a transformation to an RBF interpolant, double-click on the interpolant in
the project tree, then click on the Value Transform tab:

The options for Transform Type are None and Log. Log uses a natural logarithm to compress
the data values to a smaller range. This may be useful if the data range spans orders of
magnitude. The function used is:
ln(x+s)+c

where s is the Pre-log shift and c is a constant. In order to avoid issues with taking the logarithm
of zero or a negative number, Pre-log shift is a constant added to make the minimum value
positive. The value of the pre-log shift will automatically be chosen to add to the minimum value
in the data set to raise it to 0.001. This constant is then added to all the data samples. You can
modify the value of the Pre-log shift, as increasing this value further away from zero can be
used to reduce the effect of the natural logarithm transformation on the resultant isosurfaces.
Note that a further constant, c, is added to the natural logarithm of the data with the pre-log shift
added to it. If there are any negative numbers that result from taking the natural log of the data,
the absolute value of the most negative number is taken and added to all the transformed data
results. This will raise the value of all the data so the minimum data value is zero. The value of c is
chosen automatically and cannot be modified.

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Click on the Options button to change the histogram’s display, including the Bin Width.
If you tick the Do pre-transform clipping option, you can set the Lower bound and the
Upper bound to cap values that are too low or too high. For example, if you set the Upper
bound from 14.00 to 10.00, grade values above 10.00 will be regarded as 10.00.

Changing the Trend for an RBF Interpolant

You can apply a global trend or a structural trend to an RBF interpolant. To do this, add the
interpolant to the scene, then double-click on the interpolant in the project tree. Click on the
Trend tab in the Edit RBF Interpolant window.
See:
l Using a Global Trend
l Using a Structural Trend

Using a Global Trend

The easiest way to change the trend applied to an interpolant is using a global trend set from the
moving plane.

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Click View Plane to add the moving plane to the scene, then click on the plane to view its
controls. You may need to hide part of the interpolant to click on the moving plane:

You can also use the Set to list to choose different options Leapfrog Geo has generated based
on the data used to build the interpolant. Isotropic is the default option used when the
interpolant is created.
The Ellipsoid Ratios determine the relative shape and strength of the ellipsoids in the scene,
where:
l The Maximum value is the relative strength in the direction of the green line on the moving
plane.
l The Intermed. value is the relative strength in the direction perpendicular to the green line on
the moving plane.
l The Minimum value is the relative strength in the direction orthogonal to the plane.
Click OK to regenerate the interpolant and view changes.

Using a Structural Trend

You can also set the trend for an RBF interpolant from a structural trend. First, you must create
or import the required mesh and create a structural trend. See Structural Trends for more
information.

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Once the structural trend has been created, add it to the interpolant by double-clicking on the
interpolant in the project tree, then clicking on the Trend tab. Select the Structural Trend
option, then select the required trend from the list:

Click OK. The trend will be added to the interpolant and will appear as part of the interpolant, as
shown:

When you apply a structural trend, you cannot use the Linear interpolant. See Interpolant
Functions for more information.
Once a structural trend has been defined for the interpolant, you can edit it by clicking on the
trend hyperlink in the project tree, then opening the structural trend applied to the interpolant.
The Structural Trend window will appear. See Structural Trends for information on the settings
in this screen.

The structural trend information included as part of the interpolant is a link to the original
structural trend. When you change the structural trend that is part of the interpolant, the
changes are also made for the original structural trend.

When a structural trend that is Strongest along meshes or Blending is used, the interpolant
will regress to the global mean trend away from the meshes. The global trend that will be used is
set in the Global Trend tab for the structural trend.

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Adjusting Interpolation Parameters

To adjust interpolation parameters for an RBF interpolant, double-click on the interpolant in the
project tree, then click on the Interpolant tab:

Two models are available, the spheroidal interpolant and the linear interpolant. See the Interpolant
Functions topic for more information on the settings in this tab.

Output Settings for an RBF Interpolant

You can change the parameters used to generate RBF interpolant outputs by double-clicking on
the interpolant, then clicking on the Outputs tab.

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The Evaluation limits apply when interpolants are evaluated against other objects in the project.
When the limits are enabled, all values outside the limits will be set to the Minimum and
Maximum.
When Exact clipping is enabled, the interpolant isosurface will be generated without “tags” that
overhang the interpolant boundary. This setting is enabled by default when you create an
interpolant.
To add a new isosurface, click the Add button and enter the required value. To delete an
isosurface, click on it in the list, then click the Remove button. You can also change the colours
used to display the isosurfaces by clicking on the colour chips.

If you find that grade shells are overlapping, the resolution may be too coarse. Set Default
resolution to a lower value or enable adaptive resolution in the Outputs tab. See Surface
Resolution in Leapfrog Geo.

Multi-Domained RBF Interpolants

This topic describes creating and editing multi-domained RBF interpolants:
l Creating a Multi-Domained RBF Interpolant
l Compositing and Filtering the Values Used
l Selecting Domains
l Clipping and Transforming Values
l Setting the Trend
l Interpolation Parameters
l Output Options
l The Multi-Domained RBF Interpolant in the Project Tree
l Interpolant and Sub-Interpolant Display
l Sub-Interpolant Statistics
A multi-domained RBF interpolant is an RBF interpolant that has a number of individual sub-
interpolants bounded by the domains of a geological model.
l Changes to all sub-interpolants can be made by editing the parent interpolant.
l Sub-interpolants can be edited to account for local influences on the values used, the trend
and interpolation parameters.
A multi-domained RBF interpolant is a single object that can be evaluated as a single column on
points and block models.

Creating a Multi-Domained RBF Interpolant

Creating a multi-domained RBF interpolant is a two-step process:
l Selecting the values to be used and the domains in which sub-interpolants will be created.
l Setting the multi-domained RBF interpolant’s properties.

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To start creating a multi-domained RBF interpolant, right-click on the Numeric Models folder
and select New Multi Domained RBF Interpolant. The New Multi-domained RBF
Interpolant window will be displayed:

In this window, select the basic parameters for the multi-domained RBF interpolant. You will be
able to set additional properties once you click OK.
l Select the Values To Interpolate from the suitable data available in the project. You will be
able to change how data is filtered at the next step, but you will not be able to change the
values used.
l Select the domains used to generate sub-interpolants. These options cannot be changed once
the multi-domained RBF interpolant has been created, although you will be able to select
which volumes are used to generate sub-interpolants.
l Select from the geological models available in the project.
l If the selected Model has no faults defined, the Volume Type will be set to output
volumes.
l If the selected Model is a faulted model, the Volume Type can be output volumes,
faulted output volumes or fault blocks.

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Click OK to move on to the next step. The Edit RBF Interpolant window will appear:

Compositing and Filtering the Values Used

In the Values tab, you can apply any query filters that have been defined for the data used.
When numeric values from drillhole data are used to create an interpolant, there are two
approaches to compositing that data:
l Composite the drillhole data, then use the composited values to create an interpolant. If you
select composited values to create an interpolant, compositing options will be disabled.
l Use drillhole data that hasn’t been composited to create an interpolant, then apply
compositing settings to the interpolated values. If you are interpolating values that have not
been composited and do not have specific Compositing values in mind, you may wish to
leave this option blank as it can be changed once the model has been created.
If you are interpolating points, compositing options will be disabled.
See Numeric Composites for more information on the effects of the Compositing length, For
end lengths less than, Minimum coverage and Additional weighting column settings.

Selecting Domains
In the Domains tab, you can select the volumes in which sub-interpolants will be generated. You
cannot, however, change the geological model or the types of volumes used.

Clipping and Transforming Values

In the Value Transform tab, clip data and apply a transformation, if required. See Clipping and
Transforming Values for an RBF Interpolant for more information about the settings in this tab.

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You will be able to change the Value Transform settings for individual sub-interpolants once the
parent interpolant has been created.

Setting the Trend

In the Trend tab, you can apply a global or structural trend to the interpolant. See Changing the
Trend for an RBF Interpolant for more information about these options.
You will be able to change the Trend settings for the interpolant and individual sub-interpolants
once the parent interpolant has been created.

Interpolation Parameters
In the Interpolant tab, you can change interpolation parameters. See Adjusting Interpolation
Parameters for more information about these options.
You will be able to change the Interpolant settings or import variogram parameters for the
interpolant and individual sub-interpolants once the parent interpolant has been created.

Output Options
In the Outputs tab, you can change the parameters used to generate interpolant outputs.
The Evaluation limits apply when interpolants are evaluated against other objects in the project.
When the limits are enabled, all values outside the limits will be set to the Minimum and
Maximum.
Set the Default resolution for the interpolant and whether or not the resolution is adaptive. See
Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo for more information on the effects of these settings. The
resolution can be changed once the interpolant has been created, so setting a value when
creating the parent interpolant is not vital. A lower value will produce more detail, but calculations
will take longer.
When Exact clipping is enabled, the interpolant isosurface will be generated without “tags” that
overhang the interpolant boundary. This setting is enabled by default when you create an
interpolant.
To add a new isosurface, click the Add button and enter the required value. To delete an
isosurface, click on it in the list, then click the Remove button. You can also change the colours
used to display the isosurfaces by clicking on the colour chips.
The Volumes enclose option determines whether the interpolant volumes enclose Higher
Values, Lower Values or Intervals. This option can be changed once the interpolant has been
created.
Enter a Name for the new interpolant and click OK.
Once you have created a multi-domained RBF interpolant, you can adjust its properties as
described in Changing the Settings for an RBF Interpolant. You can also change trend, clipping,
transformation and interpolation settings for a sub-interpolant. To do this, double-click on a sub-

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interpolant. For the settings you wish to change, untick the Inherit parameters from parent
box:

See also:
l Importing a Variogram Model
l Copying a Numeric Model
l Creating a Static Copy of a Numeric Model
l Exporting Numeric Model Volumes and Surfaces

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The Multi-Domained RBF Interpolant in the Project Tree

The new multi-domained RBF interpolant will be created and added to the Numeric Models
folder. It contains objects that represent different parts of the interpolant:

l There is a link to the geological model from which domains are selected for the sub-
interpolants.
l The Trend object describes the trend applied in the interpolant. See Changing the Trend for an
RBF Interpolant for more information.
l The points data values object contains all the data used in generating the interpolant. See
Adjusting the Values Used for more information.
l The Sub-interpolants folder contains the sub-interpolants, which can be edited to change
the trend, clipping, transformation and interpolation settings.
l The Output Volumes folder contains all the volumes generated in building the interpolant.
Other objects may appear in the project tree under the interpolant as you make changes to it.

Interpolant and Sub-Interpolant Display

Display the interpolant by:
l Dragging the interpolant into the scene or right-clicking on the interpolant and selecting View
Output Volumes. Both actions display the parent interpolant’s output volumes.
l Right-clicking on the interpolant and selecting View Isosurfaces. This displays the
isosurfaces of each sub-interpolant.

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Sub-Interpolant Statistics
You can view the approximated mean for each output volume of a sub-interpolant by right-
clicking on the sub-interpolant and selecting Properties. Click on the Statistics tab:

You can copy the information displayed in the Statistics tab to the clipboard for use in other
applications.

Indicator RBF Interpolants

An indicator RBF interpolant is a useful way of creating a region of interest in which further
processing can be carried out. For example, you can use an indicator RBF interpolant to define a
volume that encloses the values that are likely to be above a cut-off threshold and then carry out
further interpolation inside that volume.
The rest of this topic describes how to create and modify indicator RBF interpolants. It is divided
into:
l Creating an Indicator RBF Interpolant
l The Indicator RBF Interpolant in the Project Tree
l Indicator RBF Interpolant Display
l Indicator RBF Interpolant Statistics
l Editing an Indicator RBF Interpolant

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Creating an Indicator RBF Interpolant

To create an indicator RBF interpolant, right-click on the Numeric Models folder and select
New Indicator RBF Interpolant. The New Indicator RBF Interpolant window will be
displayed:

This window is divided into four parts in which you select the values used to create the
interpolant, the interpolant boundary, any compositing options and general interpolant properties.

If you are unsure of some settings, most can be changed later. However, the Numeric
values object selected when the interpolant is created cannot be changed.

Selecting the Values Used

In the Values To Interpolate part of the New Indicator RBF Interpolant window, you can
select the values that will be used and choose whether or not to filter the data and use a subset of
those values in the interpolant.
You can build an indicator RBF interpolant from either:
l Numeric data contained in imported drillhole data.
l Points data imported into the Points folder.
All suitable data in the project is available from the Numeric values list.

Setting the Cut Off

The Cut-off value will be used to generate sample points and create two output volumes:
l An Inside volume that encloses all values likely to be above or equal to the Cut-off value.
l An Outside volume that enclose all values likely to be below the Cut-off value.

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If you are unsure of what Cut-off value to use, you can view statistics on the distribution of the
data and change the Cut-off value once the interpolant has been created.

You can change the names of the Inside and Outside volumes once the interpolant has been
created.

Applying a Query Filter

If you have defined a query filter and wish to use it to create the interpolant, select the filter from
the Query filter list. Once the model has been created, you can remove the filter or select a
different filter.

Applying a Surface Filter

All available data can be used to generate the interpolant or the data can be filtered so that only
the data that is within the interpolant boundary or another boundary in the project influences the
interpolant. The Surface Filter option is enabled by default, but if you wish to use all data in the
project, untick the box for Surface Filter. Otherwise, you can select the Interpolant
Boundary or another boundary in the project.
You can use both the Query Filter option and the Surface Filter option together.

The Interpolant Boundary

There are several ways to set the Interpolant Boundary:
l Enter values to set a Custom boundary.
l Use the controls in the scene to set the Custom boundary dimensions.
l Select another object in the project from the Enclose Object list, which could be the numeric
values object being interpolated. The extents for that object will be used as the basis for the
Custom boundary dimensions.
l Select another object in the project to use as the Interpolant Boundary. Click the Existing
model boundary or volume option and select the required object from the list.
Once the interpolant has been created, you can further modify its boundary. See Modifying an
RBF Interpolant’s Boundary with Lateral Extents and Adjusting the Interpolant Boundary in the
RBF Interpolants topic for more information.

Compositing Options
When numeric values from drillhole data are used to create an interpolant, there are two
approaches to compositing that data:
l Composite the drillhole data, then use the composited values to create an interpolant. If you
select composited values to create an interpolant, compositing options will be disabled.
l Use drillhole data that hasn’t been composited to create an interpolant, then apply
compositing settings to the interpolated values. If you are interpolating values that have not

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been composited and do not have specific Compositing values in mind, you may wish to
leave this option blank as it can be changed once the model has been created.
If you are interpolating points, compositing options will be disabled.
See Numeric Composites for more information on the effects of the Compositing length, For
end lengths less than, Minimum coverage and Additional weighting column settings.

General Interpolant Properties

Set the Surface resolution for the interpolant and whether or not the resolution is adaptive.
See Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo for more information on the effects of these settings.
The resolution can be changed once the interpolant has been created, so setting a value in the
New Indicator RBF Interpolant window is not vital. A lower value will produce more detail, but
calculations will take longer.
An indicator RBF interpolant produces a single isosurface that is used to determine the likelihood
of values falling inside or outside of the cut-off threshold. The Iso value can be set to values from
0.1 to 0.9. Clicking the arrows changes the Iso value in steps of 0.1. To use a different value,
enter it from the keyboard. Again, this option can be changed once the interpolant has been
created.
Enter a Name for the new interpolant and click OK.
Once you have created an interpolant, you can adjust its properties by double-clicking on it. You
can also double-click on the individual objects that make up the interpolant.
See also:
l Copying a Numeric Model
l Creating a Static Copy of a Numeric Model
l Exporting Numeric Model Volumes and Surfaces

The Indicator RBF Interpolant in the Project Tree

The new interpolant will be created and added to the Numeric Models folder. The new
interpolant contains other objects that represent different parts of the interpolant:

l The Boundary object defines the limits of the interpolant. See Adjusting the Interpolant
Boundary.

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l The Trend object describes the trend applied in the interpolant. See Changing the Trend for an
Indicator RBF Interpolant.
l The sample grouping object ( ) is the inside/outside sample grouping, which is generated by
backflagging the indicator calculations on the values used ( ). See Adjusting the Values Used
for information on changing settings relating to how the sample points are grouped.
l The isosurface is set to the specified Iso value.
l The Indicator Volumes legend defines the colours used to display the volumes.
l The Output Volumes folder contains the Inside and Outside volumes.
Other objects may appear in the project tree under the interpolant as you make changes to it. See
Editing an Indicator RBF Interpolant below for more information on the changes you can make.

Indicator RBF Interpolant Display

Display the interpolant by:
l Dragging the interpolant into the scene or right-clicking on the interpolant and selecting View
Output Volumes.
l Right-clicking on the interpolant and selecting View Isosurfaces.
You can also display the sample grouping ( ) generated as part of the interpolant, which is useful
in making decisions about the Cut-off value and the Iso value:

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Indicator RBF Interpolant Statistics

You can view the statistics for the indicator RBF interpolant by right-clicking on the interpolant
and selecting Statistics. Use the information available to adjust the cut-off value and other
interpolant properties:

You can copy the information displayed in the Statistics tab to the clipboard for use in other
applications.

Editing an Indicator RBF Interpolant

To edit an indicator RBF interpolant, you can either double-click on the interpolant in the
Numeric Models folder or right-click and select Open. The window that appears is divided into
tabs that let you change the different objects that make up the interpolant. Many of the options
are the same for RBF and multi-domained RBF interpolants.
When creating an indicator RBF interpolant, only a basic set of parameters is used. The Edit
Indicator RBF Interpolant windows provide finer controls over these basic parameters so you
can refine the interpolant to factor in real-world observations and account for limitations in the
data.
l Adjusting the Values Used
l Compositing Parameters for an Indicator RBF Interpolant
l Adjusting the Interpolant Boundary
l The Cut-Off Value
l Changing the Trend for an Indicator RBF Interpolant
l Adjusting Interpolation Parameters
l Indicator RBF Interpolant Surfacing and Volume Options

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Adjusting the Values Used

The Values tab in the Edit Indicator RBF Interpolant window shows the values used in
creating the interpolant and provides options for filtering the data. You cannot change the values
used, but you can filter the values using the Query filter and Surface filter options.
The sample grouping object ( ) in the project tree is not the values used, but is instead the
inside/outside sample grouping generated by backflagging the indicator calculations on the input
values ( ). You can adjust the input values using a contour polyline or by adding points. Both
options are available by expanding the interpolant in the project tree, then right-clicking on the
sample grouping object ( ):

These options are described below in Adding a Contour Polyline and Adding Points.
To apply a query filter, tick the Query filter box in the Values tab and select the available
queries from the list.
To change the object used as the Surface filter, select the required object from the list. Note
that the list contains an object that defines the interpolant’s own boundary, which can be
adjusted in the Boundary tab.

Adding a Contour Polyline

You can adjust the values using contour polylines set to inside (1), outside (0) or to the iso-value.
Adding a contour polyline does not affect the indicator’s statistics.

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Setting a contour to inside or outside is a useful way of controlling blowouts. Here, the inside
volume occurs in the corner of the model because of the high-value points at the bottom of the
drillhole:

This can be adjusted by drawing a contour polyline below the bottom of the drillholes and setting it
to the outside value. For example, adding a polyline (in yellow) below the bottom of drillhole
shown above removes the blowout (the part of the mesh with only the edges shown):

Polylines must be drawn either on an object or on the slicer. Drawing a contour polyline
precisely on the drillhole gives Leapfrog Geo conflicting data at the same location, which is
why the polyline should be drawn below the drillhole. To draw a polyline below a drillhole, first
draw the polyline on the drillhole, then move its nodes so the polyline lies below the drillhole.

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To add a contour polyline, expand the interpolant in the project tree. Right-click on the values
object and select New Contour Polyline:

Next, choose whether you will draw a new polyline or use one already in the project, then select
the contour value:

Only GIS lines, polylines imported into Leapfrog Geo or polylines created using the straight line
drawing tool can be used to create contour lines.

Click OK. If you have chosen the New Drawing option, the new object will be created in the
project tree and drawing tools will appear in the scene. Start drawing in the scene as described in
Drawing in the Scene. When you have finished drawing, click the Save button ( ). The new
contour will automatically be added to the interpolant and will appear in the project tree as part of
the interpolant’s values object.
To edit the polyline, right-click on it and select Edit Polyline or add it to the scene and click the
Edit button ( ) in the shape list. If you wish to remove a contour polyline from the interpolant,
right-click on it in the project tree and select Delete or Remove.

You cannot change the value on the contour once it has been created. You can, however,
share the polyline and use it to create a new contour polyline. To do this, right-click on it in the
project tree and select Share. The polyline will then be added to the Polylines folder and can
be used elsewhere in the project.

Adding Points
To add points to an indicator RBF interpolant, right-click on the values object in the project tree
and select Add Values. Leapfrog Geo will display a list of all suitable points objects in the project.
Select an object and click OK.

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A hyperlink to the points object will be added to the values object in the project tree. To remove
the points object, right-click on the points object and select Remove.

Compositing Parameters for an Indicator RBF Interpolant

When an indicator RBF interpolant has been created from values that have not been composited,
compositing parameters can be changed by double-clicking on the interpolant in the project tree,
then clicking on the Compositing tab.

The Compositing tab will only appear for interpolants created from drillhole data that has not
been composited.

You can composite in the entire drillhole or only where the data falls inside the interpolant
boundary. See Numeric Composites for more information on the effects of the Compositing
length, For end lengths less than and Minimum coverage settings.

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Adjusting the Interpolant Boundary

To change an indicator RBF interpolant’s boundary, double-click on the interpolant in the project
tree, then click on the Boundary tab:

Controls to adjust the boundary will also appear in the scene.

Tick the Use Topography box to use the topography as a boundary. The topography is normally
not used as a boundary for interpolants and so this option is disabled when an interpolant is first
created.
The Boundaries list shows objects that have been used to modify the boundary. You can disable
any of these lateral extents by unticking the box.
Techniques for creating lateral extents for indicator RBF interpolants are the same as those for
RBF interpolants. See Modifying an RBF Interpolant’s Boundary with Lateral Extents for more
information.

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The Cut-Off Value

To change the Cut-off value for an indicator RBF interpolant, double-click on the interpolant in
the project tree, then click on the Cut-off tab. The tab also shows the distribution of the data
used to create an indicator interpolate:

Click on the Options button to change the histogram’s display, including the Bin Width.
Adjust the Cut-off value, if required, and click OK to process the changes.

Changing the Trend for an Indicator RBF Interpolant

You can apply a global trend or a structural trend to an indicator RBF interpolant. To do this, add
the interpolant to the scene, then double-click on the interpolant in the project tree. Click on the
Trend tab in the Edit Indicator RBF Interpolant window.

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Techniques for setting a trend for an indicator RBF interpolant are the same as those for an RBF
interpolant. See Using a Global Trend and Using a Structural Trend in Changing the Trend for an
RBF Interpolant.

Adjusting Interpolation Parameters

To adjust interpolation parameters for an indicator RBF interpolant, double-click on the
interpolant in the project tree, then click on the Interpolant tab:

Two models are available, the spheroidal interpolant and the linear interpolant. See the Interpolant
Functions topic for more information on the settings in this tab.

Indicator RBF Interpolant Surfacing and Volume Options

To change the properties of the isosurface for an indicator RBF interpolant, double-click on the
interpolant in the project tree, then click on the Volumes tab:

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An alternative to double-clicking on the interpolant is to double-click on one of the output

volumes, which opens the Edit Indicator RBF Interpolant window with the Volumes tab
displayed.
The Iso value can be set to values from 0.1 to 0.9. Clicking the arrows changes the Iso value in
steps of 0.1. To use a different value, enter it from the keyboard.
Setting a lower value for Resolution will produce more detail, but calculations can take longer.
You can also set the resolution to be adaptive. See Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo for more
information.
When Exact clipping is enabled, the interpolant isosurface will be generated without “tags” that
overhang the interpolant boundary. This setting is enabled by default when you create an
interpolant.
Use Volume filtering to discard smaller parts of the volumes in which you do not wish to carry
out further processing. For example, this interpolant has numerous small volumes:

Enabling Volume filtering removes the smaller parts:

Distance Functions
A distance function calculates the distance to a set of points. This topic describes how to create
and modify distance functions. It is divided into:
l Creating a Distance Function
l The New Distance Function in the Project Tree

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Creating a Distance Function

To create a distance function, right-click on the Numeric Models folder and select New
Distance Function. The New Distance Function window will be displayed:

Click Select objects to choose from the objects available in the project. For drillholes, points,
GIS points and imported GIS lines, you can apply any filter that has been defined for that object.
If any of the objects selected are closed surfaces, you can choose whether these surfaces are
treated as Volumes or as Surfaces.
l When treated as Volumes, buffers will be generated only on the outside of the mesh. If the
mesh is inverted, buffers will appear on its inner surface.
l When treated as Surfaces, buffers will be generated on both sides of the mesh.
For example, here a distance function has been created using a sphere and one isosurface set to
100. The inner surface of the sphere is red, indicating that it is the inside of the mesh. The sphere
is treated as a volume and there is a single isosurface (yellow) outside of the sphere:

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When the orientation of the sphere is reversed, the isosurface (yellow) is generated on the inner
surface of the sphere:

However, when the sphere is treated as a surface rather than as a volume, isosurfaces are
generated on both sides of the sphere:

If you are unsure of some settings, most can be changed later. For a basic distance function click
Select Objects to select from the suitable objects available in the project, then click on the
Buffers tab to define at least one buffer so that the distance function can be visualised in the
scene.
See:
l Setting the Boundary
l Setting a Trend
l Adding Buffers
l The New Distance Function in the Project Tree

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Setting the Boundary

In the Boundary tab, you can set whether the function boundary is clipped or unclipped. No
distance buffer clipping is the default setting, but if you choose to clip the buffers, you can
choose between:
l Sharing another object’s extents
l Defining a set of extents that is independent of other objects in the project.
When you select the Shared with option, the distance function will be updated when the
extents object it shares is updated.

Setting a Trend
In the Trend tab, you can set a trend using the moving plane or by entering the required values.
You can also use the Set to list to choose different options used in the project. Isotropic is the
default option used when the function is created.
The Ellipsoid Ratios determine the relative shape and strength of the ellipsoids in the scene,
where:
l The Maximum value is the relative strength in the direction of the green line on the moving
plane.
l The Intermed. value is the relative strength in the direction perpendicular to the green line on
the moving plane.
l The Minimum value is the relative strength in the direction orthogonal to the plane.

Adding Buffers
To add buffers, click on the Buffers tab, then click the Add button:

Enter the required value. To delete a buffer, click on it in the list, then click the Remove button.
You can also change the colours used to display the buffers by clicking on the colour chips.
There are two options for Volume Type that affect how the buffers are calculated when more
than one buffer is used. Selecting Concentric produces higher distance buffers that include the
lower distance buffers, whereas selecting Intervals produces discrete, non-intersecting buffers.

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The Default resolution setting is used for all new buffers and for existing buffers that use the
default resolution.

The New Distance Function in the Project Tree

Click OK to create the distance function, which will be added to the Numeric Models folder.
The new distance function contains objects representing different parts of the function, which
can be expanded to show the inputs to each part of the function:

l The Trend object that describes the trend applied.

l Hyperlinks to objects used for the distance function.
l An Isosurfaces folder that contains all the meshes generated in building the distance
function.
l An Output Volumes folder that contains all the distance buffer meshes.
Other objects may appear in the project tree under the function as you make changes to it.
Display the function by dragging it into the scene or by right-clicking on it and selecting View
Buffers.
Once you have created a distance function, you can adjust its properties by double-clicking on it.
You can also double-click on the individual objects that make up the function.

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Combined Models
This topic describes creating and working with combined models. It is divided into:
l Creating a Combined Model
l The Combined Model in the Project Tree
l Editing a Combined Model
l Displaying a Combined Model
l Creating a Static Copy of a Combined Model
l Combined Model Export
A combined model uses information from up to four geological models, interpolants and distance
functions in order to visualise relationships between different types of data in the project. For
example, you could combine a geological model with an interpolant to see what lithologies higher
grades are occurring in.

Creating a Combined Model

To create a combined model, right-click on the Combined Models folder in the project tree and
select New Combined Model. In the window that appears, select the models you wish to
combine, then click OK:

Once you have created a combined model, you cannot edit it to add new models or remove
existing ones.

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The next step is to select the output volumes to use in the combined model and arrange them in
order of priority. For this combined model, the QzP volume from the selected geological model
will be subdivided using information from the Au interpolant:

If you are using a distance buffer with concentric buffers, you will be able to select only one
volume.

Click OK to generate the model, which will appear in the project tree in the Combined Models
folder.
Add the model to the scene to view the results:

The Combined Model in the Project Tree

In the project tree, the combined model includes hyperlinks to the models used to create the
combined model:

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Changes made in the original models will be reflected in the combined model.

Editing a Combined Model

To change how the volumes from the source models are combined, double-click on the combined
model in the project tree. Once you have created a combined model, you cannot add new models
to it, nor can you remove a selected model.

Displaying a Combined Model

To change the colours used to display the model, double-click on the Legend object ( ). In the
window that appears, click on the colour chip for each category and change it as described in
Single Colour Display.

To set multiple categories to a single colour, use the Shift and Ctrl keys to select the colour
chips you wish to change, then click on one of the colour chips. The colour changes you make
will be made to all selected categories.

Creating a Static Copy of a Combined Model

Creating a static copy preserves a snapshot of a combined model that does not change, even
when changes are made to the data on which the original model was dependent. This is a useful
way of storing historical models and comparing models. Static copies can be exported from
Leapfrog Geo, as described in Combined Model Export below.
To create a static copy of a combined model, right-click on it in the project tree and select Static
Copy. Enter a name for the copy of the model and click OK. The copy will be added to the
Combined Models folder.
The static copy ( ) is made up of a Legend object ( ) and the output volumes ( ).

Static models created in versions of Leapfrog Geo before 2.2 copied only the output volumes
and the legend, and the static model appeared in the shape list only as a single line. When
these static models are upgraded and displayed in the scene, the individual output volumes will
be added to the shape list.

To view the date a static copy was created, right-click on it in the project tree and select
Properties. The date the copy was created is in the General tab.

Combined Model Export

There are two options for exporting a combined model’s output volumes. These are:
l Export an output volume as a mesh. Right-click on it in the project tree and click Export. You
will be prompted for a file name and location. See Exporting a Single Mesh.

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l Export multiple output volumes. Right-click on the combined model in the project tree and
select Export. See Exporting Multiple Meshes from Models.

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Flow Models
Geological models created in Leapfrog Geo can be used as the basis for MODFLOW and
FEFLOW models. You can create flow models directly in Leapfrog Geo and assign
hydrological/material properties based on the lithologies in the geological model. Flow models can
be exported for use in other applications, and you can import existing flow models and use them
as the basis for the construction of new models. Flow models can be displayed in the scene, and
time-dependent data can also be visualised.

Working with MODFLOW and FEFLOW models is available with the Hydrogeology extension.
Contact Customer Support as described in Getting Support for more information about the
Hydrogeology extension.
If the Hydrogeology folder appears in the project tree as Restricted, you will be able to
display models in the scene and change how they are displayed, but you will not be able to
make changes to the models themselves.

All tools for building flow models are accessed by right-clicking on the Hydrogeology folder and
the objects in it. Imported objects and objects created while building a flow model are also stored
in the Hydrogeology folder, and more complex functions can be carried out by right-clicking on
individual objects.

MODFLOW Models

These features are only available as part of the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for
more information.

Once you have created a geological model, you can use it as the basis for a MODFLOW model.
You can also import existing MODFLOW models and assign lithologies from a geological model.
Steps for creating a MODFLOW model that can be exported and run outside Leapfrog Geo are:
1. Create a geological model.
2. Create the MODFLOW model using the geological model to set the grid spacing and layers.
3. Evaluate the new model against a geological model, if it wasn’t when it was created.
4. Edit the hydrological properties.
5. Export the MODFLOW model to MODFLOW or Groundwater Vistas.
Once the model has been processed outside of Leapfrog Geo, the model can be imported into
Leapfrog Geo and visualised in the scene.
Creating MODFLOW models in Leapfrog Geo has the advantage that the resolution can be easily
changed and the properties of the grid can be made to honour boundaries defined in geological
models. See Creating a MODFLOW Model.
See MODFLOW Model Display for information on options for displaying models in the scene.

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Models created in Leapfrog Geo can be evaluated against a geological model when they are
created. Models imported into Leapfrog Geo or that were not evaluated when they were created
can be evaluated as described in MODFLOW Evaluations.
Once a model has been defined and evaluated against a geological model, hydrological properties
can be assigned and the grid can be exported. See MODFLOW Hydrological Properties and
MODFLOW Model Export.

Creating a MODFLOW Model

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

To create a new MODFLOW model, you must first have at least one geological model defined in
the project. Once this has been defined, add the geological model to the scene. Right-click on the
Hydrogeology folder and select MODFLOW > New Structured Model. The New
MODFLOW Model window will be displayed, together with controls in the scene that will help
you to set the grid extents:

The new MODFLOW grid will be based on the geological model in the Gridding from setting. If
you wish to use a geological model other than the one selected when the window is opened,
select it from the list. The grid dimensions will be updated in the scene.
If the Evaluate Gridded Model box is ticked, the selected geological model will be evaluated on
the new grid and set as the evaluation for export. If you do not wish to evaluate the geological
model on the grid, untick the box. You will still be able to use the layers in the geological model to
control the grid layers.
The Preserve Existing Grid Lines option is used when setting a non-uniform grid in the scene
window. If you are going to define a non-uniform grid in this way, create the model with the
Default Cell Size set to the smallest cell size you wish to use, then edit it as described in Editing
a MODFLOW Model.

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The grid should be slightly smaller than the selected geological model. Any MODFLOW cells
that exist outside the geological model will be marked as inactive when the grid is exported to
MODFLOW .

Horizontal Grid Spacing

By default, the horizontal grid for the model is uniform, with the size of each cell set by the
Default Cell Size value. You can change the horizontal grid by editing row and column spacings.
When you click on Row Spacings or Column Spacings, the Edit Spacings window will be
displayed:

Changes made in the Edit Spacings window will be reflected in the scene.
There are four ways to change the spacings:
l Click on a value to edit it.
l Divide a row or column. Click on a row or column, then on the Divide Row or Divide Column
button. Two new rows or columns will appear in the list.
l Merge rows or columns. Hold down the Shift key while clicking on each item, then click on the
Merge Rows or Merge Columns button. The selected items will be combined.
l Set uniform spacing on selected rows or columns. You will be prompted to enter the number of
cells you wish to create from the selected rows or columns.

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Click OK.
For example, here, the rows and columns away from the model boundary have been divided to
provide more detail. The different spacings are reflected in the scene:

Use close spacing for steep gradients and increase or decrease spacing gradually.

Vertical Grid Layering

The vertical grid layers are based on the geological model selected in the New MODFLOW
Model window. Click on the Layers tab to view the layers:

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Initially, there are two layers equally spaced between the topography and the geological model.
Change the layers by clicking on Select Layer Guides button. The Layer Guides window will
appear, showing the layers available in the selected geological model:

If the grid is required to follow a geological model lithology contact surface, move the layer into
the Selected list and it will be honoured in the gridding process.
Click OK to return to the New MODFLOW Model window, in which the selected layers will be
displayed:

Click OK to create the new MODFLOW grid, which will appear in the Hydrogeology folder. You
can edit the model by expanding it in the project tree and double-clicking on the grid object ( ).
See Editing a MODFLOW Model.
For further information on working with the new model, see:

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l MODFLOW Model Display

l MODFLOW Evaluations
l MODFLOW Hydrological Properties
l Head Values and MT3D Concentrations
l Generating a Head Value Mesh
l MODFLOW Model Export

Editing a MODFLOW Model

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

Once you have created a MODFLOW model, you can edit it by expanding the model in the
project tree and double-clicking on the grid object ( ). The Edit MODFLOW Grid window will
appear. You can edit the grid spacings as described in Creating a MODFLOW Model, using the
information in the scene window as a guide.
Another way to edit the grid is to use the controls in the scene to apply different cell size settings
in different parts of the grid. For example, you may want to define a grid that has smaller cells in
the centre than at the outer edges:

To set cell sizes in this way, it is best to start with a MODFLOW model where the Default Cell
Size is set to the smallest cell size you will use in the model.

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For this example, we will start with a new grid with a Default Cell Size of 50. We will set the
adjacent cell size to 100 and the cell size at the outer boundary to 200.
First, we need to reduce the area that uses the cell size of 50 by using the red handles in the
scene:

The blue box in the scene is the geological model extents for the model used to define the
MODFLOW model and represents the unedited boundary of the MODFLOW model.
Next, enter the cell size to use for the area adjacent to the 50.0 cells in the New Cell Size field.
Then, drag the red handles to enlarge the grid. The centre part of the grid is still set to 50, while
the new area is set to 100:

If the Preserve Existing Grid Lines option is enabled, grid lines for cells already defined will
not be moved to account for new cells.

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Enter the next cell size in the New Cell Size field and then use the handles to enlarge the grid
again:

Click OK to update the grid.

For further information on working with the new model, see:
l MODFLOW Model Display
l MODFLOW Evaluations
l MODFLOW Hydrological Properties
l Head Values and MT3D Concentrations
l Generating a Head Value Mesh
l MODFLOW Model Export

Importing a MODFLOW Model

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

Leapfrog Geo imports .nam files and .mfi and .mfn variations of .nam files.
To import a MODFLOW model, right-click on the Hydrogeology folder and select MODFLOW
> Import Model. Leapfrog Geo will ask you to specify the file location, and then will display the
data in the file in the Import MODFLOW Model window:

If the world origin is available, the Grid Position will be displayed but cannot be edited.

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Click OK to import the grid. The new MODFLOW model will appear in the project tree in the
Hydrogeology folder. See MODFLOW Model Display for information on displaying the model.
If the world origin was not available when the model was imported, you can change the Grid
Position. To do this, expand the imported model in the project tree and double-click on its grid
object ( ).
To associate lithologies with the grid, see MODFLOW Evaluations.

MODFLOW Evaluations

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

When a MODFLOW model is exported, the evaluated geological model is used to assign
lithologies to the cells in the grid. If the grid has not been evaluated against a geological model,
you must do so before you can edit the hydrological properties and before you can export the grid.
To evaluate a MODFLOW model, expand the model in the project tree, then right-click on the
grid object ( ) and select Evaluations. Although you can evaluate an interpolant or distance
function, they cannot be exported with the grid and are simply used for displaying the grid in
Leapfrog Geo.
A window will appear listing all objects in the project that can be used for an evaluation. Once you
have selected one or more objects, click OK. You will then be able to select the evaluations from
the view list, as described in Evaluations.

Assigning an Evaluation for Export

For MODFLOW models created in Leapfrog Geo, the evaluation used when creating the model
will automatically be assigned as the evaluation for export. A hydrological properties table ( ) will
appear in the project tree as part of the model.
If the model was imported into Leapfrog Geo or created without being evaluated against a
geological model, you will need to manually set the evaluation for export. To do this:
l Evaluate the grid against one or more geological models, as described above.
l Right-click on the model ( or ) in the project tree and select Set Evaluation for Export.
The Select Evaluation window will appear showing all geological models evaluated on the
grid. Select the required evaluation and click OK.
A hydrological properties table will be added to the model in the project tree. Edit hydrological
properties by double-clicking on the table. See MODFLOW Hydrological Properties.

Combined Evaluations
You can combine geological models and set the priority used for evaluation. This is useful when
you have geological models available that describe different parts of the area of interest or if you
have a refined geological model for part of the model. To combine geological models for

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evaluation, select the required models in the Select Models To Evaluate window, then click on
the Combined Evaluation button.
In this example, there are three geological models selected:

The GM and GM from contacts models describe similar areas, but GM has more detail. The GM
larger model describes a larger area but with less detail. Tick the models to combine them and set
their priority. Click OK to create the combined evaluation, then click OK in the Select Models
To Evaluate window. The combined evaluation will be available from the view list and can be
selected as the evaluation for export.
To delete a combined evaluation, click on the Delete Combined button in the Select Models
To Evaluate window.

MODFLOW Hydrological Properties

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

When a MODFLOW model is evaluated against a geological model, a hydrological properties table (
) is added to the model in the project tree. You can edit hydrological properties by double-
clicking on the table. You can also open the table by right-clicking on the model in the project tree
and selecting Edit Hydrological Properties.
If the model has been imported into Leapfrog Geo and has not yet been evaluated against a
geological model, you will be prompted to do so. Expand the model in the project tree, right-click
on the grid object and select Evaluations. See MODFLOW Evaluations for more information.
Hydrological properties are assigned to model blocks based on the position of the block’s centroid
relative to the geological model used to evaluate the grid. The position of the centroid is
calculated and Leapfrog Geo then determines which lithology the centroid falls inside. The K
values for the assigned lithology are assigned to the entire block; there is no averaging.

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If more than one object has been evaluated on the grid, you can set hydrological properties
separately for each evaluation. Select the required evaluation from the Evaluation list:

However, the only hydrological properties information that will be exported is that set for the
evaluation to be exported.

Setting Hydrological Properties

In the Edit MODFLOW Parameters window, you can enter the values for hydrological
properties manually or you can use the values from an interpolant.
To enter values manually, click on a cell, then enter the value in the Value field:

Press the Enter key to move down the columns.

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To use the values from an interpolant, click the Interpolant button, then select an interpolant
from the list. The interpolant that will be used for the selected value will be displayed in the field:

To use the interpolant for all the values in the selected column, click the All Lithologies button.
The window will be updated to show that the interpolant values will be used for that column:

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Zone Numbers
When the model is exported, the zone numbers are used to indicate the assignment of lithologies
to blocks and are written to the MODFLOW zoned layer properties flow (*.lpf) file. In the Edit
MODFLOW Parameters window, you can change the zone number for a lithology by clicking in
a cell and entering a different zone number. If you reorder the zones in this way, zone number
conflicts will be highlighted in red:

Zone numbers must be unique and you will not be able to close the window and save data if there
are conflicts.
If you click on the Sort Zone Numbers button, the zone numbers will be ordered from top to
bottom.

Zone numbers should not be sorted once a model has been exported as the new numbers will
not be reflected in the exported model.

Click OK to update the grid.

MODFLOW Model Display

If you do not have the Hydrogeology extension, MODFLOW models will appear in the project
tree as Restricted. You can change how MODFLOW models are displayed, but you will not
be able to make changes to the models themselves.

In the project tree, MODFLOW models are made up of a grid object ( ), a Simulation Outputs
folder and a hydrological properties table ( ) object. If there is no hydrological properties table, an
evaluation has not yet been set for export. See MODFLOW Evaluations for more information.
For MODFLOW models created in and imported into Leapfrog Geo, dragging the model itself into
the scene will display the grid ( ) object. The different parts of the model can also be displayed.

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Grid Display Options

Dragging a MODFLOW model into the scene displays its grid object. Here, an imported model has
been evaluated against a geological model and added to the scene:

The viewing options available are the flat colour option, the evaluated geological model and zone
data imported with the model. Other inputs imported with a model will also be available from this
list, and once the model has been evaluated against a geological model or interpolant, you can
also display the model using the grid’s hydrological properties.
Grids are displayed as cells. When a geological model evaluation or lithological zone information is
displayed, you can also display a legend for the grid.
When Show edges ( ) is enabled, the edges of the cells will be displayed.
The Show inactive blocks ( ) option displays inactive cells in grey:

To display a single layer, tick the One layer box in the shape properties panel, then select the
layer to display.

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Head values and MT3D concentrations can also be imported and displayed. See Head Values and
MT3D Concentrations.

Viewing Block Information

When a MODFLOW model is displayed in the scene, you can view information about the
individual cells in the model by clicking on a block. The window that appears shows information
about the selected block, including its centroid and the lithology assigned to the block from the
evaluated geological model. Information from all geological models and interpolants the grid has
been evaluated against will be displayed:

Head Values and MT3D Concentrations

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

Leapfrog Geo imports the following output file formats:

l Head values files in *.hds, *.hhd and *.hed formats
l MT3D concentrations files in *.ucn format
To import head values or MT3D concentration files for a MODFLOW model, right-click on the
Simulation Outputs folder and select the required option. Navigate to select the file, then click
Open.

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The information will be added to the MODFLOW grid, and you can then select the head values
and MT3D concentrations in the shape list when you display the grid in the scene. If the output is
time-dependent, a timestep slider will be available from the shape properties panel. Click and drag
the slider or click along the timeline to view the different timesteps available:

Imported head values and MT3D concentrations are stored in the project tree in the Simulation
Outputs folder:

To delete head values or MT3D concentrations, right-click on the object in the project tree and
select Delete.
Once head values have been imported, you can generate a head value mesh. See Generating a
Head Value Mesh.

Generating a Head Value Mesh

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

Once head values have been imported for a MODFLOW model, you can generate a head value
mesh. To do this, expand the Simulation Outputs folder. Right-click on the head values object
and select Generate Head Value Mesh. The Generate Head Value Mesh window will
appear, showing the layers in the model and the timesteps available. Select the layer of the model
you wish to generate a head value mesh for, then choose the heads. Click OK to create the mesh,
which will be saved to the Meshes folder.

MODFLOW Model Export

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

Leapfrog Geo has three options for exporting MODFLOW grids:

l Export the grid as a MODFLOW file.
l Export for Groundwater Vistas. Use this option the first time you export a grid for use in
Groundwater Vistas.

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l Export a Groundwater Vistas update. Use this option to generate a set of files that can be
imported into Groundwater Vistas as an update.
The Groundwater Vistas options include a zoned layer properties flow (*.lpf) file that includes
information about the zones in the grid.

As a MODFLOW File
To export a grid as a MODFLOW file for use in a package other than Groundwater Vistas, right-
click on the grid in the project tree and select Export to MODFLOW . You will be prompted to
choose a File name and location. Select the options required, then click Save.

For Groundwater Vistas

To export a grid for use in Groundwater Vistas for the first time, right-click on the grid in the
project tree and select Export to MODFLOW for GWV. You will be prompted to choose a File
name and location. Select the options required, then click Save.
If you have previously exported the grid to Groundwater Vistas and have made changes to the
grid, use the Export to GWV Updates option.

As a Groundwater Vistas Update

If you have exported a grid to Groundwater Vistas but then make changes to the Leapfrog Geo
model, you can export the changes to the model. The set of files containing the changes can then
be imported to Groundwater Vistas.
To export a Groundwater Vistas update, right-click on the grid in the project tree and select
Export GWV Updates. The Update Groundwater Vistas window will appear listing the files
that will be exported. Enter a Base file name to differentiate the original files from the updates.
Click Export. The files will be saved in the specified directory.

FEFLOW Models

These features are only available as part of the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for
more information.

In Leapfrog Geo, creating a 3D FEFLOW model requires:

l A geological model that will be used to assign lithologies to the FEFLOW model’s blocks.
l A 2D grid that defines the block size, boundaries and surface features.
Steps for creating a 3D FEFLOW model that can be exported and run outside Leapfrog Geo are:
1. Create a geological model.
2. Create and refine a 2D model in Leapfrog Geo or import a FEFLOW model.
3. Create the 3D model from the 2D model or another 3D model in the project.
4. Evaluate the new 3D model against a geological model.

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5. Edit the material types.

6. Export the 3D FEFLOW model.
Once the model has been processed outside of Leapfrog Geo, a results file can be saved that can
be imported into Leapfrog Geo and visualised in the scene.
A 2D grid can be created in or imported into Leapfrog Geo. A 3D grid can also be used, in which
case the layer information is not used in creating the 3D grid. Creating the 2D grid in Leapfrog Geo
provides the most flexibility, as the block sizes can easily be changed, the boundaries modified
and features added to provide finer resolution where there is more data available.
For information about creating 2D and 3D grids, see Creating a 2D FEFLOW Model and Creating a
3D FEFLOW Model.
You can also import FEFLOW problem files and result files, visualise them in Leapfrog Geo and
use them as the basis for new models. See Importing a FEFLOW Grid.
See FEFLOW Model Display for information on options for displaying FEFLOW models in the
scene.
3D grids created in Leapfrog Geo can be evaluated against a geological model when they are
created. Grids imported into Leapfrog Geo or that were not evaluated when they were created
can be evaluated as described in FEFLOW Evaluations.
Once a model has been defined and evaluated against a geological model, material types can be
assigned and the grid can be exported. See FEFLOW Material Types and FEFLOW Model Export.

FEFLOW Model Display

If you do not have the Hydrogeology extension, FEFLOW models will appear in the project tree
as Restricted. You can change how FEFLOW models are displayed, but you will not be able
to make changes to the models themselves.

In the project tree, 3D FEFLOW models are made up of a grid object representing the finite
elements, a nodes object and a material types table ( ) object. If there is no material types table,
an evaluation has not yet been set for export. See FEFLOW Evaluations for more information.
A 2D FEFLOW grid is made up of a grid object and a nodes object. Here, three types of FEFLOW
models are shown expanded in the project tree:
l Feflow 3D Simulation is a 3D model created in Leapfrog Geo.
l Feflow 2D Simulation is a 2D model created in Leapfrog Geo.
l Feflow Results is an imported 3D model (DAC file).

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From the information in the project tree, we can see that:

l The 3D simulation created in Leapfrog Geo ( ) uses the GM geological model to define the
layers.
l The 2D simulation created in Leapfrog Geo ( ) uses the GM geological model as a boundary
and has had collar points added as a feature.
l The imported results model ( ) includes a number of simulation outputs.
For each type of FEFLOW model, dragging the model itself into the scene will display the grid ( )
object. The different parts of the model can also be displayed.

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Displaying a 3D Model
Dragging a 3D simulation into the scene displays its grid object, which represents the finite
elements. Here, a 3D model created in Leapfrog Geo ( ) has been added to the scene:

For 3D models imported into Leapfrog Geo, you can display the model using other information
available for the grid, such as conductivity data. This is available from the view list.
Grids for 3D models are displayed as blocks. You can also display a legend for the grid when a
geological model evaluation is displayed.
When Show edges ( ) is enabled, the edges of the blocks will be displayed.
To display a single layer, tick the One layer box in the shape properties panel, then select the
layer to display.

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You can display the nodes by adding the nodes ( ) object to the scene. When a model with
results is displayed, the simulation outputs can be displayed when the nodes are viewed in the
scene. Here, the nodes for an imported results file have been added to the scene. The heads are
displayed for a single layer:

When the results are time-dependent, a timestep slider will be available from the shape
properties panel. Click and drag the slider or click along the timeline to view the different
timesteps available.

Displaying a 2D Model
As with 3D models, dragging a 2D model into the scene displays its grid object. Here, a 2D model
created in Leapfrog Geo (( ) has been added to the scene and viewed from above:

Also in the scene is a collar points object that shows collar points that have been added to the grid
as a feature.
2D grids can be viewed as points or as blocks. As with imported 3D grids, an imported 2D grid can
also be displayed using other information available for the grid.

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Other viewing options are available for 2D grids created in Leapfrog Geo. These are useful in
refining a 2D grid and are described in Creating a 2D FEFLOW Model.

Viewing Block Information

When a FEFLOW model is displayed in the scene, you can view information about the individual
blocks in the model by clicking on a block. The window that appears shows information about the
selected block, including its centroid and the lithology assigned to the block from all evaluated
geological models and interpolants:

Information from all geological models and interpolants the grid has been evaluated against will be
displayed:

Importing a FEFLOW Grid

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

You can import 2D and 3D FEFLOW grids and use them as the basis for new models. Leapfrog
Geo imports two types of FEFLOW files:
l FEFLOW problem files (*.fem) in ASCII format. Importing these files results in a new 2D or 3D
model with a grid and nodes.
l FEFLOW results files (*.dac). Importing these files results in a new 3D model with a grid,
nodes and simulation outputs.
To import a FEFLOW grid or results file, right-click on the Hydrogeology folder and select one of
the FEFLOW > Import options. Leapfrog Geo will ask you to specify the file location. Click
Open to import the file.
The new FEFLOW grid will appear in the project tree under the Hydrogeology folder. To use the
imported grid or results file as the basis for a new FEFLOW model, see Creating a 3D FEFLOW
Model.
To associate lithologies with a 3D grid, see FEFLOW Material Types.

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See FEFLOW Model Display for information about displaying the FEFLOW grid in the scene
window.

Creating a 2D FEFLOW Model

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

A 2D FEFLOW model defines the block size, boundaries and surface features for a 3D FEFLOW
model. Although existing 2D grids can be imported into Leapfrog Geo and used for creating 3D
models, creating the 2D grid in Leapfrog Geo provides the most flexibility, as the block sizes can
easily be changed, the boundaries modified and features added to provide finer resolution where
there is more data available.
It is not necessary to create a geological model before creating a 2D grid. However, you will not be
able to create a 3D grid until a geological model has been created. Therefore, it is a good idea to
create the geological model first, and its dimensions can be used in defining the boundary of the
2D grid.
To create a 2D grid, right-click on the Hydrogeology folder and select FEFLOW > New 2D
Model. The New 2D FEFLOW Grid window will appear:

All settings can be changed once the grid has been created. It is, therefore, reasonable to accept
the default settings and create the grid, then add it to the scene and begin refining it. Click OK to
create the initial grid.
In the project tree, a 2D FEFLOW grid is made up of a grid object and a nodes object, as described
in FEFLOW Model Display. Here, a newly-created grid with a rectangular boundary appears in the
project tree:

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Expand the grid in the project tree and double-click on the grid object ( ) to open the Edit 2D
FEFLOW Grid window. The Features tab will be displayed. When a grid is first created, this
window will be empty, but once features have been added, you can enable them in this tab.
Click on the Boundary tab to modify the boundary:

Click the Apply button to view the effect of changes made without closing this window.

Boundary Options
When setting the Boundary, you can set a rectangular boundary defined by the From
rectangle settings. You can use the extents of any other object in the project by selecting from
the Enclose Object list, but the grid boundary will always be a rectangle.
To define a non-rectangular boundary, use the From another object options and select from
the list of objects available in the project. This is useful if, for example, you wish to define a grid
using the boundary of a geological model.
The Simplify boundary option reduces the number of points along the boundary. Reducing the
Tolerance value increases the number of points along the boundary. The two settings together
let you define a basic boundary with elements that are roughly uniform in size, set by the value of
Element size. Here, a grid has been created from a geological model with the Simplify
boundary option enabled:

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Disabling the Simplify boundary option results in more detail around the edges of the grid:

Element Size
The Element size setting determines the basic size of the triangles that make up the grid,
although the size will vary according to features applied to the grid and the Feature vertex
snapping distance. The size will also vary if the Simplify boundary option is unticked, in which
case the Element size setting is the maximum size of the triangles.
The Feature vertex snapping distance is automatically set to 1 percent of the Element size.
To use a smaller snapping distance, untick the Auto box and set the value required.
The effects of the Feature vertex snapping distance do not become apparent until features
have been added to the grid.

Adding Features to the Grid

To add features to the grid, right-click on the grid in the project tree and select New Feature.
The New FEFLOW Feature window will appear:

You can add Point, Line and Polygon features, and the Feature Object list will display all
suitable objects available in the project. Ticking the Simplify Feature option will reduce the
number of points used.
Click OK to add the feature, which will appear in the project tree under the FEFLOW grid object:

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You can edit the feature by double-clicking on it or by right-clicking and selecting Open.
However, the feature has not yet been applied to the grid. To enable the feature, double-click on
the grid to open the Edit 2D FEFLOW Grid window. Tick the box to enable the feature, then
adjust the number of Refinement Steps:

More Refinement Steps will produce more detail near the feature.
Click Apply or OK to view the effect the feature and its settings have on the grid.
If you want to modify a feature without having to reprocess the grid, untick it in the Features
tab. If you want to delete a feature, right-click on it in the project tree and select Delete.
The images below show a grid displayed with collar points (in red) to demonstrate the effects of
no features and collars applied with different refinement steps:

No features Collars with 2 refinement steps Collars with 10 refinement steps

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To view all features added to a grid, right-click on the grid and select View Snapped Features.
A Snapped Features object will appear in the shape list that represents all objects used to add
features to the grid:

Here, four snapped objects appear in the scene: the three features listed in the Features tab and
the grid’s boundary.
See Creating a 3D FEFLOW Model for information on using the 2D grid as the basis for a 3D
model.

Creating a 3D FEFLOW Model

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

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To create a new 3D FEFLOW model, you must first create or import a 2D FEFLOW grid as
described in Creating a 2D FEFLOW Model and Importing a FEFLOW Grid.
Once you have created or imported a 2D FEFLOW grid, right-click on the Hydrogeology folder
and select FEFLOW > New 3D Model. The Extrude 3D FEFLOW Grid window will appear:

The dimensions and resolution of the grid are set by the 2D or 3D grid selected from the FEFLOW
Grid list. See Creating a 2D FEFLOW Model for information on creating and refining a 2D grid
that can be used as the basis for a 3D grid.
The Gridding from setting determines the geological model used for layer guides. Ticking the
Evaluate Gridded Model box will evaluate the new 3D model against the selected geological
model and set it as the evaluation for export. See FEFLOW Evaluations for more information. If
you do not wish to evaluate the geological model on the grid, untick the box. You will still be able
to use the layers in the geological model to control the grid layers.

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The FEFLOW grid is initially made up of two layers equally spaced between the topography and
the geological model, with the minimum thickness of each layer determined by the Minimum
Thickness setting. You can add layers to the grid by clicking on the Select Layer Guides
button and then selecting from the layers available in the geological model:

If the grid is required to follow a geological model lithology contact surface, move the layer into
the Selected list and it will be honoured in the gridding process.
Click OK to return to the Extrude 3D FEFLOW Grid window. The selected layers will be
displayed:

Click OK to generate the new FEFLOW grid, which will appear in the project tree under the
Hydrogeology folder.
Once the model has been created, you can edit it by expanding the model in the project tree and
double-clicking on its grid object. The layer guides selected, the number defined and the
Minimum Thickness can be modified, but the FEFLOW grid on which the model is based and
the geological model used for gridding cannot be changed.

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The boundaries of the selected geological model must be larger than the FEFLOW grid used as
the basis for the new model. If this is not the case, you can change the geological model’s
extents so that they enclose the FEFLOW grid.

For further information on working with the new grid, see:

l FEFLOW Model Display
l FEFLOW Evaluations
l FEFLOW Material Types
l FEFLOW Model Export

FEFLOW Evaluations

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

When a 3D FEFLOW model is exported, the evaluated geological model is used to assign
lithologies to the blocks in the grid. If the grid has not been evaluated against a geological model,
you must do so before you can edit the material types and before you can export the grid.
To evaluate a FEFLOW grid, expand the model in the project tree. Right-click on the grid object (
) and select Evaluations. Although you can evaluate an interpolant or distance function, they
cannot be exported with the grid and are simply used for displaying the grid in Leapfrog Geo.
A window will appear listing all objects in the project that can be used for an evaluation. Once you
have selected one or more objects, click OK. You will then be able to select the evaluations from
the view list, as described in Evaluations.

Assigning an Evaluation for Export

For 3D grids created in Leapfrog Geo, the evaluation used when creating the grid will
automatically be assigned as the evaluation for export. A material types table ( ) will appear in
the project tree as part of the 3D grid.
If the grid was imported into Leapfrog Geo or created without being evaluated against a
geological model, you will need to manually set the evaluation for export. To do this:
l Evaluate the grid against one or more geological models, as described above.
l Right-click on the model ( or ) in the project tree and select Set Evaluation for Export.
The Select Evaluation window will appear showing all geological models evaluated on the
grid. Select the required evaluation and click OK.
A material types table will be added to the FEFLOW grid in the project tree. Edit material types by
double-clicking on the table. See FEFLOW Material Types.

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Combined Evaluations
You can combine geological models and set the priority used for evaluation. This is useful when
you have geological models available that describe different parts of the area of interest or if you
have a refined geological model for part of the model. To combine geological models for
evaluation, select the required models in the Select Models To Evaluate window, then click on
the Combined Evaluation button.
In this example, there are three geological models selected:

The GM and GM from contacts models describe similar areas, but GM has more detail. The GM
larger model describes a larger area but with less detail. Tick the models to combine them and set
their priority. Click OK to create the combined evaluation, then click OK in the Select Models
To Evaluate window. The combined evaluation will be available from the view list and can be
selected as the evaluation for export.
To delete a combined evaluation, click on the Delete Combined button in the Select Models
To Evaluate window.

FEFLOW Material Types

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

When a FEFLOW model is first evaluated against a geological model, a material types table ( ) is
added to the FEFLOW grid in the project tree. You can edit material types by double-clicking on
the table. You can also open the table by right-clicking on the grid and selecting Edit Material
Types.
If the grid has been imported into Leapfrog Geo and has not yet been evaluated against a
geological model, you will be prompted to do so. Expand the model in the project tree, right-click

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on the grid object and select Evaluate Geological Model. See FEFLOW Evaluations for more
information.
If more than one object has been evaluated on the grid, you can set material types separately for
each evaluation. Select the required evaluation from the Evaluation list:

However, the only material types information that will be exported is that set for the evaluation
to be exported.
In the Edit Material Types window, you can enter the values for material types manually or you
can use the values from an interpolant.
To enter values manually, click on a cell, then enter the value in the Value field:

Press the Enter key to move down the columns.

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To use the values from an interpolant, click the Interpolant button, then select an interpolant
from the list. The interpolant that will be used for the selected value will be displayed in the field:

To use the interpolant for all the values in the selected column, click the All Lithologies button.
The window will be updated to show that the interpolant values will be used for that column:

Click OK to update the grid.

FEFLOW Model Export

This feature is only available with the Hydrogeology extension. See Flow Models for more
information.

To export a 3D FEFLOW model as an ASCII format FEFLOW file (*.fem), right-click on the grid in
the project tree and select Export To FEFLOW. You will be prompted to choose a File name
and location. Select the options required, then click Save.
2D FEFLOW grids cannot be exported.

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Block Models
The Block Models folder can be used to import and create block models. Model types that can
be imported are:
l Isatis files
l CSV files
You can also create block models and sub-blocked models, which can then be exported for use in
other applications. Creating block models within Leapfrog Geo has the advantage that the
resolution can easily be changed.
Geological models and interpolants can be evaluated on block models as described in Evaluations.
If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, estimators can also be evaluated on block models. If
you have the Hydrogeology extension, flow models can also be evaluated on block models.
The rest of this topic describes importing block models in Isatis and CSV formats, creating block
models in Leapfrog Geo, viewing block model statistics and exporting block models. It is divided
into:
l Importing a Block Model
l Creating a Block Model
l Displaying a Block Model
l Viewing Block Model Statistics
l Exporting Block Models

Importing a Block Model

Leapfrog Geo imports block models in the following formats:
l CSV + Text Header (*.csv, *.csv.txt)
l CSV with Embedded Header (*.csv)
l Isatis Block Model Files (*.asc)

Note that neither CSV format requires a header; once you start the import process, Leapfrog
Geo will use the data in the file to locate the minimum and maximum centroids. You can view
this information and change how the data is mapped before the file is saved into the project.

Importing an Isatis Block Model

To import an Isatis format block model, right-click on the Block Models folder and select
Import Block Model. Select the file you wish to import and click Open. The model will be
imported and added to the Block Models folder.

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Importing a Block Model in CSV Format

Block models imported in CSV format must be regular, rotated only about the Z axis. You will also
need to map the data in the file to the block model format Leapfrog Geo expects.
To import a block model in CSV format, right-click on the Block Models folder and select
Import Block Model. Select the file you wish to import and click Open. An import window will
be displayed in which you can map the columns in the file to those Leapfrog Geo expects. Once
you have mapped the required columns, click Next to define the grid.
In the next window, Leapfrog Geo uses the data in the file to check the grid definition and confirm
that the centroids match:

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If this information is incorrect, you can select information in the file and drag it to the
corresponding values on the left-hand side:

The easiest way to define the blocks is to use the Block size, Minimum centroid, Maximum
centroid option. You can also enter the grid definition values manually.
Once Leapfrog Geo has validated the grid definition, click Finish. The block model will be
imported and will appear in the Block Models folder.

Creating a Block Model

To create a new block model, right-click on the Block Models folder and select New Block
Model. The New Block Model window will appear, together with a set of controls that will help
you set the size, location and orientation of the model in the scene:

The block model is defined from its Base point, and the reference centroid is the Base point
plus one half the Block size. Block models cannot have partial blocks, and when changes are

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made to the Block size parameter, the model’s extents will be enlarged to match the Block
size.
If you know the values you wish to use for the model’s Extents, enter them in New Block
Model window. You can also:
l Use the controls in the scene to set the extents.
l The orange handle sets the Base point.
l The red handles adjusts the size of the boundary.
l The blue handle adjusts the Azimuth.
l Use another object’s extents. Select the object from the Enclose Object list.

If you wish to define a tilted block model, create a sub-blocked model with no triggers. See
Sub-Blocked Models.

It is a good idea to use larger values for the Block size as processing time for large models can be
considerable. Once you have created a block model, you can change its properties to provide
more detail.
You can also evaluate the block model against geological models, interpolants and distance
functions in the project. To do this, click on the Evaluations tab. All objects available in the
project will be displayed. Move the models you wish to use into the Selected list.
Enter a Name for the block model and click OK. The model will appear under the Block Models
folder. You can make changes to it by double-clicking on it.

Displaying a Block Model

When a block model is displayed in the scene, there is an Index Filter option for displaying the
grid:

For None, no X, Y or Z filter is applied. For Subset, the grid is filtered to show the union of the
selected X, Y and Z ranges. For Sliced, the grid is filtered to show the intersection of the selected
X, Y and Z ranges.
For the Subset and Sliced options, tick the boxes for X, Y and Z. To adjust the range, drag the
white handles left and right. Double-clicking on the slider alternates between displaying a single
value and displaying the full range.

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Viewing Block Model Statistics

To view statistics on a block model, right-click on the model in the project tree and select
Statistics. The following options are available:

See the Analysing Data topic for more information on each option:
l Table of Statistics
l Scatter Plots
l Q-Q Plots
l Box Plots
Right-clicking a block model evaluation or a numeric calculation and selecting Statistics opens a
univariate graph for the selection. See Univariate Graphs in the Analysing Data topic for more
information.

Table of Statistics
You can view statistics for all evaluations and calculations made on a block model broken down
into categories and organised by numeric evaluations and calculations. To view statistics, right-
click on a block model in the project tree, select Statistics then select the Table of Statistics
option.

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You can view statistics for as many numeric and category columns as you wish. When you have
at least one Category column selected, you can organise the information displayed in two
ways: Group by Category or Group by Numeric. Here, statistics are displayed organised by
the category data columns:

The Query filter option uses a related filter to constrain the data set to a selected subset.
Statistics can be unweighted, weighted by volume or weighted by tonnage. Select the option you
require from the Statistics weighting list.
You can also set the Density to be a Constant value that you specify, or you can use the one of
the columns in the table.
The Categories list provides category classification options. When selected, the set of statistics
measures for each evaluation or numeric calculation will be shown for each category.
You can hide empty categories (those with a count of zero) and inactive rows using the options
below the Categories list:

Group by category and Group by numeric column provide options for the table organisation.

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Other controls in this window are as follows:

l The arrow buttons at the top of the window ( and ) allow you to quickly expand or collapse
the rows.
l Click rows to select them.
l Select multiple rows by holding down the Shift or Ctrl key while clicking rows.
l The Copy button ( ) copies the selected rows to the clipboard so you can paste them into
another application.

Exporting Block Models

Block models created in Leapfrog Geo can be exported in the following formats:
l CSV + Text Header (*.csv, *.csv.txt)
l CSV with Embedded Header (*.csv)
l CSV as points (*.csv)
l Isatis Block Model Files (*.asc)
l Surpac Block Model Files (*.mdl)
l Datamine Block Model Files (*.dm)
To export a block model, right-click on the block model in the project tree and select Export. You
will be prompted to select the file format.

If you wish to export the model in one of the CSV formats, select CSV Block Model Files
(*.csv) in the Export Block Model window. You will be able to choose between the three
CSV formats in the next step.

Enter a name and location for the file and click Save. Next, you will be able to choose custom
settings for the selected format.
The rest of this topic provides more information about exporting block models in CSV, Isatis,
Datamine and Surpac formats.
l Exporting Block Models in CSV Format
l Exporting Block Models in Isatis Format
l Exporting Block Models in Datamine Format
l Exporting Block Models in Surpac Format

Exporting Block Models in CSV Format

The selections you make when you export a block model will be saved. This streamlines the
process of subsequent exports of the model.

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When you choose to export a block model in CSV format, you must first choose the type of CSV
export. Options are:
l With an embedded header file. The block model definition is included at the top of the CSV file.
l With a separate text header. The block model definition is written as a separate text file.
l As points. The CSV file does not include the block sizes and model description.
Click Next. The steps that follow are:
l Selecting From Evaluated Items
l Setting Row Filtering Options
l Setting Numeric Precision
l Setting Status Code Text Sequences
l Selecting the Character Set

Selecting From Evaluated Items

Choose which objects will be included in the exported file. The Available items list includes all
evaluations made onto the model. If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, you can also include
calculations and filters, which will be exported as separate columns. The order of columns in the
exported file will match the order shown in the project tree.
Click Next.

Setting Row Filtering Options

If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, you can use a Query filter to filter rows out of the
data exported.

This is different from exporting filters as columns, as selected in the previous step.

The second option in this window is useful when all block results are consistently the same non-
Normal status. Select from Error, Without value, Blank or Outside; all rows that consistently
show the selected statuses will not be included in the exported file.
Click Next.

Setting Numeric Precision

There are three encoding options for Numeric Precision:
l The Double, floating point option provides precision of 15 to 17 significant decimal places.
l The Single, floating point option provides precision of 6 to 9 significant decimal places.
l The Custom option lets you set a specific number of decimal places.
To change either the Centroid and size precision and Column data precision options, untick
the box for Use default precision and select the required option.
Click Next.

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Setting Status Code Text Sequences

When a block model is exported, non-Normal status codes can be represented in the exported file
using custom text sequences.
The Status Code sequences are used for category status codes and filter status codes
exported as columns. For filter status codes, Boolean value results will show FALSE and TRUE for
Normal values or the defined Status Codes for non-Normal values.

Boolean values on block models are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

Numeric Status Codes can be represented using custom text sequences. This is optional; if no
separate codes are defined for numeric items, the defined Status Codes will be used.
Click Next.

Selecting the Character Set

The selection you make will depend on the target for your exported file. You can choose a
character set and see what changes will be made.
Click Next to view a summary of the selected options, then click Export to save the file.

Exporting Block Models in Isatis Format

The selections you make when you export a block model will be saved. This streamlines the
process of subsequent exports of the model.

When exporting a block model in Isatis format, the steps to follow are:
l Selecting From Evaluated Items
l Setting Status Code Text Sequences
l Selecting the Character Set

Selecting From Evaluated Items

Choose which objects will be included in the exported file. The Available items list includes all
evaluations made onto the model. If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, you can also include
calculations and filters, which will be exported as separate columns. The order of columns in the
exported file will match the order shown in the project tree.
Click Next.

Setting Status Code Text Sequences

When a block model is exported, non-Normal status codes can be represented in the exported file
using custom text sequences.
When exporting block models in Isatis format, both category and numeric status codes can use
independent custom text sequences. For filter status codes, Boolean values are exported using 0

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for false and 1 for true; non-Normal values will be left blank and status codes cannot be
distinguished.

Boolean Status Codes on block models are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge
extension.

Click Next.

Selecting the Character Set

The selection you make will depend on the target for your exported file. You can choose a
character set and see what changes will be made.
Click Next to view a summary of the selected options, then click Export to save the file.

Exporting Block Models in Datamine Format

The selections you make when you export a block model will be saved. This streamlines the
process of subsequent exports of the model.

When exporting a block model in Datamine format, the steps to follow are:
l Selecting From Evaluated Items
l Setting Row Filtering Options
l Setting Status Code Text Sequences
l Selecting the Character Set
l Renaming Items

Selecting From Evaluated Items

Choose which objects will be included in the exported file. The Available items list includes all
evaluations made onto the model. If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, you can also include
calculations and filters, which will be exported as separate columns. The order of columns in the
exported file will match the order shown in the project tree.
Click Next.

Setting Row Filtering Options

If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, you can use a Query filter to filter rows out of the
data exported.

This is different from exporting filters as columns, as selected in the previous step.

The second option in this window is useful when all block results are consistently the same non-
Normal status. Select from Error, Without value, Blank or Outside; all rows that consistently
show the selected statuses will not be included in the exported file.
Click Next.

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Setting Status Code Text Sequences

When a block model is exported, non-Normal status codes can be represented in the exported file
using custom text sequences.
When exporting block models in Datamine format, both category and numeric status codes can
use independent custom text sequences. Boolean values are exported using values 0 for false
and 1 for true; specify if non-Normal values should be represented by 0 or by the numeric status
codes.

Boolean Status Codes on block models are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge
extension.

Click Next.

Selecting the Character Set

The selection you make will depend on the target for your exported file. You can choose a
character set and see what changes will be made.
Click Next.

Renaming Items
When exporting a block model in Datamine format, column names for the evaluated objects have
a maximum length of 8 characters. Leapfrog Geo will recommend truncated column names, but
if you wish to use different abbreviations, click on the item’s New Name to edit it.
Click Next to view a summary of the selected options, then click Export to save the file.

Exporting Block Models in Surpac Format

The selections you make when you export a block model will be saved. This streamlines the
process of subsequent exports of the model.

When you choose to export a block model in Surpac format, you must first choose whether to
export the model in Surpac version 3.2 or Surpac version 5.0. Considerations are as follows:
l Block models exported in Surpac version 5.0 cannot be imported into versions of Surpac
before 5.0.
l Block models with more than 512 blocks per side can only be exported in Surpac version 5.0
format.
Choose which format you wish to use.
Click Next. The steps that follow are:
l Selecting From Evaluated Items
l Setting Row Filtering Options
l Setting Numeric Precision

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l Setting Status Code Text Sequences

l Selecting the Character Set

Selecting From Evaluated Items

Choose which objects will be included in the exported file. The Available items list includes all
evaluations made onto the model. If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, you can also include
calculations and filters, which will be exported as separate columns. The order of columns in the
exported file will match the order shown in the project tree.
Click Next.

Setting Row Filtering Options

If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, you can use a Query filter to filter rows out of the
data exported.

This is different from exporting filters as columns, as selected in the previous step.

The second option in this window is useful when all block results are consistently the same non-
Normal status. Select from Error, Without value, Blank or Outside; all rows that consistently
show the selected statuses will not be included in the exported file.
Click Next.

Setting Numeric Precision

There are two encoding options for Numeric Precision:
l The Double, floating point option provides precision of 15 to 17 significant decimal places.
l The Single, floating point option provides precision of 6 to 9 significant decimal places.
To use one of these options, untick the box for Use default precision and select the required
option.
If you are exporting the model in Surpac version 5.0, you can change the Display precision used
for the Double, floating point and Single, floating point options.
Click Next.

Setting Status Code Text Sequences

When exporting block models in Surpac format, non-Normal category and numeric status codes
can be represented in the exported file using custom text sequences. Status codes cannot be
used for Boolean values; non-Normal values are set to false.
Click Next.

Selecting the Character Set

The selection you make will depend on the target for your exported file. You can choose a
character set and see what changes will be made.
Click Next to view a summary of the selected options, then click Export to save the file.

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Sub-Blocked Models
A sub-blocked model is a block model that is subdivided into smaller blocks where triggering
surfaces intersect the blocks. Sub-blocked models can be rotated in two axes by adjusting the dip
and azimuth. This topic describes creating and exporting sub-blocked models. It is divided into:
l Creating a Sub-Blocked Model
l Sub-Blocked Model Export

Creating a Sub-Blocked Model

To create a new sub-blocked model, right-click on the Block Models folder and select New
Sub-blocked Model. The New Sub-blocked Model window will appear, together with a set
of controls that will help you set the size, location and orientation of the model in the scene:

The block model is defined from its Base point, and the reference centroid is the Base point
plus one half the Block size. Block models cannot have partial blocks, and when changes are
made to the Block size parameter, the model’s extents will be enlarged to match the Block
size.

Model Extents and Rotation

It is a good idea to set the sub-blocked model’s extents from another object in the project,
selecting the required object from the Enclose Object list.
The Dip and Azimuth set the rotation of the model. If you know the values you wish to use, enter
them in New Sub-blocked Model window. You can also:
l Use the controls in the scene to set the orientation. The yellow handle adjusts the Dip and the
blue handle adjusts the Azimuth.

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l Use either the slicer or the moving plane to set the orientation. To do this, add the slicer or the
moving plane to the scene and adjust the orientation. Then select the object to use from the
Set Angles From list.

If you have set the extents from another object and then rotated the model, you will need to
reset the extents by selecting the object again from the Enclose Object list.

The Grid Pattern

The cross-hatched pattern shows how the parent blocks will be divided up into sub-blocks. These
properties can be changed by adjusting the Parent blocks and Sub-blocks settings. The Sub-
block count is the number of blocks each parent block is divided into when it intersects a trigger.
The number of blocks in the Z axis can be:
l A variable value, based on when the parent blocks intersect triggers. Tick the Variable height
box and set a Minimum height, if required.
l A fixed value. Untick the Variable height box and set the Z value required.
Here the block size is 16 and the sub-block count is fixed at 4 x 4 x 4. Note the regular size and
placing of the sub-blocks.

This same model has been sub-blocked with a sub-block count of 4 x 4 with Variable height
ticked and a Minimum height of 0.0. The sub-blocks are regularly sized and placed in the X-Y
plane, but the Z height of the sub-blocks are not regular in size or placement. The height of a
block is not divided into multiple sub-blocks, but the single block can be any height between 0 and
the block height. The variable height block is measured inward from the top or the bottom edge of
the block, making variable height blocks grow up and down from the block boundary, but sub-
blocks will not hover between the top and bottom edges of parent blocks.

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If Minimum height is increased, all the sub-blocks are at least as tall as the Minimum height,
in this case 6. Because the variable and minimum heights are measured from the top and bottom
edges of the parent block, block heights will be one of:
a. 0 (no sub-block)
b. exactly the Minimum height
c. somewhere between the Minimum height and the block height minus the Minimum
height
d. exactly the block height minus the Minimum height
e. exactly the block height.
If the Minimum height is more than half the block height there will not be a (c) range of sub-
block heights.
In this example where the block height is 16 and the Minimum height is 6, if the triggering
boundary is:
a. between 0 and 3 there will be no sub-block
b. between 3 and 6, the block will be 6 high
c. between 6 and 10, the sub-block will be between 6 and 10 as per the triggering boundary
d. between 10 and 13, the sub-block will be 10 high
e. between 13 and 16, the sub-block will be 16 high.

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Triggers and Evaluations

Click on the Sub-blocking Triggers tab to select triggers from the volumes available in the
project. Triggers can be:
l Geological model volumes
l Interpolant volumes
l Open meshes
All suitable objects in the project will be displayed in the Available triggers list.
Sub-blocked models can be evaluated against geological models, interpolants and distance
functions in the project. To do this, click on the Evaluations tab. All objects available in the
project will be displayed. Move the models you wish to use into the Selected list, then select the
Evaluation Type, which can be on the sub-block centroids or on the parent block centroids.
Enter a Name for the sub-blocked model and click OK. The model will appear under the Block
Models folder. You can make changes to it by double-clicking on it.

Sub-Blocked Model Statistics

You can view statistics for all evaluations and calculations made on a sub-blocked model broken
down into categories and organised by numeric evaluations and calculations. To view summary
statistics, right-click on a sub-blocked model in the project tree and select Statistics.
See Viewing Block Model Statistics in the Block Models topic for more information.

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Sub-Blocked Model Export

Sub-blocked models created in Leapfrog Geo can be exported in the following formats:
l CSV + Text header (*.csv, *.csv.txt)
l CSV with embedded header (*.csv)
l CSV as points (*.csv)
l Datamine Block Model (*.dm)
To export a sub-blocked model, right-click on the model in the project tree and select Export.
You will be prompted to select the file format.

If you wish to export the model in one of the CSV formats, select CSV Block Model Files
(*.csv) in the Export Block Model window. You will be able to choose between the three
CSV formats in the next step.

Enter a name and location for the file and click Save. Next, you will be able to choose custom
settings for each formats.

The Export as Points menu option available in previous versions of Leapfrog Geo has been
removed. This functionality has been integrated into the Export menu option.

The rest of this topic provides more information about exporting sub-blocked models in CSV and
Datamine formats.
l Exporting Sub-Blocked Models in CSV Format
l Exporting Sub-Blocked Models in Datamine Format

Exporting Sub-Blocked Models in CSV Format

The selections you make when you export a block model will be saved. This streamlines the
process of subsequent exports of the model.

When you choose to export a sub-blocked model in CSV format, you must first choose the type
of CSV export. Options are:
l With an embedded header file. The sub-blocked model definition is included at the top of the
CSV file.
l With a separate text header. The sub-blocked model definition is written as a separate text
file.
l As points. The CSV file does not include the block sizes and the sub-blocked model
description.

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Click Next. The steps that follow are:

l Selecting From Evaluated Items
l Setting Row Filtering Options
l Setting Numeric Precision
l Setting Status Code Text Sequences
l Selecting the Character Set

Selecting From Evaluated Items

Choose which objects will be included in the exported file. The Available items list includes all
evaluations made onto the model. If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, you can also include
calculations and filters, which will be exported as separate columns. The order of columns in the
exported file will match the order shown in the project tree.
Click Next.

Setting Row Filtering Options

If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, you can use a Query filter to filter rows out of the
data exported.

This is different from exporting filters as columns, as selected in the previous step.

The second option in this window is useful when all block results are consistently the same non-
Normal status. Select from Error, Without value, Blank or Outside; all rows that consistently
show the selected statuses will not be included in the exported file.
Click Next.

Setting Numeric Precision

There are three encoding options for Numeric Precision:
l The Double, floating point option provides precision of 15 to 17 significant decimal places.
l The Single, floating point option provides precision of 6 to 9 significant decimal places.
l The Custom option lets you set a specific number of decimal places.
To change either the Centroid and size precision and Column data precision options, untick
the box for Use default precision and select the required option.
Click Next.

Setting Status Code Text Sequences

When a block model is exported, non-Normal status codes can be represented in the exported file
using custom text sequences.
The Status Code sequences are used for category status codes and filter status codes
exported as columns. For filter status codes, Boolean value results will show FALSE and TRUE for
Normal values or the defined Status Codes for non-Normal values.

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Boolean values on block models are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

Numeric Status Codes can be represented using custom text sequences. This is optional; if no
separate codes are defined for numeric items, the defined Status Codes will be used.
Click Next.

Selecting the Character Set

The selection you make will depend on the target for your exported file. You can choose a
character set and see what changes will be made.
Click Next to view a summary of the selected options, then click Export to save the file.

Exporting Sub-Blocked Models in Datamine Format

The selections you make when you export a sub-blocked model will be saved. This streamlines
the process of subsequent exports of the model.

When exporting a sub-blocked model in Datamine format, the steps to follow are:
l Selecting From Evaluated Items
l Setting Row Filtering Options
l Setting Status Code Text Sequences
l Selecting the Character Set
l Renaming Items

Selecting From Evaluated Items

Choose which objects will be included in the exported file. The Available items list includes all
evaluations made onto the model. If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, you can also include
calculations and filters, which will be exported as separate columns. The order of columns in the
exported file will match the order shown in the project tree.
Click Next.

Setting Row Filtering Options

If you have the Leapfrog Edge extension, you can use a Query filter to filter rows out of the
data exported.

This is different from exporting filters as columns, as selected in the previous step.

The second option in this window is useful when all block results are consistently the same non-
Normal status. Select from Error, Without value, Blank or Outside; all rows that consistently
show the selected statuses will not be included in the exported file.
Click Next.

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Setting Status Code Text Sequences

When a sub-blocked model is exported, non-Normal status codes can be represented in the
exported file using custom text sequences.
When exporting sub-blocked models in Datamine format, both category and numeric status
codes can use independent custom text sequences. Boolean values are exported using values 0
for false and 1 for true; specify if non-Normal values should be represented by 0 or by the numeric
status codes.

Boolean Status Codes on sub-blocked models are only available if you have the Leapfrog
Edge extension

Click Next.

Selecting the Character Set

The selection you make will depend on the target for your exported file. You can choose a
character set and see what changes will be made.
Click Next.

Renaming Items
When exporting a sub-blocked model in Datamine format, column names for the evaluated
objects have a maximum length of 8 characters. Leapfrog Geo will recommend truncated column
names, but if you wish to use different abbreviations, click on the item’s New Name to edit it.
Click Next to view a summary of the selected options, then click Export to save the file.

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Leapfrog Edge

Leapfrog Edge features are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

Carry out robust resource estimates in an intuitive and highly visual environment. Leapfrog Edge
has the industry-standard tools you need most, arranged into a streamlined but not prescriptive
workflow.
l Fully integrate your resource estimation workflow with your geological model. Refine or add
data at any stage and changes flow downstream from your geological model to the resource
model and everywhere in between.
l Intuitive, flexible workflows and refined, uncluttered workspaces accelerate the learning
curve, improve productivity and reduce training time and frustration.
l Visualise and interact with your data throughout the resource estimation process. Iterate and
see the results in 3D to gain new insights.

Best Practices

Expertise is a Prerequisite
Geological expertise and understanding are essential in estimation, and Leapfrog Geo does not
dispense with this crucial element. An unskilled user can produce a model that faithfully adheres
to unprocessed data but is geologically unreasonable and invalid. In the hands of an informed
expert, on the other hand, Leapfrog Geo estimation tools will expedite the process of estimation
and enhance the models used by the organisation.

The Geology is Fundamental

Geological modelling is the building block of an estimate, and the model needs to be geologically
reasonable. A poor-quality geological model and a poor understanding of the mineralisation
controls will prevent the development of a valid estimate using any process.

Analyse the Data First

Data will have errors in it that require correction. The quality of the data needs to be assessed and
understood; it is important to understand how the data was collected and samples analysed. This
data quality control work is essential.
Estimation specific data analysis is also required. It is important to understand the spatial
relationships between the sample locations and samples and the area being studied. Tools to
assist in this are described in Data Analysis.

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Domaining
Domains are defined for stationarity, enclosing a volume where the resource can be assumed to
have an expected mean value anywhere within the boundary. The domain will typically be a
collection of logical units with similar mineralisation characteristics. It is important to spend time
up front building geologically reasonable wireframes and mineralisation envelopes to condition the
domain shapes for reasonable estimates. Defining domains to demonstrate good stationarity is
important to producing good resource estimates. Domains that mix populations of mineralisation
will likely result in over- or under-estimates of the metal that can be obtained from the ore.
Choose the domain to be estimated and the samples to use for estimation. Any volume in the
project can be used when defining the domain, as can boundary objects and closed meshes.
The domain boundary can be defined as a hard boundary, excluding values from beyond the
boundary from consideration during estimation. Or the boundary can be soft, including values up
to a specified range beyond the boundary when processing the data. The selection should be
made on the basis of the nature of the data, and this boundary analysis is made easier with the
boundary plot that provides a visualisation of the data at and around the boundary threshold.

Variogram Hypothesis and Experimentation, Analysis

In the estimation workflow, the geologist makes a scientific hypothesis and assesses that
hypothesis against the experimental data. In Leapfrog Geo, geologists make interpolants using
the existing Leapfrog Geo approach, then check their estimated interpolant with traditional
experimental variograms. Based on these experimental results, geologists can make adjustments
to the range, nugget and other settings to make the model consistent with the experimental
results, adjusting the hypothesis.
Variography tools are described in Experimental Variography and Variogram Models.

Estimation Functions
Use traditional estimation methods: Nearest Neighbour, Inverse Distance, and Kriging.
Additionally, use the RBF estimation method, and compare and contrast the results produced by
the different methods.
The estimation functions available in Leapfrog Geo are described in Standard Estimators.

Block Modelling
Estimators can be visualised by evaluating them on block models, which is described in Visualising
Sample Geometries and Estimators. Calculations and filters further enhance the visualisation
options, adding computational analysis and processing of data capabilities to create new types of
data to visualise. Use calculations and filters to derive a new column of data from other data,
including estimator function results, or define a filter to select particular information out of the
data. See Calculations and Filters.

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Data Analysis
The first step in the process of resource estimation is gaining a thorough understanding of your
data. Leapfrog Geo has general tools that help you understand your data, which are described in
Analysing Data. These tools help you become familiar with your data, identify possible errors and
identify or confirm different mineralisation populations.
Make sure that the data is clean, with special and invalid values in the assay data properly
handled. See Handling Special Values for more details.

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Domained Estimations
The features described in this topic are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

A domained estimation describes the boundary and values to be used for an estimation. Once a
domained estimation is defined, you can then define variograms, sample geometries and
estimators inside it.
This topic describes how to create and work with a domained estimation. It is divided into:
l Creating a Domained Estimation
l The Domained Estimation in the Project Tree
l Viewing Statistics
l Copying a Domained Estimation

Creating a Domained Estimation

To create a domained estimation, right-click on the Estimation folder and select New
Domained Estimation. The New Domained Estimation window will be displayed:

This window is divided into three parts:

l The domain definition
l The values used in the estimation and how they are composited
l The boundary validation chart
Tools in the window allow you to validate the domain and select whether the boundary should be
a hard or soft boundary.

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Defining the Domain

Click on the Select domain button to select from the suitable objects available in the project:

Any closed mesh can be selected to be used as the domain, including boundary objects and model
volumes.
The selected domain can be used with a Hard boundary or Soft boundary. It is essential to the
integrity of an estimate to select the type of boundary according to the real nature of the
geology. This is discussed in more detail in Boundary Validation below.
A Hard boundary uses only data within the domain’s boundary. This can be seen when you add
an estimation to the scene; the values used do not extend beyond the boundary:

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A Soft boundary will also make use of data beyond the domain boundary, up to the distance
specified in the Range field. Here, the range is set to 10 and we can see that values outside the
boundary are used:

The Soft Boundary option provides the ability to create estimation objects strictly within the
selected boundary, but to inform those estimation objects using relevant data immediately
adjacent to but beyond the boundary.
l A fully soft boundary can be achieved by setting the Range to its maximum value.
l A semi-soft boundary can be achieved by constraining the Range to a lower value.

When a soft boundary is used, the values are taken within the specified range, measured
perpendicular to the domain rather than along a drillhole. This prevents errors arising from
drillholes at acute angles to the domain boundary.

Selecting Values
In the Values part of the New Domained Estimation window, select the values that will be
used. If you have defined a query filter, you can use it to filter the values for the domained
estimation by selecting it from the Query Filter list. Once the domained estimation has been
created, you can remove the filter or select a different filter.
You can build a domained estimation from either:
l Numeric data contained in imported drillhole data, including composited data
l Points data imported into the Points folder
All suitable data in the project is available from the Numeric values list.

Setting Compositing Options

When numeric values from drillhole data are used to create the domained estimation, you can
composite the data to simplify the geology for the purposes of estimation. If you do not have
specific Compositing values in mind, you may wish to leave this option blank as it can be
changed once the model has been created.

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If the numeric values selected have already been composited, the Compositing settings will
not be available in the New Domained Estimation window. Drillhole data can be composited
directly by right-clicking on the Composites folder (under the Drillholes object) and
selecting New Numeric Composite. See Numeric Composites.

There are three compositing options:

l No compositing
l Entire drillhole
l Within boundary
The compositing settings available depend on whether the boundary type is a hard or soft
boundary. For soft boundaries, compositing is limited to the Entire drillhole option, whereas for
hard boundaries, compositing can also be limited to the data within the domained estimation’s
boundary.
See Numeric Composites for more information on the Compositing length, For end lengths
less than, Minimum coverage and Additional weighting column settings.

When selecting compositing options, you may see a message: Warning: missing numeric
data. This is not an error, but alerts you that some intervals are missing data.

Boundary Validation
Once you have selected the domain and the values you wish to use and set compositing options,
the boundary analysis tools in the New Domained Estimation window help you to determine
the best type of boundary to use:

If compositing is enabled for the domained estimation, the boundary validation information
displayed is that for the uncomposited data.

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A histogram of the sample count for each bin is included, so you can ignore things like an
anomalous spike in mean value associated with a very small sample count. Adjust the size of the
horizontal axis bins using the Bin spacing setting.
The pale blue bars show the sample count for each bin, and the red dotted line segment plot
shows the mean value for the bin. The position of the Hard boundary is marked with a solid
black vertical line. When a Soft boundary is selected, a vertical dotted blue line appears to show
what values will be included, based on the Range setting. You can click on the soft boundary line
and drag it to adjust the range.

When the mean value line segment plot shows a sharp change at the boundary, a hard boundary
may be appropriate. Click on points in the line segment plot to see statistics relating to the
selected point.
To zoom the x-axis of the chart:
l Use the scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom in or out.
l Reset the zoom level by clicking the Reset view button ( ).
The number to the left of the Bin spacing is the Clipping distance. This constrains the
calculation of the graph to the specified distance from the domain, to improve application
responsiveness. You can choose to set the distance to be right at the limit of the x-axis for
maximum performance, or increase the distance to plot additional points to be visible when
zooming out.
You can export the graph for use in external reports and other documents. Select the Export
button to see two options:
l The Export graph image option saves a PDF, SVG or PNG file of the chart.
l The Export data option saves a CSV file containing the data so it can be reproduced and
reformatted in a spreadsheet application.
Alternatively, you can choose the Copy option to save a copy of the graph image to the Windows
clipboard for pasting into another application.

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Note that when the Export data option is used, it is the last three columns (Starting bin
distance from domain, Mean value and Sample count) that are required to reproduce the
chart. The first two columns, Distance from domain to value column and the values column
contain all the data points required to create a new chart with different bin spacing.

Filtering During Boundary Analysis

In this dataset, the main gold-rich zone is in green, while the hangingwall is shown in blue and the
footwall in magenta. Two query filters have been created, one with the assays coded with the
main zone and including the hangingwall zone, and another filter with the assays coded with the
main zone and including the footwall zone.

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Notice the effect in the boundary validation window of selecting between these two filters. Here
the filter including the hangingwall data is used:

Here the filter including the footwall data is used:

Inside the boundary, the behaviour of the grades is identical. However outside the boundary, the
grade behaviour is different because of the differences in the zones. The mean grade away from
the boundary is different in each case.

The Domained Estimation in the Project Tree

Once you have entered a name for the domained estimation, click OK. The domained estimation
will be added to the project tree under the Estimation folder. You can edit its settings by double-
clicking on it.

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A domained estimation is made up of the following objects:

l The Domain defines the limits of the estimation object. To select another domain, double click
on the contaminant estimation and click the Domain button to select a new mesh.
l The points data values object contains all the data used in generating the estimation object.
These comprise midpoints for all the value intervals. You can easily change the values used by
selecting a different Numeric values column or by applying an optional query filter.
l The Spatial Models folder contains variogram models. Create a variogram model by right-
clicking on the Spatial Models folder and selecting New Variogram Model. See
Experimental Variography and Variogram Models for more information.
l The Variable Orientation folder is used for creating objects that make it possible to re-orient
the search and variogram according to local characteristics. See Variable Orientations for
more information.
l The Sample Geometry folder contains data density functions that can be used when
declustering data. See Standard Estimators for more information.
l The Estimators folder contains estimators that can be evaluated onto block models.
Estimators are similar to Leapfrog RBF interpolants, with the exception that estimators select
and refer to an independently constructed variogram model. See Standard Estimators for
more information.

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You can view a domained estimation by dragging it into the scene; this adds the Domain and
Values objects to the scene.

Viewing Statistics
You can view statistics for the values used in the domained estimation by right-clicking on the
numeric data object and selecting Statistics:

What happens when Statistics is selected depends on whether or not the data values were
composited.
l If the values were composited, a popup window will offer the choice between:
l Univariate Graphs
l Compositing Comparison
l Compositing Interval Lengths
l If the values were not composited, a dockable tab window opens displaying the Univariate
histogram of the point values.
For more details on these statistics options, see Analysing Data.

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Copying a Domained Estimation

Reusing the same variograms, spatial models and estimators can be achieved by copying an
estimation and then changing its boundary and values. Organising estimations in this way allows
you to define a set of spatial functions and estimators that can then be reused with different
values. For example, if you have multiple domains to estimate, you can define one, copy it, then
change that copy’s domain to one of the additional domains. Or you could experiment with
different hypotheses: once you have defined a set of spatial functions and estimators, you can
make a copy of the estimation and change that copy’s values and boundary. Because the
variograms and sills are normalised to the data variance when copying a estimation, you can
change the values selection to a different data column and the sills and variance will be rescaled
to the new data column's variance.

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The Ellipsoid Widget

The features described in this topic are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

Features in Leapfrog Edge make use of an ellipsoid widget in the scene. This widget is used in a
variety of situations:
l To visualise anisotropy proportions and orientation
l To visualise the variogram model in the scene, including rotation and ranges
l To depict search neighbourhoods
To aid in the visualisation of the ellipsoid, the major, semi-major and minor axes are also drawn as
red, green and blue lines respectively. Additionally, translucent planes can be seen within the
ellipsoid if the opacity of the ellipsoid is reduced. This assists in visualising the orientation and
shape of the ellipsoid.
Usually, the planes show the major-semi-major plane and the semi-major-minor plane. When
displaying octant or quadrant search sectors, the translucent planes divide the search ellipsoid
into the search sectors.

Display and Editing Modes

An ellipsoid may appear in the scene in a display mode or an editing mode. In display mode, the
ellipsoid has no visible handles, and in editing mode the widget has drag handles on the outer
edges of the ellipsoid to change its shape and orientation. For instance, you can drag the
variogram model into the scene from the project tree, and it will appear in the scene in display
mode.

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You can also open the variogram model and switch back to the scene or undock the variogram
tab and move it away to see the scene, and because the variogram model is open for editing, the
ellipsoid widget appears in the scene with drag handles.

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Change Movement Handles

Ellipsoid widgets can be repositioned, perhaps so the ellipsoid is not obstructing the view of part of
the model. To reposition the widget, select the widget in the shape list then click the widget in the
scene. If the ellipsoid does not have arrows in the centre, click the ellipsoid and the movement
arrows will appear. You can click the ellipsoid again to turn them off.

In the properties panel for the selected widget, settings control the Centre Point of the ellipsoid.
The X, Y and Z position can be specified directly.
There are two modes for the widget movement handles. In the properties panel for the selected
widget, Align movement handles to has the options Axes and Camera.
If the option is set to Align movement handles to Axes the drag handles in the centre of the
widget will be red, green and blue and point along the directions of the project axis lines.

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You can click on one of the red, green or blue movement handles and drag it in the scene, and the
ellipsoid will move forward or back in the direction of the selected project axis.

Don’t confuse the red, green and blue centre point arrows with the red, green and blue axis
adjustment arrows that may appear on the edge of the widget.

If the option is set to Align movement handles to Camera the drag handles in the centre of
the widget will be orange and point up/down/left/right across the scene view.

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You can click anywhere on the orange handles and drag it in the scene, and the ellipsoid will move
across the viewing plane

Change Look Direction

When an ellipsoid widget is selected in the shape list, the Look button in the properties panel
provides options for quickly changing the camera viewpoint.

Changing Controls in Edit Mode

The ellipsoid widget only has handles when it is in editing mode. If there are no drag handes on
the edges of the ellipsoid widget, it is in display mode and cannot be directly modified.

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If your ellipsoid widget is in edit mode, you will see drag handles on the edges of the widget. There
are two modes for these controls. Click on the widget to toggle between control modes. Each
mode offers different handles for directly manipulating the ellipsoid widget. When the arrows on
the edge of the widget are yellow, blue and red, the handles adjust the ellipsoid trend.

Drag a yellow arrow handle to adjust the Dip, blue to adjust the Dip Azimuth and red to adjust
the Pitch.
When the arrows on the edge of the widget are red, green and blue, the handles adjust the
ellipsoid ranges.

Drag a red arrow handle to adjust the Maximum axis range, green to adjust the Semi-major
range and blue to adjust the Minimum range.

If you click on the widget and the outer arrows do not change, you probably have a variogram
model with a second structure defined. Once the second structure is defined, the structure
that is controlled by the arrows would be ambiguous, which is why the range arrows are
disabled for multiple structure variograms.

As you modify the ellipsoid by manipulating the drag handles, the respective settings values are
updated.

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Variography and Estimators

After data analysis and domaining comes the key part of the resource estimation workflow:
variography. A theoretical variogram model is proposed and tested using experimental
variography. Kriging, nearest neighbour, inverse distance weighting or RBF estimators are defined
and potentially combined.
See:
l Experimental Variography and Variogram Models
l Transform Variography
l Standard Estimators
l Variable Orientations

Experimental Variography and Variogram Models

The features described in this topic are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

Variography is the analysis of spatial variability of grade within a region. Some deposit types, e.g.
gold, have high spatial variability between samples, whereas others, e.g. iron, have relatively low
spatial variability between samples. Understanding how sample grades relate to each other in
space is a vital step in informing grades in a block model. A variogram is used to quantify this
spatial variability between samples.
In estimation, the variogram is used for:
l Selecting appropriate sample weighting in Kriging and RBF estimators to produce the best
possible estimate at a given location
l Calculating the estimators’ associated quality and diagnostic statistics
In Leapfrog Geo domained estimations, variograms are created and modified using the Spatial
Models folder. To create a new variogram model, right-click on the Spatial Models folder and
select New Variogram Model.

A new variogram model is not auto-fitted and should not be assumed to be the initial
hypothesis for the workflow. While some reasonable defaults have been selected for the
variogram model, the geologist’s personal hypothesis should be the starting point for the
estimation workflow.

You can define as many variograms as you wish; when you define an estimator that uses a
variogram model, you can select from those available in the contaminant estimation’s Spatial
Models folder:

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Working with variograms is an iterative process. The rest of this topic provides an overview of the
Variogram Model window and describes how to use the different tools available for working
with variograms. This topic is divided into:
l The Variogram Model Window
l Variogram Model Controls
l Experimental Controls
See The Ellipsoid Widget for information that is useful in working in the Variogram Model
window.

The Variogram Model Window

The Variogram Model window is divided into three parts:

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Variogram model controls for adjusting the variogram model type, trend and orientation. See Variogram
Model Controls below.

Graphs plotting the selected variogram

Experimental controls for verifying the theoretical variogram model. See Experimental Controls below.

When you edit a variogram model in the Variogram Model window, an ellipsoid widget is
automatically added to the scene. The ellipsoid widget helps you to visualise the variogram in 3D,
which is useful in setting variogram rotation and ranges and in defining search neighbourhoods.
If the Variogram Model window is docked as a tab, you can tear the window off. As a separate
window, you can move and resize the window so you can see the ellipsoid change in the 3D scene
while you make adjustments to the model settings. The detached window can be docked again
by dragging the tab back alongside the other tabs, as described in Organising Your Workspace.
There are two ways to save the graph for use in another application:
l Click the Export button ( ) and select Export graph image from the options to export the
graph as a PDF, PNG or SVG file.
l Click the Copy graph button ( ) to copy the graph to the clipboard. You can then paste it
into another application.

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Additionally, you can save variogram parameter data by selecting a theoretical variogram from
the list, clicking the Export button ( ) and selecting Export data from the options. Note that
Export data is not available for the experimental variogram or the Radial Plot.

There are two buttons for refreshing the graphs when changes are made:
l When Auto Refresh is enabled, recalculations will be carried out each time you change a
variogram value. This can produce a brief lag.
l When auto refresh is disabled, you can click the Refresh button ( ) whenever you want the
graphs to be updated. This is the best option to use when working with a large dataset.

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If auto refresh is disabled and values have been changed without the graphs being updated, the
chart will turn grey and a reminder will be displayed over it:

Variogram Model Controls

The Variogram Model controls adjust the variogram model type, trend and orientation. The
graph will change as model parameters are adjusted. The ellipsoid in the scene will also reflect the
changes you make to the Variogram Model.
Multi-structured variogram models are supported, with provision for nugget plus two additional
structures.
The Nugget represents a local anomaly in values, one that is substantially different from what
would be predicted at that point based on the surrounding data. Increasing the value of Nugget
effectively places more emphasis on the average values of surrounding samples and less on the
actual data point and can be used to reduce noise caused by inaccurately measured samples.
Each additional structure has settings for the component Sill and the normalised sill, labelled
Norm. sill, model Type, Alpha (if the model type is spheroidal), and the Major, Semi-Major
and Minor ellipsoid ranges.
The Sill defines the upper limit of the model, the distance where there ceases to be any
correlation between values. The Sill can be set for the Nugget, Structure 1 and Structure 2.
A spherical variogram reaches the sill at the range and stays there for increasing distances
beyond the range. A spheroidal variogram approaches the sill near the range, and approaches it
asymptotically for increasing distances beyond the range. The distinction is insignificant. A linear
model has no sill in the traditional sense, but along with the ellipsoid ranges, the sill sets the slope
of the model. The two parameters sill and range are used instead of a single gradient parameter to

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permit switching between linear, spherical and spheroidal interpolant functions without also
manipulating these settings.
The Norm. sill represents the same information as the Sill, but proportionally scaled to a range
between 0 and 1, where 1 represents the data Variance. As you select the radio buttons for Sill
and Norm. sill, the Y-axis scale on the displayed chart will change to correspond to your
selection.
The Total sill is the sum of the component sills for both the data sills and the normalised sills.
The Variance is calculated automatically from the data and shows the magnitude of the
variance for the dataset.

Linear, Spherical and Spheroidal Model Options

The model Type provides three options: Linear, Spherical and Spheroidal.
Linear is a general-purpose multi-scale option suited to sparsely and/or irregularly sampled data.
Spherical and Spheroidal are suitable for modelling most metallic ores, where there is a finite
range beyond which the influence of the data should fall to zero. A Spherical model has a range
beyond which the value is the constant sill. A Spheroidal model flattens out when the distance
from the sample data point is greater than the range. At the range, the function value is 96% of
the sill with no nugget, and beyond the range the function asymptotically approaches the sill.
Each axis of the variogram ellipsoid has its own range, adjusted using Major, Semi-Major and
Minor. The ranges are colour-coded in the variogram model plot.

The spherical model is not available for standard Leapfrog RBF interpolants created in the
Numeric Models folder.

Alpha is only available when the model Type is Spheroidal. The Alpha constant determines how
steeply the interpolant rises towards the Sill. A low Alpha value will produce a variogram that
rises more steeply than a high Alpha value. A high Alpha value gives points at intermediate
distances more weighting, compared to lower Alpha values. An Alpha of 9 provides the curve
that is closest in shape to a spherical variogram. In ideal situations, it would probably be the first
choice; however, high Alpha values require more computation and processing time, as more
complex approximation calculations are required. A smaller value for Alpha will result in shorter
times to evaluate the variogram.

RBF estimators will only work when the Structure 2 model Type is set to None.

When Structure 2 is defined, the model ranges cannot be adjusted by manipulation of drag
handles on the ellipsoid. Because it would not be clear which structure was being manipulated,
the drag handles to change the range settings do not appear.

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Normalised Y Axis
A key use of copying a variogram is to apply it to another correlated contaminant. This would
typically be accomplished, having determined the appropriate variogram using the values for one
contaminant, by copying the domained estimation and changing the Numeric values field to a
different contaminant. However, the absolute values for the nugget and sills for each structure
would be completely inappropriate for the new contaminant; while we desire the shape to be the
same, the values for different compounds will inevitably be different. To make this work
correctly, the variogram is normalised or standardised, rescaling the range of Y-axis values to
between 0 and 1, where 1 is equivalent to the data Variance. This makes the variogram
information portable between domained estimations. This is performed automatically, requiring
no intervention on your part.
You can freely switch between the Sill and Norm. sill options. The selection only changes the Y-
axis scale on the displayed chart.

You do not need to select the Normalised option before copying the domained estimation
and using it as the basis for a different mineral resource. The normalised scale will always be
used when applying the variogram model to the new data set.

As you adjust the Nugget or the Structure 1 or Structure 2 sill values, the Total sill will
change both for the absolute Sill values and the Norm. sill values. The Norm. sill total may end
up being something other than 1.0. This is expected, as the value reference for the normalised
scale uses the data Variance for 1.0, not the total sill.
Note that the data Variance is recorded in the Y axis label so the chart scale is always
meaningful, including when the chart is exported.

Direction
The trend Direction fields set the orientation of the variogram ellipsoid. Adjust the ellipsoid axes
orientation using the Dip, Dip Azimuth and Pitch fields.
The Set From Plane button sets the trend orientation of the model ellipsoid based upon the
current settings of the moving plane.
The View Ellipsoid button adds a 3D ellipsoid widget visualisation to the scene, in case it has
been deleted from the scene since the variogram model window was opened for editing.

Experimental Controls
A variogram model can be verified through the use of the experimental variography tools that use
sample data. Use these to find the directions of maximum, intermediate and minimum continuity.
The variogram displayed in the chart is selected from the variograms listed in the panel in the top
left corner of the window.

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The top entry in the variograms list is the theoretical variogram model rather than an
experimental variogram:

All other variograms in the list and the other controls on the left-hand side of the screen relate
to Experimental Variograms.

By default, there is a set of Axis Aligned Variograms. Use the Add button to add additional
experimental variograms. You can add one Downhole Variogram and any number of Custom
Variograms.

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Click on one of these experimental variograms to select it and display its parameters. The
displayed graph will change to match this selection. For example, here the graph and settings for
the combined Axis Aligned Variograms are displayed:

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Selecting the Semi-major Axis variogram changes the chart and settings displayed:

Adjust the model variogram parameters to see the effect different parameters have when
applied to the actual data.

Experimental Variogram Parameters

The experimental variogram controls along the left side of the window define the search space,
define the orientation for custom variograms and change how the variograms are displayed.
Some parameters are only available for some variogram types; these are discussed in later
sections on each variogram type.

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Capping
Data Capping fields limit the values of the Lower bound and Upper bound for the data as
specified. This is not a filter that discards these points, but values below or above the caps are
treated as if the value was the lower or upper bound.

These Capping controls only affect the data values considered for the purposes of
experimental variography, and they do not cap the values of the data points used in
estimation. If you wish to also cap values used in estimation, set the Lower bound and
Upper bound limits in the Value Clipping tab in the applicable estimator. To eliminate an
anomalous data point or discard certain data values, you should modify the domain definition
options using a Query Filter.

Defining the Search Space

The search space for experimental variography is not shown in the scene. It is not an ellipsoid,
and should not be confused with either the variogram model ellipsoid or the estimator's search
ellipsoid.

The first set of parameters controls the search space.

l Lag distance controls the size of the lag bins. The first bin will be one quarter of the size of
the Lag distance. Experimental variograms generally measure lags as distances along a
direction vector, though downhole variograms measure lags as distances along the drillholes.
l Lag tolerance allows for the reality that data pairs are rarely the same distance apart. The
data is scanned and pairs are assembled after applying a Lag tolerance to the Lag distance.
If the Lag tolerance Auto box is ticked, Leapfrog Geo defaults to using a Lag tolerance of
half the Lag distance. Controlling the Lag tolerance explicitly allows you to test the
sensitivity of the variogram. Typically, a larger value will be used for sparse datasets and a
smaller value for dense datasets.

Some software treats a Lag tolerance of 0 as a special value that does not mean ‘no lag
tolerance’ but instead is interpreted as meaning half the Lag distance. In Leapfrog Geo, it is
possible to set Lag tolerance to 0, but this means literally what the number implies: there is
no Lag tolerance and the only data pairs that are displayed are those that occur exactly at
the Lag distance spacing.

l Number of lags constrains the number of lag bins in the search space.
l The In Plane and Off Plane Angle tolerance and Bandwidth settings define the search
shape, and the effects of these settings are discussed in more detail below.

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The search shape usually approximates a right rectangular pyramid on a rectangular

parallelepiped. The pyramid and parallelepiped will be square if the In Plane Angle tolerance and
Bandwidth are used without defining Off Plane values. Using the Off Plane Angle tolerance
and Bandwidth fields will make the shape rectangular. The plane being referred to is the major-
intermediate axis plane of the variogram ellipsoid, the same plane used for the radial plot. The
Angle tolerance is the angle either side of a direction vector from the data point origin. Once the
sides of the pyramid defined by the angle tolerances extend out to the limits specified by the
Bandwidth, the search neighbourhood is constrained to the bandwidth dimensions.

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The search shape becomes a more complex “carpenter’s pencil” shape when a wide In Plane
angle and a narrow Bandwidth are defined along with a narrow Off Plane angle and a wide
Bandwidth, or vice versa. This rendering should assist in visualising the shape; the major axis is
shown in red, the semi-major axis is shown in green, and the orthogonal minor axis in a
transparent blue:

Note that although not shown here, the outer ends of the search shapes are not flat, but rounded,
being defined by the surface of a sphere with a radius of the maximum distance defined by the
number of lags and their size.

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Off Plane Angle tolerance and Bandwidth settings cannot be set for the minor axis
variogram. Because the angle tolerance and bandwidth are described relative to the major-
intermediate plane and because the minor axis is orthogonal to this plane, only one angle can
be described. This results in a square pyramid search shape.

The In Plane Bandwidth also cannot be set for the Minor Axis.
Note that although not shown here, the outer ends of the pyramids are rounded, defined by
the surface of a sphere with a radius of the maximum distance defined by the number of lags
and their size.

Radial Plot Parameters

Radial Plot has parameters specifically for the radial plots in Axis Aligned Variograms.
Increasing the Radial divisions slices the space into a larger number of sectors, with each block
in the radial plot covering a smaller arc of the compass. As a result, each block has a smaller
volume; this also means that the amount of data in each block is reduced. Because the
bandwidth angle above and below the major-intermediate plane matches the angle used to slice
the plot into its sectors, increasing the Radial divisions also reduces the number of data points
used above and below the plane. Using a smaller number of Radial divisions will be faster. If you
increase the number of divisions, you may want to turn off Auto Refresh Graphs first and click
Refresh graphs afterwards. Experiment with the number of divisions and choose the lowest
number of Radial divisions that helps you gain the best understanding of continuity; this will
maximise the data that falls in each division.

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Mean Value will display radial plot bins coloured to indicate the mean value for each bin.
Contour will display a plot showing lines of equal value. Fill shades the chart between the
contour lines.

Orienting Custom Variograms

The Custom direction fields are for Custom Variograms that use the Plunge to Trend
settings to orient the variogram trend. They can easily be set by orienting the scene view and
then clicking the Set From Viewer button, which sets the plunge and trend to that of the scene
view.

Changing Axis Limits

The Axis Limits settings control the chart scaling.
X axis limits and Y axis limits control the ranges for the X-axis and Y-axis and can effectively
be used to zoom the chart. You can directly control these by manipulating the axes with your
mouse. Click and drag an axis to increase or decrease the maximum limit of the axis. Right-click
and drag an axis to reposition the axis so the minimum value on the axis is not zero. Double-click
the axis to reset the axis minimum and maximum range to the default values. Fit Graph will
auto-fit the graph to the available data.

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Changing Variogram Display

The Display settings change how the variogram is displayed:
l Values offers a variety of options to plot on the chart: Variogram, Correlogram,
Covariance, Relative Variogram and Pair-wise Variogram.
l Show model variogram plots the variogram on the chart.
l Show pair count annotates the chart with the count of data point pairs.
l Tick the Scale points to pair size checkbox and the chart will display the plotted points with
dots that scale to the size of the pair count. Choose Actual so the dots represent the pair size
proportionally and Inverse to see larger dots for lower pair counts.
l Tick Moving avg for a rolling mean variogram value, drawn on the variogram plots in orange.
Next to it, select a value for the window size relative to the Lag distance.The window size
will be the given number times the lag distance. This window, centred on x, will be used to plot
y, the average of all the variogram values falling inside the window. The lag multiplier field has
a useful tooltip reminder; hover your mouse pointer over the field to see the tooltip.

The Downhole Variogram

The Downhole Variogram can be used to better define the nugget. It looks only looks at pairs of
samples on the same drillhole and uses the differences in depths to calculate the lag value.
As it isn’t associated with a specific direction, the Angle tolerance parameter is not available for
the Downhole Variogram.
The Downhole Variogram chart does not plot the model variogram line; instead it shows a
dotted horizontal line indicating the Total Sill and, if Sill is chosen instead of Normalised Sill,
the variance.

A model is not fitted to the Downhole Variogram data because not all drillholes are oriented
in the same direction. An alternative that provides a fixed direction is to use a Custom
Variogram. Adjust the scene to look down a specific drillhole in the relevant direction, then
choose Set From Viewer to set the Plunge to Trend values.

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A triangular dragger handle next to the chart’s Y-axis can be used to adjust the Nugget value in
the Model Controls part of the window. As the downhole values are nearly continuous, an
accurate estimate can be made for the nugget effect for this direction.

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Axis Aligned Variograms

The Axis Aligned Variograms are useful for determining the direction of maximum,
intermediate and minimum continuity. When you select the Axis Aligned Variograms option, all
four variograms are displayed in the chart:

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The radial plot and each of the axes variograms can be viewed in greater detail by clicking on
them in the variogram tree:

In the axes variogram plots, you can click-and-drag the plus-shaped dragger handle to adjust the
range and the sill. A triangular dragger handle adjusts the nugget. A solid line shows the model
variogram, and dotted horizontal lines show the Total Sill and, if Sill is chosen instead of Norm.
sill, the variance.

Drag handles do not appear on the plots for all display Values options. Handles are not
provided for Pairwise Relative because fitting models to pairwise relative variograms is
discouraged in the industry. The reason this is discouraged is because the calculation provides
a distinctly non-linear re-scaling of the variogram and suppresses the effect of outliers,
producing a variogram that is usually optimistic with respect to both nugget and range of
continuity.

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In the radial plot, you can click-and-drag the axes arrows to adjust the pitch setting, between the
values 0 and 180 degrees. Each bin in the mean value radial plot shows the mean semi-variogram
value for pairs of points binned by direction and distance. When the contour plot is selected, lines
follow the points of equal value.

The experimental variogram controls can be different for each axis direction.

Custom Variograms
Any number of custom variograms can be created. These are useful when validating a model, for
checking the variogram directions other than the axis-aligned directions. The Plunge to Trend
settings determine the direction of the experimental variogram, and these are set independently
of the Dip, Dip Azimuth and Pitch settings used by the other experimental variograms. The
Plunge to Trend settings can be quickly set by orienting the scene and then clicking the Set
From Viewer button in the Variogram Model window. This copies the current scene azimuth
and plunge settings into the fields for the custom variogram.

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When selected, the custom variogram shows a semi-variogram plot, with the model variogram
plotted:

There are no handles on this chart. Dotted horizontal lines indicate the Total Sill and, if Sill is
chosen instead of Norm. sill, the variance.

Transform Variography

The features described in this topic are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

When data sets have highly skewed distributions, experimental variograms can be poorly
structured and fitting a model can be difficult. Capping or discarding high values can help in
certain situations but a better approach is to transform the data values into a more tractable
distribution prior to calculating variograms. Transform variography offers a more general method
that does not involve discarding or redefining data, reducing the effect that extreme values have
on variogram calculations while retaining the ordering relationships between data values.
Variogram models can be more easily defined and fitted in this transformed data space.

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The transformed data cannot be used directly in estimations, however; transforming the data is
solely for the purpose of fitting the variogram model. Having fitted the variogram model in
transformed space, it is necessary to back-transform the variogram model before Kriging in the
raw data space.
To transform data, start in the Values object in a domained estimation, and select Transform
Values from the menu. This will add a new set of transformed values under the Values object in
the project tree, with the same name as the original values but with NS (for Normal Score)
appended. The transformation performed is a normal scores transformation, modifying the
distribution of the data into a gaussian distribution. 30 polynomials are used to fit a Hermite
polynomial model that describes the transformation between raw and gaussian values. Negative
values are clamped at 0. As a result of the transform, the effects of outliers and clustered data is
ameliorated. There is no independent declustering or despiking applied to the values during
transformation. Drag the transformed values points into the scene to visualise them.
Statistics are available on the transformed values by right-clicking on them and selecting from
the Choose Statistics Type options.

The standard Univariate Graphs option provides a histogram and other related plots of the
transformed data. For more on univariate graphs, see Univariate Graphs. An option specific to
transformed values, the Hermite Fit graph, has been added to show the fit of the Hermite
polynomial to the cumulative distribution of the raw data.

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Create a New Transform Variogram Model by right-clicking on the Spatial Models folder
and choosing the New Transformed Variogram Model option. You can then perform
variography and fit a variogram model as you would for a typical variogram model. There is no
automated fitting, just as for the typical variogram. Note that capping has been removed, there is
no normalised sill option, and variogram displays other than the semi-variogram are unavailable.

Once the model has been fitted to the transform variogram, click the Back Transform button.
This will convert the variogram back into the untransformed raw data space.

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Once back-transformed, the variogram model cannot be manipulated with handles or directly
into fields. A summary of the variogram parameters and orientation is provided in fixed text fields
at the top of the window. Experimental controls are removed and only the display options remain.

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The transformed variogram model is not available for use in Kriging as the relative nugget and sills
of the model in transformed space are generally considered optimistic. Once the model is back-
transformed into the raw data space, the back transformed variogram model can be selected for
use in Kriging, just like any of the untransformed models.

Standard Estimators

The features described in this topic are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

Leapfrog Geo supports the following estimator functions:

l Inverse distance
l Nearest neighbour
l Ordinary and simple Kriging
l RBF (Radial Basis Function)
This topic describes creating and working with the different types of estimators. It is divided into:
l Inverse Distance Estimators
l Nearest Neighbour Estimators
l Kriging Estimators
l RBF Estimators

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l Sample Geometries
l Combined Estimators
Estimators can be copied, which makes it easy to experiment with different parameters. Simply
right-click on the estimator in the project tree and select Copy.

Inverse Distance Estimators

The basic inverse distance estimator makes an estimate by an average of nearby samples
weighted by their distance to the estimation point. The further a data point is from the estimate
location, the less it will be relevant to the estimate and a lower weight is used when calculating
the weighted mean.
To create an inverse distance estimator, right-click on the Estimators folder and select New
Inverse Distance Estimator. The New Inverse Distance window will appear:

Leapfrog Geo extends the basic inverse distance function, and the inverse distance estimator
supports declustering and anisotropic distance.
In the Interpolant tab:
l Exponent adjusts the strength of the weighting as distance increases. A higher exponent will
result in a weaker weight for the same distance.
l Optionally select a Declustering object from the declustering objects defined for the
domained estimation; these are saved in the Sample Geometry folder.
l Ellipsoid Ranges identify the Max, Int and Min ranges set in the Ellipsoid tab.
l A chart depicts the resultant weights that will be applied by distance.
In the Ellipsoid tab:

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l The Ellipsoid Definition sets the anisotropic distance and direction, scaling distances in
three orthogonal directions proportionally to the range for each of the directions of the ellipsoid
axes. This effectively makes the points in the direction of greater anisotropy appear closer and
increases their weighting. Adjust the Ellipsoid Ranges and Directions to describe the
anisotropic trend.
l Click View Ellipsoid to see an ellipsoid widget in the scene that helps to visualise the
anisotropic trend.

In the Search tab:

l The Minimum Samples and Maximum Samples parameters determine the number of
samples required or used within the search neighbourhood.
l The remaining fields provide controls to reduce bias.
l Outlier Restriction reduces bias by constraining the effect of high values at a distance.
After ticking Outlier Restriction, you can choose to either Clamp (reduce the high value
to the Value Threshold) or Discard high values that meet the criteria for outlier
restrictions. It limits the samples that will be considered to those within a specified
Distance percentage of the search ellipsoid size, and only those outside that distance if
they are within the Value Threshold. If a sample point is beyond the Distance threshold
and the point's value exceeds the Value Threshold, it will be clamped or discarded
according to the option selected.
l Sector Search divides the search space into sectors. Choose from Octant providing
eight sectors or Quadrant providing four sectors. The Maximum samples per sector
threshold specifies the number of samples in a sector before more distant samples are
ignored. The Maximum empty sectors threshold specifies how many sectors can have
no samples before the estimator result will be set to the non-normal value without_value.
l Drillhole Limit constrains how many samples from the same drillhole will be used in the
search before limiting the search to the closest samples in the drillhole and looking for
samples from other drillholes.

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In the Value Clipping tab, you can enable value clipping by ticking the Clip input values box.
This caps values outside of the range set by the Lower bound and Upper bound to the
bounding values.
In the Outputs tab, you can specify attributes that will be calculated when the estimator is
evaluated on a block model. Value and Status attributes will always be calculated, but you can
choose additional attributes that are useful to you when validating the output and reporting.
These attributes are:
l The number of samples (NS) is the number of samples in the search space neighbourhood.
l The distance to the closest sample (MinD) is a cartesian (isotropic) distance rather than the
ellipsoid distance.
l The average distance to sample (AvgD) is the average distance using cartesian (isotropic)
distances rather than ellipsoid distances.
l The number of duplicates deleted (ND) indicates how many duplicate sample values were
detected and deleted by the estimator.
l When the estimator must select from equidistant points to include or exclude in the search
space because it found more samples than the Maximum Samples threshold, the number of
equidistant points detected (EquiD) is recorded. You can use this output as a trigger for
further investigation.

Nearest Neighbour Estimators

Nearest neighbour produces an estimate for each point by using the nearest value as a proxy for
the location being estimated. There is a higher probability that the estimate for a location will be
the same as the closest measured data point, than it will be for some more distance measured
data point.

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To create a nearest neighbour estimator, right-click on the Estimators folder and select New
Nearest Neighbour Estimator. The New Nearest Neighbour window will appear:

Nearest Neighbour uses an astral search algorithm to determine what point is considered the
nearest. Leapfrog Geo includes support for anisotropy when determining what is considered the
‘nearest’ value. Adjust the Ellipsoid Ranges and Directions to describe the anisotropic trend.

Prior versions of Leapfrog Geo included an option to Average Nearest Points. This was
removed with the enhancement of the algorithm to determine nearest points using astral
search, and must be turned off for projects to be upgraded.

Click View Ellipsoid to see an ellipsoid widget in the scene that helps to visualise the anisotropic
trend.
In the Value Clipping tab, you can enable value clipping by ticking the Clip input values box.
This caps values outside of the range set by the Lower bound and Upper bound to the
bounding values.
In the Outputs tab, you can specify attributes that will be calculated when the estimator is
evaluated on a block model. Value and Status attributes will always be calculated, but you can
choose additional attributes that are useful to you when validating the output and reporting.
These attributes are:
l The number of samples (NS) is the number of samples in the search space neighbourhood.
l The distance to the closest sample (MinD) is a cartesian (isotropic) distance rather than the
ellipsoid distance.
l The average distance to sample (AvgD) is the average distance using cartesian (isotropic)
distances rather than ellipsoid distances.

Kriging Estimators
Kriging is a well-accepted method of interpolating estimates for unknown points between
measured data. Instead of the simplistic inverse distance and nearest neighbour estimates,
covariances and a Gaussian process are used to produce the prediction.

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To create a Kriging estimator, right-click on the Estimators folder and select New Kriging
Estimator. The New Kriging window will appear:

In the Interpolant tab:

l Both Ordinary and Simple Kriging are supported.
l For Simple Kriging, specify a Mean value for the local mean to use in the Kriging function.
l Discretisation sets the number of discretisation points in the X, Y and Z directions for block
Kriging. Block Kriging provides a means of estimating the best value for a block instead of only
at the centre of the block. Each block is broken down (discretised) into a number of sub-units
without actually sub-blocking the blocks. A geologist will consider a variety of factors including
spatial continuity when deciding on the discretisation to use. Set the X, Y and Z parameters to
1 for point Kriging. To use additional discretisations, copy the estimator and change the
Discretisation parameters.
l Search Ellipsoid identifies the Max, Int and Min ranges set in the Ellipsoid tab.
l Select from the Variogram Model list of models defined in the Spatial Models folder.
l The View button will show an ellipsoid widget in the scene to assist in visualising the variogram
model ranges and direction.
l A chart depicts colour-coded semi-variograms for the variogram model.

If you select a Kriging estimator to be evaluated onto points, it will always use Point Kriging
(Block Kriging with a discretisation of 1x1x1), overriding any discretisation settings specified
for the Kriging estimator.

In the Ellipsoid tab:

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l The Ellipsoid Definition sets the Ellipsoid Ranges and Direction.

l Click the View Ellipsoid definition to show an ellipsoid widget in the scene to assist in
visualising the search ellipsoid. Note that this is not the same as the variogram model ellipsoid,
unless the Set to option is used to select the variogram model to copy the details.

In the Search tab:

l The Minimum Samples and Maximum Samples parameters determine the number of
samples required or used within the search neighbourhood.
l The remaining fields provide controls to reduce bias.
l Outlier Restriction reduces bias by constraining the effect of high values at a distance.
After ticking Outlier Restriction, you can choose to either Clamp (reduce the high value
to the Value Threshold) or Discard high values that meet the criteria for outlier
restrictions. It limits the samples that will be considered to those within a specified
Distance percentage of the search ellipsoid size, and only those outside that distance if
they are within the Value Threshold. If a sample point is beyond the Distance threshold
and the point's value exceeds the Value Threshold, it will be clamped or discarded
according to the option selected.
l Sector Search divides the search space into sectors. Choose from Octant providing
eight sectors or Quadrant providing four sectors. The Maximum samples per sector
threshold specifies the number of samples in a sector before more distant samples are
ignored. The Maximum empty sectors threshold specifies how many sectors can have
no samples before the estimator result will be set to the non-normal value without_value.
When Sector Search is enabled, the translucent planes in the search ellipsoid widget
change to show the search sectors.
l Drillhole Limit constrains how many samples from the same drillhole will be used in the
search before limiting the search to the closest samples in the drillhole and looking for
samples from other drillholes.

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In the Value Clipping tab, you can enable value clipping by ticking the Clip input values box.
This caps values outside of the range set by the Lower bound and Upper bound to the
bounding values.

Kriging Attributes
In the Outputs tab, you can specify attributes that will be calculated when the estimator is
evaluated on a block model. Value and Status attributes will always be calculated, but you can
choose additional attributes that are useful to you when validating the output and reporting.
These attributes are organised into two categories, Sample properties and Estimation
results.
Sample properties are output attributes that relate to data sample statistics:
l The number of samples (NS) is the number of samples in the search space neighbourhood.
l The distance to the closest sample (MinD) is a cartesian (isotropic) distance rather than the
ellipsoid distance.
l The average distance to sample (AvgD) is the average distance using cartesian (isotropic)
distances rather than ellipsoid distances.
l The number of duplicates deleted (ND) indicates how many duplicate sample values were
detected and deleted by the estimator.
Estimation results are additional information produced by the estimation:
l Value will always be included as it is the actual estimate result.
l Status will always be included as it classifies the estimation result as a Normal result, or non-
normal Blank, Without-value, Outside or Error result.

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l The Kriging mean (KM) is the local mean used for the estimate based around the selected
sample data. For simple Kriging, this is the specified global mean. For ordinary Kriging, it is the
unknown locally constant mean that is assumed when forming the Kriging equations. This
value is only dependent on the covariance function and the sample locations and values for the
chosen neighbourhood. It does not depend on the evaluation volume and therefore will be the
same for block Kriging and point Kriging. It can give some indication of suitability of the
assumptions when doing ordinary Kriging.
l The Kriging variance (KV) is important in assessing the quality of an estimate. It grows when
the covariance between the samples and the point to estimate decreases. This means that
when the samples are further away from the evaluation point, the quality of the estimation
decreases. For simple Kriging, the value is capped by the value of the covariance between the
target volume and itself. For ordinary Kriging, higher values indicate a poor value.
l The Kriging efficiency (KE) is calculated based on the block variance and Kriging variance
(KV). It should be 1 when the Kriging variance is at is minimum and 0 when the Kriging variance
equals the block variance.
l The slope of regression (SoR) is the slope of a linear regression of the actual value, knowing
the estimated value. For simple Kriging it is 1 and for ordinary Kriging a value of 1 is desired as it
indicates that the resulting estimate is conditionally unbiased. Conditional bias is to be avoided
as it increases the chance that blocks will be misclassified when considering a cutoff value.
l The sum of weights (Sum) is the sum of the Kriging weights. For ordinary Kriging, the sum is
constrained to being equal to 1.
l The sum of negative weights (SumN) can be used to assess the quality of an estimation.
Negative weights are to be avoided or at least minimised. If there are negative weights, it is
possible that the estimated value may be outside the range of the sample values. If the sum of
negative weights is significantly large (when compared to the total sum), then it could result in
a poorly estimated value, depending on the sample values.

When selecting the block model evaluation to display in the 3D scene, you can select either the
Kriging values, or from these additional selected attributes.

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RBF Estimators
The RBF estimator brings the Radial Basis Function used elsewhere in Leapfrog into estimation.
Like Kriging, RBF does not use an overly-simplified method for estimating unknown points, but
produces a function that models the known data and can provide an estimate for any unknown
point. Where Kriging is limited to a local search neighbourhood, RBF utilises a global
neighbourhood. An RBF estimator is good for grade control where there is a large amount of data.
To create an RBF estimator, right-click on the Estimators folder and select New RBF
Estimator. The New RBF window will appear:

Like other estimators, a spatial model defined outside the estimator as a separate Variogram
Model can be selected. The View button will show an ellipsoid widget in the scene to assist in
visualising the variogram model ranges and direction.
Alternatively, in a feature unique to RBF estimators, a Structural trend can be used, if one is
available in the project. Set the Outside value at the long-range mean value of the data.
Otherwise, the RBF estimator behaves very similarly to the RBF interpolant in Leapfrog.
Drift is used to specify what the estimates should trend toward as distance increases away from
data. The RBF estimator has different Drift options from the non-estimation RBF interpolants.
The RBF estimator function offers the Drift options Specified and Automatic. When selecting
Specified, provide a Mean Value for the trend away from data. Automatic is equivalent to the
Constant option offered by non-estimation RBF interpolants, and Linear is not supported.
Specified drift with a Mean Value of 0 is equivalent to None.

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In the Value Clipping tab, you can enable value clipping by ticking the Clip input values box.
This caps values outside of the range set by the Lower bound and Upper bound to the
bounding values.
In the Outputs tab, the Minimum and MaximumEvaluation Limits constrain the values.
Values outside the limits are set to either the minimum or maximum limit, as appropriate. To
enable a limit, tick the checkbox and set a limit value.
In the Outputs tab, you can also define isosurfaces for an RBF estimator:
l The Default resolution will be used for all isosurfaces, unless you change the Surface
Resolution setting for an individual isosurface. See Surface Resolution in Leapfrog Geo for
more information on the Adaptive setting. The resolution can be changed once the estimator
has been created, so setting a value in the New RBF window is not vital. A lower value will
produce more detail, but calculations will take longer.
l The Volumes enclose option determines whether the volumes enclose Higher Values,
Lower Values or Intervals. Again, this option can be changed once the estimator has been
created.
l Click the Restore Defaults button to add a set of isosurfaces based on the estimator’s input
data.
l Use the Add to add a new isosurface, then set its Iso Value.
l Click on a surface and then on the Remove button to delete any surface you do not wish to
generate.

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Sample Geometries
The declustering object is a tool for calculating local sample density. It can be used to provide
confidence in an estimate, a value for determining boundaries, or a declustering weight that can
be used to remove sampling bias from a set of values. Common traditional techniques for
declustering utilise a grid or polygonal cells.
In Leapfrog Geo, the declustering object is used to calculate declustering weights that are
inversely proportional to the data density at each sample point. A declustering object can be used
by an inverse distance estimator.

Creating a New Declustering Object

To create a new declustering object, right-click on the Sample Geometry folder and select
New Declustering Object. The New Declustering Object window will appear and an
ellipsoid will be added to the scene.

The ellipsoid assists in visualising the declustering window dimensions and direction. It is used for
both the EllipsoidWindow Shape and the CuboidWindow Shape. For more information on
how to work with the ellipsoid, see The Ellipsoid Widget. If the ellipsoid is removed from the scene
it may be restored by clicking the View Ellipsoid button.

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On the right side of the New Declustering Object window is a declustering chart. This is used
to guide the selection of settings for the declustering object, particularly the ranges for the
search ellipsoid. There are two chart views. The default view, Ratio, shows a chart of the
declustered mean against relative window size:

Range shows three declustering charts, one for each axis of the search ellipsoid:

All charts indicate the naïve mean using a dotted horizontal line.

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You can interact with the charts by dragging the dotted vertical line to the left or right. In the
Ratio view, this changes the current ellipsoid range settings by a proportional ratio, as indicated
on the x-axis of the chart. In the Range view, the selected range setting is updated accordingly.
Select a place on the chart that minimises the effect of declustering on the mean of the data,
where the range is close to the naïve mean and where there is no significant jump in the data.
Changes made to the declustering options are reflected automatically in the selected chart.
Above the chart are some export options. The Export button saves the declustering chart as
either a PDF, SVG or PNG file based on your selection. Copy > Copy Graph Image saves an
image to the operating system clipboard at the selected resolution. You can then paste the image
into another application.

General Settings
The General tab of the New Declustering Object window is divided into three parts,
Window, Ellipsoid Ranges and Directions.
The Window section defines the declustering object’s shape:
l The Window Shape can be Ellipsoid or Cuboid. Select Cuboid to approximate traditional
grid declustering. The Ellipsoid option avoids increased density values for sampling oriented
away from axes.
l The Overlapping Window option acts similarly to a rolling average by moving the window
incrementally in overlapping steps, providing a much smoother result.
l Disabling Overlapping Window approximates a traditional grid behaviour; a single fixed
window is used around each evaluation location and the density is simply the count of all
input points within the window.
l Enabling Overlapping Window implicitly averages the point count over all possible
windows that contain the evaluation location.

The Ellipsoid Ranges settings provide the same anisotropy controls used elsewhere in Leapfrog
Geo, determining the relative shape and strength of the ellipsoid in the scene. Including them here
provides additional advantages over traditional grid declustering.
l The Maximum value is the range in the direction of the major axis of the ellipsoid.
l The Intermediate value is the range in the direction of the semi-major axis of the ellipsoid.
l The Minimum value is the range in the direction of the minor axis of the ellipsoid.
The Directions settings determine the orientation of the ellipsoid in the scene, where:
l Dip and Dip Azimuth set the orientation of the plane for the major and semi-major axes of
the ellipsoid. Dip is the angle off the horizontal of the plane, and Dip Azimuth is the compass
direction of the dip.
l Pitch is the angle of the ellipsoid’s major axis on the plane defined by the Dip and Dip
Azimuth. When Pitch is 0, the major axis is perpendicular to the Dip Azimuth. As Pitch
increases, the major axis points further down the plane towards the Dip Azimuth.

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The moving plane can also be useful in setting the anisotropy Directions. Add the moving plane
to the scene, and adjust it using its controls. Then click the Set From Plane button to populate
the Dip, Dip Azimuth and Pitch settings.
You can also use the Set to list to choose different from the variogram models available in the
project.

To approximate grid declustering, set the Window Shape to Cuboid, disable the Moving
Window and set the Maximum, Intermed. and Minimum ranges to be equal values.

Outputs
The Outputs tab of the New Declustering Object window features Attributes to
calculate. Value and Status will always be calculated, but you can optionally include NS
(number of samples), MinD (distance to closest sample) or AvgD (average distance to sample).

The Declustering Object in the Project Tree

Enter a name for the declustering object and click OK to create it. It will be added to the project
tree in the Sample Geometry folder. Expand it to see its parts, which can be individually added
to the scene:

Double-click on the declustering object in the tree to edit it.

Export the declustering weights by right-clicking on the values object in the project tree and
selecting Export.

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Applying a Declustering Object

Leapfrog Geo supports declustering in the inverse distance estimator. To decluster data, select a
declustering object from the Declustering dropdown list:

When no declustering object is selected, the inverse distance estimator is the standard inverse
distance weighted method.

Combined Estimators
Combined estimators evaluates more than one estimation at a time on a block model. You can
get a block model displaying a combined estimator showing more than one domained estimation
result column or attribute.
Practical uses for this:
l To allow multiple estimation passes over the same domain, with more relaxed search criteria
for subsequent passes.
l To estimate for different domains, either separate or overlapping, and evaluate them on the
same block model.
By placing the estimations in a hierarchy, a preference can be indicated where different
estimates are produced for the same block. Estimations lower in the hierarchy will be used when
the higher-priority estimate results in a Without-value or Outside result.
Combined estimator work with Kriging, Nearest Neighbour, and Inverse Distance
estimators. It does not work with RBF estimators. Generation of extended Kriging attributes is
possible, but only when all the estimators in a combined estimator are Kriging estimators.

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Creating a Combined Estimator

To create a combined estimator, right-click on the Estimation folder and select New
Combined Estimator. The New Combined Estimator window will be displayed:

This window is divided into two tabs:

l Estimators
l Outputs

Adding Estimators to a Combined Estimator

Click the Select Estimators button below the Evaluation Hierarchy. In the Select Objects
window, choose from the Available objects the estimators you want to be in the combined
estimator and click the right-arrow button to move them into the Selected objects list. Click
OK to return to the New Combined Estimator window.

Reorder the estimators in the hierarchy by selected an estimator and clicking the Higher or
Lower buttons to move it up or down the list.

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Give the combined estimator a recognisable identifying label by changing the Name.

In the Outputs tab, select attributes you wish to be generated along with the estimate.
Value and Status will always be generated. Other attributes may be selected if all the estimators
are Kriging estimators. If one or more estimators is a nearest neighbour or inverse distance
estimator, many of the attributes will not be available.
Most of the attributes are identical to those described for the Kriging estimator. See Kriging
Attributes for more information.
Two attributes specific to combined estimators are new category/lithology columns:
l Dom (domain), which domain from the domained estimations the evaluation came from.
l Est (estimator), which estimator was used to estimate the block.

When you click OK a new combined estimator will appear in the Estimation folder. Below it will
be links to the estimators that are being combined.

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Evaluating a Combined Estimator

Combined estimators can only be evaluated on a block model. Right click a block model and
select Evaluations, then select a combined estimator from the Available evaluations and add
it to the Selected evaluations list. Click OK.

The block model with the evaluated combined estimator can be added to the scene.

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In this example, three estimators use progressively more generous search space and limits. The
most strict estimator produces high confidence estimates, but over a small subset of the blocks
in the block model. The block model is shown with two views; one displaying the estimate values,
the other showing status, and specifically the Normal and Without-value blocks.

A larger search space produces estimates for more blocks, but many are still Without-value.

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A much larger search space and reduced limits produces results for almost all the blocks in the
domain.

When these estimates are combined in that order, the blocks are only represented by an estimate
if it has not already been given an estimate by a higher priority estimate in the hierarchy. The
resulting block model evaluation may look a lot like the estimate with the most blocks, but an
inspection of the evaluations of each of the blocks would reveal the subtle differences where
blocks have been estimated with higher priority estimators.

Alternatively, you may have two different, possibly overlapping domain meshes. You can
evaluate each domained estimation on a block model one at a time, but not in the same scene.

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Using combined estimators we can combine the estimator used for this block model:

...with the estimator used for this block model.

Right click the Estimations folder and select New Combined Estimator. Click the Select
Estimators button. Add an estimator from the domained estimations for each of these separate
(and possibly overlapping) domains to the Selected objects.

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When you click OK, the New Combined Estimator window shows the selected estimators
within their domained estimations.

You can click the colour chip next to the domained estimation to choose an alternate base colour
for the domained estimation. The colours for each of the estimators within a domained
estimation are selected automatically as variations on the base colour, and cannot be
customised.
When the combined estimator is evaluated onto a block model, all the estimated blocks can be
displayed in the scene, combining the domains.

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Instead of displaying the estimated values, the Dom (domain) attribute may be shown instead,
clearly indicating which blocks in the scene are in which domain.

Here more estimators have been added to the combined estimator.

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When displaying the Est (estimator) attributes, the colour variation from the base domain colour
shows the different estimators used to evaluate the blocks.

Viewing Statistics
Right click a combined estimator evaluation on a block model, and select Statistics. For more
information on the univariate statistics displayed, see Univariate Graphs.

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Copying a Combined Estimator

Right click a combined estimator in the Estimation folder and select Copy. You will be given an
opportunity too choose a new name for the copy, and then it will appear in the project tree in the
Estimation folder.

Variable Orientations

The features described in this topic are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

The principal direction of mineralisation can change across a domain, such as when the domain
features an undulating, gently-folded structure. Using a single fixed orientation for the sample
search and the variogram can result in poor sample selection and weighting locally. Using a
variable orientation makes it possible to re-orient the search and variogram according to local
characteristics, which results in improved local value estimates. For example, here a variable
orientation has been created using a stratigraphic sequence; disks indicate the local search space
orientation and are coloured with the dip direction. The output volume of the geological model is
shown for context.

Variable orientations can have multiple inputs, including veins, the contact surfaces in a
stratigraphic sequence and any mesh in the project.
A variable orientation can be applied to Kriging and inverse distance estimators. You can make as
many variable orientations as you wish for each domained estimation, which allows you to
experiment with a wide variety of scenarios.

Variable orientations cannot be used with RBF estimators. To achieve a similar capability for
RBF estimators, use a structural trend.

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The rest of this topic describes how to create and work with variable orientations. It is divided
into:
l Visualisation Options for Variable Orientations
l Creating Variable Orientations
l The Variable Orientation in the Project Tree
l Applying a Variable Orientation
l Exporting Rotations

Visualisation Options for Variable Orientations

Variable orientations can be viewed as disks or lines. The grid used for visualisation can be any
block model or sub-blocked model in the project or a custom grid can be specified as part of
setting up the variable orientation.
Here a variable orientation is visualised on a custom grid, with disks coloured using the Dip
direction values at each point on the grid. Enabling text display ( ) shows the values in the
scene. The disks are a representation of the local orientation of the maximum-intermediate plane
calculated at the chosen centroids. They represent both the search ellipsoid and the variogram,
by indicating their principal plane. The line on each disk indicates the position and direction of the
major axis.

Search ellipsoids are described using axes of maximum, intermediate and minimum continuity.
Variogram ellipsoids are described using major, semi-major and minor axes. Because both the
local search ellipsoid and local variogram orientation are indicated by variable orientation disk
and line objects in the scene, we will avoid potential confusion by using the terms maximum,
intermediate and minimum in this topic, unless specifically discussing variograms.

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Click on a disk to view further information about it.

There is also the Show as lines option ( ), which hides the disks to reduce visual clutter while
still showing the fundamental orientation information in the form of the maximum axis direction
for each search space local to each centroid:

You can also change the Anisotropy used to display the variable orientation. Options are
Isotropic and any variogram models and search spaces defined in the estimation:

When anisotropy is displayed, the ratio of the maximum-intermediate axis of the chosen object is
indicated as a ratio. The actual range is not shown.

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Creating Variable Orientations

To create a variable orientation, right-click on the domained estimation’s Variable Orientation
folder and select New Variable Orientation. Inputs and the Global Plunge are set in the
General tab, and how the variable orientation will be displayed is set up in the Visualisation tab.

Selecting the Inputs

Inputs to a variable orientation can include veins, a stratigraphic sequence and any mesh in the
project. When a mesh is used, it should be an open mesh that draws out the shape of the
undulations of the structure, rather than a closed mesh such as the domain. The facing direction
of the surface is relevant; it is used to determine the direction of the surface normal vectors.
Each vertex of the mesh is used to generate the orientation, so the resolution of the mesh should
be sufficient to capture subtle changes in trend without adversely increasing processing time.

Using closed meshes such as the mesh of the domain used in the estimation is not advised.
Doing so may result in boundary effects and inconsistent vector orientations, and the vector
may become undefined in the middle of a mesh if components interpolate to zero.

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At each vertex of the input mesh, a normal unit vector is calculated from the average orientation
of the faces that meet at that vertex. This normal vector is then resolved into three orthogonal
component vectors, Δx, Δy and Δz . Take a close look at this slice of an undulating part of a
hangingwall mesh shaded according to the face dip:

In the above image, the component vectors have been added as explanatory annotations;
these are not part of the scene.

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Three radial basis functions are then created, one for each of the three orthogonal component
vectors. These RBFs use a biharmonic splice basis function of degree zero and ‘reduce’ fit type.
Accuracy is set at 1%. These parameters are fixed and cannot be customised or controlled.

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Now that RBFs have been created and we have a continuous function throughout the space of
interest, the component vectors for any point in space can be determined, not just at the vertices
in the mesh. From the component vectors, the normal vectors can be constructed at any point in
space, again, not just at the vertices in the mesh.

When a normal is reconstructed at any given point in the model, this defines the minimum axis,
and, implicitly, the orientation of the principal plane that the maximum and intermediate axes lie
on orthogonal to the minimum axis.

Note that although radial basis functions are used in this process to create functions that
allow for the determination of normals at any point in space, a variable orientation is not
available for use with RBF estimators; it is limited to Kriging and inverse distance estimators.
To achieve a similar capability for RBF estimators, use a structural trend.

An important consideration in achieving a reasonable result is inputs that have consistently

oriented normals on the mesh used at the start of this process.

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l When multiple meshes are used, you need to ensure that the meshes are consistently
oriented.
l Veins and stratigraphic sequences are made up of multiple surfaces, and the normals for these
surfaces are combined into a single cloud of normal vectors.
l When a vein is used as an input, the hangingwall and footwall surfaces are used. To make
normal directions consistent, the hangingwall normals are flipped to point in the same
direction as the footwall normals. Common vertices in the footwall and hangingwall, where
the vein pinches out, produce duplicate locations with slightly different normals. The two
normals at these locations are averaged to give a single normal vector for that location.
l When a stratigraphic sequence is used, each point of each contact surface produces a
normal vector.
Closed surfaces have a consistent inside and outside direction. Normals on a closed surface
will therefore point either inwards or outwards, resulting in the normals on the opposite side of
the mesh pointing in the opposing direction. Interpolating these conflicting normals will lead to
sudden unpredictable changes in orientation.

Setting the Global Plunge

Next, the Global Plunge is used to determine the direction of the principal axis on the principal
plane. The Global Plunge is a vector defined by either the major axis of the global variogram or
globally defined search, or it is set from the view. This vector is used to determine where the
direction of the principal axis should lie within the direction of the locally re-oriented principal
plane. This is achieved by finding the direction on the local plane that is closest in orientation to
the global vector. In practise this amounts to projecting the shadow of the global plunge vector, in
the direction of the local normal vector, onto the re-oriented local plane.
You have two choices for the Global Plunge:
l Use one of the variogram models defined for the domained estimation. Select one from the
dropdown list.
l Set a Custom Direction. Click and drag in the scene to align the view, then click Set From
Viewer.

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The Global Plunge is projected onto the principal plane to define the direction of the principal
axis. Imagine a flashlight shining down the normal vector towards the principal plane and shining
through a variogram model ellipsoid. The shadow cast by the major axis defines the principal
direction.

The intermediate axis will lie on the principal plane at 90° to the principal direction axis. Together
the normal vector, the principal direction and the intermediate axis orthogonal to them define the
orientation for the minimum, maximum and intermediate axes for use at each point required for
estimation, reorienting the search and variogram for that specific location in space. These
directions are determined for each required location.

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When visualised as lines, only the principal direction is shown, pointing away from the reference
point. When visualised as disks, a circular disk is added to indicate the principal plane.

If the Custom Direction is left at the default settings of Azimuth = 0 and Plunge = 0, this
will be the vector that is projected onto the principal plane. The resulting reorientation of the
search space and variogram will likely be inappropriate, particularly for steeply oriented veins.
Leapfrog Geo relies upon the expertise of an informed expert to specify a reasonable and valid
direction instead of defaulting to a best-guess that may appear meaningful at a cursory glance
but may be just as invalid as the more obvious zero values chosen as defaults.

Setting Visualisation Options

In the Visualisation tab, you can choose between visualising the variable orientation on an
existing block model or on a custom grid. Here a variable orientation created from a vein is
visualised on a block model:

Using a block model or sub-blocked model for visualisation does not evaluate the variable
orientation on the selected model. All block models and sub-blocked models in the project can
be selected.

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Here a variable orientation created from a stratigraphic sequence is visualised on a Custom

Grid:

See Visualisation Options for Variable Orientations for more information on displaying the variable
orientation.

The Variable Orientation in the Project Tree

Enter a name for the variable orientation and click OK to create it. It will be added to the project
tree in the Variable Orientation folder. Expand it to see its parts:

The variable orientation includes links to the variogram model, if used, and to the inputs.
Drag the variable orientation into the scene to check it, and double-click on the variable
orientation in the tree to edit it.
You can make multiple copies of a variable orientation, but you cannot copy them to another
domained estimation.

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Applying a Variable Orientation

Leapfrog Geo supports variable orientations in Kriging and inverse distance estimators. Double-
click on the estimator, then click on its Ellipsoid tab. Tick the box for Variable Orientation and
select from those available for the domained estimation:

When a variable orientation is applied to an estimator, the local search can be visualised using the
block model interrogation tool.
Here one block in a block model is shown with the search area indicated by the ellipsoid widget.
The orientation of the ellipsoid reflects the direction set by variable orientation for this block:

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Here the viewing angle is the same but a nearby block is selected, showing a different orientation
for the widget. This reflects the effect of the variable orientation on this block, demonstrating
that each block can have a different search space and variogram orientation:

See Block Estimate Interrogation for more information on the interrogation tool.

Exporting Rotations
When you evaluate a variable orientation onto a sub-blocked model, you can use the parent block
centroids or the sub-block centroids. The default setting is to evaluate onto the parent block
centroids:

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When a variable orientation is evaluated onto a block model or sub-blocked model, the Dip
Direction and Dip in the variable orientation are represented in the rotation using the ZXZ
convention. Rot1Z is the value of the rotation about the z axis. This turns y into y' and x into x',
which is equivalent to the Dip Direction in the variable orientation:

Rot2X is the value of the rotation about the x' axis and is equivalent to Dip:

When a variable orientation is evaluated onto a block model or sub-blocked model, you can click
on a block to view the rotation information:

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You can right-click on the evaluation in the project tree to view its statistics:

For example, here the histogram is displayed for the Rot2X values. Rot2X varies throughout the
surface, indicating that a global trend would not adequately describe the characteristics of
surface. The variable orientation is displayed in the scene, along with selected blocks from the
block model where the Rot2X values are selected in the histogram. They are highlighted in the
scene, indicating the parts of the variable orientation that have the steepest dip:

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If required, you can export the rotations for use in other packages. When exporting the block
model, be sure to select the variable orientation evaluation:

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Visualising Sample Geometries and Estimators

The features described in this topic are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

Sample geometries and estimators can be visualised by evaluating them on block models. To
evaluate an estimator on a block model, right-click on the block model in the project tree and
select Evaluations. See Block Models on how to work with the different types of block models
available in Leapfrog Geo.
Calculations and filters further enhance the visualisation options, adding computational analysis
and processing of data capabilities to create new types of data to visualise. To create
calculations and filters, right-click on a block model in the project tree and select Calculations
and Filters. See Defining Calculations and Filters for information on creating filters and building
calculations.
When you select Evaluations, the block model’s main window will be opened with the
Evaluations tab displayed:

You can add all of, for example, a domained estimations sample geometries and estimators to the
Selected evaluations list by double-clicking on the domained estimation itself.
Click OK to process the evaluations, which will be added to the block model in the project tree:

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When selecting evaluations on a sub-blocked model, you can evaluate onto the parent block
centroids or the sub-block centroids:

When discretisation is used to estimate onto sub-blocks, the relative discretisation point spacing
for the parent block is used, recentred on the sub-block centroid. The block discretisation is not
scaled down to the sub-block size, and some of the discretisation points used to compute the
sub-block estimate may lie outside the sub-block.
Display an evaluation by dragging it into the scene or by right-clicking on it in the project tree and
selecting View Object.
Each evaluation will appear in the list of block model evaluations:

Any Attributes generated along with the estimator can also be displayed evaluated on the
blocks:

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Validation and Reporting

Leapfrog Geo provides tools to validate the resource estimation models and report the results.
Block estimation interrogation is used to inspect the resource estimate results. Grade tonnage
graphs, swath plots and resource reports add additional insights and provide the basis for visual
assets for inclusion in reporting documents.
See:
l Block Estimate Interrogation
l Grade Tonnage Graphs
l Swath Plots
l Resource Reports

Block Estimate Interrogation

The features described in this topic are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

It is good practise to check the estimates produced for blocks, inspecting the data used to create
the estimate. The block estimate interrogator exposes the data used to produce an estimate.
Right-click on a block model in the project tree and select Interrogate Estimator.

The Block Model Interrogation window will open as a dockable tab, showing the input data
used in producing the estimates and other results. Additionally, in the scene view, the block
details window will display inside the scene, containing properties for the currently selected block.
These are primarily result properties.
Use the filter selector ( ) to see all the Found data points in the block estimate interrogator
table, or only the data points Included in the estimate, or only the data points that are Clamped.
The Clamped option will only be present if Outlier Restrictions are being used by the
estimator.

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You can change the Estimator to select between the inverse distance and Kriging estimators
evaluated on the block model. Other estimators are not supported by the block model
interrogation feature.
Click the Open Estimator button to inspect the estimator used in the estimate. This will open in
a new window.
View Ellipsoid will display the search ellipsoid in the scene. If Octant Search or Quadrant
Search is not used in the estimator, the axial planes of the ellipsoid are shaded, which helps to
visualise the 3-dimensional shape of the ellipsoid as well as it’s orientation. If Octant Search or
Quadrant Search is being used, the planes that divide the ellipsoid into sectors are shown as an
aid to understanding the sector search areas.
Click a block in the scene or set the Block Index Definition X, Y and Z coordinates to select a
specific block.

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Enable Filter block model to see only the selected block in the scene, which will reduce the
visual noise of all the other blocks. This will help you see the associated data points and the search
ellipsoid in relation to the selected block:

In the block estimate table, you will see all the input data columns for each data point. Data points
can been hidden or made visible in the scene using the visibility button ( ).

Block information is shown in the bottom left corner of the Block Model Interrogation
window, so it is not necessary to refer back to the scene and select the block information for the
appropriate block.

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In the Weights column, negative values are highlighted in red to make them easier to see.

If Octant Search or Quadrant Search is being used within an estimator, points within the
search ellipsoid can be coloured according to their search sector. Select the Sector option from
the view list in the point value properties.

The block estimate interrogator table data can be exported for use in other programs such as
Microsoft Excel. Click the Export button to save a CSV file, which will include the table data and
the search statistics (found, clamped, included, equidistant, duplicates, etc) and the block
information (index, centroid, Kriging attributes, etc). Click the Copy button to put a copy of the
table data on the operating system clipboard, and you can then paste it into another program.

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Grade Tonnage Graphs

The features described in this topic are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

A grade tonnage curve combines two or three equations together to produce one of the more
important tools for analysing the data indicating the potential amount of material obtained when
varying the cut-off grade applied.
Leapfrog Geo can display multiple grade tonnage curves on one graph.
To create a grade tonnage graph, right click on a block model and select New Grade Tonnage
Graph:

A new Grade Tonnage window will open:

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You can select a Block Filter query by choosing a filter from the Query Filter list. To add a new
filter to this list, create a new filter in Calculations. See Filters and the subsequent sections in
Defining Calculations and Filters for more information.

There are several Tonnage Calculation settings.

Select between the Block size is in metres and Block size is in feet options, as appropriate
for your data.
The Density can be set to a specified Constant, or one of the numerical data columns in the
data can be selected, perhaps to provide a calculated density for each block.
Select the Density unit as appropriate. The options are: g/cm3, t/m3, lb/ft3, sh. ton/ft3,
ft3/sh. ton.

Tick the Display as % of total tonnage checkbox to view as a percentage instead of a

measure. This only changes the scale on the chart; exported data is not modified.
Select the desired Grade unit for the Grade Calculation.

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Multiple grade tonnage Curves can be added. Initially there are none listed. Click the Add button
to add a new curve. Provide an identifying Name for the curve, and select the Grade calculation
from the list of numeric columns in the data. If you need to write a grade calculation, you can add
it as a numeric calculation in Calculations. See Numeric Calculations and the subsequent
sections in Defining Calculations and Filters for more detail.

The Metal unit field does not change any aspect of the grade tonnage chart. It selects the metal
unit that will be exported with the grade tonnage calculation data when Copy Data is selected.

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Once a curve is selected, a graph will be generated, using the automatic Cut-off Limits. You
can manually override these by unticking Automatic X axis limits and specifying your
preferred minimum and maximum X limits, and/or by unticking Automatic step size and
specifying a preferred Step size.

You can click the Add button under Curves to add more grade tonnage curves to the graph.

Provide a Name for the grade tonnage graph in the window’s toolbar.

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The Export button in the window’s toolbar saves the current grade tonnage graph as a PDF file.
You will be asked to provide a file name and storage location for the new PDF file.
The Copy button provides two additional ways to export grade tonnage graph information:
l The Copy Graph Image will put an image on the operating system clipboard at the selected
quality: Screen Quality, Medium Quality, 300 dpi, or High Quality, 600 dpi.
l The Copy Data option will put CSV data on the operating system clipboard.
The objects on the clipboard can then be pasted into other applications you are using, such as
Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint.

Swath Plots

The features described in this topic are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

Swath plots are an important validation tool for providing comparisons between sample points
(composited or uncomposited) and estimated values to identify any bias towards under-
estimation or over-estimation or any smoothing in the results. The effect of different estimation
methods and parameters can also be compared.
The swath plot is a one-dimensional graph in a specific direction of interest. A swath is a sectional
slice through the block model with a specified thickness. The swath plot shows the average
values for the blocks in the swath, along with the averaged sample values in the swath.
To create a swath plot, right-click on a block model and select New Swath Plot:

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A new Swath window will open:

Click Select Numeric Items to add data sets to the plot. You can select individual items from
the list of Available Numeric Items or you can select a parent object to select all the child
items within it. Click the right arrow button to move the selected items into the Selected
Numeric Items list:

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The graph plots the averaged sampled values against the averaged block values for a series of
swaths slicing through the block model in a selected direction. The Swath size can be altered for
finer or more coarse slices. The Scene view overlays a bounding cuboid that shows the Swath
size and direction:

Changing the swath direction to Swath in Y is reflected in the scene:

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The Index filter can be used to graph a reduced set of the swaths. Either the minimum or
maximum threshold for the Index filter can be dragged to change the width of the filter, and the
selected portion can be changed by sliding the inner bar. The swath indicator widget in the Scene
is updated to show what the Swath plot is depicting:

Selected data sets in the chart can be hidden or revealed by clicking the line segment visibility
button ( ) next to the data set. The histogram visibility button ( ) will reveal or hide a histogram
showing the volume of blocks used in the swath calculation. The block volume may not be
identical for all estimators.

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The colour for the line segment plots and histograms can be changed for each data set by clicking
the colour chip, and selecting a new colour from the colour picker:

Selecting an evaluation will show an Associated Values panel. This provides options to set the
visibility and colour preference for the evaluation's raw data values and declustered values for the
evaluation's input data. Declustered values will only be shown as an associated value if a
declustering object has been added to the domained estimation.

Changes you make to swath plots are preserved. Multiple swath plots can be created to show
different points for analysis and reference.
You can export the graph for use in external reports and other documents. There are three
options:

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l The Export button saves a PDF, SVG or PNG file of the graph.
l The Copy button opens a menu to offer the options of copying a image of the graph to the
Windows clipboard, or copying the graph data as CSV data to the Windows clipboard, where
they can be pasted into another application. It also allows you to select the resolution of a
copied image: a low resolution Screen Image, a Medium Quality, 300 dpi image, or a High
Quality, 600 dpi image. Choose your preferred resolution before selecting Copy Graph
Image.

Resource Reports

The features described in this topic are only available if you have the Leapfrog Edge extension.

The resource report is a pivot table for reporting on resources and reserves in accordance with
standards, with the freedom to customise the table to the unique needs of the project
requirements. A resource report can display multiple categories and multiple numeric columns.
To create or view a resource report, right-click on a block model in the project tree and select
Report. In the window that appears, click the Select Columns button to choose from the
Category colums and Value columns evaluated onto the block model. If you wish to set a
Cut-off value, select from any numeric column evaluated on the block model and set the cut-off
value. The column selected for the Cut-off does not need to be a column included in the
resource report. You can also apply a Filter to the report.
Select between Block size in metres and Block size in feet to ensure units are correctly
converted. Select Constant value from the list of Density options and specify a numeric
constant, or select a density data measurement from the numeric columns listed. Specify the
appropriate Density unit to match the Density selection.

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You can also choose to Show material content columns, Show empty rows, Show volume
column and Show density column.

If you have an estimator that produces outside, blank, without_value or error statuses for
blocks, these will result in #Invalid entries in the resource report table. To address this:
l Create a filter (or modify your existing filter) to discard blocks with an invalid status, and
select this filter in the Filter field above the resource report table, or
l Create a calculation that sets invalid values to an appropriate acceptable value, and select
this column instead.

Click on a column to customise how the information is displayed. You can change the column title
by editing the Heading field.

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Enabling Show total will add a category row called Total with a summation for the categories.
Any row that is a summation of categories will appear in bold in the table. It is possible to get a
sub-total of some of the categories by grouping them, and these will also be shown in bold. To
group categories, select multiple items in the Visible categories list by holding down the Ctrl
key as you click the mouse. Click the Group button to add the new category.

Note that some of the Visible categories can be unticked to hide them; these hidden
categories can still be included in a grouped category:

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Select a category and click the up or down buttons to reorder them in the list. Delete a grouped
category by selecting it and clicking the Delete button ( ).

If there are multiple category columns, these can be reordered to select one as the primary
categorisation, with the others shown as sub-categories. Click anywhere in a category column
and drag it to a new location. While you hold down the mouse button, a vertical bar will appear
where the column will be inserted:

When Average Value columns are selected, it is possible to change:

l The Heading
l The Data unit
l The Display unit to use in the table, which may be the Same as data or some other unit to
convert to
l The number of Decimal places to display in the table

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Data unit has the options Unknown, Grams per tonne, Parts per million, Parts per billion,
Percent, Troy ounces per short ton, Dollars per tonne, Dollars per short ton,
Milligrams per kilogram, Micrograms per kilogram, Milligrams per gram and
Micrograms per gram. The Data unit may be automatically set based on indicators in the
selected column name, but must be checked for correctness. Make sure that the column data
matches the Data unit selected. Note that "dollars" is used as a general term to refer to
whichever currency you are using.
When Dollars per tonne or Dollars per short ton are selected as the Data unit, the Display
unit option is not selectable, and must be Same as data.
Material Content columns can have the Heading changed, as well as the column’s Unit and
Decimal places.

The Report tab has Export and Copy options for making use of the resource report in external
documents.
l Select Export to save the table as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, a CSV file, or an HTML file.
Formatting is preserved in the spreadsheet and HTML file so the table will be arranged
identically to the report in Leapfrog Geo. CSV files do not contain formatted data. If you select
CSV, you will also be asked if you would like to use the Rounded numbers used in the table,
or Full precision numbers. You can also select between ASCII characters only and Allow
all characters, with UTF-8 encoding, as required by the software you are exporting to.
l If you select Copy, then Copy Table, the table is copied to the operating system clipboard,
and you can paste it into another application such as Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word.

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Formatting is preserved so the table will be arranged identically to the report in Leapfrog Geo
and only the column and row sizes need to be adjusted to your preferences.
Reports you create appear in the Graphs and Tables section under the relevant block model. To
delete a report, right-click the report and select Delete from the context menu.

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Presentation
Leapfrog Geo has a number of tools for displaying and presenting data for use in reports and
presentations.
l Share models and data to View, a web-based model sharing platform that allows you to
visualise 3D models and share them with collaborators. See Uploading to View.
l Create and export cross sections, fence sections and serial sections. See Sections.
l Create and export contours. See Contour Lines.
l Render and save images for use outside of Leapfrog Geo. See Rendered Images.
l Save scenes that demonstrate different aspects of the model and the model-building process.
These scenes can then be saved as a movie or as a scene file that can be opened in Leapfrog
Viewer. See Saved Scenes.
See Visualising Data for information about the tools available in Leapfrog Geo for changing how
data is displayed.

Uploading to View
View is a web-based model sharing platform. You can upload Leapfrog Geo data to View, visualise
the data and organise it into slides. You can also share views with collaborators, all in your web
browser, with data saved securely to the cloud. All your collaborators need is a My Seequent ID; a
Leapfrog Geo entitlement is not required.
There are two workflows for uploading data from Leapfrog Geo to View, uploading the data
currently displayed in the 3D scene and uploading saved scenes. Both techniques are described
below, but first it is important to understand how View handles data objects uploaded from
Leapfrog Geo.

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In this Leapfrog Geo scene, we have a number of data objects, including a topography, drilling
data, a geological model and its contact surfaces, plus grade shells from a numeric model. Data is
sliced.

In View, all elements from the Leapfrog Geo scene are displayed in the initial view, which is
unsliced. View’s slice tool is similar to the slicer in Leapfrog Geo, and you can also rotate, pan and
zoom the view and measure elements.
With the Elements list, you can select which objects to display and how they are displayed:

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Once you have set up a view, save it as a slide. In this way, you can organise your data to tell a
story and invite feedback from collaborators.

If you have permission to edit the view, you can add feedback and annotations and can create
new slides:

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To learn more about using View, visit view.seequent.com, where you can explore the View gallery
and see what’s possible:

The rest of this topic describes:

l Signing in to View
l Uploading to View
l Troubleshooting Connectivity Issues

Signing in to View
Signing in to My Seequent via the Seequent ID menu also signs you in to View.
To enable uploading to View, click on the Leapfrog Geo menu and then on Settings > User
Interface. Tick the box for Show View upload. The View button ( ) will be displayed in the
Scene View toolbar.

Uploading to View
There are two options for uploading to View:
l Uploading the current 3D view
l Uploading saved scenes

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When selecting the data you will upload to View, think about the slides you wish to make in View.

Uploading the 3D View

The first option for uploading to View is to upload some or all of the objects in the 3D scene. To do
this, click the View button ( ) in the toolbar:

A list of the objects currently in the scene is displayed, along with information about the upload
size for each object. Objects that are visible in the scene will automatically be selected, whereas
any hidden objects will appear in the list but will not be selected.

If an object in the scene does not appear in the list, it is because the upload of that type of
object to View is not supported at this time.

The maximum number of objects and the maximum amount of data that can be uploaded are
displayed in the window, so if your scene contains large objects or too many objects, you can
select which ones you wish to upload.

When uploading category data columns to View, there is a limit to how many unique codes can
be uploaded. If your category data is displaying more than 250 unique codes, consider
simplifying your data before uploading to View.

Once you have chosen which objects you want to upload and entered information about the
view, click the Upload button.

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Upload progress is shown in the notifications menu:

When the upload is complete, a link to View will be displayed in the notification list:

Notifications persist for the duration of your Leapfrog Geo session; all notifications are cleared
when you exit Leapfrog Geo.

Uploading Saved Scenes

To upload one of the scenes in the Saved Scenes and Movies folder, right-click on the scene
and select Upload to View. The process is the same as described in Uploading the 3D View
above.

Troubleshooting Connectivity Issues

Leapfrog Start checks to see if your network will support the connection of Leapfrog web-based
services to your desktop applications. If you are having trouble with your connection to View, see
Checking Connectivity with Leapfrog Start.

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Sections
There are three types of sections in Leapfrog Geo:
l A typical cross section is a vertical plane with an image or geologic cross section applied to it.
In Leapfrog Geo, this type of cross section can be created directly in the scene, from the slicer
or from an imported image.
l A fence section deviates. In Leapfrog Geo, a fence section can be created from a polyline
drawn in the scene or from any line object in the project.
l A serial section is a series of typical cross sections taken at an offset from a single base
section.

Evaluating on Sections
Different objects in the project can be evaluated on sections, as described in Evaluations. Such
objects include:
l Geological models
l Numeric models
l Distance functions
l Surfaces
l GIS lines
l Polylines
l Combined models
When evaluating objects on sections, you can limit the evaluation to the section extents. To do
this, enable the Clip evaluations to section extents option when selecting what objects you
are evaluating.
Block models can be evaluated on cross sections but not on serial sections and fence sections.
Objects evaluated on sections can be included when the section is exported.

Exporting Sections
Sections can be exported in the following formats:
l DXF Files (11/12 [AC1009]) (*.dxf)
l Drawing Files (2013/LT2013) (*.dwg)
l Bentley Drawing Files (v8) (*.dgn)
Exporting a section as a DXF file (*.dxf) exports a series of DXF lines created from the
intersection of the evaluation volumes and the section plane. The lines generated from each
volume are saved as separate layers in the file.
For serial sections, the section will be exported in a single file with a collection of DXF lines based
on intersections between the selected evaluation and the section planes.

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To export a section in one of these formats, right-click on the section in the project tree and
select Export. In the window that appears, select the evaluations you wish to export with the
section:

The 2D Analysis tab contains two options, Flatten to 2D and Simplify.

When you enable the Flatten to 2D option, the section will be flattened into the X-Y plane,
making Z uniform across the section. You can change the origin, if required. The Flatten to 2D
export option is available for:
l Regular cross sections
l Cross sections created from images
l Child sections of serial sections
The Simplify option is useful when the file is being exported for use in finite element slope
stability packages. Enabling Simplify evens out the node spacing for model and line evaluations
by setting a minimum allowable distance between nodes. Increasing the Minimum spacing
setting reduces the number of nodes included but can result in loss of detail.
Enter a filename and location, then click Save.

Exporting Section Layouts

Another way to export a section is to create a section layout and then export it as a PDF file
(*.pdf), Scalable Vector Graphics file (*.svg), PNG image (*.png) or GeoTIFF (*.tiff, *.tif). This
option is more flexible than exporting the section as a DXF file as you have more control over the
section layout. You can customise the page layout and include multiple evaluations and
annotations. For typical cross sections and serial sections, you can also display drillholes and
planned drillholes. See the Section Layouts topic for information in using the section editor.

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Once you have finished adjusting the section layout, you can export it in one of the following
formats:
l PDF Files (*.pdf)
l Scalable Vector Graphics Files (*.svg)
l PNG Image Files (*.png)
l GeoTIFF Files (*.tiff, *.tif)
Click the Save and Export button ( ) at the top of the window. You will be prompted for a
filename and location.
For serial sections, you can batch export multiple section layouts.All selected sections can be
exported as a single PDF or individually in PDF file (*.pdf), Scalable Vector Graphics file (*.svg),
PNG image (*.png) or GeoTIFF (*.tiff, *.tif) formats. When section layouts are exported
individually, all outputs can be combined into a zip archive. To do this, right-click on the Cross
Sections and Contours folder and select Batch Export Layouts.
In the window that appears, selection the layouts you wish to export, then select a format. If you
select a format other than Single PDF, you can combine all outputs into a zip archive. Select
where you wish to save the outputs, then click Export. Progress will be displayed at the top of
the Batch Export Section Layouts window:

Creating Cross Sections

To create a cross section in the scene, add a model to the scene. Next, right-click on the Cross
Sections and Contours folder and select New Cross Section. The New Cross Section
window will appear, together with a section plane and controls in the scene that let you adjust the
position of the section plane:

If the slicer is already in the scene when you select New Cross Section, the position of the
slicer will be used to define the initial orientation of the section. This is an effective way of

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creating a section from the slicer: add the model to the scene, draw a slice and then create a
cross section.

The front (F) and back (B) of the section plane is indicated in the scene. To swap the front and
back, click the Swap Front button ( ).
Use the handles in the scene to position the section plane. The handles work in the same manner
as the moving plane controls, as described in The Moving Plane.
Two buttons in the New Cross Section window let you create a cross section that is aligned
north-to-south ( ) or east-to-west ( ):

The other two buttons are active when the slicer is in the scene. Clicking the Set section to
slicer button ( ) creates a cross section from the position of the slicer in the scene. When the
Lock section to slicer button ( ) is enabled, moving the position of the slicer will update the
position of the cross section in the New Cross Section window.
Once the section plane is positioned as required, click OK to create the new cross section, which
will appear in the Cross Sections and Contours folder. Display it by clearing the scene, then
adding the cross section to the scene.
Many objects in a project can be evaluated on cross sections, as described in Evaluations. Such
objects include:
l Geological models
l Interpolants
l Distance functions
l Surfaces
l GIS lines
l Polylines
Objects evaluated on a cross section or fence section can be included when the section is
exported.

Importing Cross Sections

See Importing a Map or Image for more information on importing images into Leapfrog Geo.

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Leapfrog Geo supports the following file formats for creating cross sections:
l PNG files (*.png)
l JPEG files (*.jpg, *.jpeg)
l TIFF and GeoTIFF files (*.tiff, *.tif)
l Windows Bitmap files (*.bmp)
l Graphics Interchange Format files (*.gif)
As with other images imported into Leapfrog Geo, you can import a single cross section image or
multiple images.
To import a single cross section image, right-click on the Cross Sections and Contours folder
and select New Cross Section From Image. Navigate to the folder that contains the image,
select the file and click Open.
l If the image contains georeference data, it will be imported into the Cross Sections and
Contours folder.
l If the image does not contain georeference data, the New Cross Section From Image
window will be opened so you can add the georeference data. See Manually Georeferencing
Images. Once you have georeferenced the image, click Import. The image will be imported
into the Cross Sections and Contours folder.
There are two ways to import multiple cross section images:
l Right-click on the Cross Sections and Contours folder and select New Cross Section
From Image. Navigate to the folder that contains the files you wish to import. Select the
images and click Open. The images will be imported and added to the Cross Sections and
Contours folder.
l In the File Explorer, select all the files you wish to import. Drag and drop them into the Cross
Sections and Contours folder in Leapfrog Geo.
All images will be imported and added to the Cross Sections and Contours folder. If an image
does not contain georeference data, you will need to open the image and add the information
manually, as described in Manually Georeferencing Images.
Once you have created a cross section, you can edit it or use it to evaluate geological models,
interpolants, distance functions and surfaces. See Evaluations.

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Fence Sections
You can draw a polyline or use any existing line object in the project to create a cross section that
deviates. To do this, right-click on the Cross Sections and Contours folder and select New
Fence Section. The New Fence Section window will be displayed:

You can draw the polyline in the scene directly by selecting the New Polyline option. You can
also use any polyline in the project by selecting the Existing Polyline option.

Only GIS lines, polylines imported into Leapfrog Geo or polylines created using the straight line
drawing tool can be used to create fence sections.

Click OK to create the fence section. If you chose to create a New Polyline, the drawing
controls will appear in the scene and you can begin drawing, as described in Drawing in the Scene.
The fence section will appear under the Cross Sections and Contours folder and you can edit
it by double-clicking on it. You can also use it to evaluate different objects in the project, as
described in Evaluations. Such objects include:
l Geological models
l Interpolants
l Distance functions
l Surfaces
l GIS lines
l Polylines

If you create a section layout for a fence section, you can include multiple evaluations and
annotations on the section layout. See Section Layouts.

Serial Sections
This topic describes the process of creating a serial section, which is a series of cross sections
taken at an offset from a single base section. The topic is divided into:
l Setting the Base Section
l Setting the Offset Sections

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l The Serial Section in the Project Tree

l Displaying a Serial Section
l Exporting a Serial Section
To create a serial section, add a model to the scene. Next, right-click on the Cross Sections
and Contours folder and select New Serial Section. The New Serial Section window will
appear and planes representing the base section and the offset sections will be added to the
scene:

If the slicer is already in the scene when you select New Serial Section, the position of the
slicer will be used to define the initial orientation of the base section.

Setting the Base Section

The handles in the scene control the position of the base section and work in the same manner as
the moving plane controls (see The Moving Plane).
The front (F) and back (B) of the base section plane are indicated in the scene. To swap the front
and back, click the Swap Front button ( ).

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Two buttons in the New Serial Section window let you create a base section that is aligned
north-to-south ( ) or east-to-west ( ). The other two buttons are active when the slicer is in
the scene. Clicking the Set section to slicer button ( ) creates a cross section from the
position of the slicer in the scene. When the Lock section to slicer button ( ) is enabled,
moving the position of the slicer will update the position of the cross section in the New Serial
Section window.

Setting the Offset Sections

The number of offset sections is determined by the value of the Spacing setting and the Front
and Back Extents:

You can change the number of offset sections by:

l Changing the Spacing setting. The number of offset sections will be recalculated and
updated in the scene.
l Changing the Front or Back settings. For example, increasing the Front setting adds an
offset section on the front of the base section, increasing the extents by the value of
Spacing.
l Changing the object used to define the extents. Select an object from the Enclose Object
list. The base section will be moved to the centre of the selected object.

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The Serial Section in the Project Tree

Click OK to create the section. In the project tree, the serial section includes the individual cross
sections:

Many objects in a project can be evaluated on serial sections, as described in Evaluations. Such
objects include:
l Geological models
l Interpolants
l Distance functions
l Surfaces
l GIS lines
l Polylines

Displaying a Serial Section

When you display a serial section in the scene, you can add the slicer to the scene and use it to
move easily between the sections in the stack. To do this, click on the slicer in the shape list, then
select the base section from the Set to list:

Next, set the Step size to the Spacing setting used to create the section. You can then use the
< and > keys to view each individual cross section.

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Exporting a Serial Section

The options for exporting serial sections differ for the section itself and the offset sections:
l A serial section cannot be used to create a section layout. When exported as a DXF file, the
serial section will be exported in a single file with a collection of DXF lines based on
intersections between the selected evaluation and the section planes.
l The offset sections that make up a serial section can be exported in DXF format or as a
section layout. See Exporting Sections and Section Layouts for more information.

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Section Layouts
With the Section Layout Editor, you can create a section layout for an existing section and
then export the section. You can customise the section layout by:
l Adding models, surfaces and lines the section has been evaluated against
l Adding drillholes and planned drillholes
l Changing the page size, orientation and margins
l Adding titles, a scale bar, legends, annotations and images, such as a standard form or logo
The appearance of all objects can be customised without changing how objects from the project
tree are displayed in the scene.
Section layouts can be displayed in the scene by dragging a layout into the scene:

Some sections will be too large to display in the scene, which will be indicated in the section
layout editor.

Displaying section layouts in the scene is useful when you are editing a section layout and wish to
see the effect of changes. Detach the section layout tab from the main window and position it
adjacent to the scene window. Periodically save your changes to the section layout to see the
effects of those changes in the scene.
This topic describes how to work with section layouts. It is divided into:
l Setting Up the Section
l Creating New Section Layouts
l Copying Section Layouts
l Working With the Section Layout Editor

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l Changing Page Properties

l Changing the Basic Section Properties
l Organising Objects on the Section
l Setting Up the Legend
l Adding and Organising Annotations

Setting Up the Section

Once you have created a section but before you start creating the section layout, take the
following steps.
1. Check the section’s extents and orientation.
The initial dimensions of the section on the page are determined by the size of the section plane,
and its orientation on the page is determined by the front (F) and back (B) faces of the section
plane. Here, the front and back faces of the section have been swapped, which results in the
section displayed on the page being flipped:

2. Check that the section has been evaluated against objects you wish to display on the page.
To do this, right-click on the section in the project tree and select Evaluations or Evaluate
Surface.
3. Add planned drillholes to the project.
Planned drillholes can be displayed on the section, but these must be defined before you start the
process of laying out the section.

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Creating New Section Layouts

To create a new section layout, right-click on an existing section in the project tree and select
New Section Layout. The New Section Layout window will appear, together with the
Section Layout Editor:

The settings in the New Section Layout window determine the basic section layout:
l The Scale settings determine the scale used to display the section on the page. If you want a
specific page size, select Fit to Page to set a scale that best fits the page width. You will be
able to change the page margins once you have closed the New Section Layout window.
l The Page Properties settings determine the page size and orientation. If you wish to use a
specific Scale, select the Orientation required, then click Fit to Section to choose the best
page size.
l For Evaluations, select from the models, surfaces and lines the section has been evaluated
against. When you select an evaluation, it will be added to the preview.
l For Extents, choose whether to use the Section Extents or Evaluation Extents. If you
wish to use the extents from a model evaluation, add only that model to the Models,
Surfaces or Lines list, then select the Evaluation Extents option. Once you have closed
this window, you will be able to add further models, surfaces and lines using the section layout
editor.

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As you change settings and add objects to the section, the preview in the Section Layout
Editor window will be updated. All settings in the New Section Layout window can be changed
once the layout has been created.
Click OK to close the New Section Layout window. You can then make further changes to the
page layout in the Section Layout Editor. See Working With the Section Layout Editor.

Copying Section Layouts

If you have already created a section layout and wish to reuse it, you can copy it to other
sections.
Copying a section layout copies the evaluations used in the original section layout, together with
the page size and orientation and the position of the Layout Tree objects on the page. How
models, surfaces and drillholes are copied depends on the section to which the layout is being
copied:
l All models and surfaces that can be displayed on the section will be copied.
l The drillholes copied to the layout will depend on the type of section the layout is being copied
from and whether or not a filter is set for the layout:
o If no distance filter was set for the original layout, all drillholes selected for the original
layout will be copied.
o If a distance filter was applied to the original section, the filter will be applied and drillholes
selected that are within that distance of the section to which the layout is being copied.
o When the original layout is from a fence section, drillhole evaluations will not be copied with
the section layout.

To copy a layout, right-click on the layout you wish to copy and select Copy Layout To. In the
window that appears, a summary of the information that will be copied is displayed so you can
see what information will be copied to the selected sections. Move the sections you wish to copy
the layout to into the Selected Sections list, then click OK. A copy of the layout will appear in
the project tree under each section you selected. The layout copies are not linked to the original
layout and so will not be updated when the original is updated.

Copying section layouts to multiple sections can result in numerous section layouts in a
project, which can be difficult to work with. The recommended workflow for creating a
section layout that you intend to make multiple copies of is to first get the layout right on one
section before copying it to other sections.

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Working With the Section Layout Editor

In Section Layout Editor, the Layout Tree shows the different layers that can be added to
the page. The different parts of the Layout Tree as they relate to the page preview are shown
below:

When you select an object in the layout tree, it will be highlighted by a blue line on the page. In the
example above, the Section object is selected.
Click on an object in the page preview to move or resize it. This will also select the object in the
Layout Tree and you can see what properties can be changed. For example, in the preview, click
on the Title to view its styling options:

Text displayed in the section layout is controlled by a style sheet that can be accessed whenever
you are editing a text object. For example, clicking on Edit Styles for the Title opens the list of

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Text Styles with the Title selected, but also allows you to change the appearance of styles
used for other text objects visible in the preview:

Changing Page Properties

In the Layout Tree, click on Page to change the Page Size, Orientation and Margins:

If you wish to use a specific Scale, select the Orientation required, then click Fit to Section to
choose the best page size.

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Changing the Basic Section Properties

To change the section layout’s basic properties, click on the Section object in the Layout Tree.
In the Section tab, you can change the scale and units used in the layout and the amount of
Vertical Exaggeration:

For the Scale, you can enter a specific value to use in displaying the section on the page, or, if
you want a specific page size, select Fit to Page to set a scale that best fits the page width.

If you want to change the page size and the margins used, click on the Page object.

To change the size of the section contents (models, drillholes, surfaces and lines) on the page,
click on the Extents tab:

For Extents, choose whether to use the Section Extents or Evaluation Extents.

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You may wish to add more space above the section, especially if you will be adding drillholes to
the section and need extra space for the collar labels. To do this, change the Additional sky
setting. These images show the effects of two different Additional sky settings:

Enable Show end point labels to display the section’s end points as text:

Click Options to change how the end points are displayed relative to the section’s axes. There
are two options that control where the end points are displayed, Points above and Points
aligned inside. The Points above setting determines whether the end points are displayed
above or beneath the axes. Note here the difference between Points above being disabled and
enabled:

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The Points aligned inside setting determines whether the end points are displayed inside or
outside the section’s axes:

You can also change the spacing between the end point labels and the section axes.
Edit the text used to display the end points by enabling the Edit box and then changing the text.
You can edit the style used for displaying the labels by clicking Edit Styles to change the style or
by selecting a different style from the dropdown list.

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To change how the axes are displayed, click on the either the X-Axis tab or the Y-Axis tab. One
of the options available for the axes is how much information is displayed for the Real World
Coordinates on each axis:

You can also change how Grid Lines are displayed, including the Line style, Line width,
Pattern scale and colour. A Preview is displayed and the grid lines are updated in the section
preview.

By default, the axes are displayed only on the left-hand side and along the bottom of the section.
To display axes along the right-hand side and above the section, tick the Secondary option.

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For the Ticks, Leapfrog Geo automatically calculates an Initial Value:

If you wish to change this, disable Auto and enter the required value.
If you wish to set an X-axis Start Value other than 0, you must first disable the Real World
Coordinates option:

Edit the style used for displaying the axis labels by clicking Edit Styles to change the style or by
selecting a different style from the dropdown list.

Organising Objects on the Section

The folders below the Section object are used to add and organise models, drillholes, surfaces
and lines and to customise how they are displayed:

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If you selected models, surfaces and lines when you created the section, they will appear in one
of these folders. You can add new objects by right-clicking on a folder and selecting an Add
option:

l For the Add Model, Add Surface and Add Line options, you will be able to choose from the
objects that have been evaluated on the section. See Evaluating on Sections for more
information.
l For the Drillholes folder, there are two options, Add Drillholes and Add Planned
Drillholes. For both options, you can choose from the drillholes and planned drillholes available
in the project; it is not necessary to evaluate these onto the section before you can add them
to the layout.
Models, drillholes, surfaces and lines occupy the same space on the section layout, and opacity
settings and an object’s position among the layers can be used changed to emphasise relevant
information. To change the order of objects on the page, right-click on them and select an option:

Models will always be among the lower layers, with lines on top of all the other layers.
You can remove objects from the layout by right-clicking on them and selecting Delete.
To change the opacity of an object, click on it, then adjust the object’s Opacity using the slider:

Adding and Styling Models

The Models folder contains all models that have been added to the section layout. To add
another model, first make sure it has been evaluated on the section, then right-click on the
Models folder and select Add Model. Select from those available and click OK.

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When you display multiple models on the section, you can end up with a large number of objects
that obscure the information you want to emphasise. You can:
l Use the Opacity setting for each model to expose and emphasise information.
l Right-click on the models to move them up or down in the layer hierarchy.
l For geological models, numeric models and combined models, expand the model in the Layout
Tree to change how each output volume is displayed. You can also hide some of the output
volumes.
l For flow models and block models, you can hide categories or filter the values used to display
the model.
If a geological model with an active fault system is added to the section layout, it will include a
Fault System that contains all the active faults in the model. Click on the Fault System to
control whether or not it is Visible and to set is Opacity:

Click on the individual faults to control how they are displayed:

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Edit the fault’s Description by enabling the Edit box and then changing the text. You can also
change how the fault is displayed, including the Line style, Line width, Pattern scale and
colour. You can also define a marker to display along the line by enabling Add marker and then
specifying a Symbol to use. A Preview is displayed and the fault will be updated in the section
preview:

For the volumes in the Output Volumes folder, line, border and swatch properties by clicking on
the volume in the Layout Tree and then changing their properties. Swatches for output volumes
can be displayed using a hatched fill. To do this, click on the volume, enable the Hatch option and
click on the sample to view the available patterns:

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A single line style is used to display a model’s output volumes. There is, however, a Highlight
option that can be enabled to make a volume of interest stand out from the other volumes:

Another way to emphasise a particular volume is to use the surfaces in the model’s Surfaces
folder. This folder contains a single surface for every contact with the section, rather than a
single surface for each contact surface in the model:

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It can result in a large number of surfaces to work with, but does provide you more control over
how these surfaces appear on the section layout. For example, here the outline of the GnD
volume can be shown in different styles (as with the D2 contact) or not at all (as with the Dike
contacts):

You can display a contact surface on a section layout as a surface evaluation, but you can have
only one line style and you don’t have control over what parts of the surface are displayed. For
example, you cannot hide the surface where it is intersected by the dike:

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Flow models and block models appear in the Models folder as a single object. They can be
displayed using a flat colour or any of the Colouring options available for the model:

Click Options to change the colours used to display the model:

l For category evaluations, you can change what categories are visible and the colours used to
display them.
l For numeric evaluations, you can filter values and use a different colourmap.
For example, here, a MODFLOW model is displayed using the Colouring from an evaluated
geological model:

The colours used to display categories cannot be changed in the Block Colouring Legend as
they are the colours used by the evaluated model itself. You can, however, hide some categories
so they are not displayed on the section layout.

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Here, the MODFLOW model is displayed using the Colouring from an evaluated numeric model:

You can change the Colourmap used to display the model on the section and you can filter the
values displayed.

If a block model or flow model is too big for the section layout, changing the section extents or
the section layout extents will effectively “crop” the model and make it small enough to
display on the section layout. There are two ways to do this:
l Change the section layout extents by clicking on Section in the Layout Tree, then
clicking on the Extents tab. If Extents is set to Evaluation Extents, change it to
Section Extents.
l Change the size of the section by double-clicking on it in the project tree and then editing
its dimensions in the scene.

Adding Styling Drillholes and Planned Drillholes

The Drillholes folder contains all drillholes and planned drillholes that have been added to the
section layout. Up to three columns of data can be displayed, and numeric data can be displayed
as a graph.
To add drillholes to the section, right-click on the Drillholes object and select either Add
Drillholes or Add Planned Drillholes.
For adding drillholes, you will be prompted to select the interval table to display.

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For both drillholes and planned drillholes, you can filter the drillholes based on a minimum distance
from the section plane:

This is the minimum distance to any point on each drillhole trace.

If you tick the Clip geometry to filter distance option, only parts of the drillhole within the
filter distance will be included in the section layout. Select the required drillholes and click OK.

When drillholes and planned drillholes are added to a curved section, a projection is made based
on the locations of neighbouring segments of the section, using the bisectors of the angles
between each segment and its neighbour. These determine the projection point of origin for a
given segment of the section. When drillholes are filtered by the distance to the section plane,
the distance is measured at 90 degrees from the section. Some drillholes may report a
distance that is greater than the specified minimum distance; if this is the case, it is because
the evaluation distance is relative to the projection origin.
On the inside of a tight corner, a single drillhole may be projected multiple times onto the
section. If this is the case, the multiple instances of the drillhole will appear in the boreholes list
and you can turn individual instances off, if required.
When a fence section is updated, drillhole evaluations are updated. If there are multiple
instances of a drillhole evaluation, how they appear on the section may change when the
section is updated:
l If all instances of a drillhole evaluation have been enabled, then all remain enabled when the
section is updated.
l If all instances of a drillhole evaluation have been disabled, then all will remain disabled when
the section is updated.
l If only some instances of a drillhole evaluation have been enabled, then all instances will be
enabled when the section is updated.
When a section layout is copied to another section from a fence section, drillhole evaluations
will not be copied with the section layout.

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You can have the following type of labels at different points along the drillhole trace: top labels,
intercept labels, bottom labels and depth markers. To hide or change the appearance of drillhole
labels, click on the drillhole table, then on the Points and labels tab. Click Options to change
how the labels are displayed. You can rotate labels and have a line connecting the label to the
collar:

You can also click on the labels in the layout and move them. Note that the label lines will only
appear once the drillhole label has been moved away from the collar.
If you want to return all labels to their default positions, click Reset Dragged Labels in the
Points and Labels > Label Options window.

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How drillholes are displayed is controlled by the Colourings settings in the Lines tab:

Click the Options button to display data (category data) or filter values (numeric data) on the
drillholes:

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Drillholes can be displayed using hatching patterns. In the Display style tab, tick the Hatched
option, then select from the patterns available:

For columns of numeric data, you can display data as a bar graph or line graph. These options are
available in the Display style tab. Here, data is displayed as a bar graph:

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Select a Max length that means that displayed data does not interfere with other drillholes or
data displayed on the section layout. This is especially useful when two graphs are displayed:

If you only want to plot a limited range of data, tick the Axis limit box and set the required range.
Displaying data with the logarithmic scale enabled may enhance differences in the values, and
negative values can be scaled.
The bar and line graph options are not available for the centre of the drillhole, although the solid
option can be used.

Adding and Styling Surfaces

The Surfaces folder contains all surfaces that have been added to the section layout. To add
another surface, first make sure it has been evaluated on the section, then right-click on the
Surfaces folder and select Add Surface. Select from those available and click OK.
Click on the surface in the Layout Tree to view styling options:

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Edit the text used to display the surface by enabling the Edit box and then changing the text. You
can change the Line style, Line width, Pattern scale and colour. You can also define a marker
to display along the line by enabling Add marker and then specifying a Symbol to use. A
Preview is displayed and the surface will be updated in the section preview.
You can see below how changes to the Line style, Symbol and Occurrence can be used to
indicate different conditions:

l Line style: Long dash l Line style: Solid line l Line style: Dotted
l Symbol: ? l Symbol: ? l Symbol: #
l Occurrence: 2 l Occurrence: 3 l Occurrence: 5

Adding and Styling Lines

The Lines folder contains all lines that have been added to the section layout. To add another line,
first make sure it has been evaluated on the section, then right-click on the Lines folder and
select Add Line. Select from those available and click OK.
Click on the line in the Layout Tree to view styling options, including the size, shape and colour
of the pierce point:

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Setting Up the Legend

The Legend Group and the individual legends underneath it control how the legend is displayed
on the page.

Click on the Legend Group object to change the layout of the legend as a whole:

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Columns can be laid out vertically or horizontally, and you can also change the swatch size and
gradient and add a Boundary box. For individual legends that have a large number of entries, you
may need to increase the number of rows. For example, for the combined model, the number of
rows has been increased to accommodate the number of entries in the legend:

When you have multiple models, surfaces, lines and drillholes on the section layout, you can end
up with a large number of entries in the Legend Group. How you hide a legend in the Legend
Group depends on the type of object. Objects displayed on the section layout appear in the
Legend Group as follows:
l Each model on the layout has an individual entry. Hide a model in the Legend Group by
clicking on the model’s entry and disabling the Visible option.

l Each geological model, numeric model and combined model has a Surfaces folder, which will
have its own entry in the Legend Group when at least one surface in that folder has been set
to Show in legend. The surfaces legend for a model itself can be hidden in the Legend
Group by clicking on the entry and disabling the Visible option:

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l Each drillhole column that appears on the section has an individual entry. Hide a column in the
Legend Group by clicking on the column’s entry and disabling the Visible option:

l Planned drillholes that appear on the section do not appear in the Legend Group.
l Surfaces in the Section > Surfaces folder appear in the Legend Group as a single entry.
Hide a surface in the Legend Group by clicking on the surface in the Surfaces folder and
disabling theShow in legend option:

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l Lines in the Section > Lines folder appear in the Legend Group as a single entry. Hide a line
in the Legend Group by clicking on the line in the Lines folder and disabling theShow in
legend option:

The order in which legends appear in the Legend Group is the order in which they appear in the
Layout Tree. To change the order in which the legends appear, right-click on them and select a
Move option.

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The colours, line widths, fills and hatches displayed in the Legend Group are controlled by the
objects themselves. For example, to change how a shell is displayed for the interpolant, click on
the output volume, under the Models object:

Adding and Organising Annotations

Once you have laid out the main Section object and organised the Legend Group, you can add
a number of different types of annotation to the layout, including a title, a title block, location
information and a scale bar, text boxes and imported images.

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Displaying a Title
The Title object formats the title displayed on the page. To move the title, click on it in the layout
preview. The text used for the Title is the name for the section in the project tree, but this can be
changed in the properties panel. Enable the Edit option, then edit the text in the box:

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You can display a line around the Title by enabling the Boundary box option. You can customise
the Line style, Line width, Pattern scale and colour of the box. A Preview is displayed and
the boundary is updated in the section preview.

Displaying a Title Block

When the Title Block is visible, a title block based on ISO 7200 is displayed on the layout:

To display the Title Block on the section, select it in the Layout Tree, then tick the Visible box.
In this panel, you can also change the styles used to display the information in the block.

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Displaying a Scale Bar and Location Information

There are a number of different styles available for the Scale Bar, and you can control its
Length, Partitions and Thickness:

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You can show the Scale Bar with or without labels, and labels can be shown all along the bar by
disabling the End Points Only option:

The Text options determine whether or not the scale and vertical exaggeration are shown on the
scale bar.
The Location object controls how location information is displayed:

You can include the Z coordinate, if required and change the number of decimal places used to
display coordinates.

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There is a Boundary box option for both the Scale Bar and the Location. You can customise
the Line style, Line width, Pattern scale and colour of the box. A Preview is displayed and
the boundary is updated in the section preview.

Text Boxes
With the Text Boxes object, you can add text boxes and arrows to highlight information and
details on the section:

There is a Show Outline option for the text box, and corners can be square or rounded. You can
customise the Line style, Line width, Pattern scale and colour of the outline. A Preview is
displayed and the text box is updated in the section preview.
Arrows are connected to text boxes, and so initially only text boxes can be added. Right-click on a
text box to add an arrow to it. When the Automatic anchoring option is enabled for an arrow,
the arrow’s anchor will move when its associated text box is moved:

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If this option is disabled, the arrow will move when you move the text box, but you will have to
place its anchor manually.

Images
If you wish to import an image such as a logo or map, right-click on the Images object and select
Add Image. Navigate to the folder that contains the image file and select the file. Click Open to
import the file, which will automatically be added to the section layout:

Move the image by clicking on it in the preview and dragging it. You can resize the image using the
controls in the preview.

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Rendered Images
Leapfrog Geo can render high-quality images that you can save on your computer in a format
that can be used in presentations and documents. To do this, click on the Render Image button
in the toolbar ( ) or click on the Leapfrog Geo menu and select Render Image. Leapfrog Geo
renders an image from the current scene window, then displays it in the Render Image window:

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If you are displaying multiple views in the scene, you can select which ones you want to render
from the Render View list:

Views that are open in tabs are also listed in the Render View list. However, the All (Multi
View) option only renders the split of views displayed in the Scene View tab.
Use the zoom tools to view the rendered image. You can change the image settings by:
l Selecting a new image size. To constrain the image’s proportions when changing size, tick the
Keep aspect box.
l Changing supersampling options to smooth jagged edges. Select the required option from the
list. The highest sampling option (4x4) will take longer to process than the lowest sampling
option or turning supersampling off.
l Viewing the image with or without overlays. See Overlay Settings for more information about
further customising the overlays displayed in the scene.
Click the Render button to update the image with the changed settings. Once you are satisfied
with the rendered image, click Save. You will be prompted to enter a filename and location.

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Background Rendering
You can keep the Render Image tab open while continuing to work in your project, which is
useful for rendering a series of images. To work in this way, dock the Render Image tab
adjacent to the scene window. When you have set up your scene, right-click on the Render
Image tab and choose one of the options:

The Render and Copy Image option will render a new image from the scene and copy it to the
clipboard.
The Render and Save Image option will render a new image and prompt you for a filename and
location.

Saved Scenes
A saved scene is a way of storing the shape list and settings so that the scene can be retrieved
later. Saved scenes are the basis of scene files exported to Leapfrog Viewer. Saved scenes are
also used in creating movies, which is described in the Movies topic.
This topic describes:
l Saving Scenes
l Exporting Scenes
l Linking to Scene Files
A saved scene is, in effect, a bookmark of a specific view of the project data. A saved scene does
not maintain an independent copy of the data in the project, and so if the data changes, then the
appearance of the scene will also change.
When a scene is saved, comments can be entered documenting what is in the scene. Saved
scenes provide a stable point of reference in a project and can explain important features of the

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project, which is especially useful for explaining features of a model to others using the project or
viewing scene files.

Saving Scenes
To save the current scene, right-click on the Saved Scenes and Movies folder and select Save
Current Scene. The Save Scene window will be displayed:

Enter a name and description for the scene and click OK. The scene will be saved and added to
the Saved Scenes and Movies folder.

When you save a scene, the properties settings in the shape list are saved for the objects
displayed in the scene. For example, if a lithology table is displayed with the legend in the
scene, the legend will be displayed when the scene is restored. However, saved scenes do not
store copies of the objects in the project tree, and objects deleted from the project tree are no
longer available in saved scenes.

To edit a scene, double-click on it. The Edit Saved Scene window will be displayed and you can
update the information.
To display a scene, drag it into the scene.

Exporting Scenes
Once you have a series of saved scenes, you can use them to create a scene file that can be
opened in Leapfrog Viewer.

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To export a scene, right-click on the Saved Scenes and Movies folder and select Export
Scenes. The Export Scenes window will be displayed:

You can also export an individual scene by right-clicking on the scene and selecting Export.

Move the scenes you wish to export to the Selected scenes list and reorder them, if required.
If you tick the Export hidden shapes box, objects in the shape list that are not visible in the
scene window will be included in the exported scene.
You can also export the data associated with the objects in the scene window, if required. To do
so, select the Export all data that appears when I click option. If viewing the data is not
required, or if you wish to keep sensitive data secure, select the Export shapes only option.

When the Export all data that appears when I click option is selected, all data
represented by shapes in the exported scene will be accessible when the scene is opened in
Leapfrog Viewer.

When you have the scenes arranged, click Export. You will be prompted for a filename and
location.
Exported scenes cannot be reimported to the project.

Linking to Scene Files

Links to scene files can be included in HTML files using the following format:
<a href="LeapfrogViewer:[path or URL]">link text</a>
Linked scene files will be opened directly in Leapfrog Viewer only from browsers that support
custom URI schemes.

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Movies
Once you have a series of saved scenes (see Saved Scenes), you can use them to create a
storyboard and export a movie.
To create a new movie, right-click on the Saved Scenes and Movies folder and select New
Movie. A tab will open in which you can create a storyboard and edit how each scene and
transition is displayed. You can detach the tab from the main window and create scenes in the
main window while working on scenes in the movie tab. Click the Refresh Scenes button to
refresh the scenes in the movie tab when you have made changes.
Select the saved scenes you wish to add to the movie by clicking on them in the list, then click the
Add To Storyboard button ( ). When subsequent scenes are added, transitions will be added
to separate the scenes:

Change properties for the selected scene or transition, then click the play button ( ) to preview
the settings. To preview the whole movie, click the Select Whole Movie button ( ), then click
play.

You can make changes to the included scenes without having to close and reopen the movie
window. Simply update the scenes, then, in the movie editor, click the Refresh Scenes
button.

Enter a name and description for the movie and click the Save button ( ). The movie will be
saved in the Saved Scenes and Movies folder.

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To export the movie, click the Save and Export button ( ). The Export Movie window will
appear:

If you tick Export frame images, individual frames will be saved as images, together with the
movie file. Click Export. You will be prompted to select a filename and location. Click Save to
export the movie. Leapfrog Geo will then save the movie in the specified location, which may
take some time.

Contour Lines
You can create contour lines from surfaces in the project and export those contour lines to GIS
packages.

Creating Contour Lines

To create contour lines from a surface, right-click on the Cross Sections and Contours folder
and select New Contour Lines From Surface. In the New Contours window, select the
surface to contour from the list. Adjust the Contour Spacing, if required.
If you want to offset the contours by a vector, enter a Contour offset value.
Click OK to generate the contours.
The new contours will appear in the project tree under the Cross Sections and Contours
folder.
You can edit the contours by double-clicking on them.

Exporting GIS Contours

To export a contour lines object, right-click on the contour lines in the Cross Sections and
Contours folder and select Export. Select whether or not to export the contours in 2.5D format,
then click Export. You will be prompted for a filename and location.

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