1.
Studio 3
Introductory Geology Training Manual
This manual is designed for use by students attending a training course run by one of
the Datamine Group companies or an approved agent.
TTR-MUG-ST3-0006
Datamine Corporate Limited
2 St Cuthbert Street, Wells,
Somerset, United Kingdom BA5 2AW
Tel: +44 1749 679299
Fax: +44 1749 670290
Sara Porter
Studio 3 Deployment Team
Datamine Corporate Limited
Setting up the oPen 2 Unified Business Layer
This documentation is confidential and may not be reproduced or shown to third parties
without the written permission of Mineral Industries Computing Limited.
© Mineral Industries Computing Limited 2005

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DMDSL-TMP-0001-1.00 Studio 3 Introductory Geology Training Manual
CONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
Aim 1
Prerequisites 1
Acronyms and Abbreviations 1
More information 1
2 Datamine Software 2
Datamine’s Solution Footprint 2
Studio 3’s Standard Components 3
Other Datamine Software 3
3 Getting Started 4
Introduction 4
Background 5
Exercise 1. Creating a New Project 6
Exercise 2: Adding Files to a Project 9
Exercise 3: Removing a File from the Project 10
Exercise 4: Copying and Pasting a File in the Project 11
Exercise 5: Deleting a File from the Project 11
Exercise 6: Saving a Project 12
Exercise 7: Closing and Opening an Existing Project 12
4 The Interface 13
Background 13
Exercise 1: Turning on the Display of a Window 16
Exercise 2: Managing the Control Bars 17
Exercise 3: Using the Files Window 19
Exercise 4: Displaying and Moving Toolbars 20
Exercise 5: Customizing a Toolbar 20
5 Data importing 22
Introduction 22
Background 22
Exercise 1: Importing Text Data for Drillhole Collars 24
Exercise 2: Importing Text Data for Drillhole Assays 28
Exercise 3: Importing Text Data for Drillhole Surveys 31
Exercise 4: Importing Text Data for Lithology 34
Exercise 5: Importing Spreadsheet Data (Mineralized Zones) 37
Exercise 6: Importing CAD data 38
Exercise 7: Previewing and Re-Importing the Contours File 40
6 Drillholes – Validation & Desurvey 41
Introduction and Aim 41
Background 41
Exercise 1: Creating Static Drillholes 43
Exercise 2: Loading Static Drillholes 47
Exercise 2: Loading Static Drillholes 47
Exercise 3: Unload Data from the Design Window 47
Exercise 4: Creating a Static Drillhole File with Error Checking 48
Exercise 5: Loading Dynamic Drillholes 50
7 Drillholes – Compositing 54
Introduction 54
Background 54
Exercise 1: Compositing Down Drillholes 56
Exercise 2: Compositing Drillholes by Bench 59
8 Data Viewing – Design & Visualizer Windows 62

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Introduction 62
Background 62
Exercise 1: Zooming 66
Exercise 2: Changing the Viewplane. 69
Exercise 3: Rotating Data in the Design Window 72
Exercise 4: Setting and Toggling Clipping Limits 72
Exercise 5: Moving the Viewplane 74
Exercise 6: Setting Axis Exaggeration 76
Exercise 7: Synchronizing the Visualizer and Design Views. 77
9 Section Definition Files 78
Introduction 78
Exercise 1: Defining a Viewplane - Plan View 79
Exercise 2: Creating a Section Definition File and Saving the Plan Viewplane80
Exercise 3: Defining and Saving the First Section Viewplane 81
Exercise 4: Saving and Editing the Section Definition file. 85
Exercise 5: Retrieving Saved Viewplanes 88
10 String Tools 89
Introduction 89
Background 89
Exercise 1: Creating New Strings and Editing Points 91
Exercise 2: Saving Strings to a File and Erasing Strings 95
Exercise 3: Open and Closed Strings 96
Exercise 4: Undo Last Edit and Combining Strings 97
Exercise 5: Extending, Reversing and Connecting Strings 100
Exercise 6: Clipping Strings and Generating Outlines 101
Exercise 7: Copying, Moving, Expanding, Rotating and Mirroring Strings 105
Exercise 8: Translating Strings 107
Exercise 9: Projecting Strings 108
Exercise 10: Extending Strings 110
Exercise 11: Conditioning Strings 111
Exercise 12: Trimming Crossovers and Corners 113
Exercise 13: Smoothing Strings and Reducing String Points 115
Exercise 14: Breaking Strings with Strings 116
11 Data Formatting and Display 117
Introduction 117
Background 117
Exercise 1: Creating a Legend of Value Intervals 119
Exercise 2: Creating a Legend – Unique Values 124
Exercise 3: Formatting Strings – Style, Color and Symbols 127
Exercise 4: Formatting Drillholes – Labels 131
Exercise 5: Formatting Drillholes – Trace Color 133
Exercise 6: Formatting Drillholes – Downhole Graph 136
12 String Modeling 141
Introduction 141
Background 141
Exercise 1: Load drillholes and wireframe 142
Exercise 2: Setting the fault wireframe display style 143
Exercise 3: Setting snapping and select data options 143
Exercise 4: Digitizing the Upper Zone String for “N-S Secn 5935” 144
Exercise 5: Smoothing the upper zone string for “N-S Secn 5935” 148
Exercise 6: Digitizing and editing the lower zone string for “N-S Secn 5935” 149
Exercise 7: Saving the mineralization zone strings 151
Exercise 8: Creating the mineralization zone strings for the remaining sections.151
Exercise 9: Creating the mineralization zone strings for the eastern end. 152
Exercise 10: Creating the mineralization zone strings for the western end. 156
13 Data Filtering 161
Introduction 161
Background 161
Exercise 1: Filtering a Single Object in the Design Window 165

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Exercise 2: Removing Filters 168
Exercise 3: Filtering Multiple Objects in the Design Window. 169
Exercise 4: Filtering and Saving to a File 172
14 Attributes 174
Introduction 174
Background 174
Exercise 1: Setting data display and view parameters 175
Exercise 2: Adding the Attribute ZONE to the ore body strings 176
Exercise 3: Filtering the upper zone strings 177
Exercise 4: Setting the upper zone strings ZONE attribute to “1”. 178
Exercise 5: Filtering and setting the ZONE attribute for the lower zone strings.179
Exercise 6: Removing the filters. 179
Exercise 7: Saving and checking the modified strings 180
15 Wireframe Modeling – Surfaces 181
Introduction 181
Background 181
Exercise 1: Defining the Data Display and DTM Creation Settings 184
Exercise 2: Creating the DTM without Limits 185
Exercise 3: Creating the DTM with Limits 187
Exercise 4: Saving the New Wireframe 189
Exercise 5: Displaying Wireframe Slices 190
16 Wireframe Modeling - Closed Volumes 192
Introduction 192
Background 192
Exercise 1: Creating a Basic 3D Volume 195
Exercise 2: Linking a Perimeter to an Open String 200
Exercise 3: Creating a Wireframe with Multiple Splits 201
Exercise 4: Creating Tag Strings 205
Exercise 5: Creating the upper mineralized zone wireframe using tag strings209
Exercise 6: Creating the lower mineralized zone wireframe 213
17 Wireframe Modeling – Manipulation 215
Introduction 215
Background 215
Exercise 1: Verifying Wireframe Objects 219
Exercise 2: Calculating the Volume of a Wireframe Object 222
18 Data Presentation – Plots Window 223
Introduction 223
Background 223
Exercise 1: Exploring the Menus for Plots 226
Exercise 2: Creating, Renaming, Copying and Deleting Sheets 229
Exercise 3: Modifying the Paper Size and Grid Settings 231
Exercise 3: Setting the Scale and Section Definition 233
Exercise 4: Modifying Data Format Settings 234
Exercise 5: Inserting Plot Items 238
Exercise 6: Using a Section Definition file to Control Views. 242
19 Data Presentation – Logs Window 244
Introduction 244
Background 244
Exercise 1: Loading Dynamic Drillholes 244
Exercise 2: Inserting a New Log Sheet and Setting Views 247
Exercise 3: Editing the Log Sheet 251
20 Introduction to Macros 253
Introduction 253
Background 253
Exercise 1: Recording a Macro to Calculate Statistics on a Field. 256
Exercise 2: Editing and Replaying the Macro 259
Exercise 3: User Interaction with a Macro. 261

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21 Block Modeling 263
Introduction 263
Background 263
Exercise 1: Determining suitable prototype model parameters 269
Exercise 2: Defining a prototype model - method 1 (not recordable) 272
Exercise 3: Defining the Model Prototype - Method 2 (suitable for recording in
Macros and Scripts) 272
Exercise 4: Building the Ore Model 274
Exercise 5: Viewing the Model 275
Exercise 6: Creating a Waste Model 278
Exercise 7: Adding the Two Models Together 279
Exercise 8: Optimizing the Model 280
22 Grade Estimation 282
Introduction 282
Background 282
Exercise 1: Generating a Search Ellipse 287
Exercise 2: Estimating Gold Grade into the Model 288
Exercise 3: Estimating AU and CU using Different Methods. 297
23 Tonne and Grade Calculation 299
Introduction 299
Background 299
Exercise 1: Model Preparation 302
Exercise 2: Evaluating the Model Inside a String 305
Exercise 3: Evaluating the Model using TONGRAD 308
Appendix 1: Datamine File Structure 310
Appendix 2: Studio Field Names 311
Appendix 3: Reserved Field Names 317
Appendix 5: Color Codes 318

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1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Aim
This document is intended for use by students attending the Introductory Geology
Training course. The course is designed to teach you the geological capabilities
available within Studio 3, including data importing, drillhole desurveying and
compositing, string manipulation, DTM and closed wireframe creation, block
modeling, grade estimation and reporting.
The course will demonstrate the ease of use and flexibility of the system for carrying
out standard geological functions, with the main emphasis being on the practical
application of the techniques using Studio 3.
1.2 Prerequisites
It is not essential to have prior experience with Datamine software. However it is expected
that you are familiar with standard geological practices and have experience with
computers under the Windows™ environment.
There is a specific set of data that accompanies this training course and all exercises are
based on this data set. This data will be loaded onto your computer prior to the start of
training.
1.3 Acronyms and Abbreviations
The following table includes acronyms and abbreviations used in this document.
Abbreviation Description
DTM Digital Terrain Model
VR Virtual Reality
DSD Data Source Drivers
CAD Computer Aided Drawing
RL Reduced Level
.dm file A Datamine format file
1.4 More information
Studio 3 includes a wide range of online information available from the Help menu.
Further information on Datamine software and services can be obtained from the
web site at www.datamine.co.uk.

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DMDSL-TMP-0001-1.00 Studio 3 Introductory Geology Training Manual 2
2 DATAMINE SOFTWARE
2.1 Datamine’s Solution Footprint
Datamine’s main area of expertise is the Mine Planning Cycle and it has provided
industry recognized solutions in this area for many years. Datamine resolves the Mine
Planning Cycle process into six sub-processes as shown in the Solution Footprint image
below. Each of these sub-processes is an important and discrete step in the process
of turning a mineral resource into an operating mine, as well as enabling operating
mines to plan, execute and reconcile on a day-to-day basis.
Datamine has made a strategic commitment to provide solutions for each sub-
process of the Mine Planning Cycle with equal capability for clients in Open Pit,
Underground and Industrial Minerals environments. Datamine provides self-contained
solutions for each of the six sub-processes of the Mine Planning Cycle, and these can
be deployed together as an integrated whole or individually as part of a varied
environment which includes solutions developed by competitors or the client.
Datamine has a policy of ensuring its software is compatible with that of its main
competitors to provide clients with maximum operational flexibility.
Studio 3 forms an integral part of Datamine’s Solution Footprint and is the international
standard for interpretation of physical geology and mineralization so that a resource
can be analyzed, defined, visualized and quantified, and then, using the appropriate
mining parameters, turned into a reserve. It includes tools to analyze, visualize,
model, review and manipulate all types of geological data to provide the best
possible geological interpretation of a deposit regardless of its complexity.
The fourth generation of our flagship product, Studio 3 has all the traditional power
and functionality of its predecessors for geological, open pit, underground and
quarrying applications. But there is much more to Studio 3 than this. It has been re-
designed to allow intimate connection with external data sources and other mining

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DMDSL-TMP-0001-1.00 Studio 3 Introductory Geology Training Manual 3
applications. Studio 3 systems are built from a set of standard components which can
be configured to produce comprehensive solutions for any exploration or mining
activity.
2.2 Studio 3’s Standard Components
 Geological Exploration Statistics
 Enhanced Geostatistics
 Conditional Simulation
 Transforming Folded Orebodies
 Stereonet Viewer and Analyzer
 Wireframe Surface Modeling
 Orebody Block (solid) Modeling
 Open Pit Mine Design
 Underground Mine Design
 Underground Blast Ring Design
 Mineable Reserves Optimizer
 Short Term Mine Planning including Blasthole Layout
2.3 Other Datamine Software
As well as Studio 3 other software components of Datamine’s Solution Footprint
include:
 DHLogger
 DHLite
 Borehole Manager
 MineMapper
 Downhole Explorer
 Sample Station
 SSLite
 Fusion
 MineTrust
 Enterprise
 Raw Materials Scheduler
 Raw Materials Manager
 Ring Designer
 Ore Controller
 Operation Scheduler
 NPV Scheduler
 Multimine Scheduler
 Mining Power Pack
 Mine2-4D Open Pit and Underground
 In Touch
 Production Scheduler
For further information visit the web site at www.datamine.co.uk.

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DMDSL-TMP-0001-1.00 Studio 3 Introductory Geology Training Manual 4
3 GETTING STARTED
3.1 Introduction
The training data set used in conjunction with this manual represents a shallow,
hydrothermal Au-Cu deposit known as Viking Bounty. The mineralization consists of 2
moderately undulating but generally flat-lying zones which are bounded to the north
and south by sub-vertical faults. Mineralization occurs in a sequence of fine-grained
sediments and volcanic rocks. The host rocks are essentially barren.
A drilling program has been completed over the prospect comprising 26 reverse
circulation holes on a series of north-south sections. Most holes are drilled to the
south. The sections are 25 meters apart from 5935mE to 6110mE.
During drilling single shot surveys were taken at variable intervals down each hole.
The holes have also been assayed for gold and copper and lithologically logged.
The data files which you will use during the training course are located in the folder
C:databaseDMTutorialsDataVBOP. These files include text (.txt), CAD (.dwg,
.dxf), MS Excel (.xls) and native Datamine (.dm) files.
The training course is designed around the stages in the development of a potential
mining project, from analysis of three-dimensional drillhole traces to block model
reporting. Specifically, in the exercises on the following pages you will:
 Import Data
 Create a desurveyed drillhole file
 Build strings representing the two zones of mineralization
 Build wireframes of the surface topography and the mineralization
 Construct a block model of the ore and waste volumes
 Interpolate gold and copper grades into the model
 Create a series of north-south section plots of the drillhole and model
data
 Calculate tonnes and grade for the model cells
In ”Getting Started” you will be introduced to the concept of the project file.

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3.2 Background
3.2.1 Data Processing
There are two different sorts of commands used within Studio 3 they are:
1. Batch Commands.
Batch commands work with Datamine binary format files (they have a .dm
extension). A batch command will usually input one or more files, perform
some manipulation on the data (e.g. copy, sort, etc), and then output one or
more files. If the data is not already in Datamine format, it must be either
saved as a Datamine file or imported from another data source.
Batch commands work on any Datamine binary files including general files
(e.g. section definitions or downhole survey data) and 3D data (e.g. points,
strings, drillholes, models, wireframes).
2. Graphics Commands.
In order to view 3D data in the main windows the data must be loaded
into memory to become a loaded data object. There are two types of
graphics commands; those that work with a data object or objects (e.g.
linking two strings into a wireframe) and those that alter the graphics
environment (e.g. defining a view).
In summary a batch command works with files, and a graphics command works with
loaded data objects, that may not originate from Datamine files.
3.2.2 Project File
When you first start Studio 3 a project file is created which stores all the settings that
define and control the access, appearance, views and data relevant to your project.
The file is created in the project folder when you start a new project, and has the
extension .dmproj. The project file has the ability to link a range of different data
categories (e.g. Text, CAD, databases, other mining and exploration applications) as
well as link in data from various locations (project folder or data external to the
project folder).
This project file is totally compatible with the Studio 2 document file
(*.dmd), and with document files for other Datamine software. For
example project files (or documents) created in Downhole Explorer,
Present, InTouch and Studio 2 can be opened in Studio 3. They all use
the Microsoft Shared Document Format.

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Exercise 1. Creating a New Project
In this exercise you will create a new Studio 3 project called “Training” which will be
used for all of the exercises in this training course. The procedure for creating this new
project is as follows:
1. Start Studio 3 from using the Windows desktop shortcut -or- Start | (All)
Programs | Datamine | Studio 3.
2. Create a new project by selecting the Create Project option in the Recent
Projects window (upper left) or click on the New File toolbar button or
select File | New from the menu.
If the Studio Project Wizard (Welcome ...) dialog is displayed, click the
Next button. This welcome screen isn't shown if it was deselected the
last time a new project was created.

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3. In the Studio Project Wizard (Project Properties) dialog, define the settings as
shown below.
4. Select the Project Settings... button.
5. In the Project Settings dialog, Automatic Project Updates group, set the
options as shown below and then click OK:
6. Click Next followed by the Add File(s)... button.
7. Go to the folder C:DatabaseDMTutorialsDataVBOPDatamine, select all
Datamine files and then click Open.
8. Review the list of added files and then click Next.

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9. Review the Project Summary details in the displayed pane and then click
Finish.

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Exercise 2: Adding Files to a Project
In this exercise, you are going to use two different methods to add non-Datamine
format training files to your new project. Once these files have been added to the
project, you will be able to list and open all project relevant files from within the
Project Files control bar. Note that these non-Datamine format files could also have
been added during the creation of the new project i.e. during step 8 in the above
exercise ("Creating a New Project"). The procedure for adding these Text and CAD
format files to the new project is as follows:
1. Select File | Add to Project | Existing Files.
2. Go to the folder C:DatabaseDMTutorialsDataVBOPText, set the Files of
Type dropdown option to "All Files (*.*)", select all of the listed files and then
click Open.
3. In the message dialog, click the OK button.
The second method of adding non-datamine files to the project is as follows:
4. In the Project Files control bar, click the Add Existing Files to Project button.
5. Go to the folder C:DatabaseDMTutorialsDataVBOPCAD, set the Files of
Type dropdown option to "All Files (*.*)", select all of the listed files and then
click Open.
6. In the message dialog, click the OK button.
7. In the Project Files control bar, click the Add Existing Files to Project button.
8. Go to the folder C:DatabaseDMTutorialsDataVBOPODBC, set the Files of
Type dropdown option to "All Files (*.*)", select all of the listed files and then
click Open.
9. Click on the Project Files tab and select the All Files folder and view the list of
files that have been added to the project, noting that different format files are
listed with different icons, as shown in the diagram below.
To add existing Datamine files to the project follow these steps:

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10. Click Data | Load | External Datamine File |Wireframes.
11. In the Open Source File (Datamine Wireframe Triangles) dialog, browse to the
folder C:DatabaseDMTutorialsDataVBOPDMDist, select the file
_vb_faulttr.dm and then click Open.
12. In the Open Source File dialog, select the file _vb_faultpt.dm and then click
Open.
13. In the Datamine Wireframes dialog, Data Fields pane, select (tick) all the listed
fields.
14. In the Coordinate Fields pane, define the X, Y and Z Coordinates parameters
as XP, YP and ZP and then click OK.
Exercise 3: Removing a File from the Project

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1. In the Project Files control bar, expand the All Files folder.
2. Select the second _vb_stopo file in the list. Right-click and select Remove from
Project.
3. Select Yes when asked to confirm you wish to remove the file from the project.
4. Check the All Files folder to make sure that the file is no longer displayed in
the list.
The Remove from file action only removes the file from the project.
It does not delete the file.
Exercise 4: Copying and Pasting a File in the Project
1. In the Project Files control bar, expand the Section Definitions folder.
2. Select _vb_viewdefs and then right-click and select Copy.
3. Select the All Files folder and then right-click and select Paste.
4. Check either the Section Definitions folder or the All Files folder to make sure
that it contains a new file Copy of _vb_viewdefs.
Exercise 5: Deleting a File from the Project
1. In the Project Files control bar, expand the Section Definitions folder.
2. Select the file Copy of _vb_section_definition and then right-click and select
Delete.

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3. In the Confirm File Delete dialog, click Yes.
4. Check either the All Files folder or the Section Definitions folder to make sure
that this file is no longer displayed in the list.
Exercise 6: Saving a Project
The active project can be saved at any stage during the training exercises. The
process of saving stores numerous project settings (imported data, loaded data,
window appearance, data views and dialog settings) within the project file. It is
considered good practice to save your project regularly or after adding files to the
project, importing or loading external data. The project file can be saved using one
of the following methods:
1. Click File | Save or click Save on the Standard toolbar.
Exercise 7: Closing and Opening an Existing Project
Projects that have previously been created and saved are available for opening and
further work.
1. Exit from Studio 3 by either clicking on the close button in the upper right
corner of the window or select File | Exit from the menu.
2. Start Studio 3 by double clicking on the desktop icon.
3. Open the project Training using one of the following methods:
 Select File | Open, browse to c:databaseTraining, select the file
Training.dmproj and click Open.
 Select the Open Project option from the Recent Projects box, browse to
c:databaseTraining, select the file Training.dmproj and click Open.
 Click on the project file Training which should be at the top of the Recent
Projects list.

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4 THE INTERFACE
4.1 Background
Studio 3 has a powerful suite of applications, features and functions which are
accessed through the following Interface objects:
 Windows
Windows provide different views of loaded data as summarized below:
Window Functions
Design Design environment for the display and
manipulation of data
Visualizer 3D rendered views of data
VR (Virtual Reality) VR ‘immersion’ view of data including draping of
aerial photos, simulations etc.
Plots Provides the tools required to create high quality
plots in plan, section and 3D views.
Logs Drillhole log views.
Tables Table view
Reports Report view which includes drillhole summary and
validation.
 Toolbars
Studio 3 provides access to a wealth of commands via various toolbars, with
each toolbar representing a group of commands of a given category. Some
toolbars are likely to be used more often than others, and are referred to
throughout this tutorial. For example the following toolbars contains buttons
pertaining to project management (i.e. open, close, save etc).

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 Control Bars
There are a number of control bars which contain application controls. They
can be floated, docked, auto-hidden or hidden. The control bars include:
Control Bar Application
Project Files Browser This works in conjunction with the
Project Explorer view and allows the
user to see the files contained within
the project. Files can be opened in
the file editor or loaded from the
Project Browser.
Sheets Browser This shows the currently loaded plot
objects.
Loaded Data Browser This shows the currently loaded
data.
Holes Browser This shows the dynamic drillholes
currently loaded
Customization Window This is an Internet Explorer type
window and hosts scripts or custom
commands.
Data Properties This shows the properties of currently
selected items such as strings points
and cells.
Properties Bar This gives access to the view and file
properties.
 Menu Bar
The Menu Bar in Studio 3 is the standard Windows drop-down text menu.
 Status Bar
The Status Bar is situated at the bottom of the Studio 3 window and is used for
the following
o To display brief information relating to a specific icon or menu item.
o To show the progress of commands.
o To display or set the position of the mouse in XYZ space.
o To show if a command is currently running.
o To show the read status of the currently open file.
o To see or set numlock, scroll lock and caps lock statuses.

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 Popup Menus
These are context sensitive menus available within each window, activated
with a right-click of the mouse button.
Many of these objects can be customized to suit your needs and working
preferences. The following exercises will introduce you to the more frequently used
Interface objects and the procedures for customizing and using their features.
4.1.1 Customizing Control Bars
Studio 3 has several control bars which make use an elegant and intuitive tool, called
Smart Docking, to enable users to customize their interface to suit their working
behavior. Control bars can be positioned anywhere in the application window. They
can be grouped, they can be docked and they can be made to hide and reveal
themselves automatically.
Smart Docking uses drag-and-drop. When a control bar has been selected and
dragged away from a docked position, the Smart Docking buttons appear.
Select to dock panel to top of
active window
Select to dock panel to left side of
active window.
Select to group with other control
bars and create a tab.
Select to dock panel to left side of
active window.
Select to dock panel to bottom of
active window
As the control bar is dragged over one of the buttons, the position where it would be
dropped is highlighted. If no Docking location is selected the control bar will float.
Once docked, the automatic hiding and showing can be toggled on or off using the
pin icons below.
Permanently displayed - Pinned in position.
Hide and show automatically.

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Exercise 1: Turning on the Display of a Window
Windows provide different views of loaded data as summarized below:
Window Functions
Design
Design environment for the display and manipulation of
data
Visualizer 3D rendered views of data
VR (Virtual Reality)
VR ‘immersion’ view of data including draping of aerial
photos, simulations etc.
Plots
Provides the tools required to create high quality plots in
plan, section and 3D views.
Files
Views of files within a folder and fields within Datamine files.
Logs
Drillhole log views.
Tables
Table view
Reports
Report view which includes drillhole summary and
validation.
In this exercise, you are going to turn on the display of the Project File Explorer
window, VR window and the Logs window. These windows are by default not
displayed when Studio 3 is started for the first time or until the display of this window is
turned on. Follow these steps to display these windows:
1. Select View | Windows | VR.
2. Select View | Windows | Logs.
3. Check that the VR and Logs windows are displayed, as shown below:
4. Move between the windows by selecting the colored tab at the top of each
window.

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Exercise 2: Managing the Control Bars
There are a number of control bars which contain application controls. They can be
floated, docked, auto-hidden or hidden. The control bars include:
Control Bar Application
Project Files This works in conjunction with the Project Explorer
view and allows the user to see the files contained
within the project. Files can be opened in the file
editor or loaded from the Project Browser.
Sheets This shows the currently loaded plot objects.
Loaded Data This shows the currently loaded data.
Holes This shows the dynamic drillholes currently loaded
Customization Window This is an Internet Explorer type window and hosts
scripts or custom commands.
Digitizer Bar This shows the properties of currently selected items
such as strings points and cells.
Properties Bar This gives access to the view and file properties.
In this exercise you will learn how to control the appearance of the control bars.
1. The Project Files control bar is displayed down the left-hand edge of Studio 3.

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2. Click on the Auto Hide button adjacent to the Close button on the
Project Files control bar. The control bar is now hidden with a tab labeled
Project Files displayed down the left-hand edge of Studio 3.
3. Move the cursor over the Project Files button and it will expand. Click on the
Auto Hide button to dock the pane.
4. To control the width of the pane, move the mouse over the right-hand edge
of the Project Files control bar when it changes to two outward pointing
arrows hold down the left mouse button, drag the edge.
5. To select a different control bar click on one of the colored tabs at the base
of the pane:
6. Experiment with the options for docking, hiding and floating the control bars
using the options available when you right click at the top of the pane:
7. If you inadvertently remove one of the control bars, select View | Control Bars
| Project Files as shown below and select one of the control bars.

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Exercise 3: Using the Files Window
1. Select the Project Files control bar and left-click on the project name at the
top of the pane.
2. Select the Files window – the folders listed in the Project Files control bar are
displayed.
3. Double click on the Collars folder under the Files window. The following will
be displayed:
4. To display information on the fields in a file, select the Project Files control bar,
open the Collars folder and click on the file _vb_collars. In the Files window
the following is displayed:
5. To view a list of files in a particular folder select the folder in the Project Files
control bar.

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Exercise 4: Displaying and Moving Toolbars
1. Select the Design window tab.
2. Select View | Customization | Toolbars | Wireframe Linking to display the
following toolbar.
3. If the toolbar is “floating” you can move it by clicking on the blue header and
holding down the left mouse button drag the toolbar around the screen.
Alternatively if the toolbar is “docked” use the mouse to click on the three
vertical dots on the left hand side of the toolbar (this assumes you are using
the MS Office 2003, look and feel, you can change this setting under Tools |
Options) and holding down the left mouse button drag the toolbar around
the screen.
4. In order to dock the toolbar drag it into the toolbar areas around the edge of
Studio 3.
Exercise 5: Customizing a Toolbar
In this exercise, you are going to customize the Format toolbar by adding the
Visualizer Settings and the Set Color buttons.
1. Select the Design window tab.
2. In the Format toolbar, select the More Buttons arrow | Add or Remove Buttons
| Customize.
3. In the Customize dialog, select the Commands tab and then Format from the
Categories list in the left pane.
4. In the right pane, select-drag-drop the Visualizer Settings button across to the
Format toolbar.

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5. In the right pane, select-drag-drop the Set Color button across to the Format
toolbar, just below the previous button.
6. In the Customize dialog, click Close.
7. The toolbar should now contain the extra buttons as shown in the diagram
below.

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DMDSL-TMP-0001-1.00 Studio 3 Introductory Geology Training Manual 22
5 DATA IMPORTING
5.1 Introduction
In this section you will import files from a variety of different data formats. Importing of
files into Studio 3 can either be done via the Data Source Drivers which allows
connectivity between the Datamine product range and other software applications
or by using batch processes.
5.2 Background
5.2.1 Importing Files using Data Source Drivers
When files are imported using the Data Source Drivers, the path, field mapping and
other information of how the files were imported is stored in the Project File. This allows
the imported data to be re-imported when required, from within the Project Files
control bar. The data import process generates a new Datamine format file from the
external data source. This new Datamine file is automatically added to the project.
The Data Source Drivers include the following Driver Categories:
Driver File Types
CAD *.dwg, *.dgn, *.dxf
Generic Data Tables
Data Provider, Datashed, ODBC (databases,
spreadsheets)
Exploration & Mining
Software
Earthworks, GDM, Medsystem, Micromine, Surpac,
Vulcan, Wavefront, Wescom
GIS ESRI
Text ASCII ( comma, tab and other delimited formats)
These driver categories allow the import and export of the following import data
types:
 General Data Tables
 Drillholes
 Points
 Block Models
 Strings
 Wireframe volumes and surfaces

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DMDSL-TMP-0001-1.00 Studio 3 Introductory Geology Training Manual 23
The project file can be set to be automatically updated after
project changes have been made e.g. importing data. This is set in
the Options dialog accessed using Tools | Options | Project
|Automatic Updating, tick the "Automatically update project"
option.
The commands relating to import/export of data are as follows:
Command Description
Data | Load |Data Source Driver
Data | Load |Database
Imports Century, Acquire or
Earthworks ODBC
Data | Load |Century Database Imports Century database
Data | Load |Wizard Runs generic wizard
Once a data file from another source has been imported into the current project, the
following commands can reload, unload, refresh and export the data:
Command Description
Data | Reload
Refresh a selected object from the
data source using different import
options
Data | Unload
Remove one or more selected
objects from memory
Data | Refresh
Refresh a selected object from the
data source
Data | Refresh All
Refresh selected objects from the
data source
Data | Export
Export an object to a different
data format
5.2.2 Importing Files using Batch Commands
As an alternative to importing data via the Data Source Drivers, Studio 3 offers a
number of batch processes for importing data in fixed or comma delimited format.
These commands can be found under the Menu Applications | File Transfer
Processes. The two most commonly used commands are:
 Import DD and CSV Data (INPFIL): creates an empty file (Data Definition with
no records) and loads data into this empty file, from a comma delimited text
file.
 Import DD and Fixed Format Data (INPFML): Creates an empty file and loads
data into it from a fixed format text file.
For more information on these batch commands refer to the Studio 3 online help.
In the following exercises you will import a number of data files into the project.

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Exercise 1: Importing Text Data for Drillhole Collars
In this exercise, you will import the drillhole collars file _vb_collars_tab.txt (ASCII space
delimited format) and generate the Studio 3 format (*.dm) Collars file dhcollar.dm.
As part of the data validation process, you will then check this imported file in the
Datamine Table Editor and then finally load this imported file into the Design window.
The collars file contains the following fields:
Field Name Description
BHID Drillhole identifier
XCOLLAR Collar x coordinate
YCOLLAR Collar y coordinate
ZCOLLAR Collar z coordinate
ENDDEPTH Drillhole final depth (m)
REFSYS Coordinate system (in this case a Local grid)
REFMETH
Coordination method (obtained using differential GPS
methods)
ENDDATE
Date on which drilling was completed (date format
dd/mm/yy)
1. Run the command File | Add to Project | Imported from Data Source.
2. In the Data Import dialog, select the "Text" Driver Category and "Tables" Data
Type and click OK.
3. Go to the folder "C:DatabaseDMTutorialsDataVBOPText", select the file
_vb_collars.tab.txt and click Open button.
4. In the Text Wizard (1 of 3) dialog, define the settings (as shown below) and
click Next.

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5. In the Text Wizard (2 of 3) dialog, define the settings (as shown below), view
the import data in the Preview dialog (the columns of data should be
separated by a vertical line) and then click Next.
6. In the Text Wizard (3 of 3) dialog, select each data column in turn in the
preview dialog (use the slider bar to view the fields hidden to the right), define
the column format settings (as shown below) and click Finish button.
Text Wizard (3 of 3) dialog Settings
Column Formats
Name Type Numeric Alpha
BHID Attribute  
XCOLLAR Attribute  
YCOLLAR Attribute  
ZCOLLAR Attribute  
ENDDEPTH Attribute  
REFSYS Attribute  
REFMETH Attribute  
ENDDATE Attribute  
Special Values
Absent Data 
Trace Data 

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7. In the Import Files dialog, in the Files tab define the Base File Name as
dhcollar, review the other settings (as shown below) and then click OK.
Import Files Dialog
Files Tab
Base File Name dhcollar
Save File Types
Table File  dhcollar
Location C:databaseTraining
Import Fields Tab
BHID 
XCOLLAR 
YCOLLAR 
ZCOLLAR 
ENDDEPTH 
REFSYS 
REFMETH 
ENDDATE 
Datamine COLOR
field
leave blank
Use Legends to
resolve Datamine
color values

Rename Fields Tab
use default values
8. In the Project Files control bar, check to make sure that the newly imported
and created file dhcollar is listed under the Collars folder.
Imported files displayed in the Project Files control bar have a
small arrow below and to the left of the Datamine icon.
9. In the Files window, check the imported file to ensure that the field Names,
Sizes and Types are correct, as shown in the image below:

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10. Select the Design window tab and in the Project Files control bar, right-click
on the dhcollar file in the Collars folder and select Load.
11. The drillhole collars are displayed in the Design window as points, using
colored circle symbols, as shown in the image below:
12. Save the project file using File | Save.
13. A dialog will appear showing you the data you currently have loaded and
asking you to confirm if you wish it to be loaded automatically next time you
start this project. Click on OK to continue.

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Exercise 2: Importing Text Data for Drillhole Assays
In this exercise, you are going to import the drillhole assays file _vb_assays.txt (ASCII
comma delimited format) and generate the Datamine format (*.dm) Assays files
dhassay.dm. The drillhole assays file contains the following fields:
Field Name Description
BHID Drillhole identifier
FROM Depth at which the sample interval starts
TO Depth at which the sample interval ends
AU Sample assay field (gold g/t)
CU Sample assay field (copper %)
DENSITY Rock density (t/m3)
1. Run the command File | Add to Project | Imported from Data Source.
2. In the Data Import dialog, select the "Text" Driver Category and "Tables" Data
Type and click OK.
3. Go to the folder "C:DatabaseDMTutorialDataVBOPText", select the file
_vb_assays.txt and click Open button.
4. In the Text Wizard (1 of 3) dialog, define the settings (as shown below) and
click Next.

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5. In the Text Wizard (2 of 3) dialog, define the settings (as shown below), view
the import data in the Preview dialog (Note that the columns of data should
be separated by a vertical line in the display in the lower pane of the import
dialog) and click Next.
6. In the Text Wizard (3 of 3) dialog, select each data column in turn in the
preview dialog (use the slider bar to view the fields hidden to the right), define
the column format settings (as shown below). Make sure that Absent Data
and Trace Data radio button are ticked and click Finish button.
Text Wizard (3 of 3) dialog Settings
Column Formats
Name Type Numeric Alpha
BHID Attribute  
FROM Attribute  
TO Attribute  
AU Attribute  
CU Attribute  
DENSITY Attribute  
Special Values
Absent Data 
Trace Data 

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7. In the Import Files dialog, in the Files tab define the Base File Name as
dhassays, review the other settings (as shown below) and then click OK.
Import Files Dialog
Files Tab
Base File Name dhassays
Save File Types
Table File  dhassays
Location C:databaseTraining
Import Fields Tab
BHID 
FROM 
TO 
AU 
CU 
DENSITY 
Datamine COLOR
field
leave blank
Use Legends to
resolve Datamine
color values

Rename Fields Tab
use default values
8. In the Project Files control bar, check to make sure that the newly imported
and created file dhassays is listed under the Assays folder.
9. In the Files window, check the imported file to make sure the field Names,
Sizes and Types are correct, as shown below:
10. In the Project Files control bar right-click on the file dhassays which is listed
under the Assays folder. Select Open and check the imported file in the
Datamine Table Editor.
11. To close the File Editor select File | Exit.

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Exercise 3: Importing Text Data for Drillhole Surveys
In this exercise, you are going to import the drillhole surveys file _vb_surveys.txt (ASCII
comma delimited format) and generate the Datamine format (*.dm) Downhole
Surveys file dhsurvey.dm. The drillhole surveys file contains the following fields:
Field Name Description
BHID Drillhole identifier
AT
Depth at which the survey measurement was taken (m),
starting at Depth = 0.
BRG Survey bearing (measured in degrees, clockwise from North)
DIP
Survey dip (measured in degrees from horizontal; default
positive down, negative up)
1. Select the Imported from Data Source button from the Project Files
control bar.
2. In the Data Import dialog, select the "Text" Driver Category and "Tables" Data
Type and click OK.
3. Go to the folder "C:DatabaseDMTutorialDataVBOPText", select the file
_vb_surveys.txt and click Open button.
4. In the Text Wizard (1 of 3) dialog, define the settings (as shown below) and
click Next.

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5. In the Text Wizard (2 of 3) dialog, define the settings (as shown below), view
the import data in the Preview dialog (Note that the columns of data should
be separated by a vertical line in the display in the lower pane of the import
dialog) and click Next.
6. In the Text Wizard (3 of 3) dialog, select each data column in turn in the
preview dialog (use the slider bar to view the fields hidden to the right), define
the column format settings (as shown below) and click Finish button.
Text Wizard (3 of 3) dialog Settings
Column Formats
Name Type Numeric Alpha
BHID Attribute  
AT Attribute  
BRG Attribute  
DIP Attribute  
Special Values
Absent Data 
Trace Data 

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7. In the Import Files dialog, in the Files tab define the Base File Name as
dhsurvey, review the other settings (as shown below) and then click OK.
Import Files Dialog
Files Tab
Base File Name dhsurvey
Save File Types
Table File  dhsurvey
Location C:databaseTraining
Import Fields Tab
BHID 
AT 
BRG 
DIP 
Datamine COLOR
field
leave blank
Use Legends to
resolve Datamine
color values

Rename Fields Tab
use default values
8. In the Project Files control bar, check to make sure that the newly imported
and created file dhsurvey is listed under the Downhole Surveys folder.
9. In the Files window, check the imported file to make sure the field Names,
Sizes and Types are correct, as shown below:

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DMDSL-TMP-0001-1.00 Studio 3 Introductory Geology Training Manual 34
Exercise 4: Importing Text Data for Lithology
In this exercise, you are going to import the drillhole surveys file _vb_lithology.txt (ASCII
comma delimited format) and generate the Datamine format (*.dm) Downhole
Surveys file dhlithology.dm. The drillhole surveys file contains the following fields:
Field Name Description
BHID Drillhole identifier
FROM Depth at which the sample interval starts
TO Depth at which the sample interval ends
LITH Alpha lithology code (or short description)
NLITH Numeric lithology code
1. Select the Imported from Data Source button from the Project Files
control bar.
2. In the Data Import dialog, select the "Text" Driver Category and "Tables" Data
Type and click OK.
3. Go to the folder "C:DatabaseDMTutorialDataVBOPText", select the file
_vb_lithology.txt and click Open button.
4. In the Text Wizard (1 of 3) dialog, define the settings (as shown below) and
click Next.

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5. In the Text Wizard (2 of 3) dialog, define the settings (as shown below), view
the import data in the Preview dialog (Note that the columns of data should
be separated by a vertical line in the display in the lower pane of the import
dialog) and click Next.
6. In the Text Wizard (3 of 3) dialog, select each data column in turn in the
preview dialog (use the slider bar to view the fields hidden to the right), define
the column format settings (as shown below) and click Finish button.
Text Wizard (3 of 3) dialog Settings
Column Formats
Name Type Numeric Alpha
BHID Attribute  
FROM Attribute  
TO Attribute  
LITH Attribute  
NLITH Attribute  
Special Values
Absent Data 
Trace Data 

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7. In the Import Files dialog, in the Files tab define the Base File Name as
dhsurvey, review the other settings (as shown below) and then click OK.
Import Files Dialog
Files Tab
Base File Name dhlithology
Save File Types
Table File  dhlithology
Location C:databaseTraining
Import Fields Tab
BHID 
FROM 
TO 
LITH 
NLITH 
Datamine COLOR
field
leave blank
Use Legends to
resolve Datamine
color values

Rename Fields Tab
use default values
8. In the Project Files control bar, check to make sure that the newly imported
and created file dhlithology is listed under the Assays folder.
9. In the Files window, check the imported file to make sure the field Names,
Sizes and Types are correct, as shown below:

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Exercise 5: Importing Spreadsheet Data (Mineralized Zones)
In this exercise, you will import the drillhole mineralized zones sheet Zones, from the
drillhole data spreadsheet file _vb_drillhole_data.xls (Microsoft Excel format) and
generate the Datamine format (*.dm) file dhzones.dm. The drillhole mineralized zones
sheet contains the following fields:
Field Name Description
BHID Drillhole identifier
FROM Depth at which the sample interval starts
TO Depth at which the sample interval ends
ZONE Numeric mineralized zone identifier
1. Run the command File | Add to Project | Imported from Data Source.
2. In the Data Import dialog, select the "ODBC v2" Driver Category and "Tables
v2" Data Type and click OK.
3. In the Select Data Source dialog, in the Machine Data Source tab, select
"Excel Files" data source and click OK.
4. In the Select Workbook dialog, browse to the folder
"C:DatabaseDMTutorialsDataVBOPODBC", select the Database Name
_vb_drillhole_data.xls and click OK.
5. In the Table Selection dialog, select the sheet Zones$ and click OK.
6. In the ODBC Table Import dialog, in the Data Fields group, select the All button
to select all data fields, and then click OK.
7. In the Import Files dialog, in the Files tab, define the Base File Name as
dhzones, review the other settings (as shown below) and then click OK.
Import Files dialog
Files
Base File Name dhzones
Save File Types
Table File  dhzones
Generate Extended precision files 
Location C:DatabaseTraining
Import Fields
BHID 
FROM 
TO 
ZONE 
Datamine COLOR field leave blank
Use Legends to resolve Datamine
color values

Rename Fields Tab
use default values

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DMDSL-TMP-0001-1.00 Studio 3 Introductory Geology Training Manual 38
8. Check the Files window to ensure that the new file's field Names, Size and
Types are correct, as shown in the image below:
9. Save the project file using File | Save.
10. Click OK to automatically reload data in the Design window.
Exercise 6: Importing CAD data
The sections below will take you through the process of importing .dwg CAD format
data. The exercises below make use of surface topography contour data to illustrate
the importing process and the creation of the resultant Datamine format (*.dm) file.
The CAD drawing file contains the following data characteristics:
Polylines topography contours and a bounding perimeter
Contour interval 10m
Elevation range 60 - 250m
X-coordinate range 5,610 - 6,780m
Y-coordinate range 4,600 - 5,779m
1. Run the command File | Add to Project | Imported from Data Source.
2. In the Data Import dialog, select the CAD Driver Category and Advanced
DXF/DWG Data Type and click OK.
3. Go to the folder "C:DatabaseDMTutorialsDataVBOPCAD", select the file
_vb_stopo.dwg and then click Open button.
4. In the Read Drawing File dialog, tick the Load All Layers box and then click OK.
5. In the Import Files dialog, in the Files tab define the Base File Name as stopo
and the Strings File name as stopo and untick the Points File and Table File

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DMDSL-TMP-0001-1.00 Studio 3 Introductory Geology Training Manual 39
generation tick-boxes, in the Import Fields tab define the Datamine color field
as Color, review the other settings (as shown below) and click OK.
Import Files dialog
Files tab
Base File Name stopo
Save File Types
Points File 
Strings File  stopo
Table File 
Generate Extended precision
files

Location
C:DatabaseStudio3
TutorialDataCAD
Import Fields tab
COLOR 
THICKNESS 
ANGLE 
LAYERS 
LTYPE 
Datamine COLOR field COLOR
Use Legends to resolve
Datamine color values

Rename Fields tab
use default values
6. Check the Files window to make sure that the new file's field Names, Size and
Types are correct, as shown in the image below:

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DMDSL-TMP-0001-1.00 Studio 3 Introductory Geology Training Manual 40
Exercise 7: Previewing and Re-Importing the Contours File
The previewing of Datamine format files (only 3D objects can be previewed) allows
you to get a quick view of the file before loading into the Design window. This option
can be used to assist you in finding the required file from the list of shown in the
Project Files control bar.
1. In the Project Files control bar, select the Strings folder.
2. On the stopo file , Right-click|Preview, to display the contour data in the
Preview window, as shown in the image below:
3. Rotate the 3D view using the Left-mouse button.
4. Close the window when you have finished previewing the topography
contour data.
It is possible to quickly and simply re-import a data file that has been updated with
new information. For this exercise assume that the CAD topography drawing has
been updated. with the latest survey measurements.
5. In the Project Files control bar, select the Strings folder.
6. On the stopo file , Right-click| Re-Import (The file is re-imported using the
import parameters that are stored in the project file.
7. Save the project file using File | Save.
8. Click OK to automatically reload data in the Design window.

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6 DRILLHOLES – VALIDATION &
DESURVEY
6.1 Introduction and Aim
The exercises below involve creating and loading desurveyed drillhole files.
Desurveying is a standard processing technique for generating 3D drillhole traces
(coordinated sample intervals) from the base drillhole collars, downhole surveys and
downhole samples tables. The desurveyed drillhole file is called dholes.
6.2 Background
Studio recognizes the following two types of drillholes, each with their own
characteristics:
Static Drillholes
 Generated by the Validate and Desurvey process (HOLES3D), or the
Composite Downhole or Over Bench processes (COMPDH or COMPBE).
 Drillholes are refreshed by running the relevant HOLES3D and/or COMPDH
processes.
 The desurvey report is displayed in the Output pane of the Command control
bar.
 Segment midpoints and lengths are precise.
Dynamic Drillholes
 Generated by loading the drillhole data tables from an external database
(e.g. Excel).
 Drillholes are refreshed by reloading the Project File or by performing a Refresh
from the Loaded Data control bar.
 The desurvey report is displayed in the Desurvey Report control bar.
 Segment endpoints are spatially precise.
It is suggested that these two drillhole types are used for the following:
Static Drillholes
 Drillhole compositing, either downhole, over benches or with recovery.
 Grade estimation using any of the interpolation processes (e.g. ESTIMATE or
GRADE).
 String modeling in the Design window using drillhole segment midpoints as a
reference.
 Visualization in the Design, Visualizer and VR windows.

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Dynamic Drillholes
 Advanced visualization and presentation in the Design, Visualizer and VR
windows.
 Generation of drillhole Logs in the Logs window.
 String modelling in the Design window using drillhole segment endpoints as a
reference.
 Plotting from the Plots window.
How do I create static drillholes?
A drilling Database is typically made up 3 file types known as samples, collars, and
surveys. The main Datamine fields making up each file type are listed below
Sample
Field Type Description
BHID Alphanumeric Drillhole Identifier
FROM Numeric Start of the Sample Interval
TO Numeric End of the Sample Interval
Geology Fields Numeric or Alphanumeric Geology codes
Grade Fields Numeric Assay Values
Collars
Field Type Description
BHID Alphanumeric Drillhole Identifier
XCOLLAR Numeric Easting
YCOLLAR Numeric Northing
ZCOLLAR Numeric RL
Surveys File
Field Type Description
BHID Alphanumeric Drillhole Identifier
AT Numeric Downhole distance to the survey point.
BRG Numeric Bearing (dip direction)
DIP Numeric Dip of Drillhole
The length of the BHID field in the 3 files must be the same. In
these exercises they will all be set to 12 characters in length.
The sample file will contain information from the geologist's drilling logs along with any
matching assay information. The collars file is used to record the mine coordinates of
the collar position for each hole as picked up by the surveyors. Finally the surveys file
is used to store any downhole information in terms of dip and dip directions.
Downhole survey information typically comes from downhole camera photography
or verticality probes.

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The command Drillholes | Validate and Desurvey (HOLES3D) is used to create static
drillhole files. The minimum requirement to run this process is a collar file and one
sample file. If no survey file is specified, it is assumed that all holes are drilled vertically
down. The process takes the data from these files and converts the downhole
distances into a desurveyed form where each sample is identified by its location and
direction in space. The output file contains a standard set of fields which are required
for later processing, for example grade estimation and compositing. Similarly,
desurveyed drillhole files can be viewed in the Design, Plots, Visualizer and VR
windows.
Optionally, you may specify a survey file which contains downhole survey
measurements for specified drillholes. Up to 2000 downhole measurements can be
listed for each hole. If there are more than 2000 measurements for any drillhole then
the process will load the first 2000 records and ignore the rest with a warning
message. If there are drillholes with no survey data or if no survey file is used, then all
such drillholes are assumed vertical down. If you have inclined holes you will need a
survey file with a minimum of 1 record for each inclined hole.
As mentioned, if the holes are inclined it will be necessary to use a survey file with a
minimum of one record per inclined hole. As an example, a survey file with three
holes (DH10, DH11, and DH12) drilled grid north at an angle of 60 degrees would, at a
minimum, require a survey file with the following records:
BHID AT BRG DIP
DH10 0.0 0.0 60
DH11 0.0 0.0 60
DH12 0.0 0.0 60
Note that for upholes, the dip value in the survey file should be
negative.
If using a survey file, an important point to remember is that each hole with records in
the survey file must have a record where AT=0. For a survey file containing a single
record per hole, the AT field MUST be set to zero for each hole. If this criterion is not
met then the process will correct the problem with a warning message.
Exercise 1: Creating Static Drillholes
In this exercise, you will use the command Drillholes | Validate and Desurvey
(HOLES3D) to desurvey the imported drillhole data files listed below to create the 3D

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drillhole traces file dholes. The Studio 3 drillhole data files contain the following
information:
 dhcollar - collar coordinate, coordinate system, coordination and drilled
date data
 dhsurvey - survey measurement depth, survey bearing and dip data
 dhassay - sample interval start and end depth, Au, Cu and Density assay
data
 dhlith - sample interval start and end depth, lithology data
 dhzones - sample interval start and end depth, mineralized zones data
The procedure for desurveying the drillhole data files is as follows:
1. If not already selected click on the Design Window tab.
2. Run the command Drillholes | Validate and Desurvey. The following dialogue
is displayed:
3. In the HOLES3D Command dialog, define the Files, Fields and Parameter
settings, as shown in the table below, and then click OK to execute the
Command.
Use the Browse button in the Files tab to browse and select the
required input files and then type in the name of the output file. In
the Fields tab, use the dropdown arrows to select the required field
names.

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HOLES3D dialog
Files tab
COLLAR dhcollar
SURVEY dhsurvey
SAMPLE1 dhassays
SAMPLE2 dhlithology
SAMPLE3 dhzones
OUT dholes
Fields tab
BHID BHID
XCOLLAR XCOLLAR
YCOLLAR YCOLLAR
ZCOLLAR ZCOLLAR
FROM FROM
TO TO
AT AT
BRG BRG
DIP DIP
Parameters tab
ENDPOINT 0
4. View the summary desurvey report in the Command control bar's Output
panel (a successful desurveying run will show that the output file dholes
contains 1048 records and that all checks were successful, as shown in the
image below).
5. Check the Project Files control bar to make sure that the new file dholes is
listed under the Drillholes folder, as shown in the image below:

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6. Check the new file in the Files window to make sure that the field Names, Size
and Types are correct, as shown in the image below:

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Exercise 2: Loading Static Drillholes
In this exercise, you will load the static drillhole file dholes into the Design Window. The
procedure for loading the static drillhole file is as follows:
1. Select the Design Window tab.
2. In the Project Files browser, Drillholes folder, select the file dholes and then,
holding down the left mouse button drag it into the Design window.
3. Check that this dholes (drillholes) object is listed in the Loaded Data control
bar, as shown in the image below:
4. Check that these holes have been loaded into the Design, Plots and VR
windows by selecting each of the window tabs.
5. Select the Design window and whilst holding down the “<SHIFT>” key hold
down the left mouse button and move the mouse. The drillhole data will
rotate and spin based on movements of the mouse.
Further exercises which deal with viewing and display of data in the Design window
are covered in the next section.
Exercise 3: Unload Data from the Design Window
In this exercise you will unload the points file (dhcollar) and the drillholes file (dholes)
from the Design window.
1. In the Loaded Data control bar select Dholes (Drillholes) and Right-click | Data
| Unload.
2. Select the Yes button when asked for confirmation.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the dhcollar (points) data.
4. Select the Redraw View button from the toolbar down the right hand side
of Studio 3.

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Exercise 4: Creating a Static Drillhole File with Error Checking
In this exercise you will rerun the Desurvey and Validate process and check for errors
in the drillhole database files. The process has optional additional output files,
holesmry and errors, which are used to validate the input data files. The holesmry file
summarizes the number of records in each of the input files for each drillhole. The
errors file reports any sample overlaps or FROM/TO problems.
To check for errors in the input files into the Desurvey and Validate process:
1. Run the HOLES3D process using the Command control bar. This is done by
typing HOLES3D in the Command line at the bottom of Studio 3.
You could also run this command by selecting from Drillholes |
Validate and Desurvey.
2. In the HOLES3D Command dialog, click on the Restore button located in the
bottom right-hand corner of the dialog. This will restore all the settings from
the previous run.
3. Add output files holesmry and holerr as shown below.
HOLES3D dialog
Files tab
COLLAR dhcollar
SURVEY dhsurvey
SAMPLE1 dhlithology
SAMPLE2 dhassay
SAMPLE3 dhzones
OUT dholes
HOLESMRY holesmry
ERRORS holerr
Fields tab
BHID BHID
XCOLLAR XCOLLAR
YCOLLAR YCOLLAR
ZCOLLAR ZCOLLAR
FROM FROM
TO TO
AT AT
BRG BRG
DIP DIP
Parameters tab
ENDPOINT 0

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4. You will be asked to confirm that you which to replace the existing file dholes.
Select the Yes button.
5. View the summary desurvey report in the Command control bar's Command
panel.
6. The summary information in the Command control bar indicates there are
errors with the input data files. Use the listing of errors in the holerr file to check
the input files and identify the source of the errors.
To check the contents of a file, double-click on the file in the
Projects File control bar. This action will open the file in the
Datamine Table Editor. Note that the double –click action from the
Projects File control bar can be set to open the file under Tools |
Options | Project | General.
7. Check the holesmry file in the Datamine Table Editor.
8. Which holes are not created in the desurveyed file?

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Exercise 5: Loading Dynamic Drillholes
In this exercise, you are going to load the drillhole data tables stored in the
spreadsheet file _vb_drillhole_data.xls. These drillhole data tables contain the same
data as the files that were imported in the "Importing Text Data" and "Importing
Spreadsheet Data" exercises. Note that the drillhole traces are automatically created
when the last of the drillhole tables have been loaded.
Settings which allow selection of the desurvey method (straight line segments or
radius of curvature) and other desurvey controls can be found under File | Settings |
Desurvey Settings.
The procedure for loading the drillhole data tables is as follows:
1. Select the Design window tab.
2. Select Data | Load | Database.
3. In the Data Providers dialog select the Earthworks ODBC Data Provider option
and then click OK.
4. Click on the Machine Data Source* tab and select the Excel Files option and
then click OK.
5. Go to the folder C:DatabaseDMTutorialsDataVBOPODBC, and in the
“Database Name” section, select _vb_drillhole_data.xls from the list so that
the name appears in the top dialog box and then click OK.

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6. Select (tick) the Assays, Collars, Lithology, Surveys and Zones TABLES and then
click OK.
7. In the Select Table Type (... for Assays$ ...) dialog, select the Assays option
from the list and then click OK.
8. Assign the table fields as shown in the table below and then click OK.
Define Drillhole Data Table dialog
Assays Table
Hole Name BHID
Depth From FROM
Depth To TO
Grade 1 AU
Grade 2 CU
Grade 3 - 15 absent
Specific Gravity DENSITY
Assigning table fields is done by first selecting the system field
name in the Assigned Fields pane on the left and then selecting
the corresponding Table field name in the Table's Fields pane on
the right. Selected items are highlighted in blue.
9. In the Select Table Type (... for Collars$ ...) dialog, select the Collars option
from the list and click OK.
10. Assign the Table fields as shown in the table below and click OK.
Define Drillhole Data Table dialog
Collars Table
Hole Name BHID
Easting XCOLLAR
Northing YCOLLAR
Elevation ZCOLLAR
Length absent
Azimuth absent
Inclination absent
11. In the Select Table Type (... for Lithology$ ...) dialog, select the Lithology option
from the list and click OK.

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12. Assign the Table fields as shown in the table below and click OK.
Define Drillhole Data Table dialog
Lithology Table
Hole Name BHID
Depth From FROM
Depth To TO
Lithology NLITH
Description LITH
13. In the Select Table Type (... for Surveys$ ...) dialog, select the Surveys option
from the list and click OK.
14. Assign the Table fields as shown in the table below and click OK.
Define Drillhole Data Table dialog
Surveys Table
Hole Name BHID
Depth At AT
Azimuth BRG
Inclination DIP
Positive Dip values
Up 
Down 
Angular Values
Radians 
Degrees 
15. In the Select Table Type (... for Zones$ ...) dialog, select the Interval Log option
from the list and click OK.
16. Assign the table fields as shown in the table below and click OK.
Define Drillhole Data Table dialog
Interval Log Table
Hole Name BHID
Depth From FROM
Depth To TO
Grade 3 ZONE

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17. Select the Design window tab. Move to a plan view by selecting the
command View | Set Viewplane | By 1 Point. In the bottom left of the Studio
3 window you are asked to “Define plane about one point”. Using the mouse
click in the center of the Design Window. Select Plan from the list and click on
OK.
18. Check that the drillhole traces have been loaded into the Design window.
19. Save the project file using File | Save.
20. Click OK to automatically reload data in the Design window.

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7 DRILLHOLES – COMPOSITING
7.1 Introduction
Compositing is a standard processing technique for regularizing the length or vertical
height of desurveyed drillhole samples. Typically compositing is within fixed length
intervals, within a compositing “Zone” field. Two processes will be used to
demonstrate the compositing options, namely;
 Drillholes | Drillhole Processes | Composite Down Drillholes (COMPDH)
 Drillholes | Drillhole Processes | Composite Over Benches (COMPBE)
The range of parameter settings in both processes allows for the generation of
composites to suit different output scenarios e.g. short fixed length composites for
statistical analysis and grade estimation vs. single length composites per rocktype
interval for interpretation or string modeling purposes.
7.2 Background
The Composite Down Drillholes process composites data down each drillhole and at
a minimum requires a static drillhole file. The output file will have the same format as
the input file.
Do NOT use identical IN and OUT file names as you will lose your original
data.
By default the process will create composites of the required lengths using length
weighted averages. This is done using the LENGTH field in the desurveyed file which
records the difference between subsequent FROM and TO values. If you have a
DENSITY field in your desurveyed file then the composites will be weighted by density.
This process also includes optional parameters for recording core loss, and core
recovery.
Composite Length

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The composite interval required and options for dealing with missing samples and
minimum composite lengths is dealt with using the following parameters:
INTERVAL
MINGAP
MAXGAP
MINCOMP
The MINGAP, MAXGAP and MINCOMP parameters are optional and if not
set by the user will be set to default values.
It is recommended that you set MINGAP=0.001 and MINCOMP=0.
The process Composite Over Benches allows you to composite drillhole data over
horizontal benches. The process includes the same parameters as Composite Down
Drillholes except that START is replaced by ELEV and the MAXCOMP parameter has
been added. You should set the ELEV parameter to a valid bench RL and the
INTERVAL parameter to the bench height.
INTERVAL

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Exercise 1: Compositing Down Drillholes
In this exercise, you will use the process Composite Down Drillholes (COMPDH) to
composite the drillholes down their lengths into single rock type intervals defined by
the rock type code field NLITH (this field is selected as the compositing "Zone" field)
and by setting the INTERVAL parameter to 1000 (a distance greater than the longest
continuous rocktype interval as per the information in the lithology table dhlith).
The compositing procedure is as follows:
1. If not already displayed select the Design window tab. This will display the
Drillholes menu bar item.
2. Run the command using Drillholes | Drillhole Processes | Composite Down
Drillholes (COMPDH).
3. In the COMPDH Command dialog, define the File, Field and Parameter
settings as shown in the table below and then click OK.
Use the Browse button in the Files tab to browse and select the
required input files and then type in the name of the output file. In the
Fields tab, use the dropdown arrows to select the required field
names. In the Parameters tab, use the dropdown arrows to select the
required parameters.

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COMPDH dialog
Files tab
IN dholes
OUT dholesc
Fields tab
BHID BHID
FROM FROM
TO TO
DENSITY DENSITY
CORELOSS leave blank
COREREC leave blank
ZONE NLITH
Parameters tab
INTERVAL 1000
MINGAP 0.05
MAXGAP 0
MINCOMP 0.001
LOSS 0
START 0
MODE 0
PRINT 0
4. View the progress of the command in the Command window, noting that the
output file should contain 129 records, as shown in the image below:
5. Check the Project Files Browser to make sure that the new file dholesc is listed
under the Drillholes folder, as shown in the image below:

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6. Check the dholesc file in the Datamine Table Editor. For each drillhole there
should be no more than one record for each value of NLITH.
The user defined fields ENDDATE, LITH, REFMETH and REFSYS are not
in the new file - alpha fields are not transferred in the compositing
process.

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Exercise 2: Compositing Drillholes by Bench
It may be necessary in some cases to generate drillhole composites which are
matched to bench height, e.g. grade control drilling in an open pit. In this exercise
you will use the process Composite Over Benches to create composites based on a
user-defined bench height, as follows.
1. If not already displayed select the Design window tab. This will display the
Drillholes menu item.
2. Run the command using Drillholes | Drillhole Processes | Composite Over
Benches (COMPBE).
3. In the COMPBE command dialog, define the File, Field and Parameter settings
as shown in the table below and then click OK.
COMPBE Dialog
Files tab
IN dholes
OUT dholesb
Fields tab
BHID BHID
FROM FROM
TO TO
DENSITY DENSITY
CORELOSS
COREREC
ZONE NLITH
Parameters tab
INTERVAL 1000
MINGAP 0.05
MAXGAP 0
ELEV 100
MINCOMP 0.001
MAXCOMP
LOSS 0
PRINT 0

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4. View the progress of the command in the Command control bar, noting that
the output file should contain 155 records, as shown in the image below:
5. To load the drillhole file, dholesb, into the Design window select it from the
Project Files control bar and drag it into the Design window using the mouse.
6. In order to see the holes more clearly you need to turn off the display of the
Dynamic Drillholes generated in the previous section. To do this select the
Sheets tab at the bottom of the Project Files control bar and expand the
Design folder.
7. Select the tick box next to the Holes Overlay item to untick the box.
8. Click on the Redraw button from the toolbar down the right hand side of
Studio 3.
9. Move to a North-South view plane by running the command View | Set
Viewplane | by 1 point.

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You can also run this command either by selecting the button
from the toolbar down the right hand side of Studio 3 or by typing in
the quick key 1.
10. Click anywhere in the center of the screen and select the North-South option
from the Select View Orientation dialog. Click on OK.
11. Each hole should only have one interval for each value of NLITH as below:
12. Save the project file using File | Save.
13. Click OK to automatically reload data in the Design window.

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8 DATA VIEWING – DESIGN &
VISUALIZER WINDOWS
8.1 Introduction
Once data has loaded into the project, it is available for viewing, interpretation,
modeling and plotting in all windows (see section on The Interface):
This section deals with the tools available for managing the view in the Design and
Visualizer windows, which are the main windows used for string and wireframe
modeling and interpretation of drillhole data. The exercises below will take you
through the general procedures and features used to view the data you loaded in
the previous exercises.
8.2 Background
8.2.1 What is the Design Window?
The Design Window is the work area used for all string editing, wireframing, and mine
design. The window represents a plane whose orientation, dimensions, and location
can be easily changed to suit the current needs. When Studio 3 is started this window
is set to a horizontal (“XY”) plane centered on the origin (X, Y, Z = 0,0,0). By default
the background color is black with ticks at the window edges for the grid.
8.2.2
8.2.3 What is the relationship between the Visualizer and the Design window?
The Visualizer is a representation of the Design window, which uses the 3D capabilities
of the graphics card to give a more realistic view of the data. The Visualizer
represents the current view plane in the Design window as a frame (colored white if
the background color of the Visualizer is black) along with X, Y, and Z axes to indicate
the orientation of the grid. Whenever the orientation of the Design window view
plane is changed, the frame in the Visualizer is adjusted accordingly.
The Visualizer is NOT an editing tool; it can only be used to view your data.
8.2.4
8.2.5 What kinds of data can I view in the Visualizer and Design Windows?
The following are treated as 3D data by Studio 3 and can be viewed in the Visualizer
and Design windows:
 Static drillhole traces
 Dynamic drillhole traces
 Points (survey points, mapping and sample points)
To change the color of the background window, select File |
Settings | Design and select a color from the drop-down list.

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 Strings (topography contours, geological strings, pit design crests and toes,
survey measures
 Wireframes (topography surface, geological surfaces and volumes, pit
surfaces, underground workings
 Block Models (geological and mining models)
The common theme in the above file types is that they represent data which can be
displayed in a 3D environment. Other data types such as geology logs cannot be
loaded into the Design window; they can be loaded and viewed in the Logs window.
8.2.6 How do I control the orientation of the viewplane?
A viewplane is defined by a center point and orientation parameters. The following
general types of viewplanes can be defined:
Plan - horizontal
Section - vertical
3D View - inclined
Viewplanes can be defined and adjusted using the View | Set Viewplane functions:
Command
Quick
Key
Description
View | Set Viewplane |By 1 Point 1
Define a horizontal or vertical section by
defining a single points.
View | Set Viewplane |By 2 points 2
Define a horizontal or vertical section by
defining two end points.
View | Set Viewplane |By 3 Points 3
Define three points that will form a triangle on
the new view plane.
View | Set Viewplane |Snap to ... stpl
Select a defined point (e.g. a point on a
string or drill hole) and then moves the
viewplane to intersect that point.
Dynamic rotation of data
Hold down the shift key and adjust the view
orientation by holding down the left mouse
button whilst moving the mouse
View | Set Viewplane |Move mpl Adjust view plane by specified distance
View | Set Viewplane |Move Forward mpf
Move the plane forward (into the screen).
The distance moved is specified by the last
Move Plane command.
View | Set Viewplane |Move
Backward
mpb
Move the plane backward (out of the
screen). The distance moved is specified by
the last Move Plane command.
View | Set Viewplane |Previous View pv Go to previous view
View | Set Viewplane |Pan pan
Move the display across the screen in any
direction. You can also invoke this command
from the keyboard using the arrow keys.
Refer to the Studio 3 online help for information on more advanced viewplane
commands not covered in the introductory course.

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How do I control the field of view?
The extents of a view can be controlled both in the plane of the view and perpendicular
to the viewplane using the following Zoom (View | Zoom) and Clipping (View | clipping
function) functions.
Command
Quick
Key
Description
View | Zoom | Zoom In zx Zoom in
View | Zoom | Zoom Out zz Zoom out
View | Zoom | Zoom All Data
za
This command works by adjusting the view to
fit all displayable data. The orientation of the
view plane will not be changed, however,
the position of the plane will be set so that it
passes through the center of all the available
data.
View | Zoom | Zoom Data in Plane
ze
This command resets display limits to show all
data in the current view plane. This
command will expand (or contract) the limits
of the current view, but it will not change the
position or orientation of the view plane.
View | Set Clipping limits
scl
Specify how far in front of and behind the
current view plane data should be
displayed. Secondary clipping limits can be
used to specify further clipping zones in
relation to the current view plane.
View | Use Clipping Limits uc Turn on or off use of clipping
View | Use Secondary Clipping u2 Use specified secondary clipping
View | Set Exaggeration
sex
Sets the extent by which the data will be
stretched in one or more axis directions.
Refer to the Studio 3 online help for information on more advanced viewplane
commands not covered in the introductory course.
8.2.7 Why is the redraw command necessary?
This is a question commonly asked by people new to Studio 3. Many commands do
not automatically refresh the screen after processing has been completed. The
reason for this is that refreshing the Design Window when there is a lot of data loaded
into memory can be time consuming. Even more to the point, it is often not
necessary. It is left up to you to choose the most appropriate time to refresh the
screen.
Note that many commands, such as Erase String, do a partial redraw of the screen.
This can cause the screen display to be incomplete compared to the data stored in
memory. If you are in doubt about the screen display, you should always use Redraw
(rd).

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When a redraw is in progress, you can interrupt it by clicking the Cancel. This saves
time if you do not need to see the completely redrawn screen before using another
command.
8.2.8 What is the difference between digitizing and snapping?
When clicking with the mouse inside the Design window you can use the left or right
mouse buttons. If you use the left mouse button you will be digitizing, the coordinates that
will be read back or written out as data will be determined entirely by the position of the
mouse pointer. If you use the right hand mouse button you are choosing to select a
predefined point.
What happens when you press the right hand mouse button is determined by the
snap mode. By default, the snap mode is set to points, but it can be changed to snap
to lines or to defined grid locations. The toggle switches for changing the snap mode
are located under the Edit | Snapping menu or from the Snapping toolbar.
A summary of the various snapping options are listed below:
Command
Quick
Key
Description
Edit | Snapping | Snap to
Points
stpo When the right-hand mouse button is
pressed the cursor location will be set at
the X, Y and Z coordinates of the point
nearest the cursor. POINTS available for
snapping include points, string and
wireframe slice vertices, and drill hole
interval end points and centre points.
Edit | Snapping | Snap to
Lines
stl When the right hand mouse button is
pressed the cursor location will be set at
the X, Y and Z coordinate of a point on
a line that is nearest to the cursor. LINES
available for snapping include strings
and drill holes
Edit | Snapping | Snap to Grid stg When the right hand mouse button is
pressed the cursor location the cursor
will be set at the X, Y and Z coordinate
of the nearest location on the current
snapping grid. See Grid Snapping
Control.

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Exercise 1: Zooming
1. If not already selected select the Design window tab to display the Data
menu bar item.
2. Change the viewplane to a plan view by selecting the plane by 1 point
button from the toolbar down the right hand side of Studio 3. Click anywhere
in the middle of the screen and select the Plan option from the dialog before
clicking OK.
3. Run the command Data | Load | Strings (ga) and select the stopo file.
4. Turn off the display of Static Drillholes by clicking on the box next to dholesb
(drillholes) in the Sheets control bar.
5. Select the Zoom Extents button from the toolbar down the right hand side
of Studio 3.
You could also drag and drop the file stopo from the Project Files browser
using the mouse.

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6. To zoom in select the View | Zoom | Zoom In (zx) command and using the
mouse click near the center of the topography with the left mouse key and
while holding the mouse button down drag it towards the top right hand
corner as illustrated below: When you release the mouse button the view will
be reset to the defined area.
7. Reset the view to be centered on your data using View | Zoom | Zoom All
Data (za). The co-ordinates of the mouse position are shown at the bottom of
the Design window:
Note if the viewplane is horizontal, when the mouse is moved within
the Design window the X and Y values change whilst the Z value
remains fixed
This step demonstrates the difference between the commands Zoom All Data
(za) and Zoom Data In Plane (ze). Select View | Set Viewplane | Move and
type ‘50’ in the dialogue displayed and hit OK.

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The value for the Z position of the view plane has now changed to 207.37.
Now select View | Zoom | Zoom In (zx) to zoom in to an area of the data.
If you use View | Zoom | Zoom All Data (za) to zoom-out, then you will return
to a horizontal plane where Z=157.37. However, in order to remain on the
current viewplane (207.37) use the command View | Zoom | Zoom Data In
Plane (ze).
8. The Pan (pan) command allows you to move the display across the screen in
any direction. Select the View | Pan (pan) command and using the mouse
select a point near the center of the Design Window. Select a second point a
few centimeters to the right of the original point.
You can also use the keyboard arrows to pan the data in the Design
Window. In this case, the distance the data is panned is fixed.

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Exercise 2: Changing the Viewplane.
1. Turn on the display of the static drillhole file dholesb by selecting the box to
the right of this filename in the Sheets window.
2. Zoom In to the area in which the drillholes occur.
3. Run the View | Set View Plane | By 1 Point (1) comma1nd and snap a point
(right mouse button) on one of the drillholes at the center of the deposit. Note
that the instructions for what you should do with the mouse are displayed at
the bottom of the screen on the le1ft-hand side. Select North–South from the
dialog box then press the OK.

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4. Return to the plan view by using the command View | Previous View (pv).
5. Use View| Set Viewplane | By 2 Points (2) and select 2 points on one of the
drillhole sections as shown below.
X Point 1
X Point 2

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6. Select the vertical section option from the dialog and select OK.
It is also possible to adjust the viewplane by entering the absolute coordinate values.
7. Run the command View | Set Viewplane | custom. Enter the following
values.
8. Select OK.

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Exercise 3: Rotating Data in the Design Window
1. Using the mouse click anywhere in the Design window with the left-hand
mouse button. Hold down the Shift key and move the mouse to rotate the
data.
2. Select the Previous View button from the toolbar down the right hand
side of Studio 3 to return to the previous view.
Exercise 4: Setting and Toggling Clipping Limits
The View | Set Clipping Limits (scl) command allows you to set a distance either side
of the viewplane. All data falling within the defined region will be displayed and all
data outside this region will be hidden. It is a useful tool for viewing a single section or
bench. When running this command a “front” and “back” clipping distance is
required. The “front” distance direction is defined as the direction towards you. The
“back” distance is defined as the direction away from you.
1. Select the View | Set Clipping Limits (scl) command.
2. Toggle off the infinite clipping options and set both the “front” and “back”
clipping limits to 12.5 (The section spacing of the drillholes is 25 meters.)

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3. Turn the clipping on and off with the View | Use Clipping Limits (uc)
command. The Use Clipping Limits button can be found in the toolbar
running down the right hand side of Studio 3.
This is an example of a “toggle” command. A toggle command is used to turn
a display setting on or off. In this case the Use Clipping (uc) command allows
you to turn clipping on and off without having to reset the clipping distances.
Typically the clipping commands are used by setting the clipping limits once
and then toggling the clipping on and off as required.
Make sure the clipping is turned on and then select the Update Visualizer
Objects button from the visualizer toolbar.
Select the Visualizer window tab and click the right hand mouse button in the
Visualizer window to display the context menu.
Turn the clipping on as shown below:

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4. Rotate the view about the center point in the view plane by holding down the
left mouse button and moving the mouse pointer in various directions inside
the Visualizer window.
You can also use the arrow keys on the keyboard to rotate the image
continuously. To cancel continuous rotation, click in the Visualizer window with
the left mouse button.
Do not leave continuous rotation on while you are doing other
work as it will slow your computer down.
Exercise 5: Moving the Viewplane
The View | Set Viewplane | Move (mpl) command allows you move the current
viewplane by a specified distance. The distance can be negative or positive with the
movement sense being perpendicular to the view plane. A positive value will move
the view plane towards you. A typical use of this command would be to step through
a data set on a section by section or bench by bench basis. This command is
normally used in conjunction with clipping.
1. To move to a particular easting, double-click on the coordinates in the Status
Bar.
2. The Mouse Position dialog is displayed:

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3. Click the Locked box and enter ‘6035’ in the box adjacent to X.
4. To move to this easting, run the command View | Set Viewplane | by 1 point
(1) or select this command button on the toolbar, click anywhere in the
Design window and select North-South from the dialog.
5. Unlock the easting by clicking on the locked box. Close the mouse position
dialog. Note that the X coordinate is now at 6035.
6. Run the View | Set Viewplane | Move (mpl) command and set the distance
to 25 meters (The drilling has been carried out on a 25 meter spacing). Step
through two or three sections using positive and negative values. You will
notice that the easting value displayed in the Status bar at the bottom of the
Design window will increase and decrease accordingly.
7. Once the distance by which the view plane is moved is set, you can then use
the commands View | Set Viewplane | Move Forward (mpf) and View | Set
Viewplane | Move Backward (mpb) to move the plane by the distance set,
towards or away from you.

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Exercise 6: Setting Axis Exaggeration
The View | Set Exaggeration (sex) command allows you to rescale one or more of the
three standard coordinate ranges. This command is generally used to apply vertical
exaggeration to data which has large extents in the X and Y directions but is very
narrow in the Z direction. Mineral sands and bauxite deposits are two common
examples where vertical exaggeration is routinely applied.
1. Change the viewplane to section 6060mE using the same steps as in the
previous exercise. Run the command View | Set Exaggeration (sex) and
experiment with applying scaling factors of ‘1’, ‘2’ and ‘3’ to the Z axis. Use
the R option to reset scaling back to the original settings.

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Exercise 7: Synchronizing the Visualizer and Design Views.
The Format | Visualizer | Reset Visualizer View (vv) and Format | Visualizer | Read
Visualizer View (rvv) commands allow you to adjust the orientation of the current
view plane from either the Visualizer or the Design window.
The Visualizer toolbar should be displayed along the top of Studio 3. If it is not
displayed turn it on by selecting View | Customization | Toolbars | Visualizer.
1. Select the Visulalizer window and change the viewplane by rotating the
data.
2. Select the Design window and run the Format | Visualizer | Read Visualizer
View (rvv) command or click on the command button in the toolbar. The
changed orientation in the Visualizer should now be matched in the Design
Window.
3. In the Design Window use the View | Set Viewplane | Custom command to
change the dip and azimuth of the view plane.
4. Run the Format | Visualizer | Reset Visualizer with Design View (vv) command
( ). Again the view planes in the two windows should now be synchronized.
The difference between the Update Visualizer View (vv) and the Update Visualizer
Objects (uv) commands is that the former only resets the view while the latter resets
the view and reloads all the data into the Visualizer.
The advantage of the Update Visualizer View (vv) command is that it is much quicker
to run when there is a large amount of data loaded in the Design window.

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9 SECTION DEFINITION FILES
9.1 Introduction
The section definition file or view definition table is used to store multiple views or
section definitions for use in the Design and Plots windows. Each definition contains
parameters for the view plane centre coordinate, orientation, extents, clipping and a
description. The viewing (and later interpretation and modeling) of data can be
facilitated by means of predefined views saved in such a definition file. These views
can be saved and retrieved when required and provide the ability to easily return to
regularly used view orientations.
In this section, you will define nine clipped viewplanes (1 Plan and 8 Sections) and
save them to the a file which is named ViewDefs by default. It is possible to change
the default filename. These views will be used in later modeling exercises. In the
loaded data sets, the drillholes lie in North-South sections and dip towards the South;
the fault surfaces strike West-East and the contours define a topography surface
dipping gently towards the Southwest. This section will demonstrate how to
interactively define Plan and Section Viewplanes in the Design window using the Set
Viewplane, Zoom and Clipping functions and save them to a Section Definition
(Views) file.
The use of a View Definition file is recommended for regularly used views;
the once-off or general viewing of data is typically done using only the Set
Viewplane, Zoom, Pan and Clipping functions.
The exercise procedures for creating Plan and Vertical Section Viewplanes and
saving them to a file, are as follows:

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Exercise 1: Defining a Viewplane - Plan View
1. Select the Design window.
2. Turn off the clipping by selecting the Use Clipping toggle button from the
toolbar running down the right hand side of Studio 3. If the toggle is orange
this indicates that the toggle is ON.
3. Move to a plan view at 195RL using the command View | Set Viewplane |
Custom (this is approximately the centre point of the area defined by the
extents of the contour strings). Make sure that you select the Horizontal
option under the Section Orientation section.

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Exercise 2: Creating a Section Definition File and Saving the Plan Viewplane
1. Select View | Save View (svi).
This function can also be run using the Save View button in
the View Control toolbar.
2. In the Section Definition dialog, check the parameters, modify the parameters
to reflect the values shown in the image or table below and then click OK.
3. Check that the Loaded Data control bar now contains a ViewDefs object, as
shown in the image below:
The ViewDefs object is automatically created when you save a
view for the first time.

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Exercise 3: Defining and Saving the First Section Viewplane
The first section you are going to define is the most Westerly lying section
Description
X
Center
Y
Center
Z
Center
Azi. Dip
Horz.
Dim.
Vert.
Dim.
Front
Clip
Back
Clip
N-S SECN 5935 5935 5015 60 90 -90 450 350 12.5 12.5
1. Double click on the coordinates in the Status Bar to display the Mouse Position
dialog.
2. Click on the Locked box under the X coordinate and enter the value 5935.
3. Select the Plane By 1 Point button from the toolbar running down the right
hand side of Studio 3. Click anywhere in the center of the screen and select
the North_South option from the dialog.
4. Turn on the clipping by selecting the Use Clipping button (it will turn
orange once turned on).
5. Using the Zoom In button (or use the quick key zx), define a zoom area
just covering the extents of the drillholes.