SC. Quick Start Tutorial
Spatial Conformetrics calculates the overlap between a plan volume and a survey volume. The resulting charts and tables provide visual communication and a simple scoring system for conversations around business improvement.
Spatial Conformetrics is organized into three tabs:
Setup tab - contains an ordered task list to prepare the project.
Conformance tab - presents a 3D reporting environment to assess results.
Surface Lab tab - may be used to create composite surfaces and triangulations.
Brief description of these tabs see below and detailed information is available by clicking on the links provided.
The exercises in this chapter are for familiarization purposes and are deliberately light on detail. More in-depth discussion follows in the next sections.
Unless otherwise noted, each exercise follows from the preceding exercise.
Accessing Spatial Conformetrics
Spatial Conformetrics is launched from the Alastri Hub, which manages all Alastri licenses and applications on your computer.
To install the Hub, see Installation and Setup.
To run the Hub, double click the shortcut icon on your desktop, or search for "Alastri Hub" via the Start menu.
Once in the Hub:
Click the Spatial Conformetrics option.
Select the latest version.
Click START to launch the software.
Once in Spacial Conformetrics, click File > New to open a new project.
Setup tab
The main steps to set your model in Spatial Conformetrics are listed below. Navigate through them in a specified order or go to SC. Setup tab section to get more details.
Note that Conformance and Surface Lab tabs become available only after completing and running all steps listed in the Setup tab.
Sample Project Setup Example
1. Settings step
For this demo project flag Use Block Model option.
For this tutorial, leave all other settings at the default values.
2. Block Model step
Load block models in the Block Model step.
A reserve model is a collection of block models.
Each project loads a single ".resmodel" file at a time.
Use New and Open buttons to create and load reserve model files.
The Edit button is where block models may be added or removed from the reserve model.
Create a Reserve Model
Press the New button to open the Reserve Model Generator.
Select import > CSV File > “bm1.csv”.
Set the green Header Line to match the header text.
Set the yellow Data Offset to match the first row of data.
Press OK to finish.
When the block model is loaded, its header fields are listed in the Variables panel on the right.
Drag and drop the variables to the appropriate field (or double click to map to the selected field).
Numeric fields use the N("field") syntax, and text fields use the T("field") syntax.
New reserve fields can be created by clicking the sum , weighted , and class icons in the top button toolbar. These add new rows into the field list.
Sum fields are summed together, such as volume, tonnes and gold ounces.
Weighted fields are weight-averaged by a sum field, such as iron percent or gold ppm.
Class fields create subtotals of a sum field, such as Indicated / Inferred / Measured.
Create and map the fields for Fe, Al, Si, P, Mn, LOI, and S.
Use the top button ribbon to add the fields under the correct parent.
Use the variables list to map values into the fields.
Select the appropriate format for each field.
Check for hints in the Errors panel below the fields.
The Parcel field is used to categorise the material type in each block model cell.
Most block models contain a material type field, such as "MatType" or "IDProduct'.
If there is no material type field in the block model, see the Block Model Formulas section to write your own.
Be careful to use the text T("material") syntax so that the parcel is read as text, not as a number.
If the Errors panel is blank, and once all fields are mapped, press Generate to build the reserve model.
A Spatial Conformetrics project needs a valid link to the reserve model file in order to calculate reserves.
As such, a good rule of thumb is to save the reserve model file in the same folder as the Spatial Conformetrics project, to reduce confusion when sharing or backing up files.
Once the reserve model file has been generated, in the Reserves Summary panel you will see a block model summary for each loaded block model.
Use the Min/Max toggle to inspect the data for missing or rubbish values.
Check the material types, tonnes and grades for ballpark accuracy.
Once you are satisfied, press play to proceed to the next step.
3. Bench Templates step
Set bench height options in the Bench Templates step.
Create a Bench Template
Select the blue plus icon > "By Heights".
Set the template name to "10m".
Set the bench height to 10.
Optionally use the Add to Top/Add to Bottom to set different bench heights at different elevations.
4. Domain Mappings step
To generate conformance solids, the software calculates the intersection of a production solid and a schedule solid, then cookie-cuts the results by the boundary polygon of each solid. The resulting volumes are referred to as "conformance domains".
Any intersecting volume is "cut in plan".
Any production volume outside the schedule boundary is "cut not planned".
Any schedule volume outside the production boundary is "planned not cut".
Any production volume above or below a schedule solid is "cut late" or "over cut".
Any schedule volume above or below a production solid is "cut early" or "under cut".
Different organisations may choose to report these volumes in different buckets, or with different names. The Domain Mappings step allows any conformance domain to be given a reporting name and colour to match company standards.
5. Polygons step
Set the bench heights, block model, and containing surfaces for each reporting region.
Polygon 1
Press the blue plus icon to add a new polygon.
Rename the polygon to "Mine1/Pit1".
Populate the polygon properties in the Properties panel:
Select the appropriate Bench Template for pit1.
Select the appropriate Block Model for pit1.
Select the Production Start and Production End survey surfaces.
Select the Schedule Start and Schedule End schedule surfaces.
Production and Schedule surfaces can be selected by clicking in the row, or dragged and dropped from the Layers panel.
Polygon 2
Press the white copy icon to duplicate the last polygon.
Rename the new polygon to "Mine1/Pit2".
Optionally change the polygon properties to match pit2 (for example, use a different production survey surface).
Once you are satisfied, press play to confirm changes and proceed to the next step.
6. Polygon Geometry step
Draw the regional extents for each polygon.
Select a polygon from the Polygons list.
Use the polygon tool to delineate the selected pit area.
Repeat for all polygons.
Once you are satisfied, press play to confirm changes and finish the setup.
Conformance
Review site conformance in the Conformance tab.
Benches panel (left): shows the highlighted pit or bench.
Layers and Surfaces (top right): toggles layers and surfaces display.
Domain legend (bottom right): shows the color-coding for each conformance type.
Viewport (center): shows the 3D conformance solids.
Information tabs (Cross-Section, Reserves, Report, Waterfall) (bottom): show charts, scores and reserves for the highlighted pit or bench.
Full description of all each Conformance tab item, as well as their features and interaction ways see in the section SC. Conformance tab section.
In this section Reporting and Exporting functions are explained in details.
Reports
Click in the Report panel to see the conformance scores.
The Scheduled Component shows the subtotals of all scheduled volumes (cut and not cut).
The Production Component shows the subtotals of all mined volumes (planned and unplanned).
Plan Compliance is the ratio of (Cut In Plan / Scheduled).
Plan Performance is the ratio of (Cut Total / Scheduled).
For example, the mine may move 150% of plan volume, but with only 75% conformance to the scheduled locations.
Conformance reports may be customized by clicking the Configure Report button in the top right of the panel.
Creating Custom Reporting Entity
Open the Report tab and press the Configure Report button.
Press blue plus icon. New row will be created in the Report Setup window.
In the Name column set a new name.
In the Field column select field to include in a report (“Volume”, “DryTonnes”, “WetTonnes”, “WetTonnes.Moisture” or “Ounces”).
In the Parcels column select required parcels to include in a report.
Press OK to confirm changes.
Created items will be displayed in the Report as columns.
Export
In the top left of the application, click the Export button and select “Export Word Document” option.
In the Generate Report dialog that opens, tick the benches to add to the report.
Click the Layout Editor button to open a reporting template.
Add more reporting elements, if required:
Click Conformance Elements button and select “Cross-Section” option.
Drag and resize the elements to configure the report as desired.
Type in your report <Title>.
Optionally, make any other settings, such as font, its color and size, indents, margins, orientation etc, similar to any standard text editor.
Press OK to accept.
Populate other report settings in the Generate Report dialog.
Select report type: cut or fill.
Select report, plan view, plan legend, cross-section fonts and font sizes, orientation and alignment, as desired.
Tick Draw Legend and Draw Border checkboxes, if required.
Press OK to confirm and generate the report.
Wait until the report generation is finished. Generation time varies depending on reporting fields amount.
Review the generated report. Scroll through all the pages to see the entire progression.
Use top toolbar buttons to save as Microsoft Word document, print or open Print Preview window.