Using PCBC’s Footprint Finder with a Mini-Schedule

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The Footprint Finder tool in GEOVIA PCBC™ helps to determine a block cave layout’s elevation, along with the footprint shape and size for a given set of inputs. A mini-schedule can now be run from all the economic blocks within the footprint, which allows for horizontal discounting as well as vertical discounting.

This mini-schedule can adjust the development rate, production rate, and mining sequence all within the Footprint Finder, which provides a more accurate representation of how the layout should be mined.

Here are some helpful tips to get started with the mini-schedule in Footprint Finder.

To run the Footprint Finder, the advanced profile needs to be set up:

  1. Create the profile by hitting the Generate button in the bottom left hand corner of the Advanced Profile Window.
  2. The profile will be generated with default values.
  3. To turn on the mini-schedule, set the SCHEDULE keyword to 1.
  4. To see the schedule during the run, set the PLOT_SCHED keyword to 1.

To input the design parameters for the mini-schedule, adjust the following keywords:

  1. TONS_MAX – The maximum tonnes per year to mine in the schedule. The annual production rate.
  2. YEARS_BUILD – The time it takes to ramp up to the annual production rate.
  3. METHOD – Method used during the schedule. AUTO is for panel cave and EVEN is for a block cave
  4. NEW_PER_PERIOD – New blocks to open per period.  To calculate, take the total area to be opened per period and divide by the area of one block.
  5. RATE_MAX – Max vertical mining rate expressed as m/y.

To set up the mining sequence, create a new block attribute called FFSECTOR.

  1. This block attribute will define the mining sectors for the footprint.
  2. If there is only one sector, then the entire attribute can be initialized to a value of 1.Otherwise, set the sectors accordingly by selecting the appropriate blocks.
  3. Create a sequence shape as an XY curve (PCBC->Project->XY CURVE). The shape is usually a straight line or an arrow. See images right for examples of XY curves.
  4. Create a new sheet called “sequence” in the Footprint Finder Excel file. The Footprint Finder tool will use the excel file in the EXCEL_FILE keyword—if the file does not exist, the tool will create one.


Fill out the sequence sheet. Cell A1 denotes how many sectors will be used in the sequence. The different columns are:

  • Block_val – The value of the sector in the FFSECTOR block attribute.
  • Rotation – Rotation angle of the mining sequence.
  • Shape – XY Curve to use for the sequence shape.
  • XOFF – Easting start location of the sequence.
  • YOFF – Northing start location of the sequence.
  • DIST_OFF – A distance offset, which will be used when there are multiple sectors, and when the user wants to add a delay between the different sectors.
  • Check – This is an output after the Footprint Finder runs, which reports how many blocks are used for the sequence for the best elevation.

Once the sequence sheet is complete, this will setup the Footprint Finder to run using the mini-schedule. If the PLOT_SCHED keyword is turned on, then each elevation will be displayed as the Footprint Finder is running.

 

Here are the color codes during the Footprint Finder run:

  • Grey – Planned blocks
  • Green – Active blocks
  • Brown – Closed blocks
  • Blue – New blocks

Please note, the Footprint Finder only uses the block model therefore one block would represent a “draw point”.

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