Batch Plotting
Barrick Goldstrike
Barrick Goldstrike mines gold by open cut
and underground methods in Elko, Nevada.
Barrick’s Rodeo Mine, located on the Carlin
Trend in northern Nevada, uses VULCAN for
modelling, feasibility and scheduling.
The Rodeo underground project is currently
in transition from the development phase into
production planned for later in 2001. As mining
progresses, map plotting serves an increas-
ingly important mine planning function.
Until recently, Rodeo produced new plots
manually using VULCAN’s Plot All option. The
new Batch Plotting feature has led to increased
efficiency and reduced workload for the Mine
Planning Department.
Although Rodeo plots maps of various sizes
and scales, the most widely used are 11 x 17
inch driving layouts known as "survey area
maps". These were designed to replace hand-
drawn cut sheets which were becoming diffi-
cult to maintain as the mine grew. In addition,
production foremen wanted a tool to commu-
nicate big-picture issues, with sizes and scales
practical for survey and mining purposes.
Area map keys for various mine levels
Area maps provide
the vital link between
engineering and
production. Much
preparation work
was necessary to
provide a usable
final product.
Centrelines were
checked to ensure
annotation accura-
cy; a practical map
size and scale were developed; font and draft-
ing size were optimised; and drafting layers
were checked for errors.
Digitised drafting option showing capability to
select from multiple files
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The project required a team effort, and the
importance of the area maps quickly became
the motivation to find an efficient way of plotting
multiple maps.
Before the new Batch Plotting option was
added, Rodeo used the Plot All command to
generate maps. VULCAN’s Section Plotting
was an option, but slicing proved unsatisfac-
tory at Rodeo.
The mine levels contain a wide range of ele-
vations and different x-y ranges were used for
the areas on each level (due to survey line
point placement). Slicing produced incomplete
maps with erroneous information. Furthermore,
Section Plotting does not allow for user-defined
borders.
The Save Screen option was also impractical
because all users were working in individual
design databases, without the benefit of the
most recent revisions to the layers. Whenever
a plot was generated with Plot All, layers were
individually selected and deselected. This was
not practical for generating survey area maps,
which required daily updates.
The versatility of batch plotting allowed Rodeo
to generate large numbers of plots in a short
time. The long-term time savings justified the
time spent creating the initial specification
files. Specification file setup took several steps
including adjusting the user-defined border
in the drafting.dgd file and defining appropriate
border areas for each map. Before a specifi-
cation file was created, a key for each level
was designed to show how the areas were
defined.
In Batch Plotting Advanced mode, the plotting
area was defined using the Border Style option
and the Drag Style Rectangle. The Plot Control
option defined information needed for each
title block, including an automatic date stamp.
Gridlines and general plot annotations were
specified in the Plot Elements menu.
Rodeo uses several different design databases
to store drafting information. The most critical
aspect of setting up specification files was the
Data Elements option, which allowed layers
Rodeo Mine, Elko, Nevada
to be selected from multiple dgd files from
any folder. Triangulations can also be selected,
sliced, and adjusted with a variety of graphics
options.
Although one specification file may be used
to generate multiple maps in slice mode,
Rodeo needed to create more than 50 spec-
ification files to generate all the survey area
maps (because of the slicing problems). Batch
Plotting also allows copying of existing spec-
ification files to create new ones. Rodeo could
therefore make as many specification files as
necessary by changing one or two attributes
in a copy of an existing file.
The last important task was to semi-automate
batch plotting. A simple C-shell
script generated 50 plots in
minutes, a task which previously
took over an hour using the Plot
All option. Multiple Plot Preview,
which allows any number of plots
to be viewed sequentially, like a
slide show, was used to proof
the plots. With one mouse click,
Rodeo could send all of the plots
directly to the plotter.
Batch Plotting minimises plotting
time for the Mine Planning
Department. Maps can be plot-
ted quickly and easily on
demand. Rodeo can also now
generate accurate, up-to-date
survey area maps for the miners
to use on a daily basis. Most
importantly, the time saved has
freed resources to focus on
gearing into production.
Catherine Dreesbach
Mine Planning Engineer
Barrick Goldstrike
Presentation to North American
Users Conference 2001
Reproduced from Forge 2, 2001
MAPTEK