Define Drillhole

Define Drillhole is a prerequisite to creating, importing, and processing drillholes. This is a configuration file containing settings for manual drillhole entry, data storage, predefined attributes and the default key density. There is no geologic data stored in this .CH file. The dialog for this command is shown below.


Drillhole/Strata Attributes: This dropdown menu displays the attributes that have been defined in the spreadsheet below this option. Any attributes defined in this spreadsheet will be applied to all drillholes/strata, regardless if the drillholes have a value associated with the attribute. Attributes may be relate to the drillhole itself (e.g. date drilled, drilling company), or to key/non-key strata within the drillhole(e.g. density, assay). You may also define attributes as combinations of other attributes by writing an equation. The equation must start with an equal sign (=) and can include standard mathematical operators (+ - * /). Three examples of attribute equations are given below.

=LBS*SULF/(10^6*BTU)
=MOIST/LBS
=BTU/1000

Attributes may be added, removed, and reordered with the use of the green icons to the right of the spreadsheet. Attributes may be sorted alphabetically with the use of the sort button. If an attribute has already been defined with the Define Attributes command, it will be available in the dropdown menu to the right of each attribute name. Drillhole attributes may also be defined in the Define Lookup Database command. Strata Attributes may also be defined in the Define Attributes command. However, it is not necessary to predefine drillhole or strata attributes - they may simply be imported directly with the drillholes or added to the drillholes manually with the Edit Drillhole command.

Use External Database: Drillholes may be stored in one of two methods. The default method is leave this option disabled. In this case, the drillholes will be stored directly in the drawing file as extended entity data within the CAD Dictionary. This method is recommended for most projects as there is no requirement to maintain an external file. However, if your project contains thousands of drillholes, the drawing may become exceedingly large and sluggish. In this case, you may wish to enable this option, as the drillhole data will then be stored in a separate file and referenced when needed. Any changes made to the drillholes in the drawing will update the external database, and vice-versa. When enabled, you must select a Database Type to set the format of the external database. The four types of databases are:

After selecting a database format, you will need to click the Select button to create a new database file or select an existing one. It is important to note that you will still need to import the drillholes after creating this file. If you need to import drillhole data directly from a database file, you can do so through the Drillhole Import command.

Key Density: This field is the default density used to calculate the weight of key strata. The units are lbs/ft^3 or kg/m^3, depending on the drawing unit system. In addition to this option, there are other ways to define the density of strata. When calculating reserves, you can select which method to use. By default, if the density is not defined anywhere else, the value set in this dialog will be used.

  1. Define Drillhole
  2. Define Strata
  3. DENSITY grid in a Geologic Model
  4. Define Grade Parameters (sets density of each block within a block model)

Restrict Strata/Bed/Attribute Names to Predefined Lists: This option will not import or use any names that don't match up with the predefined names set here, in the Drillhole/Strata Attributes. This allows you to easily filter out drillhole data that is not needed.


Prompts

Select Existing/New Drillhole Configuration File: Selection Dialog Box
Select Drillhole Configuration File Selection Dialog Box
Specify a file name in which to store the drillhole definition.
Define Drillhole Dialog

Drop-Down Menu Location: Drillhole
Keyboard Command: chdef