Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
shows the Lince pit (as of early 2002) and some important
underground workings corresponding to the Estefanía
mine.
Another purpose for visualization is to transfer an under-
standing of geologic knowledge to individuals less familiar
with the deposit as well as highlighting mining and engineer-
ing details that are relevant to the overall work. Figure
3.13
shows the ultimate pit of Escondida Norte according to its
final Feasibility study, looking NW, and showing main haul
ore and waste roads.
It should be noted that for all the examples shown, the
images are a static version of a three-dimensional rendering
of block models, geology, topography, or infrastructure. In
practice, geologists and engineers have the ability to move,
rotate, and incorporate different information into their visu-
alization exercise, according to the objectives.
There is often a distinction between visualization tools for
presentations and visualization tools of actual models. In all
cases, there must be some kind of model built to produce the
spatial information for the display. Mathematical tools are
commonly used to smooth surfaces and volumes to produce
more pleasant views; however, these views do not necessar-
ily represent the most accurate model, just as contour lines
are generally overly smoothed and do not provide the most
accurate estimate of the variable of interest.
The main difference between geologic and engineering
plots and model presentation tools is the level of technical
work that is based on them. Visualization tools often allow
Fig. 3.10
Tourmaline Veins in
Red
and
Yellow
, with interpretative
cross sections in
green
, and underground workings and accesses. View
is from underneath, courtesy of HRK International
Visualization of geologic models in relation to mine phas-
es or stopes, and in relation to production can also be used
as validation. Figure
3.11
shows a detailed view of an area
in Mine Area A of the Olympic Dam Underground mine as
of March 2006.
Another example is shown in Fig.
3.12
, where a con-
ceptual exploration program is described. The geology cor-
responds to the Lince-Estefanía mine (owned by Minera
Michilla S.A., a subsidiary of Antofagasta Minerals, S.A.,
Chile) and the exploration target is the Susana area where
manto-type Oxide Cu mineralization is present. Figure
3.12
Fig. 3.11
Mined out stopes (in
white
) and planned stopes, Olympic
Dam Underground Mine, as of mid-2007. Planned stopes are color-
coded by Mine Area, and generally are 30 × 30 × 100 m, and up to
40 × 40 × 200 m, and can be used for scale. Mine workings are also
shown. Courtesy of BHP Billiton/Olympic Dam
