Loading Sample Data Into the Borehole Database

Loading Sample Data

Into the Borehole

Database Tutorial

For Minex v5.2

April 2008

Table of Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3

Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 4

Data Type and Variable Set Up ............................................................................................ 5

Loading Lithological Data .................................................................................................. 10

Loading Coal Quality Data ................................................................................................. 13

Validating Coal Quality Data .............................................................................................. 18

Loading LAS File – Downhole Geophysics Sample Data................................................ 21

Creating a Borehole Profile Plot ........................................................................................ 25

Preparing a Borehole Section Plot .................................................................................... 31

Summary .............................................................................................................................. 36

Introduction

Loading_Sample_Data_Into_The Borehole_Database.doc 1.0 Page 3 of 36

Introduction

The borehole database is composed of 5 files holding:

♦ Collar Data

♦ Seam Data

♦ Sample Data

♦ Header Data

♦ Seam Sequence.

Data is loaded into Minex from

♦ ASCII files

♦ AcQuire

♦ ODBC.

The load process involved mapping columns of information held in input files to the relevant variables in the BoreholeDB and generating a format file (.sff) for use in subsequent load processes.

The following files are required for this tutorial:

♦ ASHES.B3n borehole database files – the borehole database created in the Tutorial “Creating a New Borehole Database”.

♦ ASHES_LITH.csv – comma delimited file containing geological logging data

♦ ASHES_QUAL.csv – comma delimited file containing coal quality sampling data

♦ BNBY83.LAS – LAS file containing downhole geophysical data

♦ ASHES_GEOPH.zip – zipped space delimited file containing geophysical log data

♦ THEDON.GM3 – Primary Geometry file

♦ ASHES.mpf – parameters file

♦ LITHOLOG.SYM – borehole geological symbols file

♦ LITHOLOG.DIC – borehole geological dictionary file

♦ SYMBOLS.PAR – colour and line patterns symbol file

To set the following local origin for this dataset,

1. Choose Tools > Options > Local Origin.

2. Click Ok.

Objectives


Objectives

From this tutorial you will learn to:

♦ Create data types and variables for each type of sample data

♦ Load and validate

− Lithology sample data.

− Quality sample data.

− Geophysical log (.las) file for borehole BNBY83.

− Geophysical logging sample data.

Data Type and Variable Set Up



To open the borehole database from the Explorer window,

1. Choose Open in the context menu when you have highlighted the ASHES.B31 file.

Before you can load data into the borehole database you need to define what Data Types and Variables you will be loading.

There are five hardwired Data Types automatically generated when you create a new BoreholeDB (see table below).

DESCRIP Borehole header data

SURVEY Borehole downhole survey data

DOMAIN Borehole interval numeric identifier

LITHO Geological logging data (Lithology)

QUAL Quality - sampling data such as ASH and MOISTURE

You can add new Data Types (and Variables) to this selection to customise the database for your dataset.

♦ The maximum number of data types you can have in a borehole database is 16.

♦ The maximum number of variables you can have in a borehole data base is 128. Eight of these variables are hardwired and defined by the software.

The eight hardwired variables are:

TOSURVEY Depth downhole to which survey data extends

AZIMUTH Survey point borehole direction

DIP Survey point borehole dip angle

X X coordinate, normally Easting; offset distance from collar in the case of non-vertical holes.

Y Y coordinate, normally Northing; offset distance from collar in the case of non-vertical holes.

Z Z coordinate; offset distance from collar.



TODOMAIN Depth downhole to which DOMAIN value extends.

DOMAIN DOMAIN value or number of interval.

As LITHO is a predefined Data Type that is built in already to the database, you will not have to create a new one. You will have to set up a new variable however called ROCKTYPE. This is because ROCKTYPE is not one of the built in variables defined above.

To set up the Minex Data Type LITHO and the variable ROCKTYPE ready for loading lithological data:

Make sure that your borehole database is open, and the Properties Window, Read Only is not write protected. To do this,

1. Highlight the name of the database, go to the Properties box and set Read Only to False. This will allow you to add Datatypes and Variables.

To load lithology data,

2. Choose BoreholeDB > Edit > New Borehole Variable.

3. In the Create Borehole Variable dialogue window, type in a new variable ROCKTYPE.

4. Choose LITHO in the Data Type drop down field.

5. Type ROCK in field Title 1 and enter TYPE in field Title 2.

6. In the Variable Type field use the drop down menu and select ALPHA.



These will form a title when reporting variable.

When loading variables you will need to define if the data is numerical or alphabetical. Lithology data is Alpha type data as you will be able to tell by referring to the ROCKTYPE column in your LITHO.DAT file.

The next step involves defining the Dictionary index for the new variable and involves referring to the LITHOLOG.DIC file. The LITHOLOG.DIC file is an index or dictionary file which Minex will look up to find definitions for the codes defined in your ASHES_LITH.csv file.

Open the dictionary file with your text editor from the tutorial data set. In the LITHOLOG.DIC file scroll down until you find the ROCKTYPE index.

1. Type in the number of this index into the Dictionary Index field.

2. Click Ok.

Now, when you try to report or display data for this variable the software will refer to the dictionary file and use the ‘translations’ held in index 1.

To report the list of Variables now held in the BoreholeDB

1. Choose BoreholeDB > Reporting > Report Variables.

2. Choose Number > Sort Report By in the dialogue window.

3. Click Ok.

This will output a variable report to the Output window. ROCKTYPE should have been appended to the list of built in Minex Data Types.

To view the new variable,

1. Choose the Minex Explorer Project Tab > + icon next to the database name, then

2. Navigate into the Data Types node to find the LITHO data type and then its variables.

You have now created a new borehole variable called ROCKTYPE of the LITHO Data Type.

The first (1st) variable in the LITHO data type should be the variable describing the primary rocktype and must refer to dictionary index number 1.



The second (2nd) variable in the data type should be the variable INTERREL describing interbedding and must refer to dictionary index number 2.

The variable INTERPER defining interbedding percentages should refer to dictionary index 99.

Continue with the same process you used for define the DATA TYPE ROCKTYPE to define the variables INTERREL and INTERPER for the LITHO Data Type. You can also add RECOVERY as a numeric variable.



To save your borehole database

1. Right-click on the name of the database in minex5 explorer

2. Choose File > Save > Borehole Database.

Loading Lithological Data



Now that the lithology data type and variable framework has been customised, lithological data can now be loaded into the Database.

To load Rocktype data into the borehole database and report it:

1. Choose BoreholeDB > Load > Load Sample Data, alternately you can Right-click on the input filename Load > Load Sample Data.

In the Load Sample Data window,

2. Choose the LITHO Data Type via the drop down menu.

3. In the Sample File field navigate to the ASHES_LITH.csv file you have created.

4. Click the Create/Edit button to open the Create/Edit format File dialogue and begin the process of creating the format file.

5. Choose the Variable Setup tab as shown below to map the input file variables to Minex variables as you did when loading the Collar information earlier in this tutorial.



The software will offer the default name (from the input data file prefix) for the format file ASHES_LITH.

6. Click Ok.

Minex will automatically assign a .sff extension to the file name eg. ASHES_LTIH.sff and return you to the Load Sample Data Dialogue.



7. Click Ok.

If there are any errors in the validation report you may need to fix these before loading the file.

Open the input file.

8. Click the Load button if there are no errors and accept the remaining settings.

9. Click Ok.

A report should appear in the output window stating that all the boreholes have been updated. Scroll down through the report to make sure no errors occurred.

An example of a possible error report follows.

In this case, you would need to

-load collar data for Boreholes listed,( it is possible that the collar or the lithology file spelled the names of the Boreholes differently, or that the boreholes were not part of the Collar Input file). Note: where no collar data is found for a borehole, the sample data cannot be loaded and is rejected during the load process.

-check the final depth information in the collar file and the lithology file to determine which was correct for BNBY74. Note: where the final depth of the sample data is deeper than the final depth of the Borehole as defined in the collar data, the sample data is loaded rather than rejected.

You have now loaded the rock type information for the boreholes into the ROCKTYPE variable.

10. Click Save.

Any other sample data held in ASCII, AcQuire or ODBC can be loaded using the process above.

Loading Coal Quality Data



The coal quality sampling data file ASHES_QUAL.csv has already been formatted so that it will load into the borehole database.

However, before you can load this file you need to define the variables that it contains. These variables, which will be loaded into the QUAL data type, are:

MOIST – moisture %

ASH - %

SE – specific energy in Kcal/Kg

SU – total sulphur %

1. Choose BoreholeDB > Edit > New Borehole Variable.



Enter the variables as displayed above.

2. Choose File > Save > Save Borehole Database.

3. Choose BoreholeDB > Load > Load Sample Data.

Review the data file ASHES_QUAL.csv to see what variable names, data range and number of decimals are to be used. Then define all four variables in the database. Note that the Grid Suffix can be defined in the variable for later use when gridding. Use the following grid suffixes:



Variable name Grid Suffix Min Max Decimals

ASH AS 0 100 2

RD RD 1 5 2

MOIST TM 0 100 2

SE SE 10 35 2

4. Click Ok to save the borehole database.



5. Choose the context menu option Load Sample Data to load the data into the database:



Make sure you look at the Sample Load Report displayed in the Output window and compare the data there with the data in the input file to ensure that the data has been loaded correctly.

6. Click Ok to save the borehole database.

Validating Coal Quality Data



To view which Boreholes now hold Quality Data and summarise how many samples have been loaded,

1. Choose BoreholeDB > Reporting > Report Sample Data.



2. Select the ASH, RD, TOQUAL variables as shown above.

3. Uncheck the Detailed Report option.

4. Tick the Number of Samples option.

5. Click Ok to obtain a Borehole Sample Data Summary Report in the Output window.

To view a detailed report showing the data itself,

6. Tick the Detailed Report option on the Report Sample Data dialogue.



7. Click Ok to generate the report to the output window.

Loading LAS File – Downhole Geophysics Sample Data



This process loads LAS Downhole Geophysics or Borehole Verticality Data into the Borehole Database from a .las formatted file.

As you learned in loading coal quality and geological logging sample data, you first need to define the variables for a data type. The geophysical logging variables will need to be defined for a new data type called for example GEOPHY. The variables to be loaded from the BNBY83DEN.LAS file are shown in the header of the file:

Variable Description Min Max Units Decimals

GAMMA Gamma 0 200 api-gr 1

CAL Caliper 7 13 cm 1

DENLS Long spaced density 1 5 gm/cc 2

DENSS Short spaced density 1 5 gm/cc 2

DENCDL Density CDL 1 5 gm/cc 2

RES Resistivity 10 2770 ohm-m 1



To load,

1. Choose BoreholeDB > Load > Load Las Data.

Use the LAS FILE SELECTION to define the name and location of the LAS file you intend to load data from. In this case, select the LAS file BNBY83DEN.LAS.

Select the name of the Data Type you intend to load the LAS data into,

• GEOP as in this case where you are loading downhole geophysics data

• SURVEY. Where verticality data is loaded from a LAS file to modify the basic AZIMUTH and DIP data loaded as part of the Collar data.

Click the Scan LAS file button to scan the nominated LAS file. This will populate the table with variables in the LAS file, and if the BoreholeDB contains variables in the nominated Data Type those names will be populated in the corresponding fields in the table.

If the name of the Borehole in the input file matches exactly the name of the "Well" in the input LAS file, the Borehole name field will be filled in during the LAS file scan process. Otherwise you will need to define the name of the Borehole you want to load the data for - or load Collar data for the Borehole, rescan the input LAS file and select the Borehole name if necessary.



The Load LAS File dialogue should now look like the following image.

Ensure that the fields in the Import Variables column have ticks next to the rows you want to load.

2. Click Ok.

The output window will display a message saying the how many samples from the LAS file have been read into the database.



Another way of loading downhole geophysical data is via an ASCII file or Access DB source. You can load the space delimited file GEOPH_15JUN07.DAT contained in ASHES_GEOPHY.zip. You might have to alter the data range limits set up in the GEOPHY variables to match the values in the larger dataset. You might also add new variables contained in this file such as SONIC.

Creating a Borehole Profile Plot



The next step in this tutorial is to create a Profile Plot of the ROCKTYPE data and Downhole Geophysics data you have just loaded. Profile plots do not require section mounts to be created. The only requirement is a sheet size, scale and which holes you want to plot. The Boreholes are plotted on the sheet next to each other rather than in the ‘real world’ position they’d be plotted to if you were plotting boreholes on a cross section.

1. Choose BoreholeDB > Plot > Single Hole Profile.

On the Function tab, nominate the boreholes you want to plot.

2. Click the Select button.



This will open the Select Boreholes dialogue, Select holes by name and type (or by Header or Advanced Selection), See in the note below for a list of holes for the purposes of this tutorial, and

3. Click Ok to return to the Profile Plot Dialogue.

Note: the Boreholes you selected are now populated in the Borehole list. BNBY50C, BNBY56 and BNBY73

Horizontal Column Spacing.

This defaults to 4 and is a reasonable number to use when plotting a basic Metric Profile Plot as it will plot the Trace of the Boreholes 4cm apart. By experimenting a better spacing for these 3 holes on an A1 sheet is 14cm.

4. Choose the Trace Tab, set the options as shown below.



5. Choose the Annotation and Lithology tab, define some Quality Data to be annotated on the Profile Plot.

6. Check the Sample Variable Annotation option.

7. Click the Select Variables button to select a variable(s) from the list of Variables in the Borehole database



On the Histogram Tab, setup to plot the trace of a Downhole Geophysics Variable beside those boreholes that have this data loaded.

8. Check the Downhole Histogram option.

9. Click the Select Variables button and select a variable(s) name.

Note: The number in the Scale column controls the amplitude of the trace.

• If you have defined a data range when you created the Variable in the Database, the software will use that range to calculate a Scale to plot a Histogram trace that is 1cm wide.

• If you have not defined a data range for the Variable, the software will make the Scale = 100 and you may need to increase or decrease the Scale to get the Histogram trace you want.



On the Sheet Params tab, select

• Sheet size as shown.

• Sheet orientation as shown.

10. Click the Calculate Scale button.

The software will calculate the scale that will best fit the data on the sheet you have defined. If you want to make it a ‘round’ number, type in a number bigger than the one that the software has calculated. In this case the software has calculated a scale of 1:550, you could type in 750 to make it a more ‘sensible’ scale.

11. Click Ok.

A 2D graphics window will open and display the selected 5 boreholes with:

• Symbols identifying different ROCKTYPES.

• Annotation of Quality Sample Data.

• The Histogram trace of data from Downhole Geophysics variable.



Preparing a Borehole Section Plot



To display boreholes with lithology codes on a Cross Section Mount, you must first have an existing section mount or create a new section mount. This Tutorial assumes that you have completed the Core Minex Tutorial and already know how to create a new Section Mount.

To create a new section display the boreholes in the 3D window and then zoom in and tilt the view so you have borehole stems to digitize a section along. Go to the Create Section menu

1. Choose Mounts > Section > Create Section and make a section using boreholes as in the menu shown below.

2. Click to save as secn1, then save the geometry file.

To make an existing section mount current and open it in a 2D Graphics Window ready to plot data:

3. Choose Mount > Mount Control Panel.

Expand the Sections node and select a section mount



4. Right click on the Draft on Mount option.

To access the Borehole Plotting on Section dialogue

5. Choose Mount > Section > Borehole Section.



Note: This dialogue is slightly different to the Borehole Profile Plot dialogue. On the Function Tab, you use the Minimum and Maximum offset fields to define a distance. Boreholes that fall inside that distance on either side of the trace of the section mount will be plotted on the Section mount. A minimum offset distance of 10 means that Boreholes 10m or feet either side of the section mount will be plotted.

Setup the other tabs on this dialogue to define what you want to plot.

Note: The Sheet Params dialogue is also different to the Profile Plot dialogue. Because you are working on a section mount, the sheet size and orientation, and the scale are those of the section mount you have in memory.

6. Click Ok and the Boreholes will be plotted in the 2D Graphics window.

To access the Plot Coordinate Grid dialogue

7. Choose Mount > Section > Coordinate Grid.



8. Click Ok and the Coordinate Grid will be plotted with the Boreholes in the 2D graphics window as shown below.



Summary


Summary

You should now be familiar with the concepts of setting up a borehole database, formatting, loading, validating and displaying borehole sample data.

Please review this chapter or consult the online reference manual if unclear about the definitions used so far.

Where To Next?

The ideal method for reinforcing the concepts learned so far is to substitute some raw data of your own and step through the tutorial. You are now equipped to move on to the next tutorials that will cover inputting and validating seam data into the borehole database.

Documents

Loading Sample Data Into the Borehole Database