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3D modeling of an orebody
This tutorial shows how to generate a 3D model of the mineralized domain of a disseminated
deposit in Promine. This will allow to filter drillholes, samples and/or composites and to evaluate
grades and tonnages within the mineralized domain when generating block models. The 3D
model of the mineralized domain is created using the information from a database of drillholes.
For the completion of this tutorial, the modules Sections, Diamond Drill holes, 3D Model and
Solids will be used.

Mineralized domain visualization

Open the drawing drillholes.dwg containing the drillhole information of a disseminated copper
deposit. The drillhole database for this tutorial identifies the mineralized domain as 1. Add a
lithology to the mineralized domain in Promine Essentials / Promine tools / Promine Options to
match this property:
• Use ‘Promine Options’. The password should be options
• Click on the button ‘Lithology’
• Add lithology (Name: 1; Color: 1; Hatch: SOLID; Scale: 1; Density: 1)
The next step is to annotate the drillholes with the lithology. For this a connection to the pertinent
files in the database and different annotation features are going to be set up in Promine Geology
/ Diamond Drill Holes / Annotate Holes:

• Use ‘Annotate Holes’ and select all the drillholes in the drawing, the first time in a session
you will also have to select the project, use ‘Demo’
• Activate ‘Insert in 3D’ toggle
• In Items select the button ‘Add…’
• Click on ‘Select database…’ and browse for copper.accdb
• (Table: Geology; Annotate: GEOLCODE; If not: GEOLCODE; Hole number field: BHID;
From: FROM; To: TO)
• Click on ‘Styles…’ and Save a style called geology with the settings as shown in the figure
below:

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 • Click on ‘Other annotations’ and configure the settings as in the following figure. You
can save the configuration as Other.han

• Save the hole annotation file as Copper.ano and click on Save and OK (see figure
below)

The drillholes now display the portion that belongs to the mineralized domain in red.

3D model of mineralized domain

To model the mineralized domain, the first step is to create sections following the orientation of
the drillholes (Azimuth 0) in Promine Essentials / Section / Cut many section:
• Use ‘Cut many sections’
• Generate the sections using the parameters displayed in the following figure

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By clicking ‘OK’ the sections will automatically be generated. Once the sections have been
generated, the next step is to navigate through the sections to create the polylines representing
the mineralized domain. To select a section, go to Promine Essentials / Section / Select section.
You can use zoom extend to find the objects contained in the section. You can navigate between
sections using the commands Previous section and Next section located in the Section module.
• Create a new layer called ‘Orebody’ and make it visible and current
• Use ‘Select section’
• Select section ‘SEC_01_W’ from the list of sections
• Generate a closed polyline encompassing the mineralized segments of the drillholes (see
following figure)

• Make sure the polyline belongs to the layer ‘Orebody’

• Repeat the procedure for the rest of the sections

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Once all the closed polylines encompassing the mineralized domain have been created, leave
only the layer containing the closed polylines (Orebody) visible and generate the 3D Model of the
mineralized domain in Promine Modeling / 3D Model / Construct 3D Model:
• Use ‘Construct 3D Model’
• Select ‘Automatic (closed polylines only)’
• Select the closed polylines one by one in order until the last mesh is generated
• Use command ‘Union’ in Promine Modeling / Solids and select all the meshes previously
generated to have a single mesh object representing the 3D model of the mineralized
domain
The mesh solid representing the 3D model of the orebody is then generated as in the figure below.
To calculate the volume of the 3D model, the command Compute Volume (PROMVOL) of the
Solids module can be used. In this case, and by using a density of 2.75 t/m3 the volume of the
mineralized domain is 37,249,844 m3 and the tonnage is 102,437,072 tons. With the 3D model
of the orebody, it is possible to filter the drillholes, and to evaluate grades and tonnages during
posterior block modeling and geostatistical analyses.

Modeling the morphology of an orebody or mineralized domain is very straightforward within

Promine once the database containing the information of the drillholes/samples has been
configured. Further tutorials outline how to generate block models using different interpolation
methods to evaluate resources/reserves.

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