Copyright 2008 Gemcom Software International Inc. (Gemcom).

This software and documentation is proprietary to Gemcom and, except where expressly provided
otherwise, does not form part of any contract. Changes may be made in products or services at any
time without notice.
Gemcom publishes this documentation for the sole use of Gemcom licensees. Without written
permission you may not sell, reproduce, store in a retrieval system, or transmit any part of the
documentation. For such permission, or to obtain extra copies, please contact your local Gemcom
office or visit www.gemcomsoftware.com.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this manual, we assume no
responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damage resulting from the
use of the information contained herein.
Gemcom Software International Inc. Gemcom, the Gemcom logo, combinations thereof, and
Whittle, Surpac, GEMS, Minex, Gemcom InSite and PCBC are trademarks of Gemcom Software
International Inc. or its wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Contributors
Rowdy Bristol
Phil Jackson

Product Gemcom Surpac v6.1

 Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................................... 4
Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................4
Requirements ...........................................................................................................................................................4
Workflow ..................................................................................................................................................................5
Interpolator Concepts ....................................................................................................................... 6
Reviewing the Online Help .......................................................................................................................................6
Task: Review Information in the Online Help ........................................................................................................ 6
Setup for This Tutorial ....................................................................................................................... 8
Setting the Work Directory .......................................................................................................................................8
Task: Set the Work Directory (Windows XP) ......................................................................................................... 8
Task: Set the Work Directory (Windows Vista) ..................................................................................................... 9
Displaying Menubar and Toolbar ...........................................................................................................................10
Task: Display Menubar and Toolbar .................................................................................................................... 10
Before Running Interpolator .............................................................................................................11
Before Running Interpolator ..................................................................................................................................11
Task: View the Data ............................................................................................................................................. 11
Task: Set up Interpolator ..................................................................................................................................... 13
Task: Validate Parameters ................................................................................................................................... 15
Running Interpolator ........................................................................................................................16
Running Interpolator ..............................................................................................................................................16
Task: Run Interpolator ......................................................................................................................................... 16
Task: View Output ............................................................................................................................................... 16
Task: Colour the Model by Attribute ................................................................................................................... 17
Task: Review Values for a Block .......................................................................................................................... 18

Page 3 of 19
Introduction
Overview
Interpolator is a module which provides advanced geostatistical functionality such as multi-element,
multi-zone estimation, as well as kriging neighbourhood analysis.
This document is designed to help you to understand the basic concepts of Interpolator, as well as
providing a set of steps to perform an Interpolator run.
More detailed training information is available within the software and from your local Gemcom
Software Support Office. When the software has been installed you can see additional training resources
and help documentation in the Help menu.

Visit www.gemcomsupport.com to locate your nearest Support Office.

Requirements
Prior to proceeding with this tutorial, you should have:

• Installed Surpac V6.1 or later, and

• A good understanding of basic Surpac concepts, and
• A good understanding of Surpac Block Modelling concepts, especially the estimation process for
ordinary kriging, and
• A good understanding of geostatistical concepts.

If you do not have all of these, it is highly recommended that you work through the examples in the
Introduction to Surpac, Block Modelling, and Geostatistics tutorials.

Page 4 of 19
Introduction

Workflow

Page 5 of 19
Interpolator Concepts Reviewing the Online Help

Interpolator Concepts
Reviewing the Online Help
Task: Review Information in the Online Help

1. Start Surpac.
2. Choose Help > Table of Contents.
3. From the Table of Contents choose Menu Commands > Block Model > Interpolator > Setup.

Page 6 of 19
Interpolator Concepts

4. On the Setup page, scroll down to the links detailing each of the tabs on the Interpolator form.

5. Click each of these links, and review the information on each page.
6. Click each of the remaining Interpolator items in the Table of Contents, and review the information
on each page.

Page 7 of 19
Setup for This Tutorial Setting the Work Directory

Setup for This Tutorial

Setting the Work Directory
Task: Set the Work Directory (Windows XP)

1. In the Navigator, right-click the interpolator folder.

2. From the popup menu, select Set as work directory.

The name of the work directory is displayed in the title bar of the Surpac window.

Page 8 of 19
Setup for This Tutorial

Task: Set the Work Directory (Windows Vista)

1. In the Navigator, right-click the interpolator folder.

2. From the popup menu, select Set as work directory.

The name of the work directory is displayed in the title bar of the Surpac window.

Page 9 of 19
Setup for This Tutorial Displaying Menubar and Toolbar

Displaying Menubar and Toolbar

Task: Display Menubar and Toolbar
When working with Interpolator, it is helpful to use the block_model profile. This displays the Block
modelling menubar and toolbar.

1. Right-click in the blank area next to the menus at the top of the Surpac main window.
2. From the popup menu, choose Profiles > block_model.

Page 10 of 19
Before Running Interpolator

Before Running Interpolator

Before Running Interpolator
Task: View the Data

1. Open sanitised.mdl.
2. Choose Display > Display block model.
3. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

4. Open ore_zone1.con.
The constrained block model is displayed.

5. Open ore_comp_int_zone1.str.
6. Choose Display > Hide Strings > As Lines.
7. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

8. Choose Display > Points > Markers.

Page 11 of 19
Before Running Interpolator Before Running Interpolator

9. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

10. Click the icon to turn block model faces off.

The composites that will be used to estimate blocks within this constraint are displayed.

11. Click the icon to turn block model faces back on.
12. Choose Constraints > Remove all graphical constraints.

Page 12 of 19
Before Running Interpolator

The entire block model is displayed.

13. Repeat all of the previous steps with each of the following constraints to familiarise yourself with
each constraint and data set.
Run String file Constraint
1 ore_comp_int_zone1.str ore_zone1.co
n
2 ore_comp_int_zone2.str ore_zone2.co
n
3 ore_comp_int_zone3.str ore_zone3.co
n
4 ore_comp_int_zone4.str ore_zone4.co
n
5 ore_comp_int_zone5.str ore_zone5.co
n

Task: Set up Interpolator

1. Choose Interpolator > Setup.

2. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

Note: Interpolator requires the name of a file with a *.ipar extension, which contains all
information required for an Interpolator “run”. In this case, you are telling Interpolator to use the
existing file sanitised.ipar, which contains a set of information for this data set. You will modify a
few parameters, which Setup will save to the output file modified.ipar. You may use the same
name for the input and output files, if you want to overwrite the original file with some new data.
The *.ipar files are in text format, and can be viewed with any text editor. However, you should
only modify them through Interpolator, not using a text editor.

Page 13 of 19
Before Running Interpolator Before Running Interpolator

3. On the next form, click each of the tabs and use the scroll bar at the bottom to review the
information.

For this example, we will change the descretisation parameters from

X: 1 Y: 4 Z: 4
to
X: 1 Y: 2 Z: 2
4. Click the Interpolation Parameters tab.
Note: The descretisation parameters are set to: X: 1 Y: 4 and Z: 4.

5. Click in each of the fields, and modify them as shown.

Page 14 of 19
Before Running Interpolator

6. Click Apply.

Note: This is done merely as an exercise to demonstrate how changes to the parameters can be made
and stored in a new *.ipar file. In this case, modified.ipar will contain the new values for descretisation
points in the Y and Z dimensions, as well as all other data previously stored in the file sanitised.ipar.
Task: Validate Parameters

1. Choose Interpolator > Validate.

2. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

The software will verify that all information in modified.ipar is valid.

When validated, the message window will display: "Check modified.xls for validation results"
3. Open the file in Excel to review the results.

Note: You must close the spreadsheet before performing any subsequent validation checks on this
*.ipar file.

Page 15 of 19
Running Interpolator Running Interpolator

Running Interpolator
Running Interpolator
Task: Run Interpolator

1. Open sanitised.mdl.
2. Choose Interpolator > Run.
3. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

Note: By using the same name for the input and output files, parameters in the original file may
be updated.
4. On the next form, review the information, and then click Apply.

The software will now execute each of the “runs”, as defined by the parameters.
Once it is completed, you will see a message in the message window indicating that the model has
been saved:
"Model c:/documents and settings/all
users/gemcom/surpac/61/demo_data/tutorials/interpolator/sanitised.mdl saved" and the block
model will be closed.

Task: View Output

1. Open sanitised.mdl.
2. Choose Display > Display block model.

Page 16 of 19
Running Interpolator

3. Enter the information as shown, and then click Apply.

4. Open ore_zone1.con.
The constrained block model is displayed.

Task: Colour the Model by Attribute

1. Choose Display > Colour model by attribute.

2. Select the Attribute to colour by as au_ok, and then click the Scan button.
3. Enter the Ranges for colour selection as 0,5,0.5.
4. Press the Refresh button to refresh the ranges, and then click Apply.

Page 17 of 19
Running Interpolator Running Interpolator

The coloured block model is displayed.

Task: Review Values for a Block

1. Choose Attributes > View attributes for one block.

2. Click any block.
The block attribute values are displayed.

3. Click Apply.
4. Press ESC.
5. Choose Block model > Close.

Page 18 of 19
References

References
For further information on this topic and related articles, log onto Gemcom's Knowledge Base at
www.gemcomsupport.com

Page 19 of 19