Reserves Reporting Using Pitres

Reserves Reporting Using Pitres

This workshop will cover most of the Pitres options for reserves reporting, including the new
enhancements that have just been completed. It will also illustrate when and how to use Pitinc for
incremental reserves and Pitsum for summarizing results. The new Pitzon procedure for building
the Zone Input File will also be shown. A number of different examples and set ups will be walked
through in the workshop including an example of using Modcls to set up material classes.
Pitres.dat – Reserves Reporting from a 3D Block Model
Pitres.dat is the most commonly used method for generating reserves from a 3D block model
(3dbm). It is used for almost all mineral types with many mining methods by many clients. This has
resulted in Pitres being very powerful and flexible but also confusing at times. The workshop will
walk through each panel and describe the options.
The first panel (see Figure 1) allows the user to setup a batch file and associated runfile so that
reserves can be run directly from MineSight® 3D (MS3D). If doing this, then the NORUN option
should be used and after exiting the panels, mxpert.bat should be copied or renamed to
msrunres.bat. The Pitres run file created will be run708.xms by default, but the user has
the option to specify their own extension. The partials file generated by MS3D, when doing the actual
reserves run, must be named mspart.out. The resulting report will be called msres.rpt and the
user will be prompted for a new report name after the reserves run is completed.

Global
Figure 1. Setup for MS3D reserves.
Mining
Software The second and third panels (see Figure 2a and 2b) contain information for the file and report
setup and the area of the model to use. The reserves can be generated from a VBM pit or set of
Solutions
polygons, from the old DIPPER B- and S-file pits, from Gridded Surface File (GSF) surfaces including
Since MineSight® Economic Planner (MSEP) shells, from external partials files [e.g., from MineSight®
1970 Interactive Planner (MSIP)/M650IP or MS3D], or from rectangular boundaries specified on the panel
requesting the easting, northing, and elevation boundaries. The VBM and old Dipper options should
generally not be used but are left on the panel for backward compatibility. MS3D pits are more accurate
and have replaced the VBMs. MSEP GSF surfaces have replaced the Dipper B- and S-files.
The recommended approach for doing incremental reserves on pit phases is to design the cumulative
pit for each phase, run Pitres on each of these, and then run Pitinc to generate the incremental
reserves between the Ascii summary files. This is critical to avoid double accounting when using any
material priority options.

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Reserves Reporting Using Pitres

The File Setup and Reporting Detail panels have the prompts for the reporting options, the
optional Zone Input File, and whether or not to create a scheduling file [for MineSight® Strategic
Planner (MSSP), etc]. Output files include the report itself, the SCD scheduling file, and a reserve
summary file. If insitu or diluted grades were requested for reporting, they will be output to both the
reserves summary file and the scheduling file. The scheduling file Material Classes can be
generated using either the cutoffs or the Zone Item. If using cutoffs, the cutoff and material class names
are specified directly within Pitres on the CUTOFF panel. If using the Zone Item, then an MSSP
material class is made for each zone setting the material class name to the zone name. If a Zone Input
File is used, then only the zones from the Zone Input File will be output to the SCD file. If a Zone
Input File isn’t used, then the zones will be named 1,...,4000 and all 4,000 will be output. (NOTE:
4,000 is the new limit on the number of unique zones in the model). It is highly recommended that
a Zone Input File be used when using the scheduling Zone Item option. NOTE: The cutoff bin
reporting is DISABLED when using the Zone Item option.

Figure 2a. File Setup Information.

Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

Figure 2b. Reporting Detail and Summary Information.

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 Reserves Reporting Using Pitres

The report file can be a fully detailed report with every zone on every bench (default), just a final
summary of the total for each zone for the entire run along with the final bench summary (option 1), or
the same as option 1 with an additional summary of all zones for each bench (option 2).
The Zones and Cutoffs option allows all zones and cutoffs to be reported in the totals section. It
makes it easier for cutting and pasting into a spreadsheet. This option is only valid when a Zone Input
File is being used.
Reserves can be summarized to a larger block height for cases where the original block height is a
multiple of the actual bench height (e.g., oil sands often model on 1m bench heights but report in 15m
bench heights).
Zone parameters can be input to Pitres through the panel defaults or through the Zone Input
File. The Zone Input File is the same format as the M650IP Zone Input File with optional extra
values for dilution density, grade dilution, and ore/waste cutoffs by grade item. The yield% is ignored
in Pitres, but must be set to 100% for M650IP. If using the ore/waste cutoff by grade item, then a
“#GRADE G1 G2 G3 ... ” line must be used in the Zone Input File. A dilution grade can be specified
and if used, it must be set for all grade items, followed by the optional cutoff grades for each grade item
and an optional set of 0/1 flags. A 0 means waste material below the cutoff (default), and a 1 means waste
material above the cutoff. The format for the Zone Input File is: Zone Name, Zone#, Dens, Yield%,
Recov%, Diln%, Diln Dens, Diln grades, Cutoffs Grades, and Cutoff Flags.
The Zone Input File can be set up using procedure Pitzon or with a text editor. Other notes
include:
− The Zone Input File is optional and if not used, all zones are assumed to be between 1 and
4000 and recovery is set to 100% and dilution to 0 for all zones.
− Pitres handles up to 4,000 zones with zone numbers up to 99999. The zone name can be up
to eight characters.
− Recovery and dilution are specified as percentages. The dilution grades, ore/waste cutoffs, and
cutoff flags from the zone lines are matched up to the grade item order from the GRADES
lines regardless of the order in which they are specified on the Pitres panel. If the dilution
grades are not specified, they default to 0.
− If the recovery for any zone is 0 or it fails one of the grade cutoff tests, then it is only reported
if the insitu grade option has been requested (i.e., it will only show up as waste if the diluted
grade option is requested).
− Any zones that exist in the model but are not specified in the Zone Input File are wasted. A
WARNING message is issued.
− The # indicates a comment and can be placed anywhere within the file.
The File Setup panel also has a prompt for item naming when multiple zones per block are involved.
Global The item names can be specified using an alpha or numeric suffix or they can be given unique names
Mining for the same grade item for each different zone. The model item panel displayed depends upon how the
Software prompt is answered. If the tick box is left off, then the panel will be as shown in Figure 3a. If it is on, it
Solutions will appear as in Figure 3b.
Since
1970

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Reserves Reporting Using Pitres

Figure 3a. Item naming using an alpha or numeric suffix.

Figure 3b. Item naming using individual item names.

Pitres can handle up to 30 ore/geology zones per block (6 for the individual item naming) and up to
30 grade items per zone. The “suffix” option automatically appends the appropriate digit or alpha suffix
(1,2,3... or A,B,C...) to all the model items when there is more than one zone per block. If using the alpha Global
suffix option, then all items must have an A,B,C... suffix instead of 1,2,3,... This includes the zone, ore%, Mining
density, and all grades items. If using the alpha suffix option with more than 26 zones, then the last zones Software
need a suffix of AA, BB, CC, DD. The suffix option also has an option for whole block grade and density Solutions
items. If this option is selected, the same grade value is used for all zones for that grade item. This option Since
is for models that have a mix of ore% and whole block items (eg: some Uniform Conditioned grades and
1970
some Ordinary Kriged grades).
If using the “individual” option, all model items must be specified for each zone. There is also a report
name for each grade item that will be used in the report heading. If the report name isn’t specified, the
item name from the first zone is used for each grade item.
Both the Zone Item and the Ore% Item are optional. If the Ore% Item is set to N/A, then blocks
with a Zone > 0 are considered 100% ore. If the Zone Item is set to N/A, then Pitres sets it to 1
and uses the ore/waste cutoff on the first grade item to determine ore and waste. The N/A option is only
available through the suffix option.

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Reserves can optionally be reported within up to 100 cutoff bins or cumulative above each cutoff (see
Figure 4). The cutoffs are used as a less than test. That is, if the cutoffs are 1.0, 2.0, or 3.0, then the cutoff
bins range from >=0 to <1,  >=1 to <2, >=2 to <3, and >=3, respectively.
The cutoff bins can also used as material classes for the scheduling file. The material class label for each
cutoff can optionally be specified on the panels (the first for less than cutoff1, second for >=cutoff1, etc.).
If the labels are not specified, they will default to ORE+nn.nn where nn.nn is the grade cutoff value.
The omit first grade item option is used for creating scheduling material classes from a range of
ZONE codes (i.e., it is only used for binning). For example, zones 1-25 might be LCAP, 26-50 OXIDE,
51-75 SUP, etc. The Zone Item can then be used as the first grade item and the appropriate material
classes created without the Zone Item showing up in the scheduling file as a grade item. An alternative
method is to use Modcls to create scheduling material classes, use that item as the zone code, and use
the option to create the Material Classes from the Zone Item.
Material can be wasted using either a greater than or less than cutoff test on a single grade item using
the panel prompts. In addition, cutoffs can be specified on each grade item using the Zone Input File as
described earlier in this paper. The insitu grades are always used for the ore/waste cutoff tests regardless
of whether insitu or diluted grades are being reported. If using an ore/waste cutoff test for multiple grade
items, then the material is wasted for a zone if any one grade item fails its cutoff test.
Normally, any missing grade item in a block causes the entire zone to be wasted. The treat missing
grades as 0 will dilute the ore instead of wasting the zone for any block with missing grades.

Figure 4. Cutoff Information.

Global Pitres can report waste in four different ways using the Waste Reporting Information panel
Mining (see Figure 5). The waste volume/tonnage for each waste type (for up to 99 types) is reported for each
Software bench and for the entire run. The total waste includes all volumes/tonnages from each type, as well as any
Solutions ore losses (from the Zone Input File recovery item), any remaining waste (for waste percentage options
Since where the materials do not add up to the topo%), and any unclassified waste (waste type item is missing
1970 or 0).

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Reserves Reporting Using Pitres

Figure 5. Waste Reporting Information.

If using a single waste type item with the -1 option, then all material within the block that isn’t
mineable ore is classified according to the waste type item. If using option 1, then the ore that is non-
mineable (i.e., doesn’t meet cutoff grade) is NOT included with the waste type (it is still included as total
waste). The Zone Item from one zone per block cases can also be used as the waste type item and if a
Zone Input File is used, it can also be used as the Waste Type Input File (the files have the same first
three values and the rest are ignored for waste).
If using waste percentage items without a type item, then the waste is accumulated as types 1 to
5, matching the order of the waste percentage items from the panel. The name and density of each
percentage item can be specified using the Name/Density prompts. If using waste percentage and waste
type items, then the waste is accumulated for each type according to the value of the type item. In this
case, there must be a match of a type to a percentage item for each set. NOTE: Waste percentage items
are only applicable if an ORE% Item is used.
If not using a Waste Type Input File, then the name and density for up to 15 types can be
specified in the Name/Density lines. As mentioned, up to 99 waste types with numbers 1-99 can be
accommodated if the Waste Type Input File is used.
A model item can be used for the waste density. This can be the same item used for the ore density,
i.e., each block has a single density regardless of the material. If a waste density item is used, it over-rides
all other waste densities including those assigned by waste type.
Up to five individual waste types as well as a default/remaining waste type can be output to the Global
Scheduling File as additional Material Classes.
Mining
Pitres has a couple options for handling the topo% and the ore priorities (see Figure 6). The topo Software
item must be specified but it can be over-ridden and set to 100% with the Do not use topo option. Solutions
If the partials have been generated from MS3D, then that is equivalent to the pit being clipped at Since
topo. If the interpretation has been clipped at topo, then the Take ore first for surface blocks should 1970
be used. The normal calculation is to take the block partial x topo and apply it to all material types.
For example, if ore had been clipped at topo such that ore%=60 and topo%=80 and 100% of the block
is being mined, the normal method would be to mine 1.0 * 0.8 * 0.6 = 0.48 for ore and 1.0 * 0.8 * 0.4
= 0.32 for the waste. This means that 12% of the ore is accounted as waste. If the Take ore first for
surface blocks is used, it takes all the ore (60%) first, and the rest (20%) is considered to be waste. The
Take ore first for all blocks should be used when the pit bottom follows the footwall of the ore. The
same example as above could be used reversing the partial and the topo to 80% and 100% respectively.

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Figure 6. Partials Priorities and Dilution Information.

Either insitu, or diluted grades can be reported. The grades output to the scheduling file are based
upon this selection, i.e., if diluted grades are reported, then they are output to the SCD file. You can also
weight insitu grades by diluted tonnage.
Dilution can be applied to the insitu or recovered ore for all blocks, or against the full block for ore/
waste contact blocks. When applying dilution to contact blocks only, the dilution percentage is based
upon a full block volume rather than being applied to the ore% only. This allows for consistent dilution
quantity regardless of the amount of ore in the block. For example, if a 5-foot dilution on a 50 foot bench
is required, enter 10%. This means that each block that has an ore/waste contact with a total mineable
ore greater than or equal to a user-specified minimum ore%, will get the same amount of dilution. The
dilution for this option is only applied against the first recoverable zone
A contact block is defined as a block that has more material in it than ore, i.e., topo% greater than total
ore%. Also, if a zone in a block has a 0% recovery from the Zone Input File, or its grades fail to pass
the ore/waste cutoff tests, then it is considered a contact block, i.e., leach cap may be modeled, but never
mined as ore. When using contact dilution, the non-missing grades from the wasted zones over-ride the
dilution grades from the Zone Input File and are weighted by the density of the material being wasted.
Pitres is set up to allow contact dilution of larger than the waste available in the block. The reason
for this is there are often cases where the ore zone almost fills the block and the dilution would be
coming from adjacent blocks. In these cases, Pitres just subtracts the extra material from the waste
total on that bench to try and maintain the material balance.
Global
Mining Pitres runs:
Software − M728V1 using run728.tmp to calculate partials between two S-files, OR
Solutions − M659V1 using run659.tmp to calculate partials from pit polygons, OR
Since − M639V1 using run639.tmp to calculate partials between two GSF surfaces
1970 − MTRES  using run708.tmp to generate reserves
− MTINC using runinc.tmp if summarizing to large block heights

The current Pitres limits are 4,000 zones total for the entire model numbered from 1 to 99,999, 30
zones per block, 30 grade items per zone, 100 cutoff bins, and 99 waste types number from 1 to 99.

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Pitinc.dat – Report Pitres Incremental Reserves

Pitres makes a series of output files including the report, an optional scheduling file, and a
summary file (.sum extension). The summary file is an Ascii file with all the detail from the report.
Pitinc takes one or two summary files and either subtracts the smaller from the larger, adds them
together, or reports the larger one only. The recommended approach for doing incremental reserves on
pit phases is to design the cumulative pit for each phase, run Pitres on each of these, and then run
Pitinc to generate the incremental reserves between the summary files. This is critical to avoid double
accounting when using any material priority options; pit is clipped or take ore first options.
Pitinc can also be used to report incremental reserves on a series of L-G pits. Pitsum can then be
used to summarize the cumulative and incremental reserves into a .csv file. (see next section).
The reporting options available in Pitinc are the same as Pitres. (see Figures 7a and 7b).

Figure 7a. Pitinc First Panel.

Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

Figure 7b. Pitinc Second Panel.

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Pitsum.dat – Report Pitres Incremental Reserves

Pitsum can be used to summarize a series of Pitres/Pitinc summary files into a .csv file. If
the medexcel.bat file exists and is setup with the path to Microsoft® Excel, then the .csv file will
be opened in Microsoft® Excel. The following is an example of a medexcel.bat file -> c:\program
files\microsoft office\office11\excel.exe” %1 %2 %3.
Pitsum is useful for summarizing multiple files to a single line per file (e.g., summary of L-G results
– see Figures 8a, 8b, and 8c). It is also useful for re-formatting the details of the files into .csv format
for further manipulation with Microsoft® Excel.

Figure 8a. Pitsum sample of L-G summary – first panel.

Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970 Figure 8b. Pitsum sample of L-G summary – second panel.

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Figure 8c. Pitsum results after reformatting with Microsoft® Excel.

Modcls.dat – Assign Model Code by Item Ranges

Modcls is used to set up a model code item using the minimum and maximum range values
on multiple existing model items. It is useful for setting up Material Classes for reserves reporting
and scheduling. The combination of Modcls (or P61201) and Pitres can do everything that
M710/711/712 does and more.
There are three different modes for running Modcls. The first is to build an external file using a text
editor or Microsoft® Excel. The second is to manually enter the values on the Modcls panels. The third
is to automatically build the tables using item starting, ending, and incremental values.
Figure 9a shows the panel for an example of an existing Class Input File and Figure 9b shows part of
the actual Class Input File. This example is a two zone per block case. There is also an option to create a
Pitres/Cmpres Zone/Seam Input File of only the classes that actually have a match within the model.

Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970

Figure 9a. Example of Modcls with existing Class Input File. Figure 9b. Sample Class Input File.

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Figure 10 shows the panel for building the Class Input File manually. This example just shows part
of the full set. In certain cases, it is easier to use a text editor or Microsoft® Excel for easier copying of
groups of lines/cells.

Figure 10. Modcls example for manually building the Class Input File.
Figure 11 shows the panel for building the Class Input File automatically. In this case, one item is
setup using the minimum, maximum, and increment (SEAM) and the other with a list of distinct values
(DIST). The net result of this setup is actually the same as the seam.cls case because of using a seam
range of 100. Each distance group then goes from 101-200, 201-300, 301-400, 401-500 which is the
same as adding 100 to the base seam number for each distance interval.

Global
Mining
Software
Solutions
Since
1970 Figure 11. Modcls example for AUTO building the Class Input File.

P61201 – User calc to setup Material Class

In certain simple cases, P61201 can be used to set up the Material Class Item instead of Modcls.
As an example, if two integer code items are involved (ZONE=1-50, CLASS=1-4) then ZNCLS can be
set as CLASS * 100 + ZONE. The result would be values of 101-150, 201-250, 301-350, 410-450.

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