Drillhole Validation

Data integrity is one of the most important aspects of any exploration or modelling project. Before using your drillhole data, it is vital to ensure this data is valid. Thankfully, Micromine Origin & Beyond (MMOB) comes equipped with a set of advanced validation tools specifically designed to detect a wide range of errors present in your collar, downhole survey, interval, and event files. These errors are categorized based on their severity levels, ensuring that you can address each issue accordingly.

Drillhole Files

Micromine performs this validation by checking the relationship between the files and the relevant fields, as illustrated in the image below. For example, it checks for missing holes by listing the hole IDs it finds in each file and then checking to see if any are missing from any of the other files.

Drillhole Validation Tools

The drillhole validation tools can be found in the Validation section of the Drillhole tab. In the dropdown menu there are two options for drillholes: 1) Validate Drillhole Database and 2) Validate Drillhole.

Validate Drillhole Database

The Validate Drillhole Database tool performs the validation checks on every file in your drillhole database in one pass. On the form, select the database you wish to validate and configure the validation options. Linked here is a list of each validation option, including a description of what it's checking for.

Validate Drillhole

The Validate Drillhole tool is a more selective (and a more manual) approach to validating your drillhole data. The form features a tab for each file type where you input the files you would like to validate. At a minimum, this form requires a collar file to run the validation; the rest of the files are optional. The report tab is where you configure the validation, selecting all of the checks you want the tool to conduct. 

Validation Results

After you run either of the forms, a pop-up message will appear telling you if any errors were found. Press OK, and if there were any errors found, you will be prompted to fix the errors. Pressing Fix the errors will open the validation in the drillhole database viewer. The Errors table details all of the errors located during the validation and categorizes them by severity. The three error categories are:

1. Warning - All optional checks that are configured on the validation form. These will not affect any other processes and can be ignored at the user's discretion.
2. Error - Errors that may affect how the data is drawn or cause errors using tools requiring drillhole data.
3. Critical - Errors that affect the drillhole trace (missing/incorrect collar or survey data).

Linked here is a table of all error descriptions and the possible reasons behind them. 

Drillhole Database Viewer

The drillhole database viewer is a new addition to Micromine Origin & Beyond 2023.5. It was designed to make viewing and managing drillhole data a more interactive and intuitive experience. The utility of this is most evident during a drillhole database validation. The Errors table on the right-hand side of the screen lists all the errors found during the validation. This table is linked to the files open in the other panes, so double-clicking on any error will automatically navigate to that depth in the drillhole files. The drillhole files also have synchronized selection, meaning clicking a record in one of the files will navigate to that hole and depth in the other files if they exist. 

If you have a large number of errors, you can organize them in the table using the Grouping function. Right-clicking and navigating to the Grouping dropdown menu will show you all of the grouping available.

Lastly, when the Auto Refresh tool is enabled, any changes made to the drillhole files will be reflected in the validation report in real time. This gives immediate confirmation that the edit you have made has fixed the error.

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