How to Combine Block Models in a Single File

Block models can contain different information and describe a different area in space.

For example, a block model with metal content within the boundaries of ore bodies is often referred to as an Ore Block Model.

There are also block models for the entire deposit volume in which information about lithologic characteristics of rocks or any other information (geotechnical properties of rocks and so on) is recorded. Such models can be called Lithologic or Geotechnical block models.

In this article we will explain how you can combine block models, as it is often necessary to have combined information in a single file. This can be applied by mining engineers for whom it is important to understand rock properties not only within ore bodies, but also in the unmined space. Such merged models are referred to as Complete Block Models.

First, let's understand the concept of Block Definition.

In Micromine program, coordinates of block center are used to record blocks in the table.

Block sizes are specified in fields with exactly the same name as the coordinate fields, only before the beginning of the field the underscore sign is added.

That is, if your coordinate fields are named X,Y,Z, then the block size fields will be _X, _Y, _Z.

It is recommended to have the same or multiple Block Definition values for the folded models.

Micromine program can combine block models with different Block Definition, but in this case one of the combined block models will be re-blocked and the original values will be recalculated.

The Block Model | Reblock Model | Combine function is used to add two block models.

In the image below you can see that the boundaries of both block models are multiples of 10, and the block sizes are the same.

In this case, the final block model also has the same block boundaries that correspond to the source files.

In the case of different block centers (non-split) and different block sizes, one of the source models is re-blocked (at your discretion).

As shown in the figure below, we have different block sizes 10x10x10 for the Waste block model and 3x3x3 for the Ore model. And also different coordinates of block centers.

In the combine parameters, we use the Use Model 1 option. In this case the Ore model is re-blocked by the boundaries of the Waste block model.

As you can see in the figure, the final model for the ore part has both old and new boundaries, but the file properties specify that the block size is 10x10x10.

In the second case, it is recommended to perform Block Model Optimization to combine blocks where possible. I also used the ORE key field where I have information about which rock type a block belongs to (Ore or Waste).

This is how the result looks like. You can see that inside the blocks of ore got the size 10x10x10.

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