Overview
UPG has been supplying Underground Mine Survey equipment since the first versions of electronic distance measurement (EDM) were released into the market via the Geodimeter instruments. Our portfolio has now evolved into a full offering of underground survey equipment with Trimble and Geosight products combining industry leading technology and durable, reliable solutions for underground mine surveying.
The underground surveyor over the past 20 years has collected data in point-by-point, string-by-string type measurements when updating the mine model. This would be by use of the S-Series Total Station Range in a manual method, collecting points at regular intervals to create a crude outline of the excavation.
Nowadays, technology has advanced where the total stations have integrated scanning into their system. The versatile Trimble SX12 is a Scanning Total Station that can perform all the traditional setout and data collection functions of a total station, as well as now being able to collect high-density point clouds accurately and colourised.
These colourised point clouds are coordinated in the mine grid and have clean and high-quality accuracy that geologists and engineers can use with confidence to map structures and more. When illuminated correctly, the colourised scan produced with the help of Trimble Business Center can produce a .LAS file are quickly and easily viewed in multiple mining software packages such as Deswik, Datamine, and Surpac.
In underground surveying, design setout is the backbone of the workload. It is very important to be able to transfer the design from the computer models into the field—accurately and efficiently. Trimble Access software combined with the S-series and SX series instruments allows for surveyors to view the designs as if they were looking at them from their office. The visual and graphical selection and interrogation make the setout and installation of your lasers quick and easy. Additionally, traditional tasks such as Auto-stakeout of grade lines and centerlines are all available in the Trimble Mines Module, these can be viewed in 3D on the controller and graphically selected as dxf lines, string files, or points.
Drill and Blast setouts have long been a core task of many underground hard rock mines. Over the years there have been many thousands of paint cans and a few different methods of marking up collars and laser lines offsets. The Auto-stakeout of blast holes and laser lines has been a great improvement and welcomed by underground surveyors to help improve the efficiency of such a tedious markup.
The Trimble Access Mines Module includes the functions which allow Auto-stakeout of long hole collars/ blast holes and laser lines. These designs can be graphically selected or can be determined by prefixes or suffixes when exported from the design engineers. Either way, they are ready for keeping your job times quick and easy.
Get in touch with us at UPG to learn more about the user-friendly Auto-stakeout setout functions with Trimble Access:
The Cavity Monitoring System (CMS) is the quickest, cost-effective system for determining the mined-out open stope in underground mining where conditions can be dangerous or inaccessible. The Geosight NX150 is the toughest unit in underground mining CMS and can easily export your results back to you quickly in dxf formats—among others.
The MINEi control software is another easy user-friendly workflow and can be installed on the same Windows 10 OS controller that runs your Trimble Access software. Start your CMS, set up your S-series total station, and record the Boom and Scanner Targets, export them into your MINEi software as a csv target list and apply, then view the coordinated scan against your design in Trimble Access while still in the heading! Watch our video on the Geosight CMS collaboration with Trimble Access.
Historically, where there is an old mine there is potentially more ore around it. This may be due to changes in mining costs and resource price increases now making larger mine models/ore reserves more economically viable. Therefore, the halos and ore-bearing lodes surrounding the existing mined outworkings become targets and viable mining opportunities—with safe mining around the void procedure.
Void scanning and information gathering can be a tricky process. If a void is suspected to be open, drilling a hole into it and deploying a borehole CMS scanner is the best way to get survey information. When doing so, you need to make sure that your unit can be unaffected by magnetics and will be able to apply the best corrections to ensure accurate data.
Also, you need to be able to rely on tough connections and that your unit will be able to withstand harsh conditions. It is also important to be able to process the information quickly as to enable the technical services department to formulate a mining plan to safely work around the area.
The Geosight GSM-16 is the solution to drill hole CMS Data Collection / Borehole CMS Data Collection.
Whether it be grade control drilling or production drilling, let’s face it—it’s all very expensive, and production drilling can get even more expensive if it goes wrong! It is important to maintain drill holes on design for multiple reasons, and especially long hole production drilling—as bridging and freezing stopes is the equivalent of throwing money and hard work down the drain. This is where checking your drilling prior to loading and firing is essential to getting the stope to fire correctly, as well as proper fragmentation.
It is hard to imagine that steel drill rods can flex and deviate meters away from their intended targets, however with the high hydraulic pressures from long hole drill rigs and weakened geological structuring the holes can deviate meters away from their target.
Over the years, drill hole deviation checks have become more frequent as the cost-benefit analysis has proven to be effective in successful firings and eliminating or reducing failed firings.
Get in touch with us at UPG to learn more about the Geosight Scout – the latest Drillhole Deviation tool in the industry:
The underground survey network of wall stations, back stations, and baselines is critical for keeping the accurate position of the mine in relation to its orebody and infrastructure. High order checks of the network combined with time-efficient data collection methods are necessary and also required by code and regulation in underground mine surveys. It is therefore imperative that your survey instruments need to be of the best accuracy available to the industry when installing your network as you advance, as well as able to collect the data reliably, and efficiently when performing checks on the network.
The ability to perform a traverse, and then run a quick check through the traversing function on Trimble Access is a great tool to give you confidence in your field data. Once all your data is easily recalled on the controller, the rate of closure can be seen before you leave the field letting you know that your field data is solid before importing it into Trimble Business Center for further integration and final adjustment.
