Composite Database

Use the option DH-Data > Composite Database (DHCOMPOSITEDB GX) to create a composite database from an input From-To database.

This GX is designed as a "wizard" that consists of three step-by-step dialogs.

Drillhole Composite Database dialog options

Input assay database

Select one of the From-To assay or geology databases in the current drill hole project.

Output composite database tag

The tag string of output composite database. For instance, if the project name is "Tutorial", and the input tag is "composite", then the new database will be called "Tutorial_composite.gdb".

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.TAG

Holes to process

Select an option to process from the list: All holes, or Selected holes.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.HOLSEL (0:All, 1: Selected)

Interval selection

Select an option of interval method from the list: Fixed interval, Lithological interval, Best-fit lithological interval or Intervals from file.

Fixed Interval: All intervals are the same width, so if the input value is (e.g.) 5, then the resulting intervals would be 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, etc.

Lithological Interval: The intervals are taken from an existing data channel in the drill hole project. Once a channel is selected, the corresponding From and To channels associated with that channel are used to create the From and To channels in the output database.

Best-Fit Lithological Interval: This combines aspects of the above two choices. If a lithological interval is shorter than the input fixed interval value, then it is output "as is". However, if a lithological interval is greater than the fixed interval value, then it will be divided into sub-intervals, each of which is as close as possible to the fixed interval value.

Intervals from File: HoleID, From, and To values are provided in an input text file. Values should be entered one per line, and may be separated using commas, spaces or tabs. (See below for more details).

"Significant Intersections" combines a number of features of the other methods in order to extract those intervals whose assays exceed a number of criteria. (See below for more details).

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.INTSEL (0: Fixed, 1: Lithological, 2: BestFit, 3: File, 4: Significant intersections)

Next>

Click this button to enter the interval information. The Interval Info dialog below will be displayed depends on the interval method selection above.

Fixed Interval dialog options

Interval length

The fixed interval length.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.FIXINT

Weighting channel

Select a weighting channel from the channel list (No weight by the default). This should not be a channel containing intervals lengths -- weighting is already done using the interval weights. The values in the weighting channel are first composited to match the from-to intervals of the selected channel. Then, when the selected channel is composited, each selected channel value is multiplied by the value in the weight channel. For each output interval, the sum of the individual products is divided by the sum of the weights. In other words, a weighted sum is calculated for each composite interval.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.WTCH

Next>

Click this button to enter the rejection information. The Reject option dialog will be displayed.

<Back

Click this button to return the previous dialog Main dialog

Lithological Interval dialog options

Lithology data channel

Select a lithological data channel from the channel list. The lithology data channel must be from a From-To assay database, or an error will be registered.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.LITHCH

Weighting channel

Select a weighting channel from the channel list (No weight by the default). This should not be a channel containing intervals lengths -- weighting is already done using the interval weights.The values in the weighting channel are first composited to match the from-to intervals of the selected channel. Then, when the selected channel is composited, each selected channel value is multiplied by the value in the weight channel. For each output interval, the sum of the individual products is divided by the sum of the weights. In other words, a weighted sum is calculated for each composite interval.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.WTCH

Next>

Click this button to enter the rejection information. The Reject option dialog will be displayed.

<Back

Click this button to return the previous dialog

Best-fit Lithological Interval dialog options

Lithology data channel

Select a lithological data channel from the channel list. The lithology data channel must be from a From-To assay database, or an error will be registered.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.LITHCH

Interval length

The interval length for the best-fit lithology data.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.INTLEN

Weighting channel

Select a weighting channel from the channel list (No weight by the default). This should not be a channel containing intervals lengths -- weighting is already done using the interval weights.The values in the weighting channel are first composited to match the from-to intervals of the selected channel. Then, when the selected channel is composited, each selected channel value is multiplied by the value in the weight channel. For each output interval, the sum of the individual products is divided by the sum of the weights. In other words, a weighted sum is calculated for each composite interval.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.WTCH

Next>

Click this button to enter the rejection information. The Reject option dialog will be displayed.

<Back

Click this button to return the previous dialog

Intervals from File

Interval file

The interval file name. HoleID, From, and To values are provided in an input text file. Values should be entered one per line, and may be separated using commas, spaces or tabs.

<HoleID1>, <From>,<To>

<HoleID1>, <From>,<To>

<HoleID1>, <From>,<To>

<HoleID2>, <From>,<To>

<HoleID2>, <From>,<To>

<HoleID3>, <From>,<To>

<HoleID3>, <From>,<To>

<HoleID3>, <From>,<To>

If no HoleID is specified, the From-To composite will be calculated for all selected holes.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.INTFILE

Weighting channel

Select a weighting channel from the channel list (No weight by the default). This should not be a channel containing intervals lengths -- weighting is already done using the interval weights.The values in the weighting channel are first composited to match the from-to intervals of the selected channel. Then, when the selected channel is composited, each selected channel value is multiplied by the value in the weight channel. For each output interval, the sum of the individual products is divided by the sum of the weights. In other words, a weighted sum is calculated for each composite interval.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.WTCH

Next>

Click this button to enter the rejection information. The Reject option dialog will be displayed.

<Back

Click this button to return the previous dialog

Significant Intersections dialog options

Primary assay data channel

Select an assay data channel from the channel list. The channel must be from a From-To assay database, or an error will be registered.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.PRIMARY_ASSAY_CHAN

Minimum composite grade

Output only composite intervals whose composite (weighted mean value) grade is equal to or greater than this value.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.MIN_COMPOSITE_GRADE

Minimum composite length

Output only composite intervals whose total thickness (measured along the hole) is equal to or greater than this value.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.MIN_COMPOSITE_THICKNESS

Cut-off grade

 Only individual from-to intervals where the primary assay data channel's grade is greater than or equal to this value will be included in the composite interval (excluding any dilution zones). The cut-off grade may represent a geological boundary. It must be emphasized that the cut-off grade applies at the top edge and bottom edge of the interval, but not inside the interval, where the maximum dilution length and minimum dilution grade are in effect.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.CUTOFF_GRADE

Clip values higher than

If defined, from-to interval values above this amount are clipped to this amount. Also known as "maximum grade".

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.MAX_GRADE

Grade for missing assays

If a from-to interval is missing, then it is assigned this value. Default is zero.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.MISSING_ASSAY_GRADE

Maximum dilution length

Minimum dilution grade

Both of these parameters must be defined, or  both must be left blank. Allows for short lengths inside the full composite interval where the grade can fall below the required composite grade. The minimum dilution grade is the length-weighted average grade within the dilution interval. These values do NOT apply at the top and bottom edges of the interval; see the cut-off grade for those locations.

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.MAX_DILUTION_LENGTH, default = 1.0; s DHCOMPOSITEDB.MIN_DILUTION_GRADE, default = 0.0

Finish

Click this button to begin the compositing process.

<Back

Click this button to return the previous dialog.

Reject interval shorter than

The output composite interval will be rejected if its length is shorter than this value. Leave blank to ignore this option (default).

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.REJ1VAL

Reject interval gaps greater than

The output composite interval will be rejected if the accumulated length of gaps (dummies) in the interval is greater than this value. eave blank to ignore this option (default).

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.REJ2VAL

Reject intervals where the value of

Select a reject data channel from the channel list (see further explanation below) Leave blank to ignore this option (default).

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.REJ3CH

Is … 

Select an operator from the list: > (0) , >= (1), < (2) or <= (3) (see further explanation under "Value" below)

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.REJ3OP

Value 

The output composite interval will be rejected if its value is >; >=; <; or <= (see above defined operator) the value of the reject data channel (see above defined) in the same interval (note that the reject data channel will be composited by the input database assay channel From-To intervals before this comparison is made).

Script Parameter: DHCOMPOSITEDB.REJ3VAL

Finish>

Click this button to execute the GX.

<Back

Click this button to return the previous dialog.

Reject Options dialog

This dialog appears when selecting one of the following compositing options: Fixed Interval, Lithological Interval, Best-fit Lithological Interval, or Interval from File.

Application Notes

This GX will create a composite database with the lines consist of the all or selected lines from the input database and the channels consist of the From, To, Mask channels and all the assay and numeric channels from the input database

The From and To channel data values are determined by the interval method and values selected. The Mask channel data values in the output database are set to 1. All assay and numeric channel data are composite values determined by the composite From/To data and the input assay channel data as well as any reject option applied

The composite method ensures that the integrated value in the output database matches the integrated value over the equivalent interval in the input database (apart from those cases where a weighting channel is used).

Significant Intersections

You can use this method to pick out significant grade intersections in your assay database.

You will have to specify an assay channel of interest and define your significant intersection criteria (i.e., minimum composite length and minimum composite grade). Using a specified cutoff grade, the tool will divide your assay intervals into high-grade and low-grade intervals. Adjacent high-grade intervals (those greater than or equal to the cutoff grade) will be composited. If the resulting composited interval satisfies your significant intersection criteria, it is added to the newly created database.

You may also specify dilution zone criteria to include small, slightly low grade intervals in the compositing. The resulting database will include the new From-To intervals, the length of the interval, and the composited data for all your assay channels. The database will also contain a channel with labels you can use in your drillhole plots.

  • Any missing intervals or any intervals whith the grade recorded as dummy ("*") are assigned as "Grade for missing assays."

  • If the clip limit is defined, any values above the clip limit are set to the clip limit.