TS Drill Scheduling

Owned by iarmstrong
Dec 22, 2021
7 min read

In this section you'll find all the information required to set up drill scheduling in a production model. 

Introduction

Drill scheduling introduces delays relating to blasted stocks, available real estate, and fleet logistics. 

Embedded in Alastri software drill scheduling feature is intended for sites with narrow contours and/or cutbacks, where digger scheduling must take into account the time to campaign-drill areas before mining. 

Drills can be limited by both fleet numbers and by drilled stock limits, which can be used to estimate drill numbers required in medium to long term plans. 

Finished plans may be published as a colour-coded drill plot for issue to 48-hour planners.

Drill Scheduling Period Plots overview

Workload

Drill scheduling requires preparing, importing and using data in addition to the existing production schedule workload. 

Rapid Reserver

  • Enter block properties such as Shot Type, Block Type, Hardness, Blast Status.

Tactical Scheduler 

  • Enter drill meters remaining in half-drilled shots.

  • Enter number of drills operating in a pit, stage or bench. 

  • Enter manual drill sequences at the bench level (if required).

Setup Procedure

Step by step guide to set up drill scheduling in a production model. 

Rapid Reserver Setup

In Rapid Reserver, add the blast properties which will affect drilling. 

  • Block Type: Contour, Ramp, Trim, Production.

  • Shot Type: Presplit, Wall Control, Production.

  • Rock Type: Hard, Medium, Soft.

  • Blast Status: Not Drilled, Drilled, Blasted.

Choose blast properties that are appropriate for your site. 

Tactical Scheduler Setup

Configuration Options

To allow Drill Scheduling in the Setup tab > Configuration Options step flag "Use Drills" option. 

Use drills flag in the Configuration Options step of the Setup tab

Extension Source

In the Setup tab > Extension Source step, select the Site Specific Extension that has been provided by Alastri. The extensions hold the logic for populating block-by-block drill quantities from user inputs. 

Misc Fields

In the Setup tab > Misc Fields step, create new Misc Fields to classify the blast blocks:

  • Surface Area

  • Presplit Perimeter

  • Blast Status

  • Hardness

  • Rig Type

Drilling Fields

In the Setup tab > Drilling Fields step , add reporting fields such as number of holes, length, volume, and so on. 

Drill Hole Types

In the Setup tab> Drill Hole Types step, add the hole types that will be encountered in the project. 

Map Fields

In the Setup tab > Map Fields step, Map the reserves values into the new Misc Fields.

Refinements

In the Setup tab > Refinements step, review parameter input tables, displayed for every hole type that is detected in the reserves, and enter the appropriate parameters for each hole type. 

Blast parameters and calculation methods may be configured in the Site Specific Extension. 

Drilling Dependencies

In the Setup tab > Dependencies > Drilling, enter the dependencies to be used in each mine, pit, stage or bench. 

  • Expand Distance: a block may only be drilled if all blocks within the Expand Distance have been mined out. 

  • Drill Preparation Delay: time delay required to perform necessary preparations for drilling, if required (in hours).

  • Aggressive drilling: allows drills to begin drilling exposed dig solids, even if the whole blast is not fully mined off yet.

  • Mining Standoff Distance: minimum distance between any drill and any loader. 

  • Max Drills on Bench: limit the total number of drills on the bench.

  • Max Drills on Block: limit the total number of drills on a block.

  • Blasting Delay: fixed blasting delay by bench*.

*Blasting Delay can be made a variable in the Site Specific Extension if required.

Drill Types

In Setup tab > Drills step, add the drill rig types to be used in scheduling.

  • Tick the availability types to be added as rows in the Calendar (Schedule tab > Calendar). 

  • Tick the hole types that can be drilled by each rig type. 

Incentives

In Setup tab > Incentives step, add priority incentives to store the drilling sequence for each pit.

Constraints

In the Setup tab > Constraints step, add constraints to control blast stocks limits, drilling meters by pit or bench, and drill unit assignment by area. 

  • Constrain stocks blasted in the period with a Standard Constraint on drill volume. 

  • Constrain number of each drill type by pit or bench with an Agent Assignment Constraint.

  • Constrain drill quantities by pit or bench with a DrillSource Constraint.

Schedule Calendar

Drills

Enter the total number of drills and time usage by period. 

*Penetration Rates can be made variable by pit and bench in the Site Specific Extension if required.

Beneath each drill, enter the weightings to control which blocks it chooses to mine on the bench:

  • Finish Block: incentive to finish drilling the current block. 

  • Follow Dependency Sequence: incentive to drill blocks that are available to the digger.

  • Proximity Weight: incentive to reduce tramming to next block. 

  • Prefer Higher Benches: incentive to drill higher elevations. 

  • Prefer Lower Benches: incentive to drill lower elevations. 

  • <User Defined> Priority Incentives: follow the user's manual sequence.

Priority Incentives are defined in Setup > Incentives. The manual sequence is entered in Schedule > Animation > Priority Incentives. 

Constraints

Enter the values by period in each constraint. 

  • Constrain stocks blasted in the period with a Standard Constraint on drill volume. 

  • Constrain number of each drill type by pit or bench with an Agent Assignment Constraint.

  • Constrain drill quantities by pit or bench with a DrillSource Constraint.

Priority Sequencing

Go to the Animation tab and find the Priority Incentives panel in the top left corner. At the beginning of the schedule, edit the priority incentive for each pit and pre-assign the drill sequence for the entire pit. This way, whenever you assign a drill to this pit in Calendar > Constraints > Drill Assignments, it will pick up the sequence where the last drill left off. 

To enter priority sequences:

  • Use the slider below the viewport to view the nominated sequence.

  • Blocks can be inserted in the sequence by moving the slider to the insertion point and adding blocks with the Draw Sequence tool.

  • Blocks can be removed from the sequence by selecting them in the list and pressing the red cross icon. 

To ban blocks from drilling or mining:

  • Click the Draw Blockers tool and select blocks to ban from the all activities. 

  • Blocks can be unbanned by selectin them in the list and pressing the red cross icon.