Define ore passes and cross-dock points

In this section, we will proceed with the scenario developed in the previous step. Ensure that this scenario is currently active in MineTwin before moving forward. This scenario includes essential master data and a layout imported from an external file. It also encompasses various types of equipment and features a single stope containing ore with a 5% grade.

We will now focus on expanding this scenario by creating an ore pass and establishing a cross-dock point.

1. Define ore passes

In underground mining, an ore pass is typically the primary destination for haulage. The role of the ore pass in a simulation study varies depending on the study’s objectives. It can serve as either the final destination for ore flow or as an intermediate point before additional transportation processes are factored into the model. These subsequent handling stages may involve mechanisms such as skip hoists, conveyors, and underground railways.

In our tutorial, we will assume that ore passes are the final destination for ore flow.

We want to place our ore pass at a very specific location inside the mine, the node according to our DXF file is labeled ROAD-84-e. MineTwin offers a convenient way to find any node (a point) or an arc (a line).

You can simply navigate to the Mine nodes table by selecting the table in the scenario tree, found under the Map section. Then, right-click on the node table and select "Contains" to filter to the specific node. This filter functionality is available in all MineTwin tables.

Now that we have filtered to the specific node we can simply double click on it and the MineTwin map view will navigate us automatically to this specific node.

A map of a mine with nodes and paths is displayed, zoomed in to highlight specific nodes marked in blue and red dots, while interface sections show related data and properties.

Once you have navigated to the ROAD-84-e node, click on the Ore pass palette item, then click next to the node to create our ore pass. Hit the Esc button to finish creating ore passes after our only ore pass is added to the map. After creating the ore pass, let us go to its properties and specify that the ROAD-84-e node will be its inbound node. For our tutorial we only need an inbound node, however if there is an outbound flow such as a crusher, this node will need to be selected as the outbound node as well.

The animation displays a diagram where a new ore pass is being added to a mine map, with subsequent updates showing detailed properties and connections of the ore pass.

The inbound node of an ore pass is the location where trucks and loaders can unload ore into the ore pass. Conversely, the outbound node is the point from which ore can be extracted from the ore pass for further transportation, utilizing either trucks, trains, or conveyors.

Now that we have created an ore pass, let us set its capacity on its properties page. As our ore pass is the final destination for the ore flow, let us just use some big number of tons, such as 100,000 tons:

Properties window displaying ore pass details, including coordinates, capacity, and initial quantities.

Let us navigate to the Ore Types section on the properties page of our ore pass. By default, MineTwin permits the transportation of all existing ore types into any newly created ore pass:

Ore pass properties interface with tabs for General, Connectors, Ore types, Material mix, Allowed destinations, showing selections.

Let us leave this setting as it is, but remember that in the future, we will be able to separate ore passes by the allowed ore types.

Now we can go to our stope and check that MineTwin is now able to determine the newly created ore pass as a destination:

Stope 1 properties panel with fields: Identifier, Name, Length, Density, Ore type, Mine segment, Nearest Ore Pass.

If you click on the magnifying glass on the right of the Nearest suitable ore pass block, you can visually see the path from the stope to the ore pass.

Underground mine layout with stope properties box detailing identifiers, advancement type, offsets, density, and ore type.

2. Define cross-dock points

Cross-dock points (or CDPs) are places where loaders can load ore onto trucks for further haulage. Let us create a cross dock point at the ROAD-3-b node. The sequence of actions to create this cross-dock point is similar to creating an ore pass:

  • Navigate to the node ROAD-3-b. Either using the Map view to navigate to the node, or by using the filter feater on the node table and double clicking on the node as we did in the previous step.

  • Click on the Cross-dock point palette item on the side of the map view

  • Click on the map next to the node to create a CDP

  • Hit Esc to deactivate CDPs creation mode

  • Navigate to the properties of the newly created CDP and set its mine node to ROAD-3-b by using the Select from map button in the properties view

The result of creating a CDP might look like this:

The animation shows a user interacting with a mining simulation software, highlighting different nodes and settings within the map and properties panels while various elements such as properties and errors are displayed and navigated.

Now we can set the maximum capacity of the newly created CDP to, say, 100 tons:

Cross-dock point properties interface with fields for identifier, coordinates, capacity, and transport settings.

Let us now go to the Ore types section of the CDP properties and specify that this CDP can accept both ore types:

Screenshot of a user interface showing \"Cross-dock point 1\" with tabs for settings and options for choosing ore types.

Now that we have defined one ore pass and one CDP in our scenario, we can save the scenario and continue with the next step. The resulting scenario can be downloaded here.