Workflows

On the Drillhole tab, in the Planning group: Click Drillhole Planning to open the Drillhole | Planning ribbon and put the Vizex window into Planning mode.

Drillhole Planning uses a special Drillhole Planning to create planned holes, which are then converted to a standard Collar file and Survey file and (optionally) associated with a Drillhole Database once the plan is finished. These files can then be used to display drillholes in Vizex or to pass the Collar and Downhole Survey information to drilling contractors.

Loading Holes into the Plan

The holes in a String Trace file and/or a Drillhole Database can be loaded into the planning layer as the basis for planning. If Collar and Survey information is written to a Drillhole Database when you Finish the Plan (see below), the database can be reloaded using this option.

Using an existing hole

Sometimes the easiest way to design a new hole is to use a nearby hole as a template:

1. Display a Vizex drillhole layer and click anywhere on the template hole to select it (you don’t need to select the entire hole)
2. Right-click and choose Selection > Copy Drillholes to Active Layer from the pop-up menu
3. Position the new drillhole trace by dragging the segment immediately below the collar until the collar is situated in the right place.

Dragging the segment immediately below the collar makes it easier to snap the collar to other items, such as a surface DTM, without changing the shape of the hole.

4. If necessary, click Extend Drillhole and fill out the dialog to extend the hole to the desired depth.

   

5. Alternatively, shorten the hole by inserting a point at the desired total length and deleting all following points.

From the collar

A drillhole design in which the direction of the drillhole trace is the same as the drilling direction, is a From Collar design, running from the collar to the target.

Starting from the collar is the natural way to design a drillhole when the collar location is known and the target location is to be determined. You can design straight or curved up-holes Holes in which the drilling direction is inclined upwards or down-holes Holes in which the drilling direction is inclined downwards. from the collar.

1. Click From Collar to design a straight or a curved hole.

   

2. Click within the Vizex window to define the collar location.
3. Define the initial orientation, rate of deviation, and length of the hole.

From the target

A drillhole design in which the direction of the drillhole trace is opposite to the drilling direction, running from the target to the collar, is a From Target design.

A from-target design is typically used when the target location is known and the collar location is to be determined. For surface drilling this method optionally includes automatic clipping to a surface DTM, automatic reversal of the drillhole trace, and automatic extension beyond the target.

From target-design supports straight or curved up-holes Holes in which the drilling direction is inclined upwards or down-holes Holes in which the drilling direction is inclined downwards..

1. Click From Target to design a straight or a curved hole.

   

2. Click within the Vizex window to define the target location.
3. Define the downhole orientation, rate of deviation, and length of the hole.

For a curved hole, the orientation can be defined at collar or at target location.

4. Optionally, extend the drillhole to a (surface) DTM or beyond the initial target pick, and reverse it into the drilling direction.

Manually creating a hole

A Manual Hole tool can be used to manually digitise a hole trace:

You can also reverse the point order of selected drillhole traces:

Creating a pattern of holes

Use the Create Pattern tool to generate a regular pattern of planned holes and add them to the planning layer. The holes of the pattern can be adjusted interactively. This complements an existing (non-interactive) Create Pattern tool on the Drillhole tab, in the Planning group.

Extending a hole

The application assumes the design direction and the drilling direction are the same whenever you extend a hole. Keep this in mind when entering the initial orientation or rate of deviation.

Defining curved (deviated) holes

The application uses the segment length to control the length of each segment that represents a curved hole. When the segments are converted to Collar and Survey files, the segment length also determines the interval between successive downhole surveys.

The safest way to plan a curved hole is to start by interactively adding segments until the hole is the right length. You can then design other holes using total length once you get a feel for how they relate to your project area.

Planning for deviation

Use the rate of deviation options with care. Drillhole deviation is the result of a complex interaction between the drilling parameters (bit type, feed pressure, rotation speed etc.), the cutting or hammering action of the bit, the rocks through which the hole passes, and the angle between the drill bit and the fabric of the country rock. Changing any one of these parameters may result in significantly different rates of deviation compared to other holes.

In a new project area, you should plan for straight holes until you have enough drilling to understand how the prior holes deviated. Even with this knowledge you should always consider any planned deviation to be an approximation of the completed drillhole.

Finishing the Plan

Click Finish Plan to save the planned holes. Holes are enumerated using a default “PDH001, 2, 3, etc“ identifier for each hole and saved to a Collar file and a Survey file.

You also have the option to write Collar and Survey information to a Drillhole Database. To continue planning, the database can be loaded at a later date using the Load Drillholes into Plan option.

Select the Auto load traces check box to load the created traces in Vizex. The (Hole Name, Hole Length) properties of the traces selected in the layer can be edited in the Vizex Properties pane.