Calculate a Blend

The Blending screen makes use of tooltips, colours and shading patterns to convey additional information to help you understand the blend specifications and the calculations. Hover over a cell to display the tooltip.

A red corner on a blend date column header indicates that there is a comment for that blend date.
A red corner on a blend date cell indicates that one or more constraints have been overridden for that source and blend date.
Blend date cells have tooltips indicating:
- The balance before (Available) and after the calculated (or forced) usage is applied (Remaining Balance) for that blend date
- All constraints that apply on that blend date (not just the overrides)
- Any issues that may be affecting the stockpile from being included in the blend for that date (for example, not enough balance or missing analytes required for the blend)
In the source stockpile balance and analyte value columns, values in black are within the target specifications. Values in red are outside of the target specifications. Bold values with a green background differ from the stock balance for the stockpile at the blend date.
If a cell is grey and disabled, the source is not open on that blend date.
In blend period cells, a green cell indicates that a forced usage quantity has been set for that source and blend date. Forced usage quantities are also in bold text.
If a cell is forward striped red, the source is manually excluded for that blend date, or there was an error with the blend calculation for that date.
If a cell is backward striped orange, the blend is out of date; for example, because an analyte value has been edited after calculating a blend.

To save time entering data for blend periods or analyte specifications, you can select multiple cells before right-clicking the selection. To select multiple cells, click the first required cell, hold down Shift, then click the last cell in the sequence; or hold down Ctrl while clicking non-consecutive cells. In the Source Stockpiles table, you can use the right-click context menu to Fill Up, Fill Down, Fill Left or Fill Right across the selected cells.

Security Note: You need the Allow the user to maintain calculated blends security right in the Blending domain security rights group for this activity.

Activity Steps

Open the Blending screen.
The configuration, Source Stockpiles and Specifications that match the template display. If the template includes a stock location as a source, the individual stockpiles at that location display as source stockpiles for the blend.
Update the following fields as required.
- Blend Name
- Comments
- Is Active
- Base Blend Date
To change the target tonnes, number of periods, column visibility or other configuration, click the Settings (cog) icon in the top-right corner.
The Blend Configuration screen displays. See Set up a Blend Template for descriptions of these settings.
For each source in the Source Stockpiles table:
1. Select whether to Include the source in blend calculations.
  Note: If you filter data in the Source Stockpiles table, the sources that display after filtering are the only sources that can be included in the blend. That is, for any sources that are filtered out, Include is effectively unchecked. For more information about filtering functionality, see Sort, Filter and Group Data in Tables.
2. Edit the Desirability of using the source if required. Select an integer value between 1 (least desirable) to 10 (most desirable).
  Note: If creating the blend for a specific stockpile, that stockpile should always have a desirability of 10 in the blend because its contents will be part of the blend result.
3. Enter the Production Per Period if required. Not applicable to mine sources.
4. Edit the Balance if required.
5. Enter a Minimum Reclaim if required. If the source is included in a blend, at least this amount is included in each blend period.
6. Enter a Maximum Reclaim if required. If the source is included in a blend, no more than this amount is included in each blend period.
7. Update the analyte values if required.
  Note: If you save the calculated blend, modified balance and analyte values are saved with the blend and persist when you reopen it.
8. To remove values from selected source stockpile balance or analyte cells, right-click the selected cell(s) and select Clear Cells from the menu.
  If a stock balance value is available for the stockpile at the blend date, MineMarket reverts the cell to that value before clearing the cell completely.
9. Refine the usage of sources for particular blend periods if required. Select one or multiple cells in the blend period columns, right-click the selected cell(s) and select Edit Constraints from the menu. Update the following fields in the menu as required:
  - Exclude—Whether to exclude the source for this blend period.
  - Forced Usage—If entered, exactly this quantity from this source must be included for the blend period.
  - Minimum Reclaim—Override the minimum reclaim quantity set for the source. Not applicable if a quantity for Forced Usage is specified.
  - Maximum Reclaim—Override the maximum reclaim quantity set for the source. Not applicable if a quantity for Forced Usage is specified.
  - Desirability—Override the desirability set for the source.
  Note: Alternatively, you can enter values such as >500 or 500- (for minimum reclaims), <500 or -500 (for maximum reclaims), or 100-200, 100<200 (for min-max ranges) directly into cells.
To refresh the source stockpiles, right-click in the Source Stockpiles table and select one of the following options from the menu as required:
- Refresh List Of Sources—Updates the stockpiles of any location or stockpile category.
- Refresh Source Tonnes And Quality—Gets the best-known quantity and quality at the Base Blend Date for all sources, and resets any overrides entered in Available or for the analyte qualities.
Update the Target Tonnes for individual blend periods if required.
To add or edit a comment for a blend period:
1. Right-click the blend period header and select Edit Comment from the menu.
2. Enter or update the Comment.
3. Click OK.
Update the Specifications as required.
1. For how to change the set of specifications, see Set up a Blend Template.
2. For each analyte in the specifications:
  1. Select whether to Include the analyte in blend calculations.
    Note: If you select one or multiple cells, there are right-click context menu options on this column to Invert Selection, Include Selection or Exclude Selection.
  2. Update the Target, Minimum and Maximum if required.
    Note: There is a right-click context menu option to Revert Targets and Limits to the values in the blend template. This option reverts the Target, Minimum and Maximum values for all analytes.
Click Blend.
When the calculation is complete, the suggested blends display; or if a blend is not possible with the current criteria, an error message displays, and the affected blend date is highlighted red.
The Source Stockpiles and Specifications tables can be exported to Excel, copied to the clipboard or printed. Only the used sources and specifications are exported to Excel. Excel exports are saved in your default Documents folder.
You can cancel the blend during calculation if required.
Click Save.
The modified balance and analyte values are saved with the blend.
To clear the blend results, click Clear Results.
This button allows you to change the configuration and reblend, without needing to start again from a template.
To save the blend criteria as a blend template:
1. Right-click in the Source Stockpiles table and select Save As Template from the menu.
  The Blend Template and Blend Configuration screen display. The template is stored in the Unassigned Blend Templates category.
2. Edit the Blend Template name.
3. Close the Blend Configuration screen and Blend Template.