Planning Properties

To access this screen:

Project Settings screen >> Edit Properties.
When defining Derived Activities, click Edit Properties.
Display the Project Settings toolbar and select Edit Properties.

A property is another piece of information that can be placed onto activities.

The main difference between an attribute and a property is the “scope” of the data and how it is applied to the design. A property can be extracted from the block model and then placed onto the design, or calculated, as is the case with derived activities. It can also be edited directly or be imported from another source such as an Excel spreadsheet or database.

The Properties screen allows different activities to have different properties applied to them and even allows different values to be applied to the same properties within the same property definition. This can be used for say, applying different factors to activities associated with different areas of the mine.

This screen also displays system properties: calculated properties you can't adjust.

The property definitions utilize filters to apply the formulae defined in the Formula column. The formula must be of a valid format. When entering the Formula, you can select both variables and functions to include in the formula, and check the current formula for syntax validity.

Each property on this screen is described by the following parameters:

Note: These parameters cannot be adjusted for system properties (see below).

Name – The name of the property as in appears in output reports and data object databases.
Unit – The unit of measure used in output reports.
Evaluation Method – If a property is evaluated, how is this done? See below for more information.
Weighted On – In some cases a property is weighted by another. For example, Density (a system property) is necessarily weighted on Mined_Volume.

There are a series of default base properties which cannot be deleted or modified, but can be used as weighting values for other properties. Evaluated properties will always be weighted against Mined_Mass..

Use the + or X buttons to add or remove a property from the list. You cannot create a system property, so Is System will remain disabled for the new entry.

If adding a new property, you must assign both Name and Units to it.

Note: This screen includes table grids that support multiple row selection.

System Properties

Your product requires some standard system properties to complete the process of solids generation and scheduling. These properties appear in grey and can't be edited. This includes:

Area
Density – A weighted property, weighted on Mined_Volume.
Depleted_Volume – An additive property.
Insitu_Mass – An additive property.
Insitu_Volume – An additive property.
Length
Mined_Mass – An additive property.
Mined_Volume – An additive property.
Void_Volume – An additive property.

In each case, the property's Unit of measurement, Evaluation Method (see below) and Weighted On setting is fixed.

Property Types

There are, essentially, three different types of production field (excluding formula-based field definitions); normal, weighted and cost. For example, grade information is treated slightly differently to other properties in that this data is often weighted on other fields in the database (such as TONNES). As such, the Properties screen lets you define, for non-system properties, if a property is to be weighted on another field.

Evaluated Properties

User properties can be optionally evaluated, and if evaluated, the property can be weighted on any field that isn't already weighted.

Evaluation Method determines how properties are treated:

Weighted – Select this method, then use Weighted on options to pick a property in the project that isn't already weighted, or select the Mined_Mass or Mined_Volume options (the latter two are always available). A weighted value is the sum of its raw property value multiplied by the weighted value for the same record.
Dominant – Define a block model property as dominant. For example, there may be a spatial domain in the block model (STOPZONE) and you wish to report this property when evaluating stopes, in terms of the majority of the stope without weighting the property.

Say, a specific stope accomodates 40% of STOPZONE = 1, 35% of STOPZONE=2 and 25% of STOPZONE=3, the stope will be reported as STOPZONE=1 after evaluation.
Additive – Define a block model property as additive, meaning the properties contribute to the sum of the parts. Each property value is of equal importance.
Not Evaluated – The property is not evaluated.