Hybrid Approach to Pushback Design in K-MINE

Wrapping up how to create pushbacks in K-MINE, it's worth noting that besides fully automatic and manual methods, there is a hybrid approach. It works like auto mode but with some manual tweaking. You start an automatic pushback and then apply one, two, three, or as many restrictions as you need to refine your pushbacks. This gives you maximum flexibility and customization in the process.

For example, within the pushback restrictions you might specify one of the wireframes that show the optimization calculation result. Then you set the target parameters for finding all subsequent pushbacks, and the calculation kicks off. Once you start building the second pushback with the first one being set according to your restrictions, you see that out of three pushbacks, two were automatically generated and one was manually set using a wireframe.

This approach is great if you know exactly how you want to begin, but there are still things to figure out for the next steps.

The icing on the cake when creating pushbacks is definitely the dynamic design plugin that is part of our design module. If you're after the most realistic plan, your calendar schedule should include pushbacks that you design.

Now let's see how to make a pushback project using just a wireframe. First, draw a contour where you want to get isolines aligned with the level list. Use the Create Iso Object command to generate the isolines you need. Then pick out the lines you want to work with further - in our case, they should be lower and unique, not repeating the previous elevation. Smooth them out for easier work.

Then we move to the fun part. We make a list of levels, which is super easy with automatic filling - you just need to know your pit specifications. Then we decide which base lines belong to which level. If a line isn't at its assigned level, we project it onto that level.

Then we start building the edges - we add one row, then another, turns, connections, and so on. To make sure every part of the pit is accessible, each section of the project must be minable. This must be ensured at the design stage. The final pit contour and all approaching roads must be interconnected to ensure flexibility in the transportation of materials.

Then we introduce the topography into the project and recalculate. This shows us which lines are above the ground level, which is crucial because our project must intersect with the topography to work correctly. The plugin has various visualization tools to make this process as clear as possible.

Once everything is set and looks good, we construct the final wireframe. This combines two wireframes - the project and the added initial topography. In just two minutes you can have a project for the final pit contour, a pushback, and other pit elements. Sure, sometimes you'll need more time, but it's much faster than manually designing bench by bench.

This plugin isn't just for quarries - you can use it for designing dumps too.

To wrap up, here's a sneak peek for the next update. Our dynamic design module now includes volume calculation functionality, done in the most user-friendly and quick way possible. You can calculate volumes considering level lists, which makes document preparation a breeze. Plus, we'll soon add the ability to visualize the part of the block model that's being calculated.