The P3D Drill and Blast design software is built on a new, interactive 3-D engine with improved textures, transparency, lighting and rotation.

Director of the Carlson mining division, Grant Wenker, commented: "Drill and Blast allows for quick and easy blast pattern layouts, with real-time 3-D editing and instant feedback.

"Criteria such as distance from the highwall face, or comparison of design vs as-drilled hole locations are analysed the entire length of each hole and colour-coded warnings indicate if there is a discrepancy."

To begin a design using Drill and Blast, import surface files from XYZ, XML, Carlson's TIN or point cloud scan sources. The software creates blasthole patterns from options such as square or staggered, for both mine benching and construction design.

Drill and Blast's real-time feedback allows users to quickly see distances from end walls or the highwall face, the company explained. To ensure a safe distance, highwall face tolerances can be set and colour-coded warnings will show if the hole is too close or too far from the face.

According to Carlson, other innovations include the ability to:

• Utilise any grid or TIN surface file offered in Carlson's office software, such as Carlson Civil or Carlson Geology;
• Edit single holes, entire rows or columns for azimuth, dip angle and depth;
• Simulate blasthole loading with different materials and densities. Calculate and report the volumes for the entire design, including presplitting holes;
• Colour and hatch the blastholes based on highwall proximity or loading decks to compare to the surfaces;
• Export final blasthole pattern to Excel or CSV and Carlson Machine Control DRL for GNSS guided drilling;
• Import an ‘as-drilled' pattern from CSV or DRL file and compare with the design to make sure all blastholes are drilled within a specified tolerance of the design blastholes; and
• Create reports showing pattern layout, graphic PDF maps of the design with labels and transparent textures in 3-D.