Geo Soft

USING GEOSOFT OASIS MONTAJ AND CHIMERA
Course developed for IMC Group Consulting Limited

To be lectured at Nouakchott
October 2003
Bert De Waele (for IMC Consulting)
8/07/2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREPARATIONS
STARTING GEOSOFT
CREATING A DATABASE
IMPORTING DATA FROM EXCEL (.CSV FILE)
WORKING WITH GEOSOFT DATABASES
MERGING LOCATION AND VALUES DATABASES BASED ON COMMON

SAMPLE CHANNEL
5
PRELIMINARY CHECKS
REARRANGING THE DATA INTO LINES
WORKING WITH LINES
CREATING A MAP
10
PLOTTING SAMPLE LOCALITIES
14
EXAMINING THE DATABASE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE MAP
15
COLOUR RANGE AND PROPORTIONAL SIZE PLOTS
17
MINIMUM CURVATURE GRIDDING
19
KRIGING
23
CONTOURING
25
HISTOGRAM ANALYSIS
26
ADVANCED MAPPING TECHNIQUES
28
MASKING DATA (CHEMMASK) BASED ON CODE
29
MASKING DATA USING DRAWING TOOLS
30
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USING MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSIONS
31
THE MODIFIED BOXPLOT
32
ADVANCED USE OF THE HISTOGRAM
32
CORRELATION ANALYSIS
34
SCATTER ANALYSIS
34
THE GEOSOFT HELP SYSTEM
35
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Preparations
Before starting to work on a project, it
is necessary to create a location on the
local hard drive in which all data,
related to the project, will be stored. A
new directory can be created on the
drive, and the necessary datafiles can
be copied into that directory. It is good
practice not to work from a location on
the harddrive that contains your vital
informationmake a copy instead to
safeguard vital data.
Browse to C:\Mauretania\season#1 and

type in the name of the new workspace
(season#1). Geosoft now creates a
season#1.gws file that contains all
information pertinent to out work on
this project. Whenever we change
something in our project (add/modify
databases, add maps, ) Geosoft will
automatically reflect that change into
this fileso that we can pick up from
where we left off by loading the .gws
file. The menu bar will now look a bit
different as new functionality becomes
available:
Assume we had created a directory on

the root of the C drive, which contains
all project related information, and
called it C:\Mauretania. We can create
a subdirectory in that, and call it
season#1. We will prepare our raw
data (excel sheets and/or access
databases), and copy the necessary
files into that workspace for processing
in Geosoft.
Although Geosofts import facilities
include the possibility to import
directly from Excel and Access, we
will prepare Comma Separated Values
files (.CSV) with excel, which is the
preferred import format, and avoids
complications with formatting issues.
We will save csv files for standards,
repeat analyses, assays and locational
data into the C:\Mauretania\season#1\
directory
At this stage we also can load other

extra menus we will need later in the
program. These menus are not
automatically loaded by Geosoft to
save time. We find the menus under
the GX pop down window, Load
menus
Starting Geosoft
Double click on the icon and the
Geosoft programme window comes up,
with all but a few options dimmed out:
The following dialog box appears:
Click on FileNew workspace
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In other words, each Geosoft Line

actually represent a set of data
collected along a physical line, and is
kept on one sheet in the database. Each
channel represents a collected value
field for each station (e.g. x, y, total
magnetics, radiometrics) and is kept
on a column within each sheet. Each
row in the database represents the
results for one sampling station.
We
can
simultaneously
select
Chimera.omn; ChimeraDPA.omn and
oasis.omn by holding the ctrl key. The
menu bar will now look like this:
In the dialog box, we can fill out the

name for our database, and we can
leave the recommended setting for
Lines and Channels as is These
settings can be changed later in the
Database maintenance commands
Creating a database
After creating this (empty) database,

the screen looks like this:
The first thing well need to do, is to

create a database in which we can
import our data. All data can be placed
into one single database, or we can
create separate databases. Lets start
with one database. Click on
DataNew database:
What we are looking at is an empty

sheet (line 0:0). The values below L0:0
are called fiducials, and will be
automatically generated for each line
with increment 1.0. These values
cannot be changed manually, and are
controlled by the database. The way
fiducials are attributed can be changed
through
the
DataFiducials
command.
Geosoft databases are engineered to

deal with geophysical and geochemical
data. Such data, especially airborne
geophysics, are often collected along a
grid,
where
sampling
happens
sequentially along a line. The database
structure reflects this, and the
terminology used in Geosoft databases
can be compared to Excel as follows:
Geosoft
Excel
Importing data from Excel (.CSV

file)
Lines/Groups
Channels/Fields
Sheets
Columns
All database related utilities reside

under the data menu:
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csv file has a comma delimited

structure.
We will select DataImportAscii

to import the CSV files
Select the Microsoft Excel CSV radio

button and hit Next
Geosoft allows the creation of

templates to automate import rules.
This is handy if repeat imports are
anticipated of identically structured
input files. We will go through the
Wizard to have control over the input
parameters every step of the way.
Browse
to
the
file
All_data_season#1_loc.csv and click
on the Wizard button.
The last step of the Wizard allows us

to define the data-type for each
column. We can click on the first
column, which holds the sample
numbers. The column highlights, and
we can select String as data type. If we
want, we can change the Channel
(column) name and Label (the way the
database displays the column header).
Dummy indicates which values were
entered in the csv file to denote either
missing data or values below
Minimum Detection Limit (MDL).
After import, the database looks as
follows:
We can already see a preview of the

data contained in the file. Select
Delimited on the radio buttons, as a
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on when all databases have been

merged with our locational data.
Once the database is organised into
lines and channels, the data can be
inspected in various ways. First note
that the column (channel) header has a
black triangle in the upper left corner.
This indicates that the channel is
protected. This is a very useful
characteristic of Geosoft, in that it tries
to avoid accidental modifications. We
can unprotect and protect a channel by
right-clicking the header:
We can now similarly create a

database called season#1_assay with
the assay values and laboratory name,
season#1_duplicates
with
all
duplicate
analyses,
and
season#1_rocks with all rock assays.
Working with Geosoft databases
Lets go over a few basics when
working with Geosoft Databases. As
explained before, the structure of the
database assumes the data to be in
lines, where each sheet contains line
data, and each column contains the
values collected along a line (typically
X, Y, Z and measurements or assays).
When
working
with
randomly
collected data (e.g. stream sediments or
randomly collected ground data), only
one line will be created with an index
D, signifying random data. Data
collected along a line will be indexed
with L (line data). In case the database
is collected along a linear grid, it may
be useful and/or necessary to use tools
to split the data into lines either based
on a Line channel (column), or by
letting Geosoft look for X-Y breaks.
We will perform these operation later
Note that Geosoft allows us to protect

all, or none. That means that the
protection status is normally only
changed for the current channel of the
current line. Lines below or above are
unaffected unless one chooses protect
all/none. If you left-click the column
header, the channel gets selected. The
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Deleting a channel can also be done

using the right-click menu on a
channel header. Deleting a channel
actually erases the selected channel
irretrievably from the database. The
operation will not be allowed if the
selected channel is protected. It is
advised to leave all original data
channels in protected mode and copy
their contents to a new working
channel for manipulation. This avoids
accidental loss of data
first click selects only the channel of

the active line, a second click selects
this particular channel for all the lines
(header white=only current line;
header black=channel in all lines). We
will get back to this feature later.
Protection of data has also led to the
inability to select more than one
channel at a given time, again to avoid
accidental modifications. This makes
Geosoft secure, but also takes away
some of the powerful tools a normal
spreadsheet can offer. It is therefore
advised to prepare the data as best as
possible in Excel and/or Access before
importing into Geosoft, so that not too
many changes need to be done once
the Geosoft database is created.
Merging Location and Values

databases based on common Sample
Channel
After importing the various databases,
the first thing that needs to be done is
to merge the survey data (x and y
location) to the sample assays, rock
assays and duplicate databases, based
on the sample numbers we used. For
the merge procedure, Geosoft assumes
that there is a channel (column) called
Sample, in all databases, and will
use that as the common link to merge
the data. In our case, the channel
Sample does not exist, and is instead
named Nr. We will change the
channel name Nr into Sample for
all databases. Geosoft also expects the
location database to contain a channel
called X and another Y. In our
case, these channels are called
X_UTM and Y_UTM. Well
rename these to X and Y.
Notice that it is not directly possible to

change the order (from left to right) of
appearance of the channels. To
rearrange the channels, it is necessary
to remove them all from the sheet, and
then display them again, one by one, in
the correct channel. If you right-click
on the Nr channel, and then choose
Remove all, all columns disappear.
Note that the actual data is not lost, but
we only changed the way the data is
displayed (or not). If we now rightclick on the leftmost channel, we can
choose List. A listing of available,
undisplayed channels appears, from
which we can now choose Nr to be
displayed in the leftmost channel.
Open the season#1_assay database,

and right-click on the column header
Nr. A pop-up menu appears as
follows:
We can do the same to display from

left to right next to the Nr channel, X,
Y, Au_ppb and Lab.
8/07/2005
We should change the name of the

channel Nr into Sample in all
databases.
We can now also open the
season#1_loc database and change
the X_UTM channel in X and the
Y_UTM channel in Y. The
season#1_rock database had been
prepared with a sample column, and
columns X and Y, so no modifications
are necessary
We are now ready to merge the
location data with the assays and other
attributes. Click on the Chemimport
menu and choose Merge and Verify:

Select Edit and the
dialogue box appears:
following
We browse and select the assay

database, and the location database,
and request for a report after merging.
After clicking OK, Geosoft merges the
databases, using the Sample channel as
common denominator, and shows a
report of the operation. If at this stage,
a lot of errors are reported for missing
data, duplicates and other problems, it
is necessary to carefully look at the
reported errors, and correct the
problems if possible.
We can change the channel name into

Sample. Note that some other
settings can be adapted here as well,
including the data-type.
The season#1_assay database has

now been updated, and all assays now
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have an X and Y channel with location

data.
We can now do the same for any other
database that has no location data
Preliminary Checks
Before we get into the actual data
processing of the geochemical
database, we can perform a few routine
data integrity checks, so that if any
problems exist, they are dealt with
immediately.
Again, the trend of the line indicates

that also the Y-data is not encumbered
by serious errors.
Rearranging the data into Lines
The data in a database quite commonly

has wrongfully entered (anomalous)
data, which could either be typing
errors in the X or Y channel, or
mistyped data in other channels. In the
locational data, these errors lead to
significant problems when attempting
to plot data, or calculating grids, as
typing errors can often introduce points
that lie well outside the area actually
sampled. Likewise, mistakes in the
assay channels can lead to non-existent
anomalies, and significantly skew
statistical properties of a dataset.
The step-like nature of both profile

lines demonstrates that our database
was collected along lines. Well
attempt to split the database into its
respective lines, using the X,Y breaks.
Once we have the database split into its
lines,
we
can
save
it
as
season#1_assay_lines.gdb
First, well have to expand the
database, which in its present state can
only hold 50 lines. The data was
collected along more lines than that,
and well grow the database to be able
to hold a maximum of 1000 lines. Go
to DataMaintenanceGrow.
One handy tool to check the data for

possible outliers is the profile tool.
Geosoft allows the visual inspection of
data along a profile line. Channel
values are plotted on the Y-axis, while
stations are plotted along an X-axis.
Well plot the X, Y and Au_ppb
channels on a profile, so that
abnormally high or low values
immediately become apparent.
Right-click on the header of the Xchannel of the assay database and
select show profile. The bottom of
the window now opens up to display
the profile of the channel. The semiregular nature of the profile line
indicates that no serious errors exist in
the X channel. We can display a
second profile for the Y channel
8/07/2005
transfers
the
data
corresponding lines
Choose the season#1_assay database

in the dialog box, and answer YES
when notified you should not interrupt
the process. Now fill in 1000 lines, and
leave the 50 channels limit as is
to
their
As soon as Geosoft has finished, we

can go to DataSave database as
and fill out the new name as
season#1_assay_lines.gdb, and click
OK. The database gets saved, and
immediately opens up in a new
window.
Working with Lines
The database is now expanded to have

room for up to 1000 lines.
The new database now has the same

data organised into lines, one line per
sheet. The line currently in view is
indicated in the leftmost column. The
mark next to it indicates that it is also
selected (highlighted), meaning that
operations carried out on the database
will include this line. By right-clicking
on the Line header we can change the
selection (default is all lines) by using
the selection tool.
We can now split the data along line

breaks as follows:
Go to the Utility menu, and select
Split LineSplit line on X,Y
breaks.
Based on prior knowledge of the

approximate line spacing and spacing
between stations, we can fill out the
dialog box as follows:
Other selection options include

selecting directly by line number,
selecting by flight number (the number
after the colon in each line, in our case
all flight numbers are 0), by direction
or by line type. The selection tool is an
interactive tool, in which we manually
select a set of lines:
Geosoft now looks for the breaks

according to these tolerances, and
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in the database is automatically

highlighted. This also works in the
other direction, so that selecting a point
in the database will show where the
point plots on the profile. Well see
more interactive linking of database
values with profiles, maps or even
statistical plots such as scatterplots,
later on.
It is important to have all lines selected
when working with the database, as
results of statistical operations and
queries will only be valid for the
selected Lines.
Lets explore the statistical tools

available in Geosoft. As mentioned
earlier, we can select either an entire
channel of a database (across lines) or
a channel within the current line. With
the season#1_assay_lines database
open, click on the Au_ppb header
twice. This select the Au_ppb channel
for the line we are in. We can now
right-click and choose Statistics
Another way to rapidly step through

the different lines is by using the
toolbar buttons:
The blue triangle up/down moves up or

down to the first or last line. The red
triangles move up or down one at a
time
We can display the profile of the
Au_ppb channel on the database,
and then move down line per line to
see the gold values plotted along each
sampling line.
The following window comes up with

basic statistics. The most important
values for us are the total number of
items (in the line we had selected), the
number of Dummy values, the
Minimum and Maximum:
This is a very powerful method to see

the trends of the values along the line.
Notice that the minimum is actually 0,
because all assays below Detection
Limit (< 5ppb) were made 0. We can
change that background to the actual
Detection Limit later on.
If you want to see the actual value in

the database that corresponds to a
peak in the profile, you can click on
the peak, and the corresponding value
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database and returns with the X and Y

limits. Click Next
If we click OK and now select the

same channel across the entire
database we can call up statistics for all
data in that Channel.
Fill out the name of the map as

base.map, size as portrait A4 and
click on the Scale button. Geosoft
calculates the scale that fits the map
onto A4 portrait paper, and reports a
number 1,075,425 as possible scale. To
make that a round value we will
change that number to 1,250,000.
Creating a map
We will now prepare a blank base
map, which will serve as a template for
all our maps of the Oassat-Sfariates
area.
We can create a basemap by using the

menu MappingBase mapDraw
basemap
Geosoft can work with two different

layout versions of a map. One is called
FIGURE and is a more simple way
of presenting data, the other is called
MAP, and is a more professional
version for full scale plotting of final
maps. We will plot all our small maps
(A4) into a figure.
Creating a map can either be based on
a database, where Geosoft scans the
X,Y limits of the data to produce a
map, or can be done on the basis of a
grid. We only have a database at the
moment, and will use that as a base for
the figure.
We get the following dialog box:
Click on MapNew map.
We can leave the defaults and click

next:
Click on the button Scan data, and
Geosoft scans the data in the open
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8/07/2005
It appears that the grid spacing chosen

(5000m) is too close, so we can go
back through the process, and change
that particular setting to 20,000 m.
Notice that Geosoft remembers all our
previous entries, which makes
modifications of the map on a trial and
error basis a viable option
After the change to 20,000m grid
spacing, the map will now look as
follows:
Here we change the Reference grid
option to crosses, change the spacing
to 5000m and leave the rest as default
In the last dialog box, we can fill out

the titles for the map.
When we click Finish we get the
following map:
We will now manually change the

layout a little, so that the scale bar does
not overlap with the titles
Notice that with the map as active
window, a menu becomes available at
the right edge of the screen:
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8/07/2005
Notice that the Base view, which

contains Titles, North Arrow, Scale bar
and Surround sits on top, while the
Data view, which only holds a layer
called Coordinates, sits below. In fact
the Base view is always displayed
BELOW the Data view.
View/Group Manager
Layer selection
Group selection
Shadow cursor buttons
The View/Group manager is a

convenient way to organise our data
layers. We can simply click a layer,
and move it in front or to the back
either step by step, or move it
completely down or up. We can also
select a Group and start editing it, hide
it or simply delete it.
Pan tool
Zoom tools:
Interactive zoom
Zoom
Shrink 50%
Last view
Redraw map
Another way of selecting Groups is

directly using the Group selection
button. Well select the north arrow,
resize it and move it on top of the
scalebar:
Zoom to full extent
Map selection tools

Click the Group Select
button.
We can now select the Title and move

it (drag and drop) closer to the
surround of our map:
A Geosoft layout is organised into two

layers (VIEWS), onto which Groups
of data and objects can be arranged.
The BASE view is the map base we
just created, and can contain other
objects that form part of the basic
layout (e.g. additional textboxes, logo
of the company etc). The DATA
view contains the data we want to plot
into a particular map. When we click
on the topmost button View/Group
Manager, we get the following
window:
Once satisfied, we can also lock its

position by using the right-click menu:
StatusMovable
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8/07/2005
like , or . To get such text into

Geosoft well type it into Word, copy
and paste it into a new text box
Open Word and type : Premire
Campagne dchantillonnage du sol.
Then select this text, and use COPY.
Now, in the Geosoft map, right-click
the Title and select Edit this Group
from the menu.
We can also use this menu to hide a

selected Group, to select and delete a
Group, and to perform various zoom
functions. Via the Windows clipboard,
it is also possible to copy (or cut) and
paste Groups from one map to another.
Now move the scalebar just below the
Title, and resize the northarrow, and
move it on top of the map in the lower
right corner. The map should now look
like this:
Now select the text we want to change
and delete it. Then click the text button
and click below the second line of
the title. A new textbox is created, and
we can now paste the text into it.
To end editing we can right-click on

the Title Group and select End
editing from the pop-up window:
The last thing we need to change is the

text of the Title. Geosoft, which is an
Anglophonic programme, and does not
use the same fonts as windows, cannot
directly produce typically French fonts
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8/07/2005
We will now save the changes to the

map through the menus: MapSave
changes
Well fill the new name of the

duplicate
map
as
Sample_localities_A4.map.
Also
make sure to select Copy current
contents so that we get an exact
duplicate of the map.
The new map opens, and we can close

the original Base map.
Plotting sample localities
Firstly well need to change the title of

the map a bit to be as follows:
It would be nice at this stage to take a

look at the actual distribution of
samples across the area. Well
duplicate our base map, and plot
sample localities with sample numbers
into the new map:
First go to the menu MapDuplicate
map
The best way to do that is to first move

the scalebar a bit down to make room
for the extra line of text, then to start
editing the Title Group (right-click
menu), select, copy and paste the third
line, move the pasted version a bit
down, and retype that line to say
Localisation dchantillons. With
care you can re-use the chantillon
of the original text (avoiding a more
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8/07/2005
complicated procedure to recreate the

accented letter .
Now we are ready to plot the samples.
Well use the Chemmap menu, which
apart from general mapping tools
available in Geosoft, also includes the
Chimera extension commands:
We can now zoom

into the central
area for a closer look. Notice that a
zoom selection requires a window,
which we can then move across to the
area to be enlarged
Examining
the
database
conjunction with the map
in
After choosing the area we need to

look at closer, we can arrange the
database to be shown on a tile next to
the map (i.e. having both windows
open, tiled next to each other:
Choose
ChemmapPoint
plotsLocation plot
What we can do now, is to first display

the profile line below the database, and
then link up database and map so that
when selecting a value in the database,
the cursor on the map moves to the
selected point. Likewise, wed like to
Leave Mask Channel as None,

change the symbol to dot, size to
1mm, and leave other options as
default.
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8/07/2005
see that selecting a point on the map,

moves the highlight in the database to
the point and line selected. We use the
Shadow cursor
and Shadow
cursor with datalink
buttons. The
profile will allow easy recognition of
higher values, so that finding them in
the database is made easy
Go to ChemmapPoint plotsPost
assay values
First click on the map to make it the

active window. Then click on the
Shadow cursor button . After doing
that, when selecting a value in the
database, the shadow cursor on the
map will move to the point selected.
We can now easily move through a
line in the database, inspecting the
location of each sample selected on the
map. To activate the datalink, we can
click on the Shadow cursor with
datalink
button and get the
following window:
We get the following dialog box:
We can select the Data Group we want

the cursor to link to, which is a handy
tool if we were to plot different
datasets, from different databases onto
the
map.
We
can
select
SYMB_season#1_assay_lines, and
now have an active link between the
data points on the map and the
database.
Choose Sample as the data channel to

be posted, apply No Mask Channel,
and change the posting size to 1mm.
Leave other values as is.
The sample numbers are now posted
on top of the map, and make up a new
data layer:
We can now post the sample numbers

next to the data points on the map, to
produce a sample locality map.
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8/07/2005
Colour range and proportional size

plots
Another type of plot, which conveys to
a certain extent the values of the data,
without having to post the actual
numbers, is the colour range or the
proportional size plot.
When zooming into an area of the
map, we can see that the posting size
was too large, so that labels overlap.
We can change these setting by
running through the procedure again,
and changing the values in the dialog
box.
In a colour range plot, we can set

threshold values, and plot samples
between these threshold classes in
different colours. Alternatively, we can
plot higher values as larger symbols,
using thresholds and symbol size
parameters.
Lets first save the changes to our
sample location map, and open the
base map again to make a duplicate
called Au_colour_range_A4.map
Well now first have to change the title

a bit:
Notice that in the View/Group

manager, there is still only one Group
with Posted values, in other words,
anytime we change the setting, the
same Group is adapted. If we want to
keep the Group displayed, while we
create another Post, we need to rename
the Group in the Manager, so that it is
not automatically overwritten when
posting another set of values. This is
important when posting the channel
repeatedly, while a Chemmask is
applied (well see that later).
Remember that well have to move the

scalebar first, then edit the Title box,
copy the third line, move the copied
line down and change the text to what
we want There is an accent again, so
that copying of the existing line is the
fastest way
Posting another channel creates a new

Post Group. We can post the Au_ppb
values to the Left Centered with an
X offset of 0.1mm. The Au_ppb
values will be posted in a separate
Group
Then we can access the Colour ranges

plot tool in ChemmapPoint
plotsColour range symbols
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8/07/2005
We can fill out threshold values of 5,

15 and 50 ppb, which means classes 05 ppb (i.e. background), 5-15 ppb, 1550 ppm and > 50 ppb.
We can click on Symbols and can
change the symbols appliedto each
class if necessary. Lets leave all
symbols as circle:
We get the first of a series of dialog

boxes:
Click Ok and we get back to the

previous dialog box. We can now
choose Sizes and get the following
box:
We fill out the Au_ppb channel to base

the classification on, and choose 4
ranges. We best change the symbol
edge colour to white, after which
Geosoft ask us whether we want it
white in colour, or whether we want no
edge for the symbols, answer NO so
that no outline will be drawn for the
circles
Fill out the sizes 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5

and click OK and then choose Colours:
Here well change the colours to have

a colour ramp from white over yellows
to red. Click OK, and again OK, and
we can press PLOT to plot our map:
We can then change the Ranges by

clicking the Ranges button, and get
the following dialog box:
18
8/07/2005
We can now zoom into the areas with

(high value) red dots, link the map to
the data, and the data to the map, and
explore the anomalous values.
Which brings up the following dialog

box:
Click plot and the legend appears on

the map. Manually select the legend,
and drag it to the desired location on
the plot.
The map is not complete as it lacks a
legend to explain the symbology used.
A legend can be generated automatically through ChemmapPoint
plotsColour range symbol legend
Minimum Curvature Gridding

A common, and very useful operation
is gridding. Gridding basically imposes
a grid, the grid spacing and dimensions
of which have been predefined by the
user, and recalculates the sample
values, based on a chosen algorithm, to
assign virtual values to the grid nodes.
Naturally, depending on the type of
data, sampling distances, line spacing
and a lot more, the gridding parameters
have to be adapted to suite certain
needs. In our case, data has been
collected along lines, spaced at about
4000m (2000m along the Sfariates
19
8/07/2005
ridge), but with station spacing of

400m or less. In this case, the grid is
inequidistant, which is not well suited
for simple gridding algorithms.
Gridding needs to take into account the
different sampling density according to
directionsuch gridding is called
BIDIRECTIONAL LINE GRIDDING,
and is unfortunately not included in the
Chimera module, as it is a typical
gridding method to be applied on
airborne geophysical data. The
gridding options available to us are
Minimum Curvature and Kriging.
Lets first attempt to grid the data
using the method that produces the
smoothest possible surface that will fit
the given data values.
We need to set a blanking distance,

which is just larger than the maximum
line separation (5000m). Click Finish,
and the grid is calculated.
Next we can display the grid on a new
map. Lets open the Base map, make a
duplicate called Au_mc_A4 and
change the title text to:
Choose
GridMinimum
CurvatureDialog Controls
We
can
click
GridDisplay
GridColour Shaded Grid
Fill in the name of the Channel

(Au_ppb),
the
Grid
name
(Au_mc_A4) and choose a cell size,
which is of the maximum line
spacing.
Click on Advanced so we can fill in a
few more parameters:
20
8/07/2005
Notice the the Minimum curvature

gridding algorithm has evened out all
anomalous values, so that the
maximum value in the grid (according
to the colour bar, is only 4.6 ppb. Note
also that the gridding has introduced
negative values
To overcome these problems, it may be
advised to introduce false values to
replace all assay results that are too
close to Detection limit. We will sort
our database, and assign a value of
5ppb to all assays that are 5ppb or
below. This will even out the data, so
that detected values higher than 5ppb
will play a greater role in the gridding.
We can select the grid file, leave all

options as is and click the Current
map button.
To put the legend we can go back into
the menu and select Horizontal
Colour Legend bar
To do that we will work with the

Random database, rather than the Line
database. Close all windows and plots,
saving all content when asked Then
open
de
season#1_assay.gdb
database.
Well sort all data according to the
Au_ppb
channel.
Click
on
ChemUtilitiesSort
all
by
1
Channel
A dialog box appears in which we can

leave all parameters as is, and click
OK. We have to move the colour bar to
a desired location and the map looks
something like this:
Select the Channel Au_ppb as a sort

key:
21
8/07/2005
The database is now sorted in

ascending order on the Au_ppb
channel.
Instead of changing the actual Au_ppb
values, well create a new channel, in
which well recalculate and modify the
values. First well have to create a new
Channel called Au_recalc. Rightclick on the first empty header to the
right of the data, and select New
and the following dialog box appears:
Type in the following fields in the

dialog box:
Fill out the fields and click OK. We

now have a new Channel with all data.
We can now scroll down until we find
the last value of 5 ppb, click, hold
SHIFT, and then scroll all the way
back up and click on the first value
(while holding SHIFT). Now all values
up to 5ppb are selected. To change
these values to 5ppb, simply type 5 in
the Cells field at the bottom of the
screen and hit enter. All values below
5ppb are now 5ppb. We can now regrid the data using Minimum
Curvature
(call
the
grid
Au_recalc_mc_A4),
create
a
Duplicate map based on the Base map
called Au_mc_recalc_A4, plot the
Grid with legend:
and click OK. The new Channel is

created, and filled with Dummy values
(asterisk). Well now copy the Au_ppb
channel into that new Au_recalc
Channel:
Go to the ChemUtilitiesCopy
Channel menu
22
8/07/2005
in each data point), sill (Y-axis value

where variogram reached the plateau
(over
that,
the
values
are
uncorrelated)), slope (corresponding
distance at which sample pairs are
uncorrelated) etc and then the dialog
controls are used again, all values
entered, and the actual gridding
performed. Kriging requires a lot of
experience before it can be applied
correctly
Lets start by making the semivariogram for the Au_recalc Channel.
Go to Grid Gridding Kriging
Dialog Controls
The grid looks a lot smoother, but we
can see that our background value may
have to be increased to smoothen it
further. Notice that the Grid values are
now all positive, but there is still a
maximum of 6ppb, while we know that
there are a limited number of samples
in excess of 15 ppb The Minimum
curvature method smoothens out the
data, so that these anomalous values
get lowered to fit the surface
Kriging
Well choose the Au_recalc Channel,
type in the name of the Grid file as
Au_krg_A4.grd, and specify a
cellsize of 500m.
Kriging is a special approach to

creating a grid. Where Minimum
Curvature tries to model a smooth
surface based on all data, usually using
an inverse distance algorithm, Kriging
uses a more rigid statistical approach
that takes into account the correlation
of the data in function of the distance.
The method is applied in two steps:
firstly one creates a semi-variogram
that shows the relation of the data in
function of the distance as well as the
number of data-pairs versus distance.
On the basis of that, the model is
chosen (Gaussian, Sphere, Power,
Exponential etc), values are
determined for nugget (intersection of
variogram with Y-axis=average error
Click Advanced> and we get into the

advanced dialog box:
23
8/07/2005
We can fill out the name of the output

Variogram file, type in a blanking
distance of 5000m and choose a
spherical model. Click on Variogram
only, and Geosoft calculates the
variogram.
Type in the name of the error gridfile

(Au_krg_recalc), model = spherical,
power=1,
Range/Slope=7500,
nugget=0.5 and sill=8.5. Click back
and then OK and the grid is created.
Next we can plot the variogram file

into a blank map. We load the
Base.map, and duplicate that into a
variogram.map leaving the map
blank (as opposed to copying the
current contents).
Lets plot up the grid into a Duplicate

map from Base.map, naming it
Au_krg_recalc_A4.map. We can
also plot up a horizontal colourbar,
change the titles a bit, so that the map
looks as follows:
Once the blank map opens we can plot

the
variogram
through
Grid
Gridding
Kriging
Plot
Variogram
Visual inspection of the variogram

allows the determination of nugget, sill
and range/slope values, and we can go
back into the Kriging tool to perform
the actual gridding:
When compared to the Minimum

Curvature grid, it is immediately
apparent that Kriging manages to
perform the gridding process in a more
clustered way. This is because the
procedure ignores values beyond a
24
8/07/2005
certain (statistically defined) distance.

Away from values in excess of 10ppb,
values quickly return to the artificially
introduced background of 5ppb
(green).
It is important to remember that a grid
is a model, in which all values are
recalculated based on our data. This
means that the actual values will differ
from the calculated grid values. To see
just how much change has been
effected through the Kriging process,
we can sample the grid, and place the
gridded values for X and Y positions,
into a new Channel well call
KrigridAu.
First
open
the
season#1_assay.gdb database (if not
open, then create a new Channel called
KriGridAu (floating point). We can
now use Grid Utilities Sample a
Grid
Contouring
Contouring is a procedure that can be
useful for displaying trends in the data,
and for delineating anomalies. The
procedure can only be carried out
when a grid has been created.
To apply a contouring operation, we
use Mapping Contour Quick
We fill in the parameters in the dialog

box:
A dialog box asks for the grid file to

use, and contours will be immediately
created.
The
grid
gets
samples,
and
corresponding values placed in the new
Channel. Lets compare the original
Au_ppb Channel with the sampled grid
values by plotting the profiles for both
in a profile window:
Because of the lack of interactivity,

this Quick tool is best left aside, and
25
8/07/2005
well perform a more interactive

contouring algorithm.
First well need to open the map with

the Kriged grid (Au_Krg_A4). We
now access the Contouring menu
through
Mapping
Contour
Contour and get the following dialog
box:
We can click on options, and get the

following dialog box:
Change setting to your liking and click

OK.
Change all these settings to obtain a

desired result.
Clicking Line styles in the first dialog

box brings up a series of dialog boxes
to adapt the appearance of the lines:
With our gold database, contouring is a

difficult way to show data, as a lot of
anomalous values occur on their own.
This makes contouring a tedious and
unproductive exercise in this case, and
point plots confer the message a lot
better.
Histogram analysis
Geosoft Chimera has a range of
powerful statistical tools that help in
26
8/07/2005
the analysis of a dataset. In our case of

the gold dataset, the use of these tools
will be limited to univariate statistics,
as there is only one variable (Au).
Many datasets will actually have a
range of element, as known
associations of elements in nature are
used to better detect possible
anomalies. The associated elements,
which often have a better detection
Limit are called PATHFINDER
elements, and are very important in
mineral
exploration.
For
gold,
pathfinder
elements
commonly
analysed in conjunction with Au
include As, Sb and W.
We immediately get a histogram plot

of all data(Dummys are not
included):
A powerful statistical tool for

univariate datasets is the histogram. A
histogram plots the number of analysis
that fall within a chosen bin, and does
that for all data in a dataset. The
histogram plot is often combined with
a cumulative curve, which can be used
to detect different populations within a
dataset.
To start up the histogram tool, we will
first make a new Channel in which
well copy the Au_recalc Channel. We
will need to mask out the most
prominent background population of
5ppb so that we can make any sense of
the important data (> 5ppb).
We can change the Minimum and

Maximum on the X-axis, as well as the
number of classes (division) with a
maximum of 1024. The histogram is
directly linked to the datasheet, so that
changing a value in the database will
result in an automatic updating of the
histogram plot. I have changed the
Divisions to 160 (which is just over the
maximum value in our database), so
that every step accounts for 1ppb.
After having created the new Channel,

and copied the Au_recalc data into it,
we can select all data of 5ppb, and type
in the Dummy value for them
(Spacebar). This replaces all 5ppb
values by *. We can now start the
Histogram
tool
ChemAnalyse...Histogram
analysis
We can now move the cursor, step by

step across the histogram, and can
immediately read off the value and the
percentile for that value.
27
8/07/2005
briefly load in and work with a

aeromagnetic map.
To load a geocorrected image into our
maps, we can use Grid Display
grid Image (bmp,tif)
A summary of the statistics is

displayed at all times, and the
histogram tool tells us that 90.34% of
all data has a gold value of 13ppb or
less. With all values <5ppb as a
Dummy, we only have 290 values
remainingonly 10% of those are in
excess of 13ppb (about 30 points).
First load the Base map, and Duplicate

it into Topomap.map (with the
surround).
For this particular dataset, this means

that most statistical tools often used in
exploration, applying percentiles of
25%, 75%, 90% and 95% will be quite
useless in our case. Only very few data
points have anomalous values, but the
data is too abnormally distributed to be
able to rely on classical statistics to
calculate values such as thresholds,
anomalous values, lower and upper
fences etc We will work on
advanced statistics using another
database (NW Zambia) later in the
course.
The image we want to load is called

sfariates_topo2_utm29wgs84.tif:
Choose Default registration as the

image is geocorrected, and should
automatically plot correctly with
respect to our data. The map should
look like this:
Advanced mapping techniques

So far, we have only worked with the
geochemical dataset, without using
geological or other criteria to analyse
the data. In many cases, quite a lot of
information will be available in either
vector or image formats, which can be
used in conjunction with geochemical
data to make sound decisions. We will
load in a scanned, and georeferenced
base map (toposheet), and will also
28
8/07/2005
done from OMAC, and assays from

another laboratory OMRG. We will
create a Mask Channel (Chemmask),
and mask out all samples from OMAC,
and then subset the database (extract
that data into a new database). We can
then do the same for the OMRG data.
Make
sure
you
have
the
season#1_assay
database
open.
Select Chemanalyse Classify by
Code
We can also load in total magnetics,

preprocessed over the area, in four
panels, and see whether there is a
relation between magnetic vertical
gradient and the anomalous values in
the
geochemistry
(files:
####_GRADIENT_VERTICAL, with
### 2310, 2311, 2410 and 2411).
The following dialog box comes up:
Specify the Channel that contains the

code on which we classify (Lab), and
type in the code OMAC. Make sure
the maskchannel is Chemmask (if it
does not yet exists, it will be created),
and choose New (not append).
Masking data (Chemmask) based on

CODE
Another important tool in analysing
data is the ability to subset the dataset.
Geosoft offers the ability to create a
Mask channel, which effectively
temporarily removes data from the
database. Masking can be done based
on spatial criteria (X,Y limits, or
features selected from polygons), or on
alphanumerical criteria. In our case we
have a dataset that contains assays
Notice that the Chemmask Channel is

NOT immediately displayed in our
database. We need to right-click on the
empty column header to the right of
the last column, choose LIST and then
select Chemmask OK.
29
8/07/2005
The Chemmask channel now contains

a value 1 for all OMAC samples, and a
Dummy (*) for all other values.
Now go to Chemanalyse Create
subset database
Well select the area of the Sfariates

ridge immediately NE of the Sebkha
using a polygon:
Go to Chemanalyse Classify by
region Create Polygon mask
And fill in the following:
The following dialog box pops up:

A database with only OMAC assays
will be created. We can repeat these
steps to mask all OMAC values out,
and create an OMRG database
Masking data using drawing tools
Fill in a name for the polygon file
(.ply), and use inclusive (other option
is exclusive). Notice that one can
append the selection to a polygon
mask, or make a new file. Choose
New.
Lets load the topomap, and plot the

sample localities (colour ranges) on
top. Wed like to create a subset of
data collected immediately northeast of
Sebkha Oumm el Drous Guebli in the
centre of the area.
Now digitise the polygon, and rightclick when done. The polygon has
been created but is not automatically
shown. To load the polygon into the
map we have to go back through the
30
8/07/2005
displayed, so we need to right-click on

the first empty column header, and list
the channels. Please pick Au, As and
Mo.
menu Chemanalyse Classify by

Region Draw polygon outline
Well make a new Channel called

Sum_As_Au_Mo and calculate the
sum of As, Au and Mo in it. We can
then run a few statistical tools, and
finally make a colour point plot.
Select the polygon we just created and

click OK.
First create the new Channel. Then

well use a mathematical expression to
calculate the value for that channel
based on values in the As, Au and Mo
Channels.
Click
Chemutilities
expression
Next we can apply the polygon mask

to the data through Chemanalyse
Classify by region Apply Mask to
data
Type in the following formula:
Make sure you select New, or the mask

is appended to the pre-existing
selection.
and the values are automatically

calculated into our new Channel.
Now we can create a map based on the
new database, plot a new basemap with
surround, and then plot the values of
the Channel Sum_As_Au_Mo as
colour ranged symbols.
Using mathematical expressions

In order to demonstrate the use of
mathematical expressions, we will load
another database of a multi-element
stream sediment survey in NW
Zambia. The database is called
NW_Geochem_RC.gdb
We will concentrate on the assays for
Au, As and Mo. Notice that the assay
columns for Au, As and Mo are not
31
8/07/2005
Au_f_1ppb channel (Fire Assay gold

assay).
In excel I calculated the various
statistical
parameters
of
the
BOXPLOT as follows:
1st Quartile = 2
3rd Quartile = 6
Lower Fence = -5
Upper Fence = 13
The modified BOXPLOT
The histogram plots as follows:
The boxplot method is a statistical

method of defining thresholds and
splitting a population of data into
classes, which can be used as a base
for symbol plots, and definition of
anomalous values. The following
statistical values are calculated:
1st
quartile (25th percentile): The
maximum value of the lowest 25 % of
the total sample population.
We can move the cursor on the tool,
and notice that 90% of our data has
values < 8ppb. We are again faced
with the fact that the data for gold is
too close to background to be able to
define different populations. Using the
threshold that makes a value
anomalous (13ppb) we can see that
97.93% of our data actually plot below
that, leaving only 2.07% of our data as
potentially anomalous.
3rd
quartile (75th percentile): The
minimum value of the highest 25 % of
the total sample population.
Lower fence: 3rd quartile-1st quartile-1st
quartile * 1.5)
Upper
fence:
3rd
quartile+(3rd quartile*1.5)
quartile-1st
Values above upper fence are regarded

as anomalous (statistically).
Lets try and use the histogram tool on

the Channel Fe_0_02_.
Advanced use of the Histogram

The histogram tool allows the direct
delineation of classes, roughly
following the guidelines of the
BOXPLOT method. The Quantiles are
directly shown on the tool, and the
shape of the histogram can allude to
natural breaks in the dataset, on
which ranges can be extracted. Lets
use the histogram tool on the
32
8/07/2005
Here we can clearly see that the data

contains several populations. This is a
normal feature for iron, which can
exist as Ferric and Ferrous. Using the
histogram tool, we can now select
populations, mask the data, and
interactively
plot
the
various
population in different colours on a
map.
Well be using the following buttons
on the histogram tool:
After clicking OK, we can plot the

symbols to the map and get the
following dialog box:
Define masking limits

Apply the mask
Reset mask
Refresh
Plot symbol legend
Plot data
Plot histogram on map
First we can define a masking limit
using the mouse, directly on the
histogram. The selected range is
highlighted in pink, and we can apply
the selected range to the database:
Since the Chemmask channel now

contains the mask based on the
selected range, plotted symbols will
fall within that range, while samples
outside the mask will not be plotted.
A dialog box appears:

It is best to immediately rename the
data layer on the map (using
Views/Groups manager), so that
when we plot our next range, the
already plotted data is retained
33
8/07/2005
Correlation analysis
In multi-element geochemical datasets,
it is common practice to assess the
correlation of various elements.
Strongly correlated elements can be
used together, or as pathfinder
elements.
Geosoft
allows
the
calculation
of
the
correlation
coefficients, and simultaneously can
plot
the
correlation
diagrams
(scatterplots) for easy access to these
statistical parameters. We will remove
all data columns of the database, and
then load the Cu, Pb, Zn and Fe
Channels, and calculate/plot the
correlation characteristics.
The following dialog box appears. We

select Displayed Channels, type in a
title and leave all options as default.
The following plot is created:
First remove all Channels from the

database (right-click menu):
The colours indicate a moderate

correlation between Zn and Fe, but
weak correlations for all other
elements. The scatterplots also show
relatively smaller scatter for the Fe-Zn
plot than for the other
Scatter Analysis
More in depth correlation analysis can
be done using the Scattertool. A scatter
plot displays the relation between two
parameters directly. We can access the
Then we can load in Cu, Pb, Zn and

Fe. We then access the Correlation tool
in Chemanalyse Correlations
34
8/07/2005
tool in Chemanalyse
analysis
Scatter
Once the symbol has been selected, we
will be prompted with the following
dialog box:
Here we can enter the name for the

group, allowing us to perform the same
set of steps over and over again,
plotting various populations one at a
time on the map, in different symbols,
and in their own Groups.
The scatterplot immediately appears,

and we can select the Channels for
button.
both axes using the
Buttons from left to right top row:

Define masking limit, define polygon
mask, set plotting symbol
From left to right second row:
Apply masking limit, select all points,
plot symbols on map.
Lowest row: refresh plot, create multiscatter plot and plot scatterplot on map.
The Geosoft Help system

Although most features commonly
used in Geosoft are addressed in this
course, there will always be features
that are left to the individual user to
discover. Geosoft, with Chimera
extension, has enormous depth, and
offers a lot more features than could be
fitted in this manual. To advance your
understanding of the software and its
applications, you can visit Geosoft
online at http://www.geosoft.com, or
you can access the help system and
tutorials provided with the software.
An excellent tutorial dataset is
included in the installation CDs, and
PDF files guide you every step of the
way to discover the vast capabilities of
the software.
Using the polygon selection button ( )

we can select any cluster of points on
the diagram, then assign the selection,
which
automatically
creates
a
Chemmask channel, a plotting symbol
( ). This brings up a symbol selection
tool as follows:
35
8/07/2005

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USING GEOSOFT OASIS MONTAJ AND CHIMERA

Course developed for IMC Group Consulting Limited

Bert De Waele (for IMC Consulting)

IMPORTING DATA FROM EXCEL (.CSV FILE)

WORKING WITH GEOSOFT DATABASES

MERGING LOCATION AND VALUES DATABASES BASED ON COMMON

REARRANGING THE DATA INTO LINES

WORKING WITH LINES

PLOTTING SAMPLE LOCALITIES

EXAMINING THE DATABASE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE MAP

COLOUR RANGE AND PROPORTIONAL SIZE PLOTS

MINIMUM CURVATURE GRIDDING

ADVANCED MAPPING TECHNIQUES

MASKING DATA (CHEMMASK) BASED ON CODE

MASKING DATA USING DRAWING TOOLS

Bert De Waele (for IMC Consulting)

USING MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSIONS

THE MODIFIED BOXPLOT

ADVANCED USE OF THE HISTOGRAM

THE GEOSOFT HELP SYSTEM

Bert De Waele (for IMC Consulting)

Browse to C:\Mauretania\season#1 and

Assume we had created a directory on

At this stage we also can load other

Click on FileNew workspace

Bert De Waele (for IMC Consulting)

In other words, each Geosoft Line

In the dialog box, we can fill out the

After creating this (empty) database,

The first thing well need to do, is to

What we are looking at is an empty

Geosoft databases are engineered to

Importing data from Excel (.CSV

All database related utilities reside

Bert De Waele (for IMC Consulting)

csv file has a comma delimited

We will select DataImportAscii

Select the Microsoft Excel CSV radio

Geosoft allows the creation of

The last step of the Wizard allows us

We can already see a preview of the

Bert De Waele (for IMC Consulting)

on when all databases have been

We can now similarly create a

Bert De Waele (for IMC Consulting)

Note that Geosoft allows us to protect

Deleting a channel can also be done

first click selects only the channel of

Merging Location and Values

Notice that it is not directly possible to

Open the season#1_assay database,

We can do the same to display from

Bert De Waele (for IMC Consulting)

We should change the name of the

The following dialog box appears:

We browse and select the assay

We can change the channel name into

Bert De Waele (for IMC Consulting)

The season#1_assay database has

have an X and Y channel with location

Again, the trend of the line indicates

The data in a database quite commonly

The step-like nature of both profile

One handy tool to check the data for