Tucson, Arizona-based mining software group Mintec has announced enhancements to its short-term mine planning applications. The company has been tackling modeling and mine planning with its MineSight software since 1970. It offers integrated solutions for exploration, modeling, design, scheduling and production. The latest advances in MineSight’s short-term planning applications now set it apart from the competition, says Mintec president John Davies. “For a long time now, people have been asking for one scheduling process that addresses the mine planning challenge. Eliminating the process of importing, exporting and validating data from one tool to another one would make a lot of people happy. MineSight can fill that gap. Thanks to a common database, which contains all the source and result data linked to the short-term planning suite, there are amazing reporting opportunities for the data.”

Mintec’s short-term planning suite comprises MineSight Interactive Planner, MineSight Haulage, MineSight Schedule Optimiser (MSSO) and Material Manager. Recent integration between MSHaulage and MSSO provides mine planners with more flexibility. “Haulage network management takes time and it’s a complex process for most mine operations. For Mintec clients, though, detailed haulage calculations are at the heart of MineSight’s short-term planning suite. For rapid schedule evaluation, the combination of MSHaulage and MSSO is an excellent tool. A truck constraint, a feed grade requirement, a tonnage constraint, and other such variables can be changed and rescheduled in seconds. These tools complement each other,” says Davies. “With more work on integrating these scheduling tools we will create one planning tool, capable of working in manual or automatic mode.” To that end, Mintec states that it is focused on enhancing its unique approach to short-term planning. That approach combines 3D design for direct reserve calculations against multiple models, activity/resource based calendar scheduling and material destination management – all built on a robust SQL database. “In other words, true integrated planning – one package for short-term, medium-term, and long-term planning,” says Davies. “At a time when the stakes have rarely been higher, that accomplishment would not only be a first for MineSight and Mintec, it would be a first for the mining industry.”