An integrated mine monitoring system is helping troubled base metals producer Eurasian Natural Resources Corp (ENRC) improve safety at copper/cobalt open pits in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The integrated laser scanner and monitoring software system, purchased from 3D Laser Mapping, will be used to monitor high wall stability helping to predict future wall movements. Comprising a RIEGL VZ-1000 laser scanner and SiteMonitor software the system will also be used to survey stockpiles and small pits delivering an additional return on investment achieved through a reduction in surveying man hours.
“We identified the possibility of wall movements at one of our operations and needed to assess this risk as quickly as possible,” commented Abré Smit, Technical Services Manager at ENRC. “Having decided to mitigate the risk through monitoring we needed a solution in a short space of time and 3D Laser Mapping was able to help.” “We selected the VZ-1000 based on the cost and benefits the integrated scanning and monitoring system could deliver,” continued Smit.
“Since we may be mining a number of short life pits there is an opportunity to pursue more productive extraction whilst managing risk through monitoring. The surveying function was also considered advantageous allowing for additional labour savings.”
ENRC will deploy 3D Laser Mapping’s SiteMonitor system at open pits in the DRC. It will be used to monitor high wall stability in short life operations to provide early warning of wall movement, especially at times of high rainfall. The RIEGL VZ 1000 is a high speed laser scanner with a wide range of view. The VZ 1000 uses unique echo digitisation and online waveform analysis to achieve superior performance and accuracies of measurement, even under adverse weather conditions. Achieving accuracies of 5 mm at ranges of up to 1,400 m the VZ 1000 can measure up to 122,000 points per second with a 100 x 360o field of view. SiteMonitor is 3D Laser Mapping’s state of the art laser monitoring solution. A modular system that gives the user the ability to exploit the potential of laser scanning for measuring change and improving mine safety, SiteMonitor is typically used in open pit mines for the continuous or periodic stability monitoring of unstable high walls.