Home grown Brazilian mining fleet management system developer FAST2 Mine has signed a new contract with Mineração Caraíba‘s Vermelhos (“Red”) underground copper mine in northern Bahia. Mineração Caraíba SA (MCSA) is a long-established Brazilian copper mining company and is 99.6% owned by TSX-listed Ero Copper. Current MCSA operations include the integrated mining operations of the Pilar underground mine and the new Vermelhos underground mine. Ore is processed using conventional crushing and flotation at the Caraíba mill.
In only its first five years of operation, FAST2 Mine sold over 800 licenses for its Mining Control software solution. Eder Griebeler, Executive Director at FAST2 Mine told IM: “We are a market leader in supplying fleet management systems for mining in Brazil, currently serving more than 30 mines, with more than 1,500 active licenses and more than 5,000 users of the Mining Control system. Our purpose is to transform the operational management of miners to make the sector more competitive and sustainable.” MCSA aside other key clients in mining include mining contractor U&M, Equinox Gold, Atlantic Nickel, Imerys, Kinross and many others. Its main domestically developed FMS competitor is Sodep with its Minetrack solution, used by operations run by Anglo American, Votorantim, Magnesita and others. Both FAST2 Mine and Sodep offer a much cheaper option to miners than the likes of Modular Dispatch or Wenco but don’t have the same breadth of functionality.
FAST2 Mine is a relatively new Brazilian company that operates in the area of software development focused on mining, as well as providing consultancy in the areas of mine operation and planning. It aims to make cutting edge technologies accessible to small and medium-sized mining companies, with a focus on the customer and long-term partnerships.
The main product of FAST2 Mine is its Mining Control software – operational control and equipment management software applied to mining. “With it it is possible to manage all times of the unit operations of the mine equipment, as well as the physical availability, utilisation, productivity and others. Its function is to provide a complete diagnosis of the equipment and the operation of the mine, providing the manager with a technical basis in decision making.”