idoba has released Version 2.0 of idoba.sim, the cloud-based mining simulation software built for short-term planning in underground hard rock mines. The latest version enables planning teams to model development advance and truck load-and-haul together in a single simulation run for the first time.

Until now, development advance activities and development and production haulage had to be modelled separately, which meant mine planning teams had to judge the impact of these interactions for themselves.

With the upgraded version of idoba.sim, teams can see those interactions and spot equipment conflicts, congestion, and access pressure (heavy vehicle traffic where equipment is competing for the same underground roadways) and pinpoint inefficiencies across a weekly 14-shift schedule.

Version 2.0 supports hard rock mining operations where crews enter through a tunnel rather than a vertical shaft. The application simulates each piece of equipment separately so every truck, loader and drill follows its own rules and limits, just as it would underground.

This approach enables planners to identify problems that other planning tools miss, such as machines getting in each other’s way, queuing and time lost at shift changes. Instead of a single optimistic figure, it gives results as a realistic range (a low, likely and high case) so teams can plan with increased confidence.

idoba.sim launched in July 2025 to immediate industry recognition. Version 1.0 made load-and-haul simulation accessible to operations teams without specialist expertise. President of Mining Services for Perenti, Raj Ratneser, said Version 2.0 enabled mines to test the full weekly schedule on screen, not just the load-and-haul leg. “Version 1.0 gave underground operators a way to test load-and-haul decisions before crews and equipment were committed. With idoba.sim 2.0, we have extended that capability into the area where planning teams feel the most pressure, which is development advance and the weekly schedule.”

He adds: “This means mine planners and technical services managers can now build a schedule, stress-test it against real operating constraints and defend the call before anyone goes underground. That is a meaningful shift in how short-term planning gets done.” 

Ratneser said in developing idoba.sim idoba had drawn on the unrivalled underground mining experience of the Perenti Group, including mining specialists from Barminco and the idoba team. “Version 2.0 reflects our experience and what we have heard directly from planning teams about where the plan-to-execution gap sits and how to close it.”

Product Manager for idoba.sim, Stephen Simpson, who brings more than two decades of underground mining experience, including most recently as a Project Manager at Barminco, said his focus has been on ensuring idoba.sim delivers operational value to underground mining teams.

“Development advance is critical to unlocking future production and is therefore an essential component of accurately simulating the full underground mining cycle. By modelling the full drill-blast-bog-support cycle alongside load-and-haul activities, planning teams can better understand operational constraints, equipment interactions and the likely impact on schedule performance before execution.”

In more detail, the major new functionalties in idoba.sim Version 2.0 include:

• Development Advance Simulation: Drill-blast-bog-support cycle modelling at the individual heading level, with multi-heading sequencing under shared equipment and ground support constraints, jumbo (drilling rig) and bogger (loader) utilisation reporting by heading and shift, and advance rate distributions (P10/P50/P90) by front.
• Weekly Scheduling (14-shifts): Stress-test a full 14-shift schedule covering two shifts per day over seven days. Identify bottlenecks within hours, compare scenarios side-by-side and model how the schedule responds to a heading going down or equipment being reallocated.
• Integrated Load-and-haul and Development Simulation: Model the interaction between haulage and development activities competing for the same decline and the same equipment in a single simulation run, including ore and waste from both production and development.
• 3D Visualisation and Insight Layer: Animated 3D playback alongside summary dashboards covering truck and loader cycle times, utilisation, tonne-kilometres hauled reporting, and downtime accounting across loader, truck, jumbo and concrete sprayer