Nord Gold and IT consultancy Columbus have announced the launch of “CN Planning Analytics for the Mining Industry”, a corporate finance software solution tailored specifically to, they say, meet the challenges of the resources industry, in particular the gold sector.
CN Planning Analytics is a software-based tool that provides a user friendly interface to facilitate the transparent planning, measurement, monitoring and reporting of gold mining companies’ financial and operating performance, according to Columbus. The tool is now available on the IBM Global Solutions Directory.
CN Planning Analytics was designed to address gold miners’ common challenges when planning, measuring, monitoring and reporting their activities.
In particular, CN Planning Analytics:
- Aggregates all operating and financial data in one reliable and customisable place with all IFRS and Non-IFRS Metrics based on industry methodologies;
- Provides the ability to identify the primary source of any change in performance in a matter of seconds;
- Automatically generates a full reporting pack immediately after the period end;
- Compares company performance with industry best practices and peers; and
- Provides an effective and straightforward tool to manage capex projects’ life cycle, which includes tracking approvals, budget vs actual analysis and post-investment reviews.
The software includes preconfigured budgeting and management reporting models based on industry-specific key performance indicators. It is designed to work with different types of mining methods including open pit, underground and mixed as well as gold processing technologies (CIL, CIP, heap leaching and BIOX). CN Planning Analytics also allows data from mine planning IT platforms to be integrated into the gold mine’s financial models, which, among other things, streamlines and facilitates long-term strategic financial planning, Nordgold says.
Dmitry Markeev, Director of Transformation and Business System Development of Nordgold, said: “Having worked together with Columbus to successfully develop a powerful and convenient software-based management tool to support the financial management of our own operations, we recognised we had built a system that could benefit other companies in the sector as well, presenting an interesting commercial opportunity for both parties.
“What sets CN Planning Analytics apart is its unique focus on gold mining company performance and the fact it is adaptable to all mining and processing technologies. At Nordgold, we continue to invest in our IT capabilities which helps us drive performance, in particular as we move forward on our ambitious growth plans in the Gross region in Russia, where we have built a market leading position.”
Andrey Yudaev, Business Development Director for Information and Analytical Systems at Columbus, said: “Partnering with Nordgold to develop CN Planning Analytics was a unique collaboration that allowed us to combine the practical business experience of a mining company with the industry and product expertise of a consultancy. The solution’s functionality has been proven by IBM and by its high performance in automating Nordgold’s real-world business processes. These are the prerequisite that help us guarantee the business value of this solution to future users”.