Tag Archives: Deswik

Testing: the secret sauce of Sandvik R&D

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Jani Vilenius has his plate full at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions. As Director of Research and Technology Development, he is brought into most conversations the business area has about future mining products.

In fact, he even works across the Sandvik Rock Processing business area on occasion, as well as overseeing the design centre in Bangalore, India, which provides “value engineering” across Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions divisions.

“We coordinate research programs and projects, not products,” Vilenius told IM recently in the company’s newest office in Tampere, Finland. “This may be overseeing the concept machines that we have been producing for several years, as well as technology partnerships with universities.

“We aim to think long term within the Research and Technology Development and Services team, but not too long term as the world is much more agile nowadays than it used to be.”

This means Vilenius’ team has to coordinate all of the activities taking place at the Test Mine in Tampere, provide a ‘steer’ on engineering services and safety processes needed to satisfy today’s and tomorrow’s requirements and regulations, drive cybersecurity and sustainability developments across Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions in the R&D phase, plus integrate the thinking between the rapidly-expanding Digital Mining Technologies division within Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions and the R&D team.

And, as of a month ago, his team also coordinates testing at the new Surface Test Pit: a new surface mining test bed being developed 40 km northwest of the underground test mine.

This is all underwritten by the strategic priorities across the business area he primarily works in, as well as the Sandvik group goal of ensuring 25% of revenue comes from products that are less than five-years-old.

To tackle these tasks, he has a sandbox (soon to be two) that all equipment providers would like to have.

The Test Mine in Tampere comes with 6 km of tunnels at a depth of 40 m, with potential to expand further. Positioned beside a glass factory and close to the company’s rock drills factory, this test mine offers the company and its customers everything they need to make strategic business decisions in an environment that can, for instance, replicate the heat and humidity of a deep underground mine in South Africa, as well as the biggest and widest mine galleries the industry has on offer.

This facility – which has everything your typical underground mine has except a daily throughput target – allows the company to run all its underground drills through a rigorous testing procedure prior to customer dispatch. It also allows the various divisions under the business area a chance to test out prototypes, applications and products from time to time.

For the concept machines Sandvik is becoming renowned for, the test mine acts as a place to validate conceptual thinking in a real-life environment, helping engage customers in detailed discussions as to what on-board and off-board technology elements would provide the greatest value to their operations in the near-, medium- and long-term.

The aim is to replicate this process on surface with the Surface Test Pit, providing the catalyst the company needs to reach its ambitious surface drilling market goals over the next several years.

IM sat down with Vilenius to find out how he coordinates all this R&D work, and how day-to-day testing works from a practical perspective.

IM: I imagine your department is inundated with requests from various business lines when it comes to testing. How do you go about prioritising these requests and turning them into an easy-to-follow roadmap that can lead to commercial solutions?

JV: I’ll answer that by taking a step back.

We have a technology focus built on supporting both Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions and Sandvik group strategy. We then have roadmap items where we try to leverage technologies across many applications. These technology platforms are not always 100% suitable for both surface and underground mining, but there are elements that have similarities. For example, our latest electric concept surface rig uses the same thinking and philosophy used on other concept machines for underground. Of course, there are new elements included, but the platform thinking remains in place.

Jani Vilenius, Director of Research and Technology Development

Based on this, we have different forums and conversations with the divisions and the R&D heads, discussing together where we need to put the focus in terms of testing. There are, of course, differences in sizes of the division with those who invest a bit more in R&D entitled to more access, but we also have to remain strategic about how to capture the market attention within Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions; knowing when and what to launch, as well as what developments will allow us to achieve the required technology momentum to support both our own internal goals and the goals set by our customers.

With all these technology developments – projects, concept machines, theoretical testing – there needs to be a value proposition. For the concept machines, for instance, there is value from a marketing perspective to showcase Sandvik as a technology leader, but there is also the value of engaging with customers in conversations that, through the actual machine development, allow them to comprehend what the technology may mean for them on a practical operational level.

This rapid agility – which I would say is unique to Sandvik – means we can receive valuable customer feedback on these concept machines before we commercialise certain elements. It allows us to effectively manage risk in a market calling out for technology breakthroughs to solve complex challenges.

IM: How many tests/trials can you have going on at the same time at the Test Mine?

JV: It varies. All underground drill products are tested there before they go out to customers, which puts a lot of load on the facility, while ensuring that when customers get these units, they have been run in an environment similar to a real-life mining operation.

Then we have new prototypes not under my remit that are tested ahead of becoming ‘products’, for example in underground drilling. Then, we have several technologies we test on a daily basis with different types of test benches and subsystems.

The reality is that we would not be as agile as we are without this test mine. It is not easy to go to a customer site and get permission to test equipment as it can negatively impact their (the customer’s) production. The ability to test at our own facility gives us a layer of comfort and confidence ahead of getting to the customer site.

We cannot try or test every application in our test mine, but those scenarios we do test provide real value.

IM: Are there plans to expand the test mine further?

JV: We have a roadmap for our test mine, but this is determined with a cost versus value equation. We don’t want to have empty tunnels without testing going on regularly.

We have all the opportunities to have a third, fourth and fifth level at the Test Mine. We have, for example, recently expanded into a new area to support our underground drill products to allow testing for that. This is a function of the offering getting wider and the need to expand the tunnels to make sure the new products receive the same testing opportunities as the existing ones.

We have expansion plans focused on automation and electrification too.

IM: Speaking of automation, is fully automated (without any personnel involved) battery swapping one of the ongoing projects you are working on?

JV: I can say we have some ideas on this. It is a topic that needs addressing and discussing as automation is coming on all our equipment and all processes in the future.

Fully automated battery swapping testing is, of course, part of the roadmap.

IM: I also understand that your team originally came up with the MineGame tool for modelling battery-electric equipment fleets and infrastructure. What was this designed for?

JV: Yes, this is a tool we needed to develop to support fleet-wide electrification. It is not designed to recommend the type of machine you will get; it is more about how you implement the many electric machines in the mine, what impact this has on infrastructure, how many tonnes we can get out of different fleets, etc.

This modelling tool gives comfort to customers about the value proposition of fleet-wide electrification, while also showcasing how new, developing technologies can be implemented in greenfield and brownfield mines.

This tool – on top of those from Deswik and Polymathian within the Digital Mining Technologies division – will be a game changer for us.

IM: What about the interaction of manual and autonomous equipment? Is this something you are already testing at the Test Mine?

JV: This is an ongoing requirement from customers, who look to always alleviate production stoppages.

It is not an easy challenge to address though. Everyone knows we want to get safe systems in place with a mixed fleet as not all machines are currently automated.

There is obviously a value case for this, and the Test Mine is a good place to test it out.

All I can conclude with is to say we have many tests going on in the Test Mine…

IM: A cheeky question, I know…What will be the next concept vehicle? You’ve set yourself a big challenge with bringing one of these out every year. How are you keeping up with this?

JV: We have smaller concepts, and we have bigger concepts on the table. We need to ensure we develop the technology to get those concepts done in a timely manner and in a way that, as I keep saying, provides value.

Maybe the next one coming out will be one of those smaller concepts.

Then, of course, we have wild ideas for underground equipment further down the line.

IM: The Digital Mining Technologies division is becoming a much bigger part of SMR. Do you see a point where you will start using the day-to-day data coming off sensors on your machines to revamp existing machine designs and come up with new machines?

JV: Yes, this is mandatory for us to do at some point in time. Integrating data from the field and systems into the engineering process is a tried and tested policy in many industries – some of which Sandvik are serving – so we need to do that more in mining.

The big step I foresee on this front is when we truly understand the value of using artificial intelligence in mining. Leveraging these tools will ensure there is a continual optimisation loop that goes throughout our software, hardware and services.

Sandvik completes acquisition of Polymathian, strengthens Deswik mine planning offering

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Sandvik has completed the previously announced acquisition of Polymathian Industrial Mathematics, in the process becoming a part of its Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ Business Unit Deswik.

Polymathian’s solutions for automated decision making and optimisation complements Deswik’s suite of mine planning software and consulting services while remaining OEM agnostic, the OEM said. Deswik, a leading mine planning software company, was previously acquired by Sandvik in April 2022.

Matt Chilcott, CEO of Deswik, said: “We are very excited to welcome Polymathian to the Deswik family. Our employees have been the driving force behind our success. Introducing the talent, experience, and innovative technologies of the Polymathian team will position us to deliver even higher value to mining operations globally.”

The addition of Polymathian to Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions broadens the offering and is another step towards enhancing the productivity of the mining customers’ value chain, it said. Combined with Deswik’s software solutions, the acquisition creates a “unique digital portfolio” that will help customers optimise their data driven operations.

Polymathian’s co-Founders, Dr Ben Hollis, Jonathon White and Steven Donaldson, will join Deswik’s senior management team and continue to lead the development of Polymathian’s software suite and technology platform.

Hollis said: “We are thrilled to be joining the Sandvik Group and believe that our combined expertise will lead to great advances in the field of data analytics for the mining industry. We look forward to leveraging Sandvik’s global reach and resources to bring our software solutions to even more customers around the world.”

Sandvik to pair Polymathian portfolio with Deswik solutions for ‘unique’ combination

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Sandvik has signed an agreement to acquire Polymathian Industrial Mathematics, an Australia-based provider of advanced mine optimisation software and services.

Polymathian will be reported in Digital Mining Technologies, a division within business area Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions (SMR), Sandvik says.

Polymathian’s solutions for automated decision making and process optimisation complements the offering of Deswik, a leading mine planning software company which Sandvik acquired in April, the company added. Its product offering includes mining operations optimisation and simulation software for areas such as extraction process, material flow, energy and fuel consumption, and maintenance efficiency. It counts several of the world’s largest mining companies as customers.

Stefan Widing, President and CEO of Sandvik, said: “With the acquisition of Polymathian we continue to broaden our offering to enhance productivity in our mining customers’ value chain. Polymathian’s automated decision making and process optimisation, together with Deswik’s software tools for planning and managing production, represent a unique combination in the market.”

Polymathian will be a part of Business Unit Deswik and remain OEM agnostic, according to Sandvik.

The acquisition will enable Sandvik to further accelerate the development of its end-to-end optimisation, battery-electric vehicle (BEV) and AutoMine® offerings, by leveraging Polymathian’s unique skillset and platform, it added.

Mats Eriksson, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, said: “Polymathian is a great addition to Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, and enables SMR to now have a unique digital portfolio that will help our customers to optimise their data-driven operations across the value chain and ensure their mine design is fully compatible with technologies like AutoMine and BEVs. I am very pleased to welcome Polymathian to the Group.”

Polymathian was founded in 2013, has 50 employees and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia. The company’s annual revenues per June 2022 were around SEK100 million ($9.6 million). The transaction is expected to close during the March quarter of 2023.

Trimble scanning solution helps steer Havieron copper-gold project progress

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A unique underground mine tunnel scope, a tight schedule and demanding conformance specifications made the Havieron copper-gold exploration decline project in Western Australia as complex as it is necessary, according to Trimble distributor HL Geospatial.

To build the 2.5 km box cut decline tunnel, surveyors and operators were challenged to establish a technology-enabled workflow that would keep this project on track and within specification, the company said.

The Havieron copper-gold deposit is in the Paterson region of Western Australia. Through a joint venture, Greatland Gold and Newcrest Mining are looking to develop the deposit. The regulatory approvals for Havieron’s construction were provided at the end of 2020. Soon after, the joint venture was ready to begin construction. The large cylindrical deposit sits under about 450 m of sedimentary cover and the mineralisation extends over deep intervals to at least 600 m below the base of sedimentary cover, according to the jv.

The first phase of the underground mine development is the construction of a box cut, an approximately 2.5 km decline and associated surface infrastructure at the site to support an exploratory drill platform.

Mine Survey Plus, a mine surveying specialist, was contracted to provide continuous survey data and model-to-design comparisons to various stakeholders. The company has worked in more than 90-plus mines spanning nine different countries since its inception in mid-2017.

When asked about Havieron, Mine Survey Plus’s Senior Mine Surveyor, Justin Hearn, explained: “This is not a traditional hard-rock mine. It’s a soft-rock mine, which lends to a unique profile. Digging the decline tunnel is much like working a civil earthworks project as compared to a traditional drill-and-blast scenario in a hard-rock mine.”

To build the decline for the drill platform, crews must dig through the deposited materials, which has its challenges for both operators and surveyors. For operators, the challenge is to see as-built conditions as work is completed to ensure design conformance while digging through the soft materials. For surveyors, the challenge is to measure as-built conditions with speed and accuracy.

Scanning for opportunities

The Havieron decline profile is arched along the entire length to the footings, instead of the more conventional mining decline profile of square shape with a semi-arch rounded back for ground support. That custom profile requires a different setup – and for Mine Survey Plus some different technological capabilities, HL Geospatial says.

With help from HL Geospatial, a part of UPG Solutions, Mine Survey Plus had evaluated the Trimble® SX12 scanning total station.

MSP surveyor Ian Thomson uses the Trimble SX12 scanning total station to establish survey control at the Havieron project

Brett Grocock, Owner of Mine Survey Plus, said: “I trust and often call on HL Geospatial. Our success is at the forefront of their minds, and that’s reassuring – and the SX12 is just one example.”

Beneficial in underground applications, the SX12 scanning total station includes a small green laser spot (3-mm diameter electronic distance measurement (EDM) laser spot at 50 m), provides precise and clear set-out of tunnel construction points, and robotic technology to withstand the harshest conditions such as dust and moisture, according to Trimble.

In the case of the Havieron decline, Grocock noted: “We wanted the ability to check headings in real time. With this technology, we are able to do a complete setup and scan that is automatically georeferenced to the location.”

Real-time collaboration

To begin the Havieron decline construction, geotechnical engineers provided Mine Survey Plus surveyors a design profile for both excavation and the final shotcrete surface.

Hearn then used the Trimble Business Center Tunneling module to design the alignment. The resulting model is uploaded to the Trimble TSC7 controller with Trimble Access™ field software. Using the Trimble Access Tunnels module provides purpose-built tools for tunnel survey operations, according to the company.

Combined with the SX12 scanning total station, surveyors can automate the as-built data collection process and provide instant feedback to the excavator operators – typically one of the most time-consuming tasks in tunnel construction.

“We check the excavated profile using the Tunnel Auto Scan Function, and then scan existing conditions with the SX12 scanning total station at various cuts along the face,” Hearn said. “The scan data is then compared against the design profiles to verify conformance – all while in the field. We don’t need to take data into the office for verification; we can do it live.”

Access to data in the field has been hugely appreciated by the machine operators who are used to seeing a straight-line conformance check, according to HL Geospatial. The 3D scan provides an added layer of visual communication and immediate feedback on any course correction that may be needed.

“In the early stages, we were all – surveyors and operators – getting used to the different methodology and profile style,” Hearn noted. “With the conformance comparisons on the controller, the operators can visually see where they might need to do a little more work. Many times, they are standing next to me checking their work. They love that we’re able to give them near real-time feedback in the field. It’s a whole new concept in this realm. We’ve seen greater turnaround and increased precision in a very short time because of the in-the-field visuals.”

The engineering team is also taking advantage of the scan data. Hearn added: “They’re looking at our data showing the different strata as a way to confirm the initial geological model and verify the design. Essentially, they’re using our scans to create a better model of the area.”

Entering the Havieron mine

Mine Survey Plus is also using Trimble Access’ Continuous Topo feature to conduct a regular pickup. The Job XML file is imported into Trimble Business Center for a visual comparison against the tunnel alignment, while the string data is imported into Deswik, a CAD program for mining applications.

Heran said: “With the latest release of Trimble Access, I am looking to utilise the Half Dome Scan with LAS exporter and Scan to Surface functionality, with the eventual goal of using the scan data alone to generate the 3D models in Deswik.”

Meanwhile, Hearn and Grocock continue to support the Havieron decline construction, which is currently on track for completion in 2023.

As of July 2022, Greatland Gold reported the decline construction has advanced 489 m, with 111.5 m since the last report a month prior. The progress reflects the highest daily advancement rate during a single reporting period since commencement of the exploration decline.

Shaun Day, Managing Director of Greatland Gold, said: “The observed acceleration of the decline advancement is particularly pleasing. The improved advancement productivity is consistent with the expected improvement of ground conditions with depth.”

Sandvik to acquire Deswik and form new Digital Mining Technologies division

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Sandvik has signed an agreement to acquire Deswik, a provider of mine planning software, with plans for the Australia-based company to be part of a newly formed Digital Mining Technologies division within the Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions business area. 

By acquiring Deswik, Sandvik gains a top-tier supplier of integrated software platforms that, it says, support digitalisation throughout mine planning stages, with more than 10,000 current licences.

Deswik has a high quality customer base, and its strong profitable growth and low customer churn will further enhance Sandvik’s presence within software and digitalisation, and help accelerate growth, the company added.

“I am very pleased that we continue to execute on our shift to growth strategy, and continue to broaden our offering with digital solutions that increase productivity in the customer’s value chain,” Stefan Widing, President and CEO of Sandvik, said. “Mine planning and operations management is a key growth opportunity, and this complementary acquisition and our new Digital Mining Technologies division will strengthen our digital offering and enable us to provide customers a more comprehensive suite of technologies.”

Deswik will fill a value chain gap in Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ offering, increasing upstream mining coverage and enabling opportunities for end-to-end optimisation solutions, including, for example, incorporating electrification at the mine planning stage, the company explained. Its core software suite includes computer-aided 3D mine design, scheduling, operations planning, mining data management and geological mapping. Deswik also offers a range of consultancy services, including mine planning, scoping, software implementation and training support.

Henrik Ager, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, added: “Deswik’s second-to-none software suite combined with Sandvik’s digital and automation offering creates a clear world leader in digital solutions for the mining industry. Combining Deswik’s skills in mine planning and scheduling with our equipment and automation expertise will open new opportunities for optimising our customers’ mining value chain.” 

Deswik will form one of three cornerstones in the newly–created Digital Mining Technologies division, established to, the company says, accelerate the execution of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ strategic priority to lead the industry development of underground sustainability and productivity solutions in electrification, automation, digitalisation and end-to-end optimisation. The new division also includes Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions automation solutions and the Newtrax telemetry and collision avoidance solutions.

Privately-owned Deswik, established in 2008 and headquartered in Brisbane, has approximately 300 employees and operates 14 offices in 10 countries. Deswik’s revenue as of October 2021, on a rolling 12-month basis, totalled A$79 million ($56 million), of which the share of recurring revenue was approximately 45%, and with an EBITA margin of approximately 30%.

The transaction is expected to close during the March quarter of 2022, subject to relevant regulatory approvals. Sandvik estimates that transaction costs of approximately SEK50 million ($5.5 million) in total will impact Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions in the December quarter.

Deswik to aid deep underground mining decision making with MineOps buy

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The reach of Deswik’s mine planning and design solutions is set to extend deeper underground with Deswik.Apps, a suite of apps that will enable operators to access critical, task-specific data on a tablet or mobile device while offline working in underground operations, the software provider says.

The apps, the vision of MineOps Director, Joanna Martyr, were conceived from real world mining experience where she identified an opportunity to digitise the way in which mine operators executed their daily tasks. The MineOps mission was born with a suite of applications that would enable data to be presented in a way that promoted good decision making and improved mining operations, Deswik said.

Adam White, CTO at Deswik, said: “As Deswik moves its products further into the mine operations market, acquiring these apps from MineOps Software, which align with our product strategy, made sense. We currently have two tablet apps, one of which was co-developed with MineOps Software, so it was a logical investment for the business. MineOps Software have a great range of products, which integrate well with our own software.

“I believe we have an exciting future ahead by extending our existing systems directly to the operators in the field and further supporting the digitization efforts of our customers.”

While most mining companies have successfully adopted software-based mine design, survey, geology and planning solutions over the last three decades, there is a lack of digital continuity when it comes to transferring this information into the field and capturing the downstream production data, according to Deswik. For many sites, paper-based tools are still used to communicate between the production planners and operators and capture the metrics from all shift activities.

“With the launch of Apps, Deswik’s underground metals and underground coal customers will benefit from an integrated digital solution that extends right into the hands of the operators themselves,” the company said. “The inefficiencies associated with the paper-based way of operating will be eliminated and the operators at the ‘coal face’ will be able to make better, faster decisions with a customised view of the technical data piece required to execute the job.”

For Martyr the alignment of MineOps vision with Deswik’s plans to develop a more comprehensive and integrated suite of tools made the acquisition and the team’s transition to Deswik an easy choice to make.

“We are excited to be a part of the Deswik team,” she said. “With MineOps software we enjoyed building apps that solve real business problems, that people love to use. The move to Deswik allows us to continue to do this with a far greater reach and the benefits of knowledge in a well-respected and established company.”

Deswik opens pit design options for miners with SPD module

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Deswik says it has come up with a way to rapidly create practical pit designs from optimisation outputs as part of miners’ strategic planning process with its Strategic Pit Design (Deswik.SPD) module.

Developed in direct response to client needs, Deswik.SPD allows users to quickly generate multiple pit designs for any number of optimisation runs, compare results and select go-forward cases, the software company says. Final pit designs, which took days to create manually, can now be created in minutes, enabling planners to spend less time doing repetitive design tasks and more time analysing results and evaluating options.

Deswik.SPD features the Automated Pit Design tool, which bridges the gap between optimisation shells and a detailed manual pit design. The tool uses a scenario-based approach to rapidly generate, visualise and compare pit designs using outputs from Deswik.GO, Pseudoflow or other pit optimisation software such as Whittle, the company says.

The tool is flexible and, according to Dewsik, able to provide the following features:

  • Supports multiple ramp rules, exclusion zones and geotechnical domains for wall angle and berm width rules;
  • Provides post-processing options to smooth pit designs; and
  • Integrates with Deswik’s manual pit design and reserving tools, for more detailed scheduling, or to pass back into Deswik.GO for high level phase-bench schedules.

Any number of scenarios can be created with Deswik.SPD, according to the company.

Once processing is complete, the output designs are summarised in a table in rank order for review. Furthermore, if the results are not optimal, users can fine-tune options to manually adjust the output designs. There are also options to add a new ramp chain, move ramp chains to close large gaps, add switchbacks, manually adjust the berm shape and split ramps in two.

Tim Rijsdijk, from Glencore’s copper division, said Deswik.SPD produces multiple pit designs in the time it takes a mining engineer to design a single bench.

“By having a multitude of pit designs provided by Deswik.SPD, our mine planning team has been able to tactically implement the most suitable design and consider concepts that could often be overlooked when completing only a single design,” he said.

“Deswik.SPD also allows us to customise inputs that result in practical designs complying with site specific requirements, such as block model-based berm and batter parameters, dynamic ramp widths and gradients, ramp exit positions and exclusions zones. It has eliminated hundreds of hours of pit design work and allowed us to focus on adding value in more opportune areas.”

Polymathian finds funding for automation work at OZ Minerals’ Carrapateena

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Polymathian will be spearheading a A$2 million ($1.5 million) industrial mathematics project funded by industry partners and METS Ignited, and focused on OZ Minerals’ Carrapateena mine in South Australia.

This project will form part of the Industry Growth Centre’s latest Tranche 4 Collaborative Project funds totalling a combined investment of A$6 million, METS Ignited said.

The grant was awarded to Polymathian’s project at OZ Minerals’ Carrapateena copper-gold mine where, in collaboration with OZ Minerals, Downer, Deswik and others, the company is applying industrial mathematics to deploy the world’s first highly automated short interval control (SIC) system for the near real-time optimisation of sub-level cave development and production mining.

Project Lead and Partner at Polymathian, Steven Donaldson, said: “This funding allows us to marry industrial mathematics, automation and mine planning to optimise asset value at Carrapateena and explore how SIC can be done going forward.”

By applying industrial mathematics to the SIC process, the project collaboration automates the optimisation of the mine plan and autonomously dispatches tasks to the underground fleet by responding to live data.

Plans can be updated to respond to dynamic changes in the mine, as live data is received and assumptions change, according to the company. For example, at a weekly level, plans are updated as required for a rolling seven-day window, rather than on a set schedule for a fixed seven-day period. This avoids having fixed weekly plans that are at risk of becoming out-dated.

Matthew Fargher, OZ Minerals’ Senior Engineer for Long Term Planning at Carrapateena, said: “This project pursues a world first in mine planning where the mine plan is autonomously optimised and tasks dispatched in semi real-time to the underground fleet. By doing so, we can potentially remove value destroying constraints such as self-imposed time horizons and subjectivity in decision making to deliver the next best decision.

“We are excited to be a part of the team that’s delivering the blueprint for mine planning and executional change globally.”

Donaldson added: “The potential market for this tool is really quite large as the way we are solving the problem is very generic. We see this solution having potential to optimise operations across all hard-rock underground mines in Australia and globally.”

The project also has the potential to create new jobs at Polymathian including accelerating the growth of its newly opened Perth office.

METS Ignited Chief Executive, Adrian Beer, says the quality and capability of the funding applicants is becoming increasingly more sophisticated, with a number of the solutions having broader applicability across a number of sectors.

“This round of project fund recipients demonstrates just how capable our leading global METS sector is, and what is possible within our local technology sector,” Beer said.

“We are extremely proud of what has been achieved by the project fund recipients to date, and this new addition to the project funding shows that we have a huge potential to build upon.”

Deswik teams up with Alicanto Labs to solve mine design and scheduling challenges

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Deswik has partnered with Alicanto Labs, associated with Universidad Adolfo Ibañez (UAI), in Chile, to release Deswik.GO, a strategic design and scheduling tool for open-pit mines.

This partnership, which started in 2016, was supported by a grant from the Chilean government and the success of the collaboration was also recognised through the awarding of the Chilean National Prize of Technologic Transfer in 2017.

UAI had previously developed an academic software application to solve the long standing Open-Pit Mine Production Scheduling (OPMPS) problem and the software was successfully used by a number of Tier 1 mining companies, according to Deswik.

“Deswik’s experience in delivering quality commercial mine planning software means that these innovations have been integrated into an easy to use, comprehensive package that will enable the entire industry to realise maximum value from their deposits,” the company said.

Deswik.GO allows strategic mine planners to rapidly optimise the mine shape, phases and sequence for both greenfield sites and existing operations. The fast evaluation time allows planners to evaluate multiple options and see the lifetime effects of planning decisions and thereby determine the mine plan that will deliver the maximum value, the company said.

Supported by their existing in-house optimisation experts and developers, Deswik.GO allows the user to:

  • Rapidly generate optimised pit shells that take into account the time value of money and dynamically determine the best destination for a parcel of material;
  • Generate mining phases using mathematical techniques;
  • Optimise the schedule of the generated or pre-designed phases;
  • Optimise the destination schedule for a mining schedule that has previously been determined; and
  • Analyse the outputs of the schedules with integrated reports and visualiser.

Deswik.GO Product Manager, Catherine Mortimer, said the application made it possible for planners to visualise the cascade of consequences that could result from a planning decision, or a variation to an existing plan.

Historically, obtaining such insights would have been time consuming and expensive – and called for the use of multiple software programs.

“The work that mine planners do involves multi-million and billion dollar decisions,” Mortimer said. “Deswik.GO is a single solution that makes it easier for them to evaluate and audit those decisions.”

Deswik.GO is interoperable with Deswik.CAD and other modules in the Deswik range. Extra value can be unlocked by pairing Deswik.GO with Deswik.SPD – its new automated pit design module – to rapidly generate phase designs with ramps, benches and berms, the company said. It can also be used on a standalone basis.

Deswik Managing Director, Matt Chilcott, said Deswik.GO was evidence of Deswik’s commitment to helping mine planners maximise the value of their projects.

“Our focus is on developing solutions and tools which enable data driven decision making across the mining landscape,” Chilcott said.

“The Deswik team has deep knowledge and lived experience of the mining sector and we continue to translate that into technologies that boost productivity and enable companies to achieve the optimum return on investment.”

Nord Gold begins IT system transition to Deswik platform

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Nord Gold says it has started re-platforming its mine planning IT systems to Deswik, the Australia-based mining-focused global technology company.

The move follows a successful three-month test period and will see the company integrating its operating environment from the numerous software applications currently in use, Nordgold said.

“Deswik provides specialist solutions spanning software, consulting, and training,” the gold miner said. “To date, Nordgold has implemented strategic mine planning, pit design, load and haul simulation, survey modules, and is also considering using Deswik’s drill hole optimiser module.”

Nordgold expects to roll out the new software platform in a three-year staged approach. Throughout the test period, the Deswik software has been adopted by the company’s head office, the Gross and Tabornoe open-pit mines in eastern Siberia, the Suzdal underground mine in Kazakhstan, and the Lefa mine in Guinea. Migration to the Deswik platform is expected to be completed at the Bissa and Bouly mines in Burkina Faso in 2021, with all remaining operations following shortly thereafter.

Louw Smith, Nordgold’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “At Nordgold we pride ourselves on knowledge sharing and collaboration across the business, despite the differences between our individual operations. The Deswik platform is a perfect fit as it caters for both underground and open-pit mines, which was crucial for our diversified business.

“We have been particularly encouraged by the software’s ability to circumvent our legacy systems’ constraints, while still supporting older data formats for backwards compatibility.

“As the implementation phase has proven, Deswik’s software allows for optimisation of resources to generate guidance reserve shapes, pit design, scheduling of designs, and optimising schedules. Moreover, schedules can be used to generate equipment simulation to investigate the effectiveness of mining fleet and assist in optimising both operating and capital expense allocation.”