Tag Archives: IMDEX

Augment and IMDEX partner to advance ore recovery and improve mine site safety

AI mining solutions developer Augment Technologies has launched a new partnership with global mining tech provider IMDEX™ to, they say, improve ore control, metal recovery and site safety for mining operators around the world.

Augment’s Muckpile Block Model™ will ingest improved input data produced by IMDEX’s BLASTDOG™, enabling customers to benefit from more accurate estimations of ore movement and mixing post-blast.

This detailed information will empower mine managers and geologists to make more informed decisions on blasting operations and removes the need for people to walk on the muckpile.

By leveraging both technologies, mining companies will be able to further increase ore recovery and operational efficiency, generate additional revenue and improve site safety, Augment and IMDEX say.

Augment Technologies Co-Founder and Director, Greg Hardwich (right), said the partnership will provide another level of interoperability, allowing mining companies to fully realise the benefits provided by both companies’ technologies.

“By collaborating with IMDEX’s data rich environment, we can augment miners with a wealth of knowledge and information to make better decisions,” he explained. “The high quality of BLASTDOG’s data drastically improves the precision of the pre-blast grade control block model, and only the Muckpile Block Model can translate that improved accuracy post-blast to help our customers minimise ore loss, dilution, and the mixing of material types.”

IMDEX Chief Strategy Officer, Michelle Carey (left), said the synergy between BLASTDOG and the Muckpile Block Model delivers efficiency gains in demand by the mining industry.

“As global demand for critical minerals grows, we are being asked to mine more and more, but in a sustainable manner with the lowest impact possible,” she said. “This is where the combination of our two technologies can best serve the industry, as we identify the best way to recover ore with the least waste and disruption.”

Carey said a key component of IMDEX’s growth priorities was entering the mining production space, offering BLASTDOG as a vital solution for any operation.

“We are always looking for opportunities to expand our offerings and this partnership with Augment Technologies provides a strong pillar to launch further into the industry,” she concluded.

IMDEX focused on ‘find, define and mine’ solutions at MINExpo 2024

IMDEX plans to reveal the latest advances in its production mining tools and software at MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2024, in Las Vegas, USA, later this this month.

IMDEX Chief Technology Officer, John Hickey, said the tools and software assisted mining and exploration companies to safely find, define and mine orebodies with precision and at speed.

“Location, geochemistry, mineralogy and structure define the rock,” Hickey said. “Our tools capture and analyse the data on each element.

“Structure becomes even more important with deeper exploration and lower-grade orebodies. We have been focused on developing market-leading tools to enable the collection of structural data for more than 20 years.”

IMDEX tools and software break down information siloes and gather critical data to the deliver the best results from drill, survey or geological evaluations, the company added.

Specific to the MINExpo event, IMDEX will promote:

  • BLASTDOG™ – a semi-autonomous system for multi-parameter measurement of blastholes, which allows automated spatial domaining of material characteristics and fracturing in ore and waste;
  • OMNIx™ and BOLT™ (underground) – a production-hole survey tools for underground applications measuring blasthole deviation using a north-seeking gyro;
  • IMDEXHUB-IQ™ – a solution that provides secure access to validated field data, which is transmitted from a range of sub-surface instrumentation, analytical instruments and mobile form data inputs; and
  • Bore Hole Stabiliser™ (BHS™) – a multifunctional product formulated specifically for air-drilling applications, particularly drill and blast applications. It helps prevent a wide range of downhole problems including poor collaring, hole decay or sidewall instability; provides a degree of lubrication to the hole; and will improve the lifting capacity of the air stream for cuttings transportation.

“BLASTDOG is a game changer,” Hickey said. “Its unique, eight-arm calliper is able to ‘feel’ the side of the blasthole, giving the drill and blast engineers information about the diameter of the hole along the entire hole length. It can detect voids and other structures to assist in modelling.

“Downhole survey tools such as the OMNIx deliver an accurate trace of the hole path and because the data is captured in IMDEXHUB-IQ, it is connected to the structural data and readings are uploaded almost immediately.

“This remains a breakthrough, by eliminating spreadsheets and data imports from files. IMDEXHUB-IQ manages the acquisition and collation of these different datasets with full chain of custody protocols.”

MINExpo 2024 will run from September 24-26, 2024, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Weir’s ore characterisation work shifts gears to value generation loop

Chris Carpenter, VP of Technology for Weir ESCO®, is on a crusade to educate the mining industry on the importance of orebody knowledge.

As an executive with more than 35 years of experience and 40 patents to his name, he has heard numerous stories about “sub-optimal operational decisions” being made at mine sites due to a lack of information.

Through an ore characterisation project under development within several teams at Weir, Carpenter shared the company is focused on developing cost-effective solutions to provide this information in real time.

He is, however, aware that the mining sector, as a whole, needs convincing.

“I can tell you that many of our customers do not yet acknowledge the full value of what we are looking to provide the sector,” he told IM.

This is changing, with industry studies on the correlation between poor orebody knowledge and negative financial impacts and risks in the mine development process coming to light – IMDEX, the Mineral Deposit Research Unit and the Bradshaw Research Institute for Minerals and Mining at the University of British Columbia and Ideon Technologies are, for instance, currently engaged on such a study.

In announcing the study, IMDEX Chief Geoscientist, Dave Lawie, hit on a similar theme to Carpenter: “For the mining industry to adopt this technology, it must have clear evidence of the financial impacts and risks of poor or no orebody knowledge and a way of assessing the most efficient methods of collecting, analysing and optimising it.”

What “this technology” is remains open to debate, with many pre-concentration and ore sorting technologies continuing to sprout up among fertile innovation soil in the mining sector.

ESCO and Carpenter believe this technology – at least in a base metals and iron ore application context – has roots in Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), an arm’s-length foundation created by the Government of Canada to fund new clean technologies. Motion Metrics International Corp received SDTC funding back in 2020 for a project using the core innovations of hyperspectral imagery (HSI) sensors, 3D particle size distribution (PSD) analysis and machine-learning algorithms to control energy-intensive mining equipment, an SDTC backgrounder from 2020 explained.

Chris Carpenter, VP of Technology for Weir ESCO

Motion Metrics, in a separate announcement, said the 3.5-year project would lead to the design, development and deployment of a commercial mine-to-mill energy efficiency solution.

“Upon successful completion, mines worldwide will be able to order and deploy this solution, without changing their daily operations, to meet their sustainability targets while reducing their comminution costs,” it said.

University of British Columbia’s Norman B. Keevil Mining Engineering Department and several other organisations partnered with Motion Metrics for this project.

A lot has changed in the four years since this announcement, with Weir Group having acquired Motion Metrics International Corp and been incorporated into ESCO.

IM initially reported on developments of what Carpenter referred to as an “ore characterisation” project in 2022. At that time, this consisted of a BeltMetrics™ trial installation using a MOTION METRICS™ advanced imaging sensor for PSD analysis and a commercial, HSI sensor positioned above a conveyor that was directly after the crusher in a mine’s flowsheet.

When IM caught up with Carpenter in late July, he could report on not only progress with the BeltMetrics installation, but also a fixed-term trial of “ore characterisation” in a TruckMetrics™ installation.

“We have now run two different applications for the technology,” he said. “The belt monitoring trial continues to operate and has demonstrated the ability to predict SAG mill throughput based on the input ore characteristics. We also ran a very successful trial of bulk sorting using similar technology looking at the content of haul trucks. The trial monitored and analysed around 1,000 trucks and several were identified as low grade. Extensive lab testing continues as we evaluate mine ore samples to understand the capabilities of our approach. Based on our lab and field evaluations we are convinced the technology will allow us to quickly and accurately monitor grade, alteration, deportment and deleterious minerals.”

The BeltMetrics trial installation uses a MOTION METRICS advanced imaging sensor for PSD analysis and a commercial, HSI sensor positioned above a conveyor that is directly after the crusher in the mine’s flowsheet

“I would say our proof of concept work has really allowed us to now pick up the pace of investment and search for more development partners to further this technology.”

The TruckMetrics ore monitoring trial – carried out on 100-232 t-payload trucks – may pique interest here, but Carpenter says the initial product development path lies in the processing plant and on the conveyor.

“We are looking to, first, put more minimum viable products (MVPs) out in the market for belt-based solutions,” he said. “While our initial entry into this space was to look at bulk sorting – and we recognise this is still the ‘big target’ – [the] voice of [the] customer research has identified a huge need to provide plant-based systems for applications in managing stockpiles and feed grades.”

These MVPs are likely to be deployed on “development partner” sites with existing separation mechanisms downstream of the crusher – ie apron feeders – where diversions can be made based on the HSI and PSD data.

This same voice of the customer research highlighted the need for an in-pit system that could boost productivity, throughput and recovery ahead of the plant, yet the financial amount estimated for a commercial system based on the HSI and PSD sensor combination did not find favour.

“This has led to our own research into what we feel is a new-to-the-world application or modification of standard HSI,” Carpenter said. “We believe this will give us a competitive edge in the market.”

Illumination restrictions and uses have often been touted as the potential drawbacks of using spectral imaging in the ore sorting space, which IM understands is one of the areas of focus for Weir’s own R&D and lab-based testing.

But there are also other factors to consider ahead of a commercial Weir proposition – whether that is in the pit or plant – landing on the market.

“We don’t just want to be sensor salespeople,” Carpenter says. “The complexity and variety of applications will require a shift to specific solutions for our customers and the need to back that up with the aftermarket service our customers expect becoming their productivity partner.

“What we are proposing is more than just technology; it needs to be a solution that validates the value on a regular basis in a continuous loop.”

That same loop comes back to Carpenter’s and Lawie’s assessment of the industry need to acknowledge the value of such data ahead of adopting the technology.

“Fortunately, our ‘Mining technology for a sustainable future’ focus at Weir is allowing us to invest the money the industry needs to provide both the value generation and value acknowledgement to make such solutions viable and effective,” Carpenter concluded. “This type of work – and orebody knowledge more widely – is critical for the future of mining.”

IMDEX to launch next-generation digital core orientation tool at PDAC 2024

IMDEX says it will use this year’s PDAC forum to feature its next-generation digital core orientation tool ACTx as part of its end-to-end solutions to aid drilling optimisation, improve rock knowledge and assist fast data collection and analysis.

The integrated solutions cover activity from the drill rig to the core shed, and the office, with this year a second booth dedicated to mining production tools for the bench and underground working face.

IMDEX will have a focus on the collection of structural data, through ACTx and LOGRx and its industry partner, geoscience image analysis experts Datarock.

IMDEX Head of Product, Mark Gabbitus, said the solutions assisted mining and exploration companies to safely find, define, and mine orebodies with precision and at speed.

“ACTx provides unparalleled quality control and traceability,” Gabbitus said. “There are many ways that the ori mark can go wrong. This is where the ACTx solution changes the game. The new Smart Jig works with the ACTx down hole unit to not only make it harder to put a bad ori mark on the core but the system also collects QA data about the orientation and marking process that the geologist can access in IMDEXHUB-IQ.

“Additionally, the driller can see when there are issues and enter in comments about what went wrong and why. This gives the geologist more confidence in the data they are using.

“There are four key elements that define the rock: location, geochemistry, mineralogy, and structure and we have technology and tools that assist in the data capture and analysis of each of these elements.

“Geochemistry is the property of a rock that most people focus on, and grade is king, but at IMDEX we believe that structure is equally important.

“Pretty much all orebodies have some element of structural control and as we go deeper and chase smaller, lower grade orebodies, structure becomes even more critical.

“That’s why we have been focused on developing innovative solutions to enable the collection of structural data for more than 20 years.

“Knowing the structure of the rock indicates the shape of the orebody, how the rock will react when portions are removed through holes or tunnels, and how it will react when blasted and crushed.

“It can be used to find new ore zones and is critical to the safety and economic viability of a mine.”

The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto is from March 3 to 6.

The IMDEX end-to-end solutions on show at PDAC (from the drill rig (drilling optimisation and downhole solutions):

  • xFORM™ – IMDEX’s multifunctional fluids range;
  • DeviDrill – An innovative directional core barrel based on the wireline core drilling technology used in exploration drilling. It drills the hole in a curve while at the same time collecting a 3m/10ft core sample, leading to the application name, Directional Core Drilling (DCD);
  • ACTx – Next generation digital core orientation tool; and
  • Survey tools: OMNIx™ and DeviGyro

To the core shed (optimisation software and in-field geo solutions):

  • LOGRx – The market-leading core logging solution, providing accurate structural measurements; and
  • pXRF – Delivers quality, reliable XRF data by ensuring optimised and auditable workflows, QA/QC protocols and data integrity, while providing a seamless and user-friendly software interface. The REFLEX XRF™ solution is available in a configurable deployment package; from stand-alone REFLEX CONNECT™ software for an existing device, to a complete XRF hardware

To the office (data management and analytics and orebody analytics):

  • HUB-IQ™ – Provides secure access to validated field data, which is seamlessly transmitted from a range of sub-surface instrumentation, analytical instruments and mobile form data inputs;
  • aiSIRIS™ – The leader in automated spectral mineralogy from hand held infrared spectrometers. Complemented by aiSWYFT, which builds on the several million, expertly labelled spectra in the database behind the aiSIRIS cloud-based AI spectral mineralogy solution. Allows standardised and repeatable results within minutes of uploading spectra; and
  • ioGAS™ – Leading exploratory data analysis software application developed specifically for the resources industry.

To the bench and underground working face (surface and underground mining solutions):

  • BHS™ – a multifunctional product formulated specifically for air drilling applications, particularly drill and blast applications. It helps prevent a wide range of down-hole problems including poor collaring, hole decay or sidewall instability, provides a degree of lubrication to the hole and will improve the lifting capacity of the air stream for cuttings transportation;
  • BLAST DOG™ – Semi-autonomous system for multi-parameter measurement of blast holes, which allows automated spatial domaining of material characteristics and fracturing in ore and waste; and
  • OMNIx™ and BOLT (underground) – Production hole survey tools for underground applications measuring blast hole deviation using a north seeking gyro.

IMDEX addresses blasthole surveying issue with BOLT

IMDEX is looking to upend the standard drill and blast process with IMDEX BOLT™, a production hole survey tool for underground applications measuring blast hole deviation using a north seeking gyro.

IMDEX Commercial Manager – Underground Survey Applications, Mike Ayris, has been promoting the importance of surveying blast holes since he founded Downhole Surveys (DHS) in 1989.

DHS was majority owned by directional drilling specialists Devico and became part of the IMDEX group when IMDEX acquired Devico earlier this year.

For Ayris, the process is not drill and blast; it’s drill, measure, analyse and blast.

BOLT, meanwhile, is in the commercial prototype phase and has been installed at four sites with two trials underway.

Recent design changes have reduced the weight, making it easier to deploy overhead, thereby solving one of the key challenges of working in an underground environment, IMDEX says.

“BOLT addresses one of the biggest problems we have in blasthole surveying and that is the holes are drilled overhead,” Ayris said. “These can often be 5-m high. The only way of getting there and physically pushing a tool up the hole is from an elevated work platform from which the tool is pushed into the blast hole.

“IMDEX have created a method of deploying the tool from ground level.

“The original design of the BOLT had a depth limitation of about 20 m, but most of our clients are drilling between 25 m and 30 m and it is the longer holes that need to be surveyed because they deviate the most.

“A typical drive development from one level to the next is roughly 15 m but mining companies are investigating ways to double this length to 30 m as a way of increasing efficiencies and reducing costs.

“It now means the need to drill blast holes twice as long as previously. A lot of drill rigs are designed for 15 m not 30 m, so they are pushed beyond their capabilities which then causes deviation, among other factors.

“The consequence of blast holes deviating can be a stope hang up or bridging, where the rock is fired but doesn’t break or fall, forming a wedge. Once that happens there is no way of getting the rock out. Companies will try drilling beside the bridge and use explosives but it’s highly dangerous and very ineffective.

“Bridging is a major problem in underground mining, and blasthole deviation is one of the causes because if the blast holes deviate away from each other the explosive impact at the end of the hole is reduced.

“There are a lot of other factors, but surveying and measuring the deviation is one thing we can control by getting the information before blasting.”

Ayris said while engineers typically designed blast holes to have a maximum deviation of 3%, in his experience few holes fell within that specification, with some deviating by as much as 17%.

“If you look at the mining process, money is spent exploring from the surface, then getting the tenement lease, creating a decline to the orebody, doing the development drives, and drilling the blast hole,” he said.

“Drilling and firing is the last process, so you want to get it right.

“With BOLT we are trying to create a system that is on every underground mining operation so that blast holes are routinely measured. It’s not just drilling, filling the hole with explosives and hoping for the best. Now it’s drilling, surveying, reviewing and analysing the data, and making adjustments to the pattern based on that information before firing.

“It’s a very different way of thinking and we are challenging the traditionalists who just want to drill and blast. It is changing, it is definitely changing.”

IMDEX, Krux Analytics look to fill drilling productivity gap

A partnership between IMDEX and drilling analytics company Krux is driving a digital transition to improve productivity in exploration and production drilling, according to the ASX-listed mining tech company.

With recent figures revealing a reduction in metres drilled despite record mineral exploration spending, IMDEX and Krux say it is time for the mining industry to embrace technology that will deliver better outcomes.

IMDEX Chief Executive Officer, Paul House, said the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for the June quarter which showed a reduction in metres drilled against a June spending record of A$1.069 billion revealed the productivity gap facing the mining industry.

While the figures were for Australia, the same cost pressures were present in other countries, he said.

IMDEX took a 40% interest in Krux earlier this year.

Krux collects and analyses exploration and production drilling data in near real time.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Jody Conrad, said Krux software is central to solving the productivity challenge.

“We definitely fill that productivity gap,” she said. “Our goal is to get you as many metres as possible.”

Conrad said a combination of technology and innovation meant it was now cost effective to make the digital transition.

Together, IMDEX and Krux have the software and tools to collect and analyse the increasing streams of data from digital drill rigs, they say.

A mechanical engineer who built and designed automated drilling rigs for the oil and gas sector, Conrad founded Krux in 2016 with an aim of marrying real-time drilling analytics with financial data to optimise drilling operations.

The plan was to target the oil and gas sector; instead, Krux found itself solving the same problem in the mining sector, ending the need for spreadsheets and manual data entry, and resolving time delays, inefficiencies and inconsistencies caused by trying to compare separate data sets, contracts and financial statements.

“It was an onerous, manual process. There was never a reconciliation in the old process,” Conrad said.

“Someone might have entered the operational data and done analysis but the two would be sitting separately.

“The number one thing we do is bring all the data together so you can understand what’s costing you money and what’s producing your metres so you can optimise your operations.

“It’s vital that there is a single source of data. That’s the problem, or the crux of the matter, that we solved.”

House said that in time Krux software would replace the IMDEX Mobile product and provide a clear pathway for customers to receive a best-in-class solution.

Krux’s strong market position in North America, combined with IMDEX’s strength in the Asia Pacific and Africa, presented the opportunity to develop a global solution, the two companies say.

Conrad said the migration of IMDEX Mobile customers to the Krux platform was progressing well.

She said: “More than 80% of customers are in conversations with us. Our platform is currently on over 600 rigs worldwide, but the potential market is more than 4,000 rigs.”

One of the benefits of the Krux software is that data is normalised, allowing for meaningful comparisons of drilling campaigns.

“Regardless of who is drilling or which mining company, our data goes into a normalised system so that if I’m a mining company with operations in Australia, Canada and the US I can normalise all those operations to say how is the US doing compared with Canada or how is the drilling performance different between these rigs or how are my costs different,” she said.

“The transparency is the key to driving better results.

“Mining clients want to reduce their costs, but they don’t mind as much if they are drilling more metres.

“For drillers, at the end of the day, they are trying to drill as many metres as possible for their client and there is a budget.

“If we can optimise their drilling, then they get work next year.

“What driller wants to sit on standby and get a lower rate from the mining client because their drilling program took longer than expected and was disrupted, rather than get the higher metreage rate.

“The interactive process is the benefit we have over our competitors. It’s the approval and validation, a single source of data for all decisions.

“Others take data from multiple sources and provide it for analysis. That’s one step up from a spreadsheet.

“We take the data to the next level. It’s approved and validated; everyone has access, and everyone is on the same page.”

IMDEX feels benefit of Devico acquisition in quarterly results

IMDEX has revealed record September-quarter revenue of A$126.1 million ($79.4 million) as the group continues to benefit from the recent acquisition of Devico.

Revenue was up 19% on the same time last year, with Devico contributing about A$18.2 million, or 17%, of the increase. Organically, excluding Devico, revenue was A$107.9 million, a 2% increase on the same time last year.

Devico has delivered A$38.8 million in revenue in the seven months since completion of the acquisition, against average revenue for seven months in calendar 2022 of A$35.9 million, IMDEX noted.

“We are extremely pleased with the performance of the business that has delivered growth in spite of the clear market pressures in key regional markets such as Canada and Australia,” Paul House, CEO of IMDEX, said. “We are successfully introducing DeviGyros into our IMDEX network, displacing competing tools in the process.

“We have achieved a 25% increase in DeviGyros deployments across our IMDEX network and doubled the number of Devico sensors on hire in the US. Our Devico directional core drilling business has demonstrated consistent growth post-completion.”

He added: “The combination of Devico and IMDEX is a highly strategic investment that positions our business very well for the long term. It represents a substantial enhancement in our capability, our reach and our technology. “It secures a market-leading position in Europe, delivers leadership in directional core drilling and strongly complements our leadership position in survey tools, as evidenced by the financial performance since completion.”

Across the regions, consolidated revenue was:

  • Up 38% in the Americas (IMDEX revenue alone was up 14%), with strong activity in parts of South America including Chile and Argentina and steady growth in Brazil;
  • Up 16% in Africa and Europe (IMDEX up 2%), with solid growth in central and eastern Africa and strong demand for fluids and directional core drilling in Europe; and
  • Down 6% (IMDEX down 13%) in Asia Pacific, with strong activity in Asia and the east coast of Australia being offset by lower rig use and project delays in Western Australia.

House said: “For Q1 (September quarter), excluding the Devico fleet, average sensors on hire were up 8% on the prior quarter, but they remained down 9% on the same time last year.

“The impact of the combined IMDEX and Devico businesses on our product mix now means the higher margin sensors and software solutions in our portfolio represented 63% of Q1 2024 (September quarter) revenue. This is up from 60% at the full year.

“Overall, we expect market demand to remain steady throughout FY24 as resource companies continue to respond to the high-cost environment, where the baked in increase in labour rates is likely to extend the recovery phase – particularly in regions such as Western Australia.

“Importantly, however, mid-tier and major resource companies remain well-funded and capital raisings have shown some signs of improvement for juniors.”

Mining and space sectors collaborate to solve the biggest challenges

A quiet revolution is underway in the mining sector as innovations and knowledge gleaned from space exploration help improve productivity, reduce emissions and create better outcomes for workers and communities, AROSE* Program Director, Michelle Keegan, explains.

The extreme demands of Space exploration and the drive for efficiency in the mining industry is creating new forms of cross-sector collaboration not seen before. The transfer of expertise and technology between these two sectors is also delivering solutions to some of humanity’s greatest challenges.

There are many commonalities between modern resource businesses and space exploration. Both require a focus on a smaller footprint, the delivery of zero-carbon emission operations and a reliance on substantial amounts of data to support decision making. They both operate in sensitive and challenging geographic environments and need to work in a way that reduces risks to their employees and the environments in which they operate.

The space industry provides a rich learning platform for the resources sector, for new approaches to increasingly difficult challenges. But the benefits of collaboration are not all one way. The space sector too is benefitting from the technological innovations and experience of miners here on Earth.

Technology developments in exploration precision, resource planning, advanced mineral detection sensors, in-situ extraction methodologies and advanced safety systems, present opportunities for insights and application in space.

Deep thinking around regulatory frameworks for responsible and sustainable space exploration and development will be enhanced through the experiences, both positive and negative, in terrestrial resource development.

Diversity of thinking

The opportunity to transfer technology and drive diversity of thinking from the space sector into mining will accelerate in the years ahead. Global demand for the critical minerals required to meet the world’s ambitious decarbonisation goals illustrates the need to leapfrog current approaches across the mining project lifecycle, from exploration through to production.

Rio Tinto CEO, Jakob Stausholm, recently described the global mining giant as a “technology company”.¹ In saying this he recognises Rio’s success in tackling the big challenges will rely on the miner’s ability to integrate new technologies and novel approaches to problem solving.

In a world where mining is becoming more complex, more difficult and more expensive, the ability to reduce costs (and emissions) and win the support of governments and local communities will rely on the ability to deploy technology to mine and process ore more efficiently and more safely, both for people and the environment.

Many post-carbon technologies, such as solar energy and battery storage systems, have been advanced through space exploration. Also, it is the systems engineering approach to project design, pioneered for space exploration, that increasingly is being adopted by terrestrial resources, technology and services companies.

Australia’s leading mining and oil and gas operators, as well as their major service companies, are aligning themselves with space-focussed businesses, researchers and industry organisations because they recognise the value of cross-sector collaboration. This new collaboration model is leading to greater technology and expertise transfer between space and resources. Miners also recognise the benefits of their best people being exposed to new knowledge and new ways of problem solving.

Trailblazer Lunar Rover project

The AROSE consortium was created for exactly this type of collaboration – to drive the growth of Australia’s space industry and bring together companies from resources and other industries, to leverage their collective capabilities and go after the toughest challenges in new ways. The Trailblazer Lunar Rover project is a first significant focal point for our space capable businesses and like-minded resources companies to pursue shared technology opportunities.

The AROSE Resources Advisory Board, established in 2022, creates an ongoing opportunity for the most innovative mining company leaders to provide input into the rover project, while taking learnings back to their businesses at the same time.

NASA understands well the benefits of this type of collaboration. Earlier this year AROSE participated in the first of a series of workshops with NASA and the United States Geological Service to look specifically at the areas of intersect between the resources and space sectors.

The mining industry is at a turning point in its decarbonisation journey. It has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build new capabilities that will lay the foundations for long-term, sustainably driven growth. With an aggressive timeline to zero emissions, a great opportunity for the mining industry to solve this tough challenge is the successful building of relationships with uncommon partners like those in the space sector.

However, a broader partnership opportunity exists between mining and space. The domains we see as offering the best collaboration opportunities between space and mining include:

  • Automation and robotics;
  • Remote operations and control;
  • Geoscience;
  • Satellite communications and imagery;
  • Artificial intelligence;
  • Systems engineering;
  • Waste minimisation;
  • Digital design, including user experience and user interface; and
  • Data analytics.

It is evident space and mining projects are approached very differently. The design of a resources project is most typically achieved by bringing together the experiences of past projects, with a focus on budget and schedule. Operating concept or operating philosophy often takes second priority and does not drive the project design. As a result, an integrated systems design is never achieved. And while available technology enables some level of electrification, automation and digital decision making, the value that could be derived is never fully realised.

Andrew Dempster, Director at Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research at the University of NSW, says, “the high-level difference between the approaches of the two industries is that the mining (and oil and gas) decision points are all and always commercial, whereas the agency-driven space projects have more technical ‘system engineering’ decision criteria.”²

Dempster states “a fundamental observation about the difference between mining engineering and the space engineering disciplines (electrical, electronic, software, mechanical) is that the latter designs a product…while the former designs a business. It appears this is the fundamental disconnect”.

For many years the mining industry value chain has been unchallenged. Valuable resources are mined, processed then moved to a distribution point via rail or road and then shipped to a customer. However, there are several collaboration opportunities that could lead to mining companies rethinking value chain design, and these opportunities have the potential to alter the mining flowchart.

Perhaps the ideal approach we can use in mining is an integration of both approaches, and in this way adopt systems engineering thinking at the outset.

AI and data analytics

With an increasing need to build in automation, sensing and electrification, underpinned by digital platforms, the concept of operations needs an integrated approach more than ever. The growth in the application of AI and data analytics techniques to quickly interpret geological and physical properties of rock in mining has been exponential. As data streams become more complex and decision pressures more acute the demand for more sophisticated approaches to AI will only increase.

The space industry has had an even greater need to manage and interpret a plethora of complex data in real time to support mission critical decisions and there are obvious crossover opportunities to be explored in this arena.

With the hunt underway to locate resources on the moon or other planets to extend human life into outer space, the opportunity exists for mining technology companies to assist with rock knowledge acquisition and mineralogical interpretation of data required for successful space exploration.

Robotics and automation

The application of robotics and automation is expanding in the resources sector with the drive to remove people from harm and increase efficiency and precision in the mining process. Mining technology company IMDEX was motivated to partner with AROSE as a way of bringing space insights to the development of its BLAST DOG technology (pictured below), an automated logging system that collects detailed geoscience data from blast holes.

Major challenges IMDEX faced during the BLAST DOG development phase included: autonomous navigation over rough terrain; locating and positioning accurately over a blast hole; lowering and retrieving a sensitive, high-tech probe down the hole; and managing the transfer of high volumes of data through remote communication systems. IMDEX is refining its approach based on insights gleaned from companies involved in addressing these same challenges in space.

The recent affiliate agreement between AROSE and the Robotics Australia Group will increase this application across the industry.

Autonomous vehicles

In mining, the scale of operation has been linear until recently. If you wanted to increase mining output, you purchased more large equipment. Then came the introduction of fleet automation technologies, developed first by Caterpillar in 1996 and refined in partnership with Rio Tinto and other early adopters in the early 2000s.

Of the 1.5 million vehicles in use across heavy industry globally, only 1,200 vehicles are autonomous.³ Australia has the largest fleet of autonomous haul trucks in the world, with more than 700 in operation across 25 mines.4 Clearly the market potential is enormous.

These remotely operated technologies are challenging the need for ever larger truck sizes. The largest autonomous truck today might be the last of its kind as mining organisations consider what the ‘right size’ truck is for the future.

Smaller size trucks would allow miners to fully electrify their operations much sooner. In addition to the environmental benefits, there are operational and cost benefits that support this approach. The large autonomous trucks currently in use need enormous bi-directional roads. Reducing the size of mining vehicles can have a direct impact on strip ratios, and with a mine that can be up to 1 km deep, the roads that service the mine contribute significantly to the overall footprint.

While every mine design is different, there is a growing body of evidence that smaller autonomous vehicles can lower mine development costs (narrower benches, steeper pits, etc), speed operations and boost overall fleet utilisation.

The space industry has similar challenges with its autonomous vehicles. Where the mining industry is an expert at moving billions of tonnes of material by operating hundreds of autonomous vehicles all year round, the space industry today has only operated 11 semi-autonomous vehicles on a planetary body. This observation isn’t to diminish the significant achievement, as space exploration is extremely difficult, but to highlight the convergence of terrestrial and space objectives. For the space industry to perform in-situ resource utilisation activities anywhere off-earth, there is an opportunity to adopt learnings from the mining industry.

Likewise, the mining industry is moving towards smaller more specific/targeted mining practices and can learn from space industry experience in developing small-scale highly efficient and robust robotic solutions.

The space industry also provides a rich learning platform for the resources sector for new approaches to minimise and utilise the waste stream, with the ultimate goal of zero waste mining operations.

The companies which provide technology and services to the mining majors also realise they need to diversify their offering to include space. This ‘full stack’ approach may be a matter of business survival in a competitive future.

Remote operations specialist Fugro is a leader in this area. Fugro’s new SpAARC (Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control) remote operations centre in Perth, Western Australia, has been specifically designed to share facilities between its established oil and gas and mining business and its fledgling space offering.

Fugro’s new SpAARC remote operations centre in Perth, Western Australia, has been specifically designed to share facilities between its established oil and gas and mining business and its fledgling space offering

Fugro and Nova Systems are leading the AROSE consortium’s Trailblazer Lunar Rover design team. Woodside Energy and Rio Tinto are also supporting the AROSE Trailblazer effort by providing knowledge transfer of their terrestrial robotic and automation capabilities.

Woodside has also formed a collaboration with NASA on robotics and remote operations. NASA sees Woodside as a great test bed of robotics in harsh environments, as Woodside is doing similar tasks at its operations which NASA envisages doing on the Moon and Mars.5

The largest challenges facing the mining industry are the need to get to zero emissions, the need to get to zero harm and zero waste. There’s urgency in the call to solve all of these. It is now well-recognised that we need more collaboration not just within our sector, but across sectors. With the Moon to Mars program now underway, and the Trailblazer Lunar Rover program in place, this really is a tangible point in time where things are moving forward, a tangible point where people realise that this isn’t a dream, this is a reality.

* AROSE (Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth) is an industry-led not-for-profit organisation dedicated to ensuring Australia is the trusted leader in Remote Operations science, technology and services on Earth and in Space.


Sources:
1. ‘Solving our largest on earth challenges through the benefit of technology transfer between space and mining,’ Michelle Keegan, Gavin Gillett, Clytie Dangar, World Mining Congress 2023.

References
1. ‘We’re a tech company’: Rio boss draws on lessons of history, Australian Financial Review, 2 August 2023. https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/we-re-a-tech-company-rio-boss-draws-on-lessons-of-history-20230801-p5dt2p
2. Integrating the approaches to space and mining project life cycles, Andrew Dempster, 5th International Future Mining Conference 2021. https://www.ausimm.com/publications/conference-proceedings/fifth-international-future-mining-conference-2021/integrating-the-approaches-to-space-and-mining-project-life-cycles/
3. No swarming yet in trillion-dollar market, Investmets, 4 August 2023. https://www.investmets.com/no-swarming-yet-in-trillion-dollar-market/
4. Global autonomous mining truck population tops thousand mark, to reach 1,800 by 2025, Mining.com, 18 May 2022. https://www.mining.com/global-autonomous-mining-truck-population-tops-thousand-mark-to-reach-1800-by-2025-report/
5. https://cciwa.com/business-toolbox/growth/why-woodsides-partnership-with-nasa-is-a-win-win/

IMDEX aims for directional drilling growth following Devico takeover

Following the acquisition of Devico, IMDEX says it is looking to grow the market for Directional Core Drilling (DCD) technology.

The technology is billed as delivering sustainable mining operations through more focused and efficient exploration with decreased costs and lower environmental impact, including reduced water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions when compared with conventional drilling.

Devico was acquired by IMDEX earlier this year.

IMDEX Chief Operating Officer, Shaun Southwell, said the transition to directional core drilling was inevitable as exploration costs increased in the search for mineral deposits that are deeper and in more remote and unexplored regions.

“Resource companies need to take every advantage available to them so having the capacity to hit more targets with less exploration drilling delivers real quantifiable savings,” he said. “Directional core drilling is one of the fastest growing markets as companies seek precision in their drilling programs.”

Time and cost savings from 20-50% are typical compared with conventional drilling, according to IMDEX.

The technology is well-suited in the search for geologically complex critical minerals, particularly with the capacity to drill multiple secondary drill holes from an initial mother hole and/or overcome natural deviation to hit intended targets.

IMDEX General Manager, Europe, Erlend Olso, said that while directional core drilling added some short-term costs, resource companies were recognising the greater overall savings.

“Using directional core drilling provides precision and efficiency in exploration; you can hit more targets with a lot less metres drilled,” Olso said. “Resource companies save money in the exploration phase but also know that they can hit the targets and prove up the resource in a better, faster way. There are a lot of added benefits.

“A lot of drilling companies realise they can get ahead by working with us.

“The more widespread the technology is becoming, the more the resource companies are looking for drilling companies who can work with us in the most efficient way.”

Olso said resource companies in Canada had been early adopters of the directional core drilling technology followed by Nordic countries, with South America over the past five to 10 years and more recently Africa.

Devico and IMDEX are planning to expand the directional core drilling market in Australia.

Anglo American Principal Geology and Resource Estimator, Janne Siikaluoma, credited Devico’s directional core drilling technology with delivering results that would not otherwise have been possible at its Sakatti copper, nickel and PGE deposit in Finland, 150km from the Arctic Circle.

“AA Sakatti Mining Oy has used Devico’s services in the Sakatti Cu-Ni-PGE project since 2017,” Siikaluoma said. “Devico’s services and, especially directional core drilling, has been an important factor to be able to conduct accurate diamond drilling programs in deep and complex deposits located in environmentally sensitive areas like Sakatti.

“The Sakatti winter season 2022-2023 metallurgical drilling program with several multi-branch DCD-guided holes was completed on time with high technical quality.

“This enabled AA Sakatti Mining Oy to collect the metallurgical samples from the Sakatti Cu-Ni-PGE deposit by means of core drilling which was the priority one objective and very important for the future progress of the Sakatti project.

“Additionally, the successful drilling program enabled us to achieve a constant 25 m drilling pattern in certain key areas of the deposit with the required 5m target precision (up to 800 m depth) which would have not been possible by any other practical means.”

IMDEX posts record underlying earnings as technology deployments accelerate

As well as posting record underlying earnings for its financial year ending June 30, 2023, IMDEX made significant strides with deploying its newest technology, the company says.

This is the first set of financial results to include revenue from global directional drilling and sensor technology company, Devico, which IMEX acquired in February.

Revenue for the 2023 financial year was A$411.4 million (265.1 million), an increase of 20.3% on the previous year, which included four months of Devico revenue.

Underlying earnings, normalised for the Devico transaction costs as well as exceptional legal costs, was a record at A$122.6 million and delivered at a sustained margin of 30%, notable given the rising cost environment experienced more broadly in the mining industry, IMDEX noted.

IMDEX Chief Executive Officer, Paul House, said: “We are especially pleased at the record performance of the business and the sustained margins. This is a testament to the relentless effort by our teams around the world; the strength of our business model; and a reflection of our prior investment in our digital 1.0 platforms. This allowed us to ward off the rising cost environment while at the same time continue our investments in R&D and our IMDEX Mining Technology business unit.”

As well as the Devico acquisition, IMDEX took a 40% investment in drilling analytics software company Krux Analytics and increased its stake in geoscience image analysis company Datarock.

IMDEX continues to grow its suite of mining technologies including IMDEX BLAST DOG™ which remains in the commercial prototype phase with three units now on rent with trials in Western Australia, Queensland and South America.

Underground production hole survey technology IMDEX BOLT™ and blast hole stabiliser IMDEX BHS™, both commercial prototypes, have been installed in four sites with two trials underway and installed in 11 sites with five trials underway, respectively, it says.

During the financial year, the company achieved the commercial launch of its automated spectral mineralogy technology IMDEX aiSWYFT™, the advanced IMDEX OMNIX 38 & 42 GYRO™ and its core logging solution IMDEX LOGGERX™.

“IMDEX is well positioned to leverage the robust industry fundamentals and the unique competitive position its global presence, leading technologies and integrated solutions provide,” House said.