Tag Archives: Leapfrog Edge

Leapfrog continues to evolve to tackle increasingly complex mining projects

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Seequent, The Bentley Subsurface Company, has unveiled what it says is a considerable update to its industry-leading 3D earth modelling and analysis tool Leapfrog.

The new functionality enhances core tools and workflows to improve productivity and help solve a range of geoscience challenges in mining projects, including resource estimation, mine planning, and exploration targeting.

Highlights for Leapfrog Geo include:

  • Ability to run multiple instances of Leapfrog on a single machine for project multi-tasking;
  • Visualisation of downhole survey data to aid drilling analysis;
  • Attributed mapping data to create better models more quickly; and
  • A re-blocking tool to easily produce regular block models for mine planning optimisation.

In the 2024.1 release, resource estimation tool Leapfrog Edge also benefits from various performance improvements and the ability to work with more complex deposits.

Rachel Murtagh, Product Manager, Geology, Geostatistics and Data Science, Seequent, says: “The industries we serve are solving critical challenges under increasingly tighter economic and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) conditions. Our goal is to help our customers focus as much of their time as possible on the geoscience. The latest update of Leapfrog emphasises enhanced productivity, investment in core functionality and puts in place key capabilities to enable an evolving future.”

Leapfrog’s continued customer-led evolution resonates with users and is demonstrated in the number of models created with our software, according to Murtagh.

In 2023, Leapfrog users created nearly 200,000 new geological models, providing crucial subsurface insights for mining, civil, energy and environmental projects.

Murtagh added: “We spend a lot of time listening to customers about what they need to succeed, and we iteratively work through a discover-design-build-test loop with expert and early user groups. This ensures we capture the feel and function that works best of our customers allowing them to master new workflows quickly and become experts in dynamic modelling so they can better understand the subsurface and its resources.

“Leapfrog 2024.1 is a strong release that strengthens and broadens key capabilities of Leapfrog and significantly enhances the users’ experience.”

3D subsurface modelling software Leapfrog Geo for mining and exploration projects allows users to build and refine models fast, the company says.

Murtagh added: “Seequent pioneered implicit modelling in geology with Leapfrog, and we’re still leading the way. Its user-centric, intuitive, well-designed interface and dynamically linked workflows hugely simplify the updating of models with new data. So, we are continuing to build on what’s made Leapfrog so successful.”

Leapfrog 2024.1 release updates boost 3D modelling, interoperability and visualisation capabilities:

  • Users can now run multiple instances of Leapfrog on a single machine, while utilising a single seat. This allows users to work faster, working on one project while another one runs simultaneously;
  • Drilling improvements deliver new visualisation and access to survey data. The visualisation of downhole survey data provides additional insights and validation of drill hole orientation to aid drilling data analysis. Features to evaluate and sub-set by geology, drilling orientation, drilling type, hole diameter and more are also enabled. Other drilling improvements focus on saving time when modelling resource grade or contaminants, flexible tools to execute complete workflows, and gaining more comprehensive context for data in the 3D context alongside other geological information;
  • Improvements to geological modelling with new flexibility for inputs help users create better informed models quicker by supporting attribution of mapped data, improve insights into the data points influencing the model surfaces with updates to mesh surface values, and provide better control over vein surfaces when modelling; and
  • Leapfrog Geo is now interoperable with OpenGround, a cloud-connected geotechnical data management and reporting tool, to streamline ground investigations.

Updates for resource estimation tool, Leapfrog Edge, focus on improved overall performance for estimating resources in situ, including tonnage, grade and metal. They include:

  • Functionality advancements help users work with more complex estimates and better understand their resources. These advancements include enhanced parameter table editing, new change log tracking, upgraded declustering, and improved overall performance; and
  • Regular model outputs from sub-block models can now be produced from Leapfrog Edge, an extension of Leapfrog Geo and readily shared with engineering and mine planning teams to streamline mine planning.

Rob Ferguson, Director of Mineral Exploration at Seequent, says: “Resource estimation is a critical process in the mining industry, providing the foundation for understanding both potential and risks of a proposed project. Trusted estimates and reporting are essential for companies investing, planning and executing mining operations.”

Murtagh adds Leapfrog Edge is fantastically visual and being dynamically linked with Leapfrog Geo estimates are fully integrated with 3D geological models: “Edge combined with Leapfrog Geo delivers a powerful integrated solution for mineral resource estimation and management, but importantly, they deliver a set of tools that aren’t complicated to use.”

With an eye to the future, the Leapfrog 2024.1 release also includes technologies to improve interoperability between desktop and cloud products, which, in the future, will unlock hybrid workflow opportunities through the new geoscience data platform being built by Seequent.

Seequent helps miners in COVID-19 era with remote geoscience software tools

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Geoscience software company Seequent says it is accelerating the development of its cloud-based solution, Seequent Central, to enable organisations to continue work on critical, large-scale, earth, environment and renewable energy projects in the COVID-19 impacted environment.

Central works alongside Seequent’s other geoscience analysis, modelling and collaborative technologies, to contribute understanding to subsurface geoscience and engineering design solutions.

The cloud-based solution allows people in any location to visualise, track and manage geological models created for infrastructure and critical services projects, in a centralised, auditable environment, according to Seequent.

This means a wide range of stakeholders can readily access highly visual up-to-date information to manage risk and make better environmental and investment decisions, to progress projects, it said.

Seequent CEO, Shaun Maloney, said the company was working alongside customers to do everything it can to make it possible to meet the demands and operational challenges they may be facing in the current environment.

“In response to increased need and demand, we’re accelerating the development of Central to help our customers to continue to operate in interdependent and often remote work environments,” he said.

Seequent’s software is being used on hundreds of diverse projects across the globe, ranging from infrastructure projects including large-scale rail, road and tunnel projects across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific; renewable energy projects in the US, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia, Philippines and New Zealand; mining and exploration projects in North and South America, Africa and Australia; and environmental projects such as groundwater management in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

One of these projects is with Canada-based mining company First Majestic.

Focused on silver production in Mexico, First Majestic currently owns and operates the San Dimas silver-gold mine, the Santa Elena silver-gold mine and the La Encantada silver mine. The company is pursuing the development of its existing mineral property assets with industry practice modelling using Seequent’s solutions, according to the geoscience software company.

“First Majestic use Seequent’s Leapfrog Geo to develop a realistic presentation of the geology at each site (complex silver deposits with multiple veins), and Leapfrog Edge to aid resource estimation – and when geologic models are changed resource estimates also change dynamically,” Seequent says.

“Seequent Central allows the company to publish models and resource estimates – so they are immediately available to everyone from the mine geologists to management in real time.”

First Majestic Resource Geologist, David Rowe, says the company can now capture multiple resources across multiple mines.

“We can now get all cross-discipline experts together to review projects in one place, and I am notified when those reviews have happened,” he said. “This enables better access and collaboration for everyone.”

Seequent delivers major releases for mining solutions

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Seequent says it has launched new releases for its mining solutions Leapfrog® Geo, resource modelling solution Leapfrog® Edge, model management solution Seequent Central and View.

Seequent’s General Manager – Mining and Minerals, Nick Fogarty, said: “Projects are becoming increasingly complex, and organisations are generating a huge amount of geological data to inform important investment and environmental decisions. Seequent’s mining solutions work in harmony to enable an unprecedented level of productivity and collaboration, giving customers’ insights that improve decision making and further reduce risk.”

Seequent Central’s importance as the nexus for managing geological data, across multiple projects and locations, has been recognised with major release upgrades including the Central Data Room bringing all data into one place, the company said.

Leapfrog® Geo 4.5, meanwhile, includes performance improvements designed to smooth day-to-day workflows for users, including informed uploading, simplified editing and exporting, redesigned file structures and intuitive polar nets, Seequent said.

Leapfrog Geo Product Manager, Byron Taylor, said: “Leapfrog Geo is our flagship solution well known for its stability and usability. For this release, we’ve delivered on many minor user requests that collectively add up to major enhancements. Leapfrog Geo is now well positioned to take on board some even more ground-breaking innovations that we have planned for the future.”

A major addition to Leapfrog Edge is the provision of a new Variable Orientation tool (pictured), which locally re-orientates the search and variogram, and features visual search ellipse validation, easy setup and updates, Sequent said.

“We’ve seen rapid industry uptake of Leapfrog Edge since its launch 18 months ago. This release further enhances Edge’s capability to deliver rapid dynamic resource estimates,” Mike Stewart, Seequent’s Technical Domain Expert, said.

Major advances for Seequent Central include a new intuitive web interface and Central Data Room that brings all critical project data into one place, according to the company. This allows teams to work together from a “single source of truth”, Seequent said. The Central Data Room allows data from a variety of sources to be uploaded, downloaded and version controlled within the Central Portal.

Seequent’s Central Product Manager, Peter Joynt, said: “Seequent Central is the best way to transfer Leapfrog projects to and from remote sites – its version control for geoscience data is a game changer. Before Central, companies were faced with the basic issue of trying to locate the latest version of a model. To further streamline projects, other types of data frequently used with Central can now be built into dynamic workflows, even if the outputs were generated in packages other than Leapfrog.”

View’s latest updates give teams, stakeholders and decision-makers more time-saving ways to collaborate and interact with their data in a browser to uncover insights, according to the company. The online tool allows all data and communications to be saved to the cloud.

“Users can more easily build a story, capturing an aspect of their 3D geological model and use the embedded note function to ask questions and allow stakeholders to give feedback all in one place,” Amy Gerber, View Product Manager for Seequent, said.