Tag Archives: MinePlan Block Model Manager

Hexagon to Augment blast movement offering with AI-based partnership

Hexagon has announced it is partnering with Western Australia’s Augment Technologies to help mines maximise ore yield and optimise operational efficiencies by accurately accounting for blast movement.

The partnership will harness a blend of block model data, artificial intelligence (AI), bespoke movement models and measured 3D movement data to create a blast movement solution that enables mines to unlock significant value, Hexagon said.

The Hexagon MinePlan Block Model Manager enables users to simultaneously and effectively design, populate, manage and share block models while centrally managing the amount of sample points, variables and outputs associated with orebody data.

Augment Technologies, meanwhile, leverages a physics engine powered by an AI algorithm to create a Muckpile Block Model™ that is continuously improved through a machine-learning process. The process uses vast amounts of blasting data to ensure that the model’s controlling parameters and simulated physics are as accurate as possible, resulting in a bespoke solution for each customer, the company says.

The collaboration between Hexagon and Augment will allow customers to view and manage the Muckpile Block Model that retains all the data and fidelity of the grade control model, with high accuracy and resolution. Users will have the option of incorporating Hexagon’s Blast Movement Monitors as an additional measure for blast movement and for training the AI model, with transparency into all the data inputs and output, it says. They can also combine operational data with insights from the Hexagon Block Model Manager API to help optimise upstream and downstream processes, all within its geological modelling software platform.

“The implications for the industry are profound,” James Dampney, Vice President, Resource Optimisation, Hexagon’s Mining division, said. “Ore loss, dilution and misclassification cost mines millions of wasted dollars a year. Our partnership with Augment Technologies will help mines to optimise digging locations and downstream handling of ore, resulting in valuable processing efficiency and reductions in energy consumption.

“Customers will save training time and operation time by remaining in the same software used to model their ore. The incorporation of an industry-first block model manager provides auditability and traceability to reduce errors while managers and corporate stakeholders will see time-stamped changes of the block model.”

Augment Technologies co-founder and Chairman, Greg Hardwich, said the partnership was setting a new industry standard in minimising ore loss and dilution due to blast movement, bringing enormous efficiency to mining processes.

“We’re very excited to be working with global autonomous technology leader Hexagon to inject our AI-powered capability to create a Muckpile Block Model, transforming the way blast movements are modelled and measured to create significant value for our customers,” he said. “Through this partnership, Hexagon’s customers will have the opportunity to realise demonstratable reductions in ore dilution, allowing miners to return more consistent grades, and higher tonnages of ore for processing.”

Hexagon’s Mining division introduces new features to software suite

Hexagon’s Mining division has introduced a new innovative block model management solution to its HxGN MinePlan solution, seeking to address the complex challenges associated with orebody data management.

This release will introduce HxGN MinePlan Block Model Manager, which enables users to quickly populate, manage and share block models from HxGN MinePlan 3D and third-party systems.

One of the key features of HxGN MinePlan Block Model Manager is its new API, which simplifies integration with other systems enabling data interoperability, according to the company. This means users no longer need to manually import or export block model data, streamlining the process and saving valuable time.

To remain at the forefront of technology changes, Hexagon says it is continuously modernising MinePlan, ensuring it remains a leading-edge solution that fits seamlessly into the modern digital ecosystems its clients are investing in, making it adaptable to changing needs.

Among other new features included within Hexagon’s Mining division latest releases are an enhancement of the MinePlan 3D Auto Cut Generation tool to allow for batch configuration of cut parameters. This will allow planning engineers to configure the cut parameters for all their pits in the first step of their workflow and run the batch of cut operations in the next step, according to the company.

In the HxGN MinePlan Geosciences Suite release, the company has included the ability to back-code geologic solids to drill holes, creating new intervals that the solids intersect. This has been a long-requested feature that will better enable field exploration planning, support superior reconciliation of geologic domain models and improve geostatistics resolution, according to Hexagon’s Mining division.

The results of MinePlan Geologic can be coded to drill holes. Users can validate results of coding operations in MinePlan 3D

The company’s HxGN MinePlan GeoLogic implicit modelling solution has also further undergone several enhancements, which will result in more realistic geologic models in complex geological settings, particularly in environments with complex faulting, the company says.

Lastly, in the HxGN MinePlan Schedule Optimizer solution, users will now be able to restrict the availability of roads by phase and elevation, while road availability by bench elevation has been added to allow further control of material routing. Alongside this, the software developers have included the ability to update the model location without resetting the schedule, allowing the user to define the new file path of a block model without having to reset the schedule, if the block model is moved to a new location. This will enable users to use the latest features in MinePlan Schedule Optimizer, such as destination coding if they need to move their block model to a new location, the company says.

MinePlan Schedule Optimizer also no longer requires users to set the destination ramps in a specific direction (from source to destination), eliminating unnecessary setup requirements.

Road availability can be toggled by segment and bench elevation in MinePlan Haulage

And, now that MinePlan Schedule Optimizer supports shovel scheduling, additional equipment information fields have been added, providing more comprehensive reporting, Hexagon’s Mining division said.

Lastly, on the HxGN Mineplan Activity Scheduler, Process Points – a destination type that can perform basic or complex calculations – allows users to model complex routing scenarios, such as routing by material type or pebble rejects sorting point for the mill. Blending Optimized Layers is a module inside MinePlan Activity Scheduler that allows the user to blend material coming from different sources to hit tonnage, volume and grade targets.

These two features can now work together, according to the company, providing a “great addition” for operations that needs to model complex routing scenarios and hit blending targets at the same time.

HxGN MinePlan Activity Scheduler works with three different types of volumes: BCM (Bench Cubic Metres), LCM (Loose Cubic Metres), and HCM (Haul Cubic Metres). MinePlan users can now run a blending scenario maximising HCM and LCM volume and using HCM and LCM as constraints, it said.