Tag Archives: mining software

Deswik targets open-pit mining efficiency gains with road audit tool

Automation, Environmental, IoT, Mining services, Mining software, , , ,

Deswik, noting a growing industry focus on road audit and compliance, is highlighting the use of an application that, it says, semi-automates the road auditing process and reduces reporting turnaround times while increasing consistency.

The company says: “In a large open-cut mine, you will often find 300-plus tonne trucks running in multiple directions on haul roads, together with a mix of light vehicles and ancillary equipment. This means that the construction and maintenance of compliant roads is a crucial element to running mine operations, especially when there is a growing focus on road audit and compliance.”

However, conducting road audits is usually a manual and time-consuming process, according to Deswik. It is also difficult to maintain in an environment where roads and safety bund requirements are changing and labour is expensive, the company says.

A common road audit process involves surveyors or engineers measuring gradients manually in the field. They may also use the combination of a manual CAD and spreadsheet process – by taking periodic slices through the LIDAR or DTM modules and manually measuring the distances and gradients of the road.

“This often takes more than 40 hours of work for a single operation,” Deswik says. “As a result, the process is completed rarely, with high cost and potential disconnection from the current operating environment.”

Deswik has identified this as a high-value area for process automation, enabling faster feedback and reducing cost. This is where the Deswik Road Audit tool comes in.

The tool measures road and bund physicals, compares them with site requirements and highlights non-compliant areas in a single process, according to the company.

“This has seen a reduction in the typical road audit process – what may have taken over 40 hours to complete for 20 km of roadway, is now down to less than 30 minutes,” Deswik says. “The automated outputs of this process include new refined road centrelines, road sections, polygons showing non-compliance for plotting and reporting, bund non-compliance areas, and so on.”

By completing the process using the integrated Deswik solutions, productivity analysis can be run on the outputs to determine the potential production uplift gained by modifying the roads, the company says, with detailed designs created and sent directly to machine guidance systems for rectification works.

“By using the Deswik Road Audit tool, sites can complete the road audit process much faster, allowing operations to get quicker feedback and free up personnel to complete value-add tasks,” it said.

As well as being much more efficient than the standard road audit process, the Deswik Road Audit tool is easy to use, the company claims. The simple, repeatable process requires less inputs and setup time, while producing consistent outputs with much less manual work. “This means that even users new to Deswik can produce the road audit reports required to ensure continued safety on-site,” Deswik says.

BHP’s Alex Rowell, a Deswik Road Audit tool user, backs up the company’s opinion.

“The Deswik Road Audit tool is super simple to use and provides some fantastic outputs,” Rowell said. “I had never used the tool before, but in less than 30 minutes I was able to create the required inputs to audit all of the primary haul routes for a large open-cut coal site in the Bowen Basin.

“All that is needed is rough centrelines for the haul routes to be audited and the design parameters. I was able to run checks on ramp gradients, cross gradients, road widths and bund heights against the design parameters.”

RPMGlobal helps Arianne Phosphate with Lac à Paul mine to port haulage

Energy minerals, IoT, Mineral project development, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , , , , , ,

RPMGlobal says its leading mining simulation product has brought Arianne Phosphate a step closer to bringing its Lac à Paul phosphate project in Quebec, Canada, into production after enabling the company to optimise key haulage routes for its development.

Arianne Phosphate selected RPMGlobal’s HAULSIM during its critical engineering study phase so it could evaluate several haulage scenarios and effectively link the Lac à Paul project in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region to port facilities 240 km away.

HAULSIM is a 4-D Discrete Event Simulation (DES) tool which enables the user to build a digital twin of any mining operation to evaluate different scenarios, fleet options, haulage routes, stockpile and dump placement and much more, according to RPMGlobal.

“The solution delivers an accurate representation of haulage operations within a mine site and provides capability to quantify the impact of changes,” the company said. “The model reflects the complex and dynamic nature of a mine site in its entirety; including the variability, interactions and dependencies that occur in these systems.”

Using HAULSIM, Arianne Phosphate was able to gather critical insights on the optimal operating conditions for the haulage routes within the Lac à Paul project, according to the company.

By modelling, analysing and enhancing different scenarios for the ideal haulage network, Arianne Phosphate now has confidence in its recommendation to invest capital in its mine to port haulage route with a clear view of predicted outcomes, RPMGlobal said.

Jean-Sébastien David, Chief Operating Officer of Arianne Phosphate, said: “RPMGlobal’s commitment to improving efficiency and value of our mining operations through cutting-edge solutions made the decision to select HAULSIM a natural one.”

He added: “Partnering with a global leader in the development of leading mining and haulage systems enabled us to demonstrate the attractive returns that the Lac à Paul project is set to generate.”

Arianne is looking to process 55,000 t/d of ore at Lac à Paul to produce 3 Mt/y of phosphate concentrate (apatite) over a 26-year mine life. Once development is complete, the project is set to consist of an open-pit mine, a concentration plant and deepwater port facilities.

Sandeep Sandhu, RPMGlobal Americas General Manger, said: “It has been great to work with a passionate company like Arianne Phosphate and it has been very rewarding to see our solutions making a valuable contribution towards advancing the Lac à Paul phosphate project.

“RPMGlobal has more than 40 years’ experience in mining and haulage systems and adds value at all stages of the mining value chain. We’re proud to be able to contribute to the Lac à Paul project and achieve results through the use of HAULSIM that will create positive social and economic impacts for all stakeholders.”

acQuire optimises blasthole sampling with new app

Explosives and blasting, IoT, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , ,

Global software company acQuire has introduced mobile blasthole sampling in its latest release of GIM Suite 4.2.

The update extends acQuire’s mobile app to include mobile data capture for blasthole sampling in open-pit mines, it said.

acQuire explained: “The app, called acQuire Arena, gives miners a better way of working when capturing blasthole samples. Samplers and pit technicians can position themselves on the blast pattern, capture samples on simple, user-friendly forms and instantly validate their data at the point of capture.”

This speeds up the time it takes data logged in the pit to become available to downstream grade control processes like modelling and ore blocking, according to the company.

“In the current global climate, where many are affected by COVID-19 restrictions through either reduced or paused operations, it’s becoming crucial for miners to use new technology solutions to their advantage,” acQuire said.

Steve Mundell, Director of Product, said enhancements to the acQuire Arena app extended its data capture capabilities for grade control so pit samplers could work faster and more accurately.

“Miners who are still logging on paper, or using more manual methods of data collection, now have a reliable and modern mobile solution that works in the pit and seamlessly synchronises data back to the central database,” he said.

The acQuire Arena app is purpose-built for GIM (Geoscientific Information Management) Suite, with full integration across desktop, web and mobile, according to the company. “Its modern, user experience designed interface dynamically changes across different device sizes and it is optimised for Android and iOS operating systems, giving geologists more freedom to choose the device they prefer to use,” it said.

The GIM Suite 4.2 software release marks a significant step on acQuire’s technology roadmap, it said. “With greater functionality added across web and mobile, customers will continue to benefit from more and more features introduced in the future,” the company added.

acQuire says it provides geoscience data management software and services for the global mining industry with five offices worldwide and customer support centres operating in each major time zone.

RPMGlobal’s XPAC Solutions 3.0 lays the groundwork for even more enhancements

Automation, Communications in mining, IoT, Mining software, , , ,

RPMGlobal has released an update to its scheduling tool XPAC Solutions that, it says, fundamentally changes the technology’s underlying architecture and paves the way for deeper collaboration among mine planners.

The release of XPAC Solutions 3.0 completes a multi-year work program that encompasses some major enhancements, providing even more benefits to the parametric scheduling solutions, the company says.

Among the major improvements is the introduction of a ‘Workspaces’ feature, which provides a far easier way for users to manage the different components required for a scheduling cycle, according to RPMGlobal.

“The introduction of this feature simplifies the use of the solutions, with the improvements to the underlying architecture providing a strong foundation for future enhancements,” it said.

The Workspace Explorer makes it easy and convenient for mine planners to navigate through and check the status of every model in the workspace. The new, automated process has been streamlined to make it easier for end users to collaborate while ensuring they are all working on the ‘single source of the truth’, according to the company.

Workspaces has been integrated into RPMGlobal’s model repository meaning the entire workspace can be controlled in the model repository, allowing datasets to be shared by multiple users across the entire enterprise, it said.

“Users can check-out/check-in parts of a model and can see what’s been checked out and by whom in real time,” the company said. “A full history of all changes is also maintained providing auditability across the different components.”

The ability to share scheduling models and all input data across an entire workforce makes it far more convenient to collaborate on projects, while also providing tremendous flexibility when team members are working remotely, according to the company.

RPMGlobal Chief Technology Officer, Paul Beesley, said: “XPAC Solutions 3.0 expands the breadth and depth of the tool’s functionality and provides a level of sophistication that is unmatched on the market today.”

XPAC Solutions, which have more than 40 years of continuous product history behind them, have been specifically built for a range of different commodities and mining methods across the sector to ensure maximum value can be achieved, according to the company.

The new user experience also benefits from, for example, the ability to flag sections of the mine based on location and attributes. This function can be used to control what records are visible in plots and the scope of mining rules like dependencies and constraints, according to the company.

Alongside some significant enhancements to haulage modelling over the last year, RPMGlobal says it has continued to build on the tight integration with its leading discrete event simulation solution, HAULSIM.

Mine designers, planners and engineers to benefit from new Micromine update

IoT, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , ,

MICROMINE says it has expanded its suite of intuitive mine planning tools, with a significant upgrade pack to be released next month.

The new features to its Micromine solution “give users greater power to capture, manage and interpret exploration and production data so they can optimise their operations”, Paul Hooykaas – Micromine Chief Product Strategy Office, said.

The enhancements focus on the software’s design tools offering greater flexibility, power and speed for mine designers, planners and engineers in both underground and surface mining contexts.

More than 12 new features in the MM2020.5 upgrade give users faster and more intuitive control over underground ring drill and blast design, enabling planners to use ring design tools and run calculations on as-drilled (actual) holes, while comparing them with planned holes. This enables designs to quickly adapt to changes in the field and identify drilling inefficiencies and improve design protocols.

There are six new features that have been added to Micromine’s surface drill and blast toolbox, which include upgrades to design and reporting tools for blast plots. A new interactive tool has been released, meanwhile, to mirror the terrain of blast face and speed up the process of creating blasthole patterns within dig blocks of varying shapes.

Grade control and wireframing tools have also benefitted from revamped workflow features, according to MICROMINE. This gives open-pit planners “deeper insight into the value of each dig block”, it said. Users can produce simple reports that indicate ore and waste estimates, or comprehensive reports broken down by material classification bins, according to the company. “Dynamic report updates enable faster reserve evaluation and integrate seamlessly with wireframes for subsequent planning activities such as scheduling,” it said.

The new functions are fully integrated into Micromine’s leading exploration and 3D mine design software, which is used in over 90 countries.

Hooykaas continued: “This is a substantial update and reflects our commitment to rolling out cutting-edge technology that helps our mining clients become more successful and stay ahead of the competition.

“We are working hard to ensure our users have complete visibility of their project and they will now have even more power to explore, test and optimise multiple scenarios, so the best options can be implemented in the field.”

MICROMINE has a software suite that, it says, supports every phase of the mining lifecycle – from geological exploration and data management to resource estimation, 3D mine design, planning and production control.

RPMGlobal helps unlock standardised communication language for METS sector

Automation, Communications in mining, IoT, Mining policy, Mining software, , , , , ,

RPMGlobal has continued to play a role in the development of the International Society of Automation (ISA-95) committee’s latest Information Exchange Profile which, the company says, will pave the way for industry-specific integration scenarios for the mining sector.

The most recent ISA-95 committee meeting culminated in the “Part 8 – Information Exchange Profiles” being officially accepted as part of the global ISA95 standard, according to RPMGlobal.

According to Paul Beesley, RPMGlobal’s Chief Technology Officer and ISA-95 Committee member, this part of the standard will enable joint development of industry-specific integration scenarios. This is “especially useful when building off-the-shelf integration between mining technology vendors,” he explained.

RPMGlobal said the successful achievement follows 18 months of regular committee liaison meetings to finalise the documentation and more than three years of effort to move from the conceptualisation phase to an approved extension to the standard.

The Brisbane, Australia-based company played a prominent role in building this extension to the standard, it said, adding that the changes were accepted in the first round of voting with no negative votes, which is “highly unusual”.

Beesley said the result “cemented the company’s position as a respected contributor and leader in mining enterprise integration”.

He added: “Having the extension to the standard accepted creates significant value to mining companies as it provides a blueprint for mining software vendors to work together to enable information to seamlessly move between systems.

“This extension to the standard solves a common problem across many standards so it’s pleasing to see early interest from other committees in using Part 8 as reference material to develop similar amendments to their own standards.”

ISA-95 Chairman, Chris Monchinski, said: “As a committee we are excited to have industries outside the traditional manufacturing space participate in evolving and improving the ISA-95 standard to make it more accessible. The work done here allows other industries, such as mining, to build on the experience from the manufacturing sector.”

The ISA is a highly respected professional body responsible for developing widely used global standards for the instrumentation and automation of systems across a variety of industries.

After recognising there was a lack of a framework for mining technology providers, the committee turned its attention to the creation of a best-practice model for the sector after it was approached by BHP, RPMGlobal said.

The ISA-95 standard has since been readily adopted by key technology providers, enabling the breakdown of barriers within the mining industry and across the entire value chain, the company added.

“Connecting disparate systems to share data and critical information has never been more important for the mining industry than it is today,” Beesley said.

“The ISA-95 standard has helped unlock a standardised communication language for mining technology providers and RPMGlobal is proud to contribute to the progression of the standard for the benefit of everyone in the industry.”

RPMGlobal provides a remote MinVu

Communications in mining, IoT, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , ,

RPMGlobal says a new dedicated app is set to transform the way miners collaborate, receive and analyse information.

The launch of the MinVu Shift Manager app comes as the industry continues to adopt mobile technology to increase operational efficiency and collaboration in an “inherently dispersed and complex environment”, RPMGlobal said.

Richard Mathews, RPMGlobal CEO, said making MinVu Shift Manager compatible with mobile would provide real-time data directly in the hands of the decision maker, wherever they are located.

“RPMGlobal has listened closely to our customers and we know that miners are continually looking for ways to leverage digital solutions in order to optimise and streamline the way they work,” he said.

“Shift Manager is an integral component of the digital mine and a connected workforce, so it made sense to make this web-based software available in the form of an app to enable planning and supervision form anywhere.”

MinVu Shift Manager is a short-term planning and execution solution, which RPMGlobal acquired at the end of 2017. The tool is a unique industry-built software solution that enables users to collaborate and communicate through a single, integrated plan to drive more effective on-shift decision support, according to the company.

“The new mobile interface merges MinVu and MinVu Shift Manager into one, easy-to-use platform,” RPMGlobal said. “With the app, different departments and personnel have complete visibility of equipment and equipment status, underpinning the ability to plan intra-shift activities and break through operational silos.”

As remote-enabled solutions, both MinVu and MinVu Shift Manager enable remote teams to collaborate across the value chain, it added.

Users will be able to create any Shift Manager task in the app, such as addressing a possible hazard, checking the progress of diggers and schedule maintenance tasks. Importantly, end users can collaborate and share information from anywhere, whether they are underground on site or in the corporate headquarters, according to RPMGlobal.

RPMGlobal’s mobile applications now extend across its established suite of integrated solutions, which encompass mine scheduling, simulation, finance, maintenance, operations and design.

XECUTE — RPMGlobal’s short-term scheduling solution — only recently underwent an upgrade of its app, according to the company.

Along with user interface and CAD enhancements, the latest XECUTE release comes equipped with enhanced mobile functionality, thereby supporting the real-time data feeds from fleet management systems, the company said.

Mathews explained: “You will be able to see on the mobile device, not just what your plan is, but also how you’re progressing against that plan in real-time.

“With the app, mining personnel will be connected to vital information at all times. For example, a mine planner who is on the bus heading to site can log in to the XECUTE app and catch up with what has happened on site overnight before he even arrives for the shift.”

According to Mathews, enterprise integration is a key enabler for technology, as is the mobile application stack.

“Mobile compatible software is a key component of the digital mine whereby data is connected from central systems to dispersed mining personnel, therefore amplifying the abilities of key decision makers within a business,” Mathews said.

“With RPMGlobal’s enterprise approach, we are helping mine sites increase productivity across the value chain. We are giving them the tools to make better decisions thereby creating an insight-driven mining organisation.”

MICROMINE offers miners free access to Micromine 2020

IoT, Mining services, Mining software, , ,

Mining software leader MICROMINE has reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic by offering the mining community free access during April to its general mining package, Micromine 2020.

The exploration and mining solution has proven valuable for mining projects for more than three decades, with the latest version, Micromine 2020, including a new stope optimisation tool among other additions.

MICROMINE said: “The mining industry is a major driver of economic growth, so it is imperative that business continues as usual, where possible. MICROMINE is closely monitoring the impact of COVID-19 and believes it’s important that their customers know MICROMINE stands behind them during this downtime.”

Micromine’s bundle offering is through a secure online platform issuing node-locked licences to an inbox within 24-48 hours – ready to use, according to the company. Micromine 2020 offers integrated tools for modelling, estimation, design, optimisation and scheduling.

In addition to offering the mining community free access to Micromine 2020, the company is also offering all support and training virtually where face to face events cannot take place.

“The wellbeing of our customers, business partners and employees is our highest priority at MICROMINE, and we are dedicated to tailoring our service to best meet the needs of the industry and this offer is no exception.”

The mining community can contact visit micromine.com for more details.

RPMGlobal opens fleet management options with TALPAC-3D

Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , ,

RPMGlobal has unveiled a new addition to its suite of mining simulation solutions, launching TALPAC-3D to, it says, help miners unlock greater potential value from operations.

After detailed consultation with the global user base of TALPAC, RPMGlobal released TALPAC-3D to offer an enhanced user experience, increased functionality and a “stepping stone towards RPMGlobal’s other simulation products for those looking for more sophisticated simulation demands”, the company said.

TALPAC-3D harnesses the functionality of RPMGlobal’s Truck and Loader Productivity and Cost calculator —TALPAC—with a gaming-inspired 3D user interface (UI). This makes it easier and more efficient to import data, view results and make changes to models, and in doing so, enhances the ability for users to optimise haulage routes and equipment selection, according to RPMGlobal.

“TALPAC has been trusted by the mining industry for more than four decades for its accuracy and equipment manufacturer independence, delivering best practice simulation for miners, original equipment manufacturer (OEMs), contractors and consultants,” the company said. “Originally developed as a tool to support truck and loader haul route calculations, TALPAC is now used all over the globe with thousands of users.”

TALPAC-3D builds on the extensive history and smarts of TALPAC and applies a brand-new graphical UI, according to the company. RPMGlobal’s strategy has been to provide a much richer user experience across all products with a focus on the UI. This has translated into an upgrade for TALPAC-3D, bringing it in line with the RPMGlobal Intelligent Simulation suite including HAULSIM, the Discrete Event Simulation (DES) solution.

HAULSIM was introduced to the market over six years ago and RPMGlobal has invested significant resources into ensuring the UI focuses on ease of use and intuitive controls across the entire simulation suite, the company said.

RPMGlobal Chief Executive Officer, Richard Mathews, said: “The solution is reflective of the company’s commitment to taking on board client feedback and addressing the industry’s evolving needs.

“While TALPAC has been the de-facto standard for the industry’s simulation needs for more than 40 years, we remain dedicated to introducing new solutions tailored to the requirements of the industry.”

He added: “We realised there was a need for an innovative simulation solution providing the reliable engine of TALPAC but encompassing a fresh, modern UI that was scalable.”

TALPAC-3D also offers a “seamless upgrade path” with integration to HAULSIM, according to RPMGlobal. As users become more sophisticated in their simulation requirements and need more functionality through a DES tool, they can easily upgrade to HAULSIM. This isn’t offered by any competitors in the industry, according to RPM Global.

The 3D UI of TALPAC-3D delivers several new features such as a fleet planner and a cycle time analysis tool that work across the network.

Mathews said: “The industry’s adoption of TALPAC had continued to grow and it was used by miners all over the globe to help them calculate the ideal size of their fleet and understand which machines and sizes of equipment are most compatible.

“As a modern software package, TALPAC-3D makes that work easier than ever before, enabling end-users to rapidly achieve the next level of productivity.

“The world’s biggest miners are consistently looking for ways to unlock greater value from operations. Using TALPAC-3D, mining companies are able to investigate multiple fleet options to optimise productivity.”

MineWare brings payload monitoring expertise to wheel loader market

Communications in mining, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , ,

MineWare, after 18 months of field trials conducted across three Western Australia mine sites, has launched a new OEM-independent wheel loader monitoring system that, it says, lifts productivity and reduces cost per tonne in real time.

Argus Wheel Loader (WL) delivers real-time feedback to the wheel loader operator via an intuitive touchscreen to make material handling and loading jobs safer, faster and more accurate, according to MineWare.

The tool builds on MineWare’s Argus and Pegasys monitoring systems for electric rope shovels, hydraulic excavators and draglines.

MineWare Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Roy Pater, said Argus WL was developed based on a growing demand from MineWare’s customers to improve efficiency, effectiveness and payload accuracy across their large wheel loader fleets.

“Argus WL does this by weighing each bucket in real time, without the need to stop and calculate payload before dumping the load,” he said. “This, we understand from our customers, is an unacceptable practice required from other similar systems today, losing valuable production time to repeat this with every bucket load.”

Pater said the multi-purpose nature of the system was a key point of difference, with Argus WL offering advanced functionality in truck detection, structural monitoring, as well as payload optimisation in real-time.

“The real-time nature of Argus WL really stands our system apart as it gives operators direct feedback for them to make smarter loading decisions to optimise truck loading and payload management,” he said.

“Argus WL guides operators to move the right amount of material with every load, helping mines to reduce payload variability, meet production targets and predict the operations forecasts more reliably, when analysing machine productivity by shift and operator.”

Developed on an open IoT platform, the interoperable system works on any OEM machine and integrates with third-party production software, according to the Komatsu-owned company.

Pater said Argus WL leverages MineWare’s 15 years of experience in ground engagement equipment monitoring, productivity improvement and payload optimisation to create a purpose-built system made for mining.

“Argus WL takes productivity monitoring for wheel loaders to a new level, by working smarter, not harder, to get the job completed successfully,” he said.