Tag Archives: OREPro 3D

Freeport-McMoRan Chino feels the ‘value add’ from MineSense ShovelSense installation

Base metals, Environmental, Mine operation news, Mining events, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , ,

During a Technical Session at the SME MineXchange Conference and Expo, in Phoenix, Arizona, today, a speaker from Freeport-McMoRan highlighted the value case for using MineSense’s X-ray Fluorescence-based ShovelSense® system at its Chino copper mine in New Mexico, USA.

In a presentation titled, ‘ShovelSense Bulk Ore Sorting Use Cases and Value at Freeport-McMoRan Chino Mine, New Mexico, USA,’ Maurice Sunkpal, Senior Ore Control, Freeport-McMoRan, showcased how the company’s use of ShovelSense had resulted in multiple benefits.

The company has been employing ShovelSense alongside other solutions such as Orica’s OREPro™ 3D as part of a five-year, ore control focused strategy at Chino. Chino is a highly heterogeneous copper porphyry skarn deposit where ore control is especially challenging due to the natural variability of the deposit, sparse blasthole sampling and blast movement, causing inevitable ore loss and dilution.

Chino has retrofitted its main production Komatsu P&H4100 electric rope shovel with ShovelSense to predict grades at the mine face for the purpose of bulk ore sorting, diverting mis-classified trucks to their correct destination.

Sunkpal was able to showcase the difference in the waste and ore definitions from a standard block model and that of one based on XRF data from ShovelSense (see below). This data – and the resultant diversions – in the mining of high contrast ore-waste contacts resulted in more than 10% truck diversions, yielding significant economic benefits by reducing dilution and ore loss, he said.

Block model differences: the original on the left and the ShovelSense-aided block model on the right

He also said the integraion of ShovelSense was enhancing the self-audit capabilities of ore control tools at the mine via real-time tracking of the ore control process. He added that this process had identified opportunities for further process optimisation.

Further, Chino has seen a reduction in variance from mine to mill with ShovelSense, while allowing the company to carry out selective mining with increased accuracy and confidence.

Orica looks to enhance blast design value generation with OREPro 3D Predict

Explosives and blasting, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , ,

Orica has announced the release of its latest OREPro™ 3D Predict modelling software that, it says, predicts blast movement in near real time and optimises grade control value.

Over 30 years of research and development (R&D) coupled with significant cloud-based computing power have led to the creation of OREPro 3D Predict software, which is at its heart a blast movement simulator and grade control polygon optimiser. The solution leverages the power of Orica’s original OREPro 3D modelling expertise with an addition of the enhanced predictive SmartVector™ technology, it said.

The company explained: “No longer are blast designers relying on simple rules of thumb or luck to optimise blasting for grade control; OREPro 3D Predict opens the door to iterative designs and the quantification of value in each blast design.”

Using readily available mine data as inputs, including blast designs and in-situ block models, physics-based algorithms predict movement dynamics throughout the entire blast volume to create a “swelled post-blast grade control block model”. The polygon optimisation tools will then suggest delineations that can help achieve the highest value possible, according to Orica.

Orica Vice President Digital Solutions, Rajkumar Mathiravedu, said: “Orica’s purpose is to mobilise the earth’s resources sustainably and we aim to achieve this by integrating end-to-end workflows across the mining value chain, and it all starts with a better understanding of the orebody and the way in which it moves during extraction.

“With OREPro 3D Predict, our customers can now predict blast results, allowing blast designers to rapidly create blasts that increase value in near real time instead of waiting until the blast is excavated to understand the impacts.”

Understanding where the rock mass has moved during the blast is critical to separating ore and waste effectively and creating downstream efficiencies in the mining process. OREPro 3D Predict takes this a step further by simulating post-blast topography when it cannot be surveyed safely, handling complex boundary conditions with ease and providing enhanced transparency by animating the entire predicted movement, Orica said.

OREPro 3D Predict further enhances Orica’s Digital Solutions offerings by allowing customers to plan effectively and track material through complex interactions with the surrounding geology. This product is a cornerstone of iterative optimisation and complements the reactive software OREPro 3D, creating value for its customers through a complete grade control workflow offering, the company added.

Orica looks to further improve blast outcomes with latest OREPro 3D release

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

Orica has released its latest OREPro™ 3D blast movement modelling software for, it says, maximum ore recovery, productivity and throughput.

Developed in partnership with major mining companies, OREPro 3D, is a software application that accurately models blast movement, enabling situational awareness and improved grade control for customers globally, Orica said.

It uses readily available mine data as inputs, including blast designs, in-situ block models and post-blast muck pile surveys. Algorithms then replicate movement dynamics throughout the entire blast volume and calculate SmartVectors™ that accurately transform the in-situ grade control into a swelled post-blast grade control model, the company explained.

Orica Chief Technology Officer, Angus Melbourne, said: “Orica has a vision of becoming an integrated ore extraction mining services company and we are rapidly building a portfolio of digital technologies to augment our core explosives technologies and solutions and better serve customers. This technology is a critical enabler to us building an open, secure and connected digital ecosystem that will allow our customers to accurately model and continually improve blast outcomes and the impact on their downstream operations.”

Understanding where the rock mass has moved, post-blast, is critical to separating ore and waste effectively and creating downstream efficiencies in the mining process, and this has the potential to unlock significant value for customers.

Orica Vice President Digital Solutions, Rajkumar Mathiravedu, said: “We’re excited about the OREPro 3D technology as it complements and will soon integrate with our existing suite of market-leading digital blast design, execution and measurement solutions, including SHOTPlus, BlastIQ, FRAGTrack and ORETrack. The integration of these solutions will offer customer’s unrivalled digital workflow solutions from orebody knowledge through to mineral processing.”

OREPro 3D, which is used by many tier-one miners around the world today, Orica says, will continue to be offered as a standalone blast movement solution or optionally integrated with other Orica products and services to deliver greater insights and optimisation opportunities to customers.