Tag Archives: Orica Digital Solutions

Orica’s Champ Navigator2 to offer high-density true vertical continuous survey measurement

Mineral exploration, , , ,

Orica has announced the release of its latest Champ Navigator2™ technology, to enable operators to measure with greater accuracy in more orientations.

Champ Navigator2 is the latest iteration of Axis Mining Technology portfolio of engineering complex surveying measurements into driller operable hardware.

Orica’s purpose is to sustainably mobilise the earth’s resources, and precise knowledge of resource location is essential data that supports each phase of the value chain from exploration to processing. The accurate identification and orientation of every borehole serves as pivotal information in orebody characterisation and significantly influences critical operational processes such as mine planning, grade control, dilution management and blending.

Developed by Orica Digital Solutions in Tewkesbury, England, the Axis team have a track record of delivering innovative and integrated measurement solutions, Orica says. With a design ethos that goes beyond the measurement hardware to incorporate workflows to maximise driller productivity, the Champ Navigator2 is likely to be another product that drillers choose to use, delivering the survey quality that geologists demand, the company claims. The combination of this hardware with complementary software is expected to significantly accelerate and enhance mining workflows.

Champ Navigator2 enhances the standard Champ Navigator by offering high-density true vertical continuous survey measurement while significantly improving North-Seek azimuth accuracy and repeatability across all measurement modes. Adding high-speed, high-density vertical continuous surveying that does not rely on data interpolation leads to higher quality surveys and reduced survey times, improving both drilling productivity and survey quality, according to Orica. This improvement not only enhances productivity but also minimises standby costs for customers.

Orica Digital Solutions Vice President, Rajkumar Mathiravedu, said: “Orica Digital Solutions is continually expanding our offerings to solve more of our customers’ challenges, and Axis is at the forefront of this in the Orebody Intelligence space. Our global team of hardware and software engineers build the best-in-class user experience not just for the initial users of the tools or recipients of the data, but for any divisions who need the data for downstream operations.”

High-speed continuous survey capability is flexible to all drilling environments, underground or surface. Orica added: “Confidence begins at the collar with a measured North Seek azimuth and extends to the intuitive driller-friendly operating interface that supports effective survey execution.”

Mathiravedu concluded: “Orica has been shaping the future of mining for 150 years, and our digital solutions such as the Champ Navigator2 are a testament to our ongoing commitment to innovation, safety and delivering value for our customers.”

Orica, Caterpillar to provide customers with high-fidelity rock property information

Explosives and blasting, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , ,

Orica and Caterpillar Inc have confirmed they are teaming up to improve real-time data exchange and integrate workflows across the mining value chain.

The collaboration is aimed at providing customers with intelligence to improve decision making and optimise their entire operations, with the announcement following a mention of this tie-up in Orica’s most recent FY2023 financial year results webcast.

The mining industry has started to unlock the potential of combining data, sensors and intelligence to optimise workflows for real-time decision making and value chain optimisation, the companies said. Digitally integrated workflows enable customers to achieve a step change in safety, productivity, recovery and sustainability outcomes for their operations.

“To realise the full potential across the entire value chain, technology domain leaders, customers and academia need to increase collaboration in an open ecosystem to develop integrated, end-to-end operational workflows which link orebody intelligence, drilling and blasting, material characterisation and processing,” they said.

Recognising this, Orica and Caterpillar have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore opportunities to integrate key elements of their respective domains. The initial focus will be on the potential integration between Orica’s Rhino™, BlastIQ™, and FRAGTrack™ technologies with Cat® MineStar™ Terrain.

The goal of this integrated workflow is to provide customers with high-fidelity rock property information enabling significant improvements to on-bench safety, drilling and blasting program accuracy and productivity, along with higher quality blast outcomes that generate enhanced mill performance.

In the future, the two companies intend to extend their collaboration to optimisation of the entire value chain, from mine to mill. This approach aligns with both organisations’ ambitions to create sustainable solutions and services that will build the momentum for more intelligent and solution-driven mining ecosystems.

Sean McGinnis, Vice President of Technology & Global Sales Support, Caterpillar, said: “Our customers are looking for every opportunity to optimise the productivity and safety of their mining and processing operations. By combining and leveraging the insights unlocked by Orica and Caterpillar’s technologies, we will be able to provide customers greater access and visibility to the data and information they need to make, better real-time business decisions.”

Rajkumar Mathiravedu, Vice President of Orica Digital Solutions, said: “The mining industry requires greater collaboration amongst its leading technology players to build connected workflows across different domains to address the current issue of value-leakage arising from traditional and disconnected silos. Collaborative end-to-end ecosystems are critical to harnessing the full potential of advances in sensors, data processing and intelligence to enable the development of safer, more sustainable, and productive methods of resource recovery.

“Orica Digital Solutions is excited to be working with Caterpillar across a range of domains as we aim to better connect the digital and physical worlds to give our customers more timely and actionable insights across their value chains.”