Tag Archives: Paul Hooykaas

MICROMINE opens 3D mine design and planning solution for sharing

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MICROMINE is launching an exclusive new viewer, Micromine Effects (MFX), to make sharing complex design and visualisation files much easier.

Like a PDF reader, the free utility enables anyone to view, share and interrogate Micromine output files without needing access to a full software licence, the company said.

“For the first time, sophisticated data analysis and design models are no longer locked away with technical teams,” the mining software leader said. “Instead, they can be shared, quickly and easily, with consultants, clients and colleagues.”

Built on the power of the Micromine’s Vizex, its 3D visualisation environment – and advanced functionality incorporated in the recently released Micromine 2020.5 – MFX allows users to attach any Micromine project and load any number of displays, the company says.

MICROMINE Chief Strategy Product Officer, Paul Hooykaas, said Micromine MFX was designed for collaboration and communication, so anyone could view models and provide feedback.

“It can be costly and time-consuming to explain plans to clients and other people in the business who may not have the same level of technical understanding,” Hooykaas said.

“MFX allows you to show them. Sharing models is as easy as simply sharing your project with someone who can download MFX software for free, in seconds.”

MFX has a level of interactivity that goes beyond what is expected from most file viewers, MICROMINE claims.

“Users can view preconfigured models with any number of display layers,” it says. “They can control the appearance of layers and toggle them on or off – even see multiple views in different windows, apply filters to data displayed in a layer and generate high resolution screenshots.”

The user interface offers drag and drop functionality and interactive tools like zoom-to-selection and a measurement device.

“The advanced display options include transparency and interactive block model visibility, with flexible view management including Section Control Files,” MICROMINE explained. “Clipping planes can be defined, with the clipped section limits highlighted as ‘corridors’ in related views. Shadow sections include seeing next and previous sections together with the current section.”

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.