Tag Archives: Peter Johnson

K2fly bolsters Resource Governance Platform with ESG, Maptek Vulcan credentials

Environmental, Mineral exploration, Mining services, Mining software, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , ,

K2fly is adding to its Resource Governance Platform with an update that will address multiple resource governance use cases, such as tailings governance, heritage, ground disturbance and rehabilitation, plus integrate with the Maptek-owned Vulcan software.

The Resource Governance Platform is already used extensively for mineral resource and reserve reporting by public companies globally, with the RCubed software being the solution it is typically known for.

The new Mineral Resource Governance Platform, due to be released in December quarter of 2022, will replace Rcubed with K2fly Resource Reporting. It will provide existing and new customers with strengthened scale and improved workflow capabilities, supported by new additional complementary modules, K2fly Model Manager and K2fly Mine Reconciliation. These solutions are the world’s first and only Commercial off-the-Shelf (COTS) comprehensive resource reporting solution used for public disclosures, according to K2fly. The new solution will be available for customers to upgrade to during the 2023 financial year.

The platform will also be a cloud-first solution, which leverages the experience gained across K2fly’s extensive Tier 1 and Tier 2 global customer base, the company says.

The core of K2fly’s Mineral Resource Governance solution area allows companies to confidently report and disclose mineral resource and reserve (MRR) data that is compliant with the codes and regulations of the jurisdictions in which they operate and the stock exchanges they are listed on.

Benefits of K2fly Resource Reporting are strengthening of governance outcomes for clients by reducing errors and person-dependency risk within an organisation, generating an audit trail and significantly improved workflows creating ease to capture raw data, capability to track data ownership and accurately adhere to reporting requirements.

New features will include performance improvements and a new data model, making it easier to access more data and address more industry use cases. There are additional improvements to the system and reporting and analytics functions. The solution will include interactive reporting, new workflows and simplified configuration, the company added.

The K2fly Model Manager, meanwhile, will provide a ’big data’ governance solution that allows block models, solids, surfaces and other spatial data to be managed in a centralised repository and provides access control and auditing on all data, according to the company. Model Manager extends the K2fly Resource Reporting solution to reduce the length of the reporting cycle and provide complete traceability from the reporting estimates back to the block models that the resource and reserve information was sourced from, according to K2fly.

K2fly and Maptek are working together to connect Vulcan (supplying modelling input data) and the resource reporting solution. As such, data generated in Maptek Vulcan, an advanced 3D geological modelling, mine design and production planning software solution, can be seamlessly uploaded to K2fly’s solutions. This avoids the need to manually handle text files and strengthens the governance from Vulcan geological block models to the reporting process in K2fly Resource Reporting. Vulcan will be integrated with K2fly Resource Reporting in the December quarter of 2022.

Vulcan 3D geological modelling and mine design software now has more than 22,000 users worldwide. It is supported by specialist tools for visualising, validating, and modelling data to enable analysis and support decisions.

Maptek announced a strategic investment in K2fly back in April, with Maptek Chairman, Peter Johnson, joining the K2fly board as a Non-Executive Director in the process.

Peter Johnson, Chairman of Maptek, said: “Collaboration between Maptek and K2fly is an obvious way for both companies to leverage the technology available to them now to better deliver value to our customers. We share a very high proportion of customers in common and so any enhancements we can enable to the workflows and capabilities between the respective product sets will impact many users positively. In the current environment where miners are facing a shortage of skills, experience, and people in general, as well as increased regulation and scrutiny around governance, one of the most important things a technology developer can do is to help make the work easier, more efficient and more reliable. The integration collaboration with Maptek and K2fly’s new Resource Governance solutions platform are both contributing to these outcomes.”

Nic Pollock, CEO of K2fly, said: “Our product and engineering teams have been very busy these last 12 months liaising with our customers and redesigning the solution ground up as a cloud first service to provide more scale and more use case alternatives so customers can leverage the organisational structures and governance capabilities at the heart of the system. The new version will be faster and easier to implement for smaller clients as well.

“We are also proud to launch Model Manager in conjunction with the new Resource Reporting Solution which was integral in the acquisition of Sateva in 2020. The new releases and integration of these products to form the world’s only COTS solution takes K2fly further ahead and increases our moat in the Mineral Resource Governance space.”

Maptek invests in ESG-focused K2fly

Environmental, Mining software, Sustainable mining, , , ,

Maptek has announced a strategic investment in Western Australian-based K2fly, a leading provider of resource governance solutions for net positive impact in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) compliance, disclosure and technical assurance, it said.

K2fly solutions aim to improve the transparency, sustainability and performance across a range of measures such as governance, environmental and community engagement through its platform-based SaaS cloud reporting solutions, Maptek says.

As part of the investment Maptek Chairman, Peter Johnson, will join the K2fly board as a Non-Executive Director.

“Maptek is very pleased with the opportunity to become a strategic investor in K2fly,” Johnson said. “We have a long and successful history of delivering technical solutions that increase the accuracy, safety and efficiency of decision-making for miners.

“K2fly solutions complement our approach, enabling our customers to interact with all stakeholders including local communities, traditional owners, the investment community, regulators and the environment in an improved fashion.

 “They do this by leveraging technology to ensure the ESG and reporting expectations of the community are met, as well as providing a sustainable platform for enhancement.

“K2fly is the leader in the field of creating and delivering the technology solutions to enable that, and sharing our expertise is the ideal way for Maptek to support that effort.”

Jenny Cutri, Non-Executive Chair of K2fly, welcomed Maptek as a strategic investor in K2fly and Johnson to the K2fly Board.

“The investment by Maptek makes it K2fly’s largest investor and represents a significant validation of the K2fly business and growth outlook by the world’s largest privately held mining software business,” Cutri said.

“On behalf of K2fly and the Board, we very much look forward to working with Peter and Maptek as we continue to grow the K2fly business.

”Peter’s wealth of knowledge in applying and scaling innovative technological solutions in the mining sector into sustainable and profitable businesses will be invaluable to K2fly. Further, our solutions are adjacent and there are many opportunities for collaboration.”

Maptek, PETRA Data Science combine mine schedule optimisation and digital twin expertise

Automation, Comminution of minerals, Explosives and blasting, IoT, Mine surveying, Mineral exploration, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , , , , ,

In what is claimed to be an industry first, Maptek and PETRA Data Science have established a partnership to enable “seamless value chain optimisation and simulation” from resource models through to metal produced.

This development will allow mining companies, for the first time, to use millions of tonnes of their historical performance and resource metadata for dynamic optimisation, according to the two companies.

PETRA Managing Director, Penny Stewart (pictured, left), said: “I see Maptek as the go-to company for spatial data in mining. Whether you are looking at their 3D virtual environments for geological modelling and mine optimisation, or long-range laser scanners for 3D mapping and monitoring, every aspect is custom built for mining. Any true digital twin in mining needs to consider geology.”

She continued: “Our partnership with Maptek provides PETRA with easy access to upstream geological data for value chain optimisation, and enables Maptek to extend schedule optimisation downstream of the mine. For the first time, miners will be able to play forward the mine schedule into the processing plant.”

Stewart recently visited the Maptek R&D facility in Adelaide, South Australia, where she listened as the Manufacturing Manager explained how in response to customer requests, they have shed 4 kg off the weight of their scanners, she said.

“The custom-built innovations incorporating aerospace technology and military grade specs are really impressive. I mention this example because it illustrates Maptek’s laser focus on their mining customers, and this is strongly aligned with PETRA’s reason for being.”

She concluded: “As a mining engineer, I know that Maptek’s reputation for maintaining substantial investment in software and hardware for spatial data is second to none. I feel honoured that Maptek has chosen to partner with PETRA, and the whole PETRA team is excited by what this partnership will achieve for the mining industry!”

The integrated technology offerings of PETRA and Maptek cover solutions from geological modelling to plant and process optimisation and simulation. The partnership combines deep domain expertise from across the whole value chain and, together, PETRA and Maptek offer the industry a practical alternative to the common practice of siloed optimisation, according to the two companies.

Under the partnership, Maptek Evolution mine schedule optimisation will be dynamically linked to PETRA’s latest digital twin performance models including; metal produced, grade, quality, recovery and throughput. “Dynamic mine scheduling is made possible by bringing together Maptek optimisation engines and PETRA’s prediction and simulation algorithms,” they said.

The agreement will see Maptek BlastLogic blast design optimisation also benefit from dynamic links to PETRA digital twin models for loading, crushing and grinding. In addition, PETRA MAXTA digital twin blast design simulation will benefit from connection to BlastLogic historical drill and blast design data.

Stewart will continue to drive the growth and development of PETRA solutions, with Maptek Managing Director, Peter Johnson (pictured, right), appointed to the PETRA Advisory Board. “PETRA will continue to operate a platform-agnostic business model, with investment funds channelled into further development of PETRA’s open format integrations, including APIs and architecture,” the companies said.

Peter Johnson said Maptek’s goal to enable customers to realise greater value from the available mine data requires consideration of a context far beyond the orebody model and mine plan.

“We need to empower our customers to relate the performance and characteristics of processes and equipment far downstream from geology or planning assumptions and understand the relationships better,” he said.

“PETRA has a proven capability to create prediction and optimisation algorithms for miners through the innovative application of their data science expertise and experience in the real world,” he added.

He concluded: “Our investment and ongoing partnership is all about building business improvement into the mining cycle by leveraging the technology of both companies.”

PETRA’s algorithms are deployed by mining companies around the world, while its MAXTA digital twins for value chain optimisation ingest 10s of millions of tonnes of ore data to predict and simulate plant performance using machine learning. The latter have been successfully used for geometallurgical prediction, drill and blast simulation, and process control simulation and optimisation.

The company recently applied its big data and AI capabilities to an iron ore mine in Western Australia, which, according to PETRA Technical Director, Zeljka Pokrajcic, was able to demonstrate the link between the mineral resource and comminution.

Maptek to acquire 100% of Minlog to permanently bridge mine planning/production gap

Base metals, Coal technology, Energy minerals, Gem stone mining, Industrial minerals, IoT, Mining services, Mining software, Precious metals, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , ,

Mine planning software specialist Maptek has agreed to step up its investment in Minlog and its Production Management Information Systems technology, with the aim of acquiring 100% of the company over the next 18 months.

Maptek said the deal builds on a longstanding partnership between the two companies to bridge the gap between mine planning and mine production.

Maptek has been involved in a partnership with MinLog and its production management and management information systems technology since 2008. When the tie-up was announced in November of that year, Maptek said it “will provide a greater global marketing, delivery and support capability as well as deliver enhanced product functionality to global customers in the short and long term”.

Prior to this, the two companies already had a relationship whereby MinLog acted as distributor of Maptek’s MineSuite product in Africa.

Minlog says it develops, deploys and supports mining processes with intuitive, meaningful information that helps operations manage product flow and performance. It does this through production management solutions, including fleet management and management information systems.

Maptek said: “This latest investment will see Maptek increase its ownership of the business and the products to 100% over the next 18 months. Production Management data is considered a key component in delivering on Maptek’s commitment to add significant value to the data available to mining companies.”

Commenting on the investment, Maptek MD Peter Johnson said: “There is a huge gain in performance and efficiency to be had by combining the data models used in Mine Planning with the systems and processes applied in Mine Operations.

“The orebody knowledge and characteristics have an impact on mine performance well after the planning stages are complete, but there has been little ability to refer to and make decisions with the benefit of that orebody knowledge in a tactical, operational decision support capacity in a mine production environment.”

Under the new arrangement, MinLog will continue to operate, with current management and staff “remaining committed to delivering the world’s best Production Management systems”, Maptek said.

MinLog MD Karel Gilliland said: “MinLog leverages flexible service bus integration and a cloud- or server-hosted data lake containing a validated and contextualised digital record of all equipment and mining fleet being tracked. This enables us to deliver a powerful range of production management functionality across the whole supply chain in a mine.”

He added: “In addition, MinLog develops advanced DSF technology, allowing near real-time data acquisition from fixed and mobile equipment underground for reliable, cost effective and flexible deployment.”