Tag Archives: Seequent

Seequent expands subsurface software presence in Central Asia with Kazakhstan hub

Mining services, Mining software, , , , , ,

Seequent, The Bentley Subsurface Company, has announced the establishment of a regional hub in Kazakhstan, expanding its presence in Central Asia.

Staffed by a dedicated local team, the strategic move demonstrates Seequent’s commitment to providing cutting-edge subsurface software solutions to the rapidly growing local market and wider Central Asia region, it says.

Seequent shared the news last week at an event in Almaty, which brought together partners, stakeholders and leading industry representatives. Seequent has supported the Central Asian business community since 2011, and major companies in the region are already using Seequent’s earth-modelling, analysis, data management and collaboration software, the company says. These applications help users understand the underground in the mining, energy, civil infrastructure and environment industries.

Colin Hay, EMEA, Executive Vice President, EMEA with Seequent (pictured on the left with Inna Shalovenkova, Regional Sales Director, Mining and Minerals on the right), said: “Seequent’s expansion into Central Asia marks a significant milestone in our global strategy. Kazakhstan, situated in the heart of Central Asia, serves as an ideal hub for the region. With a robust economy, rich metal reserves, advantageous location and a focus on attracting foreign investment, Kazakhstan stands out as a key market for Seequent’s solutions.”

Hay added: “We are seeing a growing demand for our solutions that support the evolving needs of industries in this market seeking digital innovation to drive efficiency and value in their operations. We will continue to hire locally as our Central Asia operations expand.”

Seequent offers software solutions for geoprofessionals including geologists, geophysicists, geochemists, geotechnical and geomechanical engineers, hydrogeologists, ecologists, as well as builders, designers of structures, quarries and underground mine workers. Products include the geological 3D modelling solution Leapfrog and Oasis montaj for working with geophysical data.

AngloGold eyes autonomous haulage advantages at Nevada project

Automation, Mineral project development, Mining events, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

AngloGold Ashanti says it is considering the use of autonomous haulage at its Expanded Silicon project, in Nevada, USA, as part of plans to leverage new technology at the in-development asset.

Speaking on a roundtable discussion titled ‘Beyond the hype: how technology can drive mining operations performance’ organised by global subsurface software company Seequent, Marcelo Godoy, Chief Technology Officer at AngloGold Ashanti, said the company was studying the application of autonomous haulage to optimise efficiency and reduce risks at its projects in Nevada.

Discussing automation and robotics as one of three transformational technologies the company is looking to leverage to achieve its net-zero emissions goals by 2050 – electric vehicles and renewable technologies being the other two – Godoy said he saw robots running key production activities at the company’s mines by the time they reach net-zero emission status.

AngloGold has been leveraging automation in its drilling operations, with Godoy noting on the roundtable that the company was seeing improvements in terms of efficiency, precision and safety.

“We also make extensive use of semi-autonomous LHDs in our underground mines, and we are studying the application of autonomous haulage vehicles to optimise efficiency and reduce risks in our projects in Nevada,” he said.

Asked to expand on this by IM after the roundtable, he said: “Our Nevada projects are conceptualised as open-pit mining operations and, at this point, we are only looking at autonomous haulage.

“As far as I know, there is no proven and off-the-shelf autonomous loading technology that could successfully work in the hard-rock environments where we operate. Autonomous loading is still an ongoing technological development and I expect that it will become prevalent in the mining industry before the end of this decade.”

He added that the option of autonomous haulage is being considered at the company’s Expanded Silicon project, which builds off AngloGold’s discovery of the Silicon gold deposit in the Beatty District of Nevada.

In 2022, the company outlined a maiden inferred resource estimate of 3.37 Moz of gold at a grade of 0.87 g/t Au and 14.17 Moz of silver at 3.66 g/t Ag contained within a base of 120.4 Mt. A prefeasibility study is being worked on currently.

Bentley’s Seequent gets geophysical with Aarhus GeoSoftware buy

Mineral exploration, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , , , , ,

Bentley Systems’ newly acquired business unit, Seequent, has added Danish company Aarhus GeoSoftware, a developer of geophysical software, to its portfolio.

The acquisition extends Seequent’s solutions for operational ground water management, and for sustainability projects involving exploration, contaminants, and infrastructure resilience, Bentley said.

Aarhus GeoSoftware, a spinoff company from Aarhus University in Denmark, develops the software packages AGS Workbench, SPIA, Res2DInv, and Res3DInv for the processing, inversion, and visualisation of geophysical data from ground-based and airborne electromagnetic, electrical resistivity tomography remote sensing, and other sources. AGS software enables users to create 2D and 3D images of subsurface electrical resistivity, according to Bentley, with the outputs used to distinguish and differentiate subsurface materials. They can subsequently be modelled in Seequent’s Leapfrog to aid in various subsurface investigations.

The software uses electric field measurements, collected at ground level or with airborne sensors, to map the subsurface distribution of certain materials such as water, mineral deposits and clays.

Electrical resistivity, Bentley says, allows a better understanding of the distribution of these materials and, when the water contains other compounds such as salt, researchers and industry professionals can infer the distribution.

The genesis of AGS software was to ensure clean drinking water for future generations by mapping groundwater across Denmark. It is now used in many different areas, including investigating orebodies and waste rock and tailing processes in mining.

Seequent says it will continue its tradition of collaborating with universities and research organisations worldwide through ongoing engagement with Aarhus University for the development of AGS geophysical solutions.

Graham Grant, Chief Executive Officer of Seequent, said, “The acquisition will add new geophysical data processing capabilities to our workflows to help advance subsurface investigation and modelling. AGS software, coupled with Seequent’s advanced geologic modelling and analysis software, creates a key tool in helping understand and manage groundwater and assessing risk in infrastructure such as dams and canals. We’re excited about the new possibilities this opens up for our collective users worldwide, improving life-time digital twins.”

Toke Højbjerg Søltoft, Chief Executive Officer of Aarhus GeoSoftware, said: “Seequent’s global reach will allow AGS software to positively impact more projects worldwide. As we continue to develop solutions, our users will benefit from our tools being in Seequent’s ecosystem and workflow. We’re excited to join Seequent and to work together on our shared vision of helping organisations make more informed and sustainable decisions through a better understanding of the subsurface.”

Seequent looks to mining’s future with latest software updates

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

Geoscience software company Seequent has revealed major updates to its mining portfolio, focused on improving user’s productivity to solve their geoscience challenges and further enabling connectivity and collaboration between users and their stakeholders.

Included in this major release are updates to Leapfrog® Geo for 3D geological modelling and visualisation, Leapfrog Edge for resource modelling, and cloud-based Seequent Central for model management and collaboration. The releases, which represent Seequent’s biggest update to its mining portfolio in more than a decade, include technologies that will ensure a smooth and seamless transition to Seequent Evo, its new ecosystem of hybrid cloud and desktop solutions, the company says.

Seequent’s Chief Technology Officer, James Lawton, says: “As projects become increasingly complex, organisations are generating greater amounts of data. We want to enable organisations in their digital transformation journey and enhance productivity.

“We’ve planned for the future with these releases, expanding the capabilities of Seequent Central at the centre of the user’s workflow to improve digital effectiveness and enable better decisions.”

Central 4.0 makes projects more accessible, shareable, and collaborative, with all-new visualisation capability, enhanced modelling workflows, direct communication with notifications, links and sharing, and more publishing improvements, Seequent says. The new import capability bridges the gap between geoscience disciplines via a common workflow.

The milestone Leapfrog Geo 6.0.1 release delivers smoother, more intuitive workflows and a significant improvement in performance with up to 25% faster overall processing times, supporting users with large datasets, it explains. Leapfrog Edge 4.0.2 introduces a parameter report facilitating the checking of estimates, which allows users to see their choices to be exported to excel for internal or external reporting.

Seequent’s Chief Revenue Officer, Daniel Wallace, says: “Our latest releases allow for better connectivity to cloud products and between different software solutions, and enable large processing tasks and multi-user workflows by taking advantage of cloud computing capabilities. The releases are geared for the transition to Seequent’s Evo ecosystem – which links operations, data, and technology, to provide real-time decision support.”

Seequent’s GeoStudio Core to help geotech engineers tackle major engineering challenges

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

Geoscience software company Seequent has announced the release of GeoStudio Core, a new, completely reformulated SIGMA/W product.

These upgrades allow geotechnical engineers to understand and tackle major engineering challenges for infrastructure and mining projects – from dams and levees to tunnelling and the stability of cuts in underground and open-pit mines, the company says.

Paul Grunau, President of Seequent’s GEOSLOPE, says GeoStudio Core 2021 is the most significant GeoStudio release in the past five years.

“SIGMA/W has been completely redeveloped from the ground up, delivering new levels of confidence and capability for geotechnical engineers needing to assess ground deformations and stability,” Grunau said. “The new strength reduction stability analysis in SIGMA/W complements the industry-trusted solutions in SLOPE/W to provide a rigorous understanding of slope failure mechanisms, allowing the engineer to design effective stabilisation measures. These products integrate with SEEP/W to include the impact of changing groundwater conditions, providing a comprehensive solution for stability problems.

“The combined GeoStudio Core solution runs in a single integrated environment, speeding up the project workflow and easily scaling with the user’s needs. All project data and analyses can be combined into a single project file, enabling smooth data exchange and simpler data management.”

GeoStudio Core, with SIGMA/W’s expanded material model library and new analysis types, allows for comprehensive modelling of a wider range of soil and rock behaviour, according to Seequent. For example, simulating the strain-softening behaviour of brittle clays enables stability control of a tailings dam or roadway cut.

The new GeoStudio multi-physics solver enables SIGMA/W to offer improved solver performance and enhanced modelling of rapid reservoir drawdown, open-pit mine dewatering effects on highwall stability, and solute transport from tailings ponds.

Seequent helps miners in COVID-19 era with remote geoscience software tools

Communications in mining, IoT, Mineral exploration, Mining services, Mining software, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Geoscience software company Seequent says it is accelerating the development of its cloud-based solution, Seequent Central, to enable organisations to continue work on critical, large-scale, earth, environment and renewable energy projects in the COVID-19 impacted environment.

Central works alongside Seequent’s other geoscience analysis, modelling and collaborative technologies, to contribute understanding to subsurface geoscience and engineering design solutions.

The cloud-based solution allows people in any location to visualise, track and manage geological models created for infrastructure and critical services projects, in a centralised, auditable environment, according to Seequent.

This means a wide range of stakeholders can readily access highly visual up-to-date information to manage risk and make better environmental and investment decisions, to progress projects, it said.

Seequent CEO, Shaun Maloney, said the company was working alongside customers to do everything it can to make it possible to meet the demands and operational challenges they may be facing in the current environment.

“In response to increased need and demand, we’re accelerating the development of Central to help our customers to continue to operate in interdependent and often remote work environments,” he said.

Seequent’s software is being used on hundreds of diverse projects across the globe, ranging from infrastructure projects including large-scale rail, road and tunnel projects across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific; renewable energy projects in the US, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia, Philippines and New Zealand; mining and exploration projects in North and South America, Africa and Australia; and environmental projects such as groundwater management in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

One of these projects is with Canada-based mining company First Majestic.

Focused on silver production in Mexico, First Majestic currently owns and operates the San Dimas silver-gold mine, the Santa Elena silver-gold mine and the La Encantada silver mine. The company is pursuing the development of its existing mineral property assets with industry practice modelling using Seequent’s solutions, according to the geoscience software company.

“First Majestic use Seequent’s Leapfrog Geo to develop a realistic presentation of the geology at each site (complex silver deposits with multiple veins), and Leapfrog Edge to aid resource estimation – and when geologic models are changed resource estimates also change dynamically,” Seequent says.

“Seequent Central allows the company to publish models and resource estimates – so they are immediately available to everyone from the mine geologists to management in real time.”

First Majestic Resource Geologist, David Rowe, says the company can now capture multiple resources across multiple mines.

“We can now get all cross-discipline experts together to review projects in one place, and I am notified when those reviews have happened,” he said. “This enables better access and collaboration for everyone.”

Seequent addresses contaminants with latest Leapfrog Works extension

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

Global geoscience software company, Seequent, says it has released a “Contaminants extension” for its 3D modelling and analysis solution, Leapfrog Works.

The integrated solution enables geoscientists to easily and intuitively create robust 3D models of subsurface contamination plumes to enable reliable definition and estimates of contamination and its location, Seequent said. The highly visual models can be readily shared with project stakeholders to aid communication and understanding at each stage of contaminated site management, it added.

Seequent’s Environmental Segment Director, Thomas Krom, said: “By combining 3D dynamic geological models with best practice geostatistical methods, we’re enabling people to build, maintain, communicate and track defensible interpretations and mitigation strategies for contamination resolution – enabling better, transparent decision making.

“Currently, environmental scientists estimate contaminate plumes in a spreadsheet or use GIS, or they rely on one or two people in their organisation to create 3D models. The Contaminants extension leverages Leapfrog’s intuitive workflows to allow users to be productive almost immediately, making industry-standard geostatistics accessible for everyone and valuable on any sized project.”

Leapfrog Works with the new Contaminants extension forms part of Seequent’s wider set of contaminated site solutions, the company said.

“Leapfrog Works allows users to quickly build 3D models from environmental data in hours, which dynamically updates each project lifecycle,” Seequent said. “Robust and intuitive geostatistical tools in the Contaminants extension allow users to create transparent and defensible estimates of contaminant mass and location in saturated and unsaturated zones.”

Cloud-based data and model management solution, Seequent Central, enables teams and project stakeholders to share data and collaborate on models from any location – to ensure contamination resolution decisions are based on the latest information, according to the company.

Eryn Torres, Senior Professional at Geosyntec Consultants, was one of the environmental scientists who worked closely with Seequent to test Leapfrog Works and the Contaminants extension on a variety of contaminated site projects.

“The organised workspace and powerful algorithms, as well as the reporting capabilities, have made Leapfrog and the Contaminants solution invaluable tools for our team,” Torres said. “I have been truly impressed by the level of enthusiastic support and engagement that Seequent has provided.

“I have become an avid user of the solution during this early phase, and it is now a part of our daily workflows, especially for contaminated sites with the need to compute reliable mass estimates in complex scenarios.”

Krom added: “Seequent solutions enable clear communication to end clients, regulators, and the general public with 3D models of contaminated sites and associated groundwater systems in a fully auditable data-driven approach across the entire lifecycle of site management.”

Seequent moves downstream with OreControl software partnership

Environmental, Explosives and blasting, IoT, Mining safety, Mining software, , , , , , ,

Seequent has partnered with OreControl Blasting Consultants, the US-based developer of OrePro 3D software, as it looks to expand its reach into the drill and blast arena.

OrePro 3D software allows geologists to model the movement of ore during blasting in order to delineate ore and waste more accurately for efficient downstream handling, according to Seequent.

“The software’s use of 3D modelling and visualisation techniques revolutionises how geologists determine ore boundaries and select dig directions, yielding significant improvements over traditional 2D methods,” the company added.

OrePro 3D embeds in a mine’s ore control process with seamless data integration with up-stream and down-stream systems, and intuitive workflows, according to the company. The software also contains a tool showing the financial impact of different mining scenarios.

Seequent’s GM Mining & Minerals, Nick Fogarty (pictured), says: “Mining companies continue to look for ways to improve their operating efficiency. By reducing ore loss and dilution, more valuable rock can be sent to the processing plant. OrePro 3D has already been adopted by many large mining companies who are using the solution to improve yields and operating efficiency, which in turn reduces the operation’s environmental impact.

He added: “This is another area where best of breed geoscience modelling techniques and 3D visualisation create value for our customers.”

William Hunt, Co-founder and President of OreControl Blasting Consultants, says: “By accurately highlighting where the pay material is located, post-blast, and then optimising dig blocks accordingly, operating efficiency and commercial returns can be dramatically improved. The value of additional recoveries after a single blast can represent an immediate return on investment and resources can also be extracted using less energy and water.”

According to Hunt, OrePro 3D can be used without direct measurement, which removes the need for transmitters and the need to put staff onto risky muck piles.

Seequent taps into Esri ArcGIS Pro to speed up discovery time

IoT, Mineral exploration, Mining software, , , , ,

Seequent has today released Target for ArcGIS Pro to bring advanced understanding of mining and exploration data to the powerful next generation Esri ArcGIS Pro environment.

The Esri-integrated solution simplifies the importing, viewing and analysis of drill hole and subsurface geological data within ArcGIS Pro to allow geoscientists, geologists and GIS analysts to make timely decisions on project viability and enable faster discoveries, according to Seequent.

The release builds on Seequent’s Target for ArcGIS platform, a geology mapping extension for Esri ArcGIS that simplifies the “visualisation and analysis of drill hole and borehole geology data within ArcMap”.

Seequent’s GM Mining & Minerals, Nick Fogarty, says: “We’ve worked very closely with Esri to create essential workflows for geoscientists in mining and exploration who want to use their data in ArcGIS Pro.

“Our partnership ensures we can deliver interoperability that allows our customers to get the full benefit from both Target and ArcGIS geoscience workflows, creating a world-leading end-to-end solution. Target for ArcGIS Pro is the latest in our ongoing effort to enhance integration and empower advanced geoscience analysis within Esri’s established GIS platform.”

Esri’s Director – Industry Solutions, Natural Resources Sector, Geoff Wade, said: “Seequent is a valued gold level partner of Esri and we are thrilled to see the latest realisation of their product vision for Target.

“The new Target for ArcGIS Pro provides users with additional capability and flexibility, in seamlessly integrating with tools from the Esri platform that many are already familiar with. We are confident this will further improve the efficiency of many geoscience workflows and empower new levels of understanding and insights for our valued joint customers.”

Target for ArcGIS Pro, Seequent says, allows users to import, visualise and interpret drilling data from standard industry data sources or generic formats; view drill hole data by numeric or categorical attributes in 2D maps and 3D scenes; create cross sections to view and interpret your geology in 3D; incorporate subsurface datasets to your project for increased understanding and geological context; navigate the subsurface quickly and easily using 3D navigation shortcuts; and share and collaborate using Esri’s online workflows.

Seequent adds geotechnical analysis software to growing portfolio

IoT, Mine surveying, Mineral exploration, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , ,

Seequent has announced the acquisition of GEOSLOPE, a Canada-based company famed for its integrated, geotechnical analysis software.

The New Zealand-headquartered leader in the development of geoscience analysis, modelling, and collaborative technologies says the addition of GEOSLOPE will offer additional innovative geoscience technology solutions to its customers.

Seequent has been busy on the business development front in the past year, announcing, in November, that it was to merge with Geosoft and, in July, saying it was starting a partnership with Minalytix.

GEOSLOPE is known by geotechnical engineers who use the GeoStudio suite for design, analysis, and decision making. This suite includes products for modelling slope stability, deformation, heat transfer and groundwater flow in soil and rock. The products are used in over 100 countries for analysing infrastructure projects including dams and levees, reinforced walls and slopes, open-pit mines, and transportation, according to Seequent.

Shaun Maloney, Chief Executive of Seequent, says: “We welcome the GEOSLOPE team to the Seequent family. Together, we are better equipped to deliver on our commitment to help mitigate and solve some of the world’s major civil, environmental and energy challenges.”

GEOSLOPE’S President, Paul Grunau, said the company had, over the years, invested in the long-term growth of the company to develop a set of “world-class solutions” for geotechnical engineers.

He added: “Joining Seequent presents the opportunity for greater integration of geotechnical analysis into the overall engineering and design workflow, thereby enabling our customers to more effectively analyse their problems and deliver better outcomes.”

The GEOSLOPE team will continue to be led by Paul Grunau and will maintain its presence in Calgary, Canada, Seequent said.

Seequent says its software is used on large-scale projects globally, including road and rail tunnel construction, groundwater detection and management, geothermal exploration, subsea infrastructure mapping, resource evaluation and subterranean storage of spent nuclear fuel.