RPMGlobal says it has concluded the first sale of its latest integrated mine planning and scheduling product developed for the underground potash industry.

The first sale of Underground Potash Solution (UGPS) was concluded following completion of a successful trial program with a leading global potash miner who has purchased UGPS to extract greater value from their Canada operations. The sale follows the original release of UGPS to the market in October 2020.

UGPS was launched upon the completion of a development project that included input from global potash producers. The product uses the latest technologies, such as parametric design and scheduling, combined with several optimisation algorithms to create a unique offering specifically for potash operations, RPMGlobal says.

RPM Chief Executive Officer, Richard Mathews, said: “It has been really fascinating working with some of the leading producers in the industry to build a software planning and scheduling solution which addresses the unique challenges faced by the potash industry.

“At RPM, we continually strive to develop innovative solutions that provide a pivotal step change in the resource industry and we are very pleased that our latest integrated mine design and scheduling solution has been endorsed by a leading potash operator in North America.”

UGPS introduces to the market an enterprise application allowing users to rapidly evaluate different mine design scenarios, the company says.

“Instead of having to manually draw the mine layout in a CAD package, the parametric design techniques of UGPS enable a planner to rapidly generate and analyse multiple scenarios, thereby automating the repetitive and time-consuming tasks that can often take a mine planner weeks to perform,” RPMGlobal says.

The intuitive, process-driven interface makes the product easy to use, and, while most mine planning software is driven by customisable coding scripts, UGPS is very different given it is completely script free, according to the company. This feature becomes very important in terms of training and on-boarding new people, enabling each customer to derive immediate benefits following implementation of the product.

Using UGPS, users can complete detailed modelling of their potash deposit in 3D while also creating a complete mathematical model of the mine. Moreover, users are able to import existing designs, create new designs or use a combination of both.

“UGPS also introduces advanced scheduling methodology to the scheduling process to suit the practical needs of engineers operating in an underground potash environment,” the company says. “It also incorporates all aspects of the scheduling process in one, making it applicable for design, reserving and scheduling across all horizons.”

Mathews concluded: “As a fully integrated mine planning and design tool, UGPS is tailored to the needs of the underground potash industry and we are looking forward to rolling out UGPS to additional potash operations in 2021.”