provide practical, achievable and
scalable solutions in the short term.
Athena imports, validates, analyses
and stores data from multiple input
sources to a single data repository. It
then presents the data in dashboard
views that are easy to use and
understand. The sources of data can
be extremely varied, such as fleet
management systems (FMS), drill
rigs, onboard fragment analysis
cameras and general mine planning
systems. In the future, dashboards for
safety and slope stability will be
added.
According to the company,
analysing and merging this data can
answer questions like: “why are my
shovels not meeting their production
targets?” There could be several
answers to this question, but one
answer could be that the rock is not
being fragmented efficiently, making
it harder to dig.
Meanwhile, HxM Blast is the
company’s new drill-and-blast
management system. Based in
MineSight 3D, HxM Blast uses one
interface to design drill patterns,
apply blasting parameters to holes
and do the tie-in of a shot, explains
the company website.
“HxM Blast will redefine blasting,”
said Mark Gabbitus, MineSight
Product Manager – Operations. “A
bad blast can undo all of the good
work done by geologists and
engineers to develop a robust block
model and mine plan. So it is vitally
important that the blast design and
execution minimises error and
interprets the effects when things do
not go to plan.“
Improving mine safety
Hexagon Mining also recently
announced that its SAFEmine mine
safety solutions had been helping
mining companies in South Africa
meet new regulations that compel
opencast mines to enhance safety for
all trackless mobile machinery
(TMM), such as trucks.
According to the company, central
to SAFEmine’s appeal is its Collision
Avoidance System (CAS), which helps
mines improve safety and efficiency
by protecting both human and
mechanical assets. Via local
distributor, Trysome, SAFEmine CAS
is at work in more than 9000 mining
vehicles across South Africa. In recent
months, five additional mine sites
have also committed to installing the
new, fully compatible,
third‑generation SAFEmine CAS onto
their fleets.
2
Other suppliers’ news
Dassault Systèmes
Dassault Systèmes has released the
latest version of its GEOVIA
Whittle™ strategic mine planning
software. Whittle 4.6 helps users to
add more economic value to projects
and saves time by streamlining
mining processes, the company said
in a press release.
With a 64-bit version and
Windows 8.1 support, Whittle 4.6
handles large datasets, optimises
operations processes and runs bigger
models, making this version of
Whittle more efficient to use than
ever. Key features include the
following:
n
n
64-bit modern processing enables
the handling of large datasets,
extending the limit of file sizes,
for more efficient processing of
data in addition to increased
scheduling accuracy as result of
improved algorithmic decisions.
n
n
A new Block Model Import
Wizard provides a simplified
workflow for exporting files from
GEOVIA Surpac™ and other
GMPs.
n
n
Improved floating point
arithmetic provides more accurate
binning by grade range for a more
positive impact on net present
value.
Maptek
Australian supplier of software to the
mining industry, Maptek, has seen a
number of production
announcements this year with the
launch of its I-Site Drive for frequent
and accurate stockpile volume
reporting and the relaunch of its
opencast mine scheduler as Maptek
Evolution.
3
And last month, Maptek’s
PerfectDig, which enables rapid mine
design conformance analysis by
comparing enhanced photographs to
3D design information, was
recognised at the Australian
Information Industry Association’s
iAwards. The system won in the
South Australia Industry and
Resources catagory.
“It’s great to be recognised by your
peers in the industry,” said
PerfectDig's Team Leader,
Anthony Gibbs. “It’s going to inspire
us to keep developing the product.”
Neptec Techologies Corp.
In February, Neptec announced the
successful proof-of-concept testing of
its 3DRi Spot Assist application,
which assists with positioning trucks
beside the shovel for loading, at
Teck's Fording River coal mine.
3
Following that, in May
Neptec Technologies Corp.
announced the launch of 3DRi™
Excavator – a suite of 3DRi™ (3D
real‑time intelligence) software
applications that “improves safety
and enhances productivity for
excavators and shovels used in
opencast mining”. According to a
company press release, the first three
excavator-based applications in the
suite include:
n
n
3DRi™ Bench Profiler: a
safety application to display
the face profile and provide
alerts in real-time to the
shovel operator to warn of
undercuts. The application is
being integrated with Wenco’s
high‑precision BenchManager™
system and one of its clients in the
oilsands.
n
n
3DRi™ Bench Mapper: a
productivity and safety
application that automatically
generates user-scheduled DTMs
of the bench from the excavator.
3DRi Bench Mapper also
eliminates dangerous manual
survey work in the pit and
improves the productivity of the
survey team, which can focus
on the mine model rather than
manual data collection.
78
|
World Coal
|
July 2015
