MINING SOFTWARE
GEOVIA says it is really starting to bring the 3DEXPERIENCE benefits from Dassault Systemes to its customers in 2017
desktop applications. Products such as Surpac, GEMS, Minex, MineSched, Whittle and InSite will also have new releases coming out in 2017,“ with quality & performance improvements, as well as some select enhancements such as a point cloud integration capability in Surpac which will address the need expressed by our clients who make an expanding usage of dronebased surveys and LIDAR / photogrammetry technology for multiple purposes.”
Virtual sanity
Finally the mining software industry is delivering on its virtual capability billing; while other developments include subscription-based offerings in this cost conscious market, reports Paul Moore
Consolidation in the mining software industry has continued, but what are the real benefits? Raoul Jacquand, GEOVIA CEO at Dassault Systèmes, recently gave his take on this as far as GEOVIA having been part of Dassault Systèmes for a few years:“… external observers may ask a very legitimate question: how has this integration helped reshape the brand, or more importantly, how has it brought more value to its user base?” Arguably it has taken a while for the parent company’ s‘ 3DEXPERIENCE’ to fully transform GEOVIA’ s offering but Jacquand says this is now coming to fruition.“ It is actually with excitement that we prepare ourselves to introduce onto the market in 2017 new capabilities which will illustrate the benefits of integration to our customers. Indeed, GEOVIA is proud to announce that we will start bringing the 3DEXPERIENCE in the hands of our customers in 2017.”
He adds:“ To put it simply, it is a business experience that is conducive to innovation. In more words, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is the vehicle that Dassault Systèmes has provided to many industries, in order to successfully assist our clients drive their transformation agenda, through a set of rich applications leveraging the power of a social & collaborative enterpriselevel platform. Starting in 2017, GEOVIA will be enabling our Surpac, MineSched and Whittle users to benefit from the collaboration capabilities of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform through a seamless interface, allowing them to manage their intellectual property contained in the files managed by these applications.” He says the business benefits cover a large range, and include the following: n Centralised control of the mining data providing a single source of the truth n Program management of the mining workflow n Possibility to apply collaborative task management n Indexing of mining data and creation of adhoc dashboards n Sharing mining content in 3D
“ Furthermore, GEOVIA is introducing in 2017 to both our Surpac and GEMS customers a new cloud-based next-generation rapid geological modelling capability, to be delivered under an innovative SaaS [ Software-as-as-Service ] model. The seamless integration of this capability inside Surpac / GEMS will offer a powerful experience to our users, who will also benefit from important features such as version control, lifecycle management, scalability thanks to cloud computing, and geospatial indexing – all this through a simple browser interface.”
In parallel to these exciting developments, GEOVIA is to continue to maintain its portfolio of
More industry future trends
In more general terms on where the industry is moving, Marni Rabassó, Vice President, Natural Resources at Dassault Systèmes, recently talked about the key trends and the future of mining.“ There are a number of issues that are top of mind for the mining industry – operational excellence and innovation. The former focuses on the desire for mining companies to make their operating mines leaner. The latter is about the need for the mining industry to innovate given the point it has reached, where its level of productivity in relation to profit margins is not sustainable. Both issues require significant changes in mining, but also the adoption of new kinds of technology in the industry to run its businesses and drive productivity. I’ m really excited about the possibilities that the virtual world will unlock for collaboration and communication. Not only will virtual versions of mining operations provide people with a better understanding of how they work, and how they can be improved, I believe they will spark a lot of really interesting conversations that will trigger innovation. Through the virtual world provided by Dassault Systèmes, our customers will connect the best and brightest minds in their enterprise and ecosystem together to discover innovations and try them out and prove them before implementing them in the real one.”
The most significant shift Dassault Systèmes says it has seen is the desire to apply innovations from other industries such as manufacturing in mining:“ It is no longer enough for mining companies to operate in the rear-view mirror. Real-time data is available to them to understand where and why production issues are occurring.”
The company told IM: " With technologies from manufacturing, which are readily deployable in mining today, this information can be integrated into the planning process via what we call‘ demand-based scheduling.’ That is, scheduling that is informed by what is happening both in the market and in the operation. Using key performance indicators in their scheduling software, mine planners can
26 International Mining | FEBRUARY 2017