MINING SOFTWARE
Moynagh , here , referenced words from David Balkin , former Senior Director of McKinsey in Australia and New Zealand , who said : “ There are very few , zero capital cost initiatives that have such a rapid and significant impact on the productivity of resource company assets . Implementation of Commit Works frontline commitment system should be considered ahead of but also in support of other automation initiatives to reduce variability and improve performance on site .”
Software facilitators
Despite Moynagh ’ s assertion , the time for automation appears to be now for at least the major miners in the industry .
In terms of automation adoption , the sector is in the fast-follower stage , with eyes on widespread acceptance in the next 10-15 years .
There are plenty in the mining software industry helping to facilitate this transition , with Beesley arguing RPMGlobal is one such company .
“ When considering automation , a starting point plan is crucial and RPMGlobal has solutions that provide detailed planning and forecasting critical to any automation project ,” he said . “ A realistic plan that is continuously updated with data from trusted sources is a critical step in the uptake of automation .”
One of the key aspects to operating an autonomous mining operation is giving the correct instructions to the equipment when it is required , according to Beesley . In this context , it is no longer acceptable to plan weekly , and let the supervisors on site react to changes in the mine plan .
“ The mine plan needs to be continuously maintained ,” he said . “ RPMGlobal has led the charge on extracting data from fleet management systems , maintenance systems , enterprise resource planning systems and many others to inform the plan and communicate the updated plan back to the operation .”
MST Global ’ s Palmer said the increased uptake of automation will require the convergence of data streams into one end point .
“ I believe that one of the key requirements of software will be the ability to interface with , and track , autonomous machines and consolidate this information to one accessible point ,” he said .
“ We , as MST Global , have no need to focus on the automation itself , just facilitate the most effective use of it .”
This is where the modular nature of MST Global ’ s HELIX platform can be useful , expanding from simple visualisation tools , to vehicle information tied to proximity detection and access management systems using geospatial tracking information and Edge devices , Palmer said .
Webb says Datamine also has something to offer
MST Global ’ s Mark Palmer says : “ Our software platform , HELIX , brings the application side of the solution to life , allowing us to provide the mine with the solution that best meets their needs , wherever in the mine ’ s lifecycle they sit ”
in the automation arena . The company ’ s recent addition of Snowden ’ s Supervisor , when combined with Datamine Studio RM , is helping clients automate their processes more easily through the integration of tools they are already using , or by making some upgrades to their current processes , he said .
“ Another example of this is our partnership with PixPro – a photogrammetry solution which works with Sirovision and Studio Survey to automatically generate surfaces and volumes from drone LiDAR data ,” he said .
Daw says Hexagon ’ s automation focus is holistic ; going all the way back to the data acquired at the very
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FEBRUARY 2021 | International Mining 31