MINING SOFTWARE
Strategy and Alliances Senior Director , says .
“ Overall , our tools aim to help customers model , simulate , optimise and monitor their operations ,” he told IM . “ While many of today ’ s tools were not originally designed around sustainability , the processes and how they are applied can already add sustainable value .”
He provides an example from the GEOVIA Strategic Mine Planning solution , a platform that can not only provide more efficient mine designs and optimised production plans over the long term , but also incorporate emission reduction and closure and rehabilitation plans to understand the mine ’ s ecological impact and how best to minimise its footprint . This is all while still generating improved net present value for a mining company ’ s investments .
“ In addition , the GEOVIA MineSched solution enables miners to optimise the short-term operations and analyse multiple scenarios involving waste in order to reduce the impact of material handling from energy usage , emissions and cost perspectives ,” Hamilton said .
GEOVIA , itself , has built a “ Sustainability solution referential ” for mining by analysing mining processes and aligning them with mining company key performance indicators ( KPIs ) and global standards such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals , the International Council on Mining and Metals Mining Principles and the EU Taxonomy .
This “ referential ” represents four themes associated with sustainable mining KPIs that , GEOVIA says , are measurable and generate value for the planet , industry and community . It is these four themes – Energy & Emissions , Water Stewardship , Social Value and Futureproofing – that GEOVIA is specifically focused on .
Within the wider Dassault Systèmes group ’ s Sustainability targets , epitomised by its Sustainability Compass , the company is focused on not only providing the tools , but also the inspiration for its customers to “ innovate sustainably ”. “ In addition to our Science-based and social targets , we have a company-wide portfolio target to have two-thirds of new licences sold from our solutions / processes with ‘ positive sustainability impact ’ by 2025 ,” Hamilton said .
This ensures the group ’ s goals aligns with that of its clients , providing a two-pronged incentive to develop sustainable solutions the industry can adopt .
Over the next three to five years , Hamilton expects GEOVIA and Dassault Systèmes to enhance its existing solutions to ensure they are accretive to its customers ’ sustainability and ESG goals . This is on top of creating new tools with inherent sustainability value to “ enable our brand promise of Modelling the Sustainable Planet ”.
The group ’ s ultimate ambition is to develop a
“ Virtual Twin Experience ” of the Sustainable Planet where all solutions will include data intelligence capabilities to monitor key indicators , a governance and collaboration solution to enable essential transparency across stakeholders , mineral processing optimisation and several solutions to manage the circularity of mining operations that actively create value .
“ And , when we talk about sustainability and ESG , we are also focused on Circular Economy – how do we get to zero waste , how do we generate solutions that help customers generate accretive value both to industry and the planet ,” Hamilton said . “ For example , with water use – mining uses a lot of water – we don ’ t want to waste water and , for the water that we do use , we want to ensure that after it ’ s been used , it ’ s of a better quality than before we used it and biologically accretive in the ecosystem .”
Many of the group ’ s current solutions are helping customers model , design , simulate , plan and execute their mining projects , and these same solutions , along with future developments , are expected to drive process innovation and even process disruption when it comes to “ sustainable innovation ” and increased value generation .
While the current ESG focus relies on reporting of ESG metrics for governance and public engagement purposes , Hamilton expects to see a move towards action and activities that drive sustainability / ESG results .
“ And , so having the technology to both monitor and report on ‘ actuals ’ as well as drive the activities via modelling and simulation of future scenarios to ensure mining companies remain on track , will be extremely important ,” he said .
There will also be a need to “ democratise ” the data and simulation experiences , putting the data in the hands of decision makers rather than just technologists , according to Hamilton . This is where a platform like 3DEXPERIENCE helps , providing a real-time view of business activity
The GEOVIA MineSched solution enables miners to optimise the short-term operations and analyse multiple scenarios involving waste in order to reduce the impact of material handling from energy usage , emissions and cost perspectives , according to Jeff Hamilton
and ecosystems to , the company says , connect people , ideas and data – all of which is customised to the chosen industry .
Hamilton added : “ The main transformation caused by the ESG industry trend is the broadening of KPIs . Mining companies have always tried to reduce energy wastage , and over or under-designed energy systems and resource loss in their operations . Now , they are also looking at additional KPIs such as the percentage of green energy , the greenhouse gas emissions of the fleet or the plant and the value of waste , to name a few .”
This new frontier is likely to see , for example , the resource / reserve estimation process no longer optimised solely on net present value , but also on other indicators such as the cost of closure , the liability cost , etc .
“ Ultimately , we want to help our customers extract and process the same ounce of gold ( for example ) they had planned , but using less energy , less water and producing less waste ,” Hamilton concluded .
Earth , environment and energy challenges
The 2021 acquisition of Seequent put Bentley Systems , the infrastructure engineering software company , into new ESG-related territory too . A leader in software for geological and geophysical modelling , geotechnical stability , and cloud services for geodata management , visibility and collaboration , Seequent argues well-structured and easily-accessible data is integral to driving real improvements in ESG performance .
“ Mining produces waste that needs to be handled properly , as improper disposal can lead
16 International Mining | FEBRUARY 2022