MINING CONSULTANTS
mining consultancies, which help accelerate the evolution of our solutions and ensure the industry continues to get best-in-class technology,” he told IM.
The company is building out a broader ecosystem of technology collaborations to assist.
“ With Insight Terra, GEOVIA unites realtime data, engineering intelligence and governance to deliver safer, smarter and more accountable tailings management; with MineSense, we’ re working together to transform how mining companies collect, understand and act on their data,” he said.“ Such collaborations help keep our offering fresh, technically current and directly responsive to what operations need on the ground.”
He added:“ In a competitive market where most vendors can claim technical functionality, the ability to sit alongside a customer, directly, through our consultancy partners, or via our wider technology ecosystem, and deliver measurable outcomes is what genuinely sets GEOVIA apart.”
It is these relationships that ensure the company continues to embed the expertise in its software that makes a difference, according to Smith.
“ Consultants are in the field, working through, for example, real scheduling challenges in MineSched, running pit optimisation scenarios in Whittle, building geological models in Surpac; and that hands-on exposure feeds directly back into how our products evolve,” he said.“ When a consultant identifies a workflow inefficiency or a capability gap, that conversation happens with our developers. It’ s not a formal feedback loop on a quarterly cycle; it’ s an active, ongoing dialogue.
“ The result is software that reflects how mining professionals actually work, not just how engineers imagine they might.”
GEOVIA’ s own consultants traditionally come into projects at defined points – implementation, a specific study phase, a training engagement – and provide solutions to specific challenges.
Increasingly, that model is shifting, according to Smith.
“ The skills shortage across the industry is real and acute, and mining companies are under pressure to deliver complex technical work – strategic mine planning, multi-scenario optimisation, resource model validation, etc without always having the internal capacity to do it,” he said.“ We’ re seeing GEOVIA consultants extend their involvement across full project lifecycles, and, in some cases, effectively operating as embedded technical partners. That might mean, for example, running Whittle optimisations as part of a feasibility study, or providing continuity of Surpac expertise across a project transition.
“ The engagement adapts to where the value is needed most.” GEOVIA is also seeing this shift extend into how it supports operations more broadly, with the team increasingly leveraging AI companions that help automate routine analysis, accelerate scenario testing and boost overall productivity.
“ These AI companions are proving key to addressing workforce challenges, leveraging local operational processes and procedures to guide both operators and consultants in real time,” Smith said.
Dassault Systèmes’ AURA AI companion, for example, provides instant support, learning from user interactions to deliver increasingly personalised assistance, ensuring users get the right information at the right time, which has a direct impact on productivity, Smith explained.
“ It is built on many years of sciencebased knowledge and domain knowhow in geology modelling, mine design, planning, engineering and scheduling,” he said.“ AURA also acts as a learning partner, helping users discover new ideas, stay on track with projects and transform content into a format that’ s easier to understand and act on.”
This means GEOVIA’ s consultants can focus their time on the judgement-driven, high-value work that mining houses can’ t easily replicate in-house, while AI handles the heavy lifting on repetitive technical tasks.
MineSense and GEOVIA are working to transform how mining companies collect, understand and act on their data( pictured is the integration of MineSense’ s ShovelSense system with GEOVIA’ s Surpac solution
50 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2026