MINING SOFTWARE
With fragmentation analysis and drill patterns , Hexagon ’ s Mining division can review the results from the last several benches that came out a certain way using a similar geology and , if needed , change the timing or pattern spacing to get a measurable improvement in , for example , ANFO usage and energy consumption , according to Dave Goddard . This then trickles down to using less energy at the crusher and less energy during the comminution process , ensuring the value flows throughout the mining process
it is also struggling to access new universityeducated recruits due to a shortage of institutions offering such tertiary education and competition for talent from other industries .
Those who are coming through the industry ’ s wide-open door are , because of the skills shortage , accelerating up the hierarchy at previously unimaginable speeds .
“ This means the new recruits are getting less opportunities for mentorship and coaching , resulting in having people broadly educated in mining , but lacking the practical skills that engineers , geologists and other personnel had in the past ,” Goddard said .
This places even more onus on software providers like Hexagon , which Goddard says the company is prepared for .
“ One of the challenges we are confronting is the need to embed within our algorithms and software those learnings , common sense and rules of thumb the industry has relied on for the past hundred years or more ,” he said . “ We can do that with our portfolio of sensors – that provide the data fidelity one needs to have comfort in the readings – and software – which is broader than anything else out there in the industry .”
This is where the company ’ s two areas of focus – optimising the NPV of the asset in the ground and optimising the activities associated with extraction – are bearing fruit .
“ With fragmentation analysis and drill patterns , we can review the results from the last several benches that came out a certain way using a similar geology and , if needed , change the timing or pattern spacing to get a measurable improvement in , for example , ANFO usage and energy consumption ,” Goddard offers up . “ This then trickles down to using less energy at the crusher and less energy during the comminution process , ensuring the value flows throughout the mining process .” There are more examples of this . Tying together learnings from Hexagon FMS and CAS solutions can , for instance , correlate incident hot spots with fatigue events and traffic analysis to leverage back in the mine planning module , potentially leading to the re-design of traffic intersections .
“ You can then start to optimise safety and production flow simultaneously ,” Goddard said . Should Goddard and his team be able to leverage the historical records Hexagon has at its disposal , the concept of a “ single digital twin ” to showcase such optimisation is achievable , he says .
“ This will then act as a way to display these interactions across the site , and how optimising one area of the extraction process can lead to optimising the entire project NPV .”
Beyond that , Hexagon ’ s Mining division is actively developing battery-electric haulage
FEBRUARY 2024 | International Mining