Customer Success

Maptek congratulates Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA) on being named ‘Explorer of the Year’ at the annual Australian Mining Prospect Awards on November 11.

The Maptek-sponsored category attracted a strong field in the awards, which recognise excellence and innovation. The winners are chosen by independent judges with expertise in the Australian mining industry.

ERA’s Ranger mine near Jabiru in the Northern Territory ranks among one of the world’s most significant uranium discoveries in recent years.

Ranger installed Maptek Vulcan™ for geological modelling, blast and mine planning in 2007. Highly commended runner up in that category, Atlas Iron, also uses Vulcan.

Peter Johnson, General Manager Australia, who presented the award, said he was pleased that Maptek could contribute to the success of Australian miners.

First African Users Conference

Presentations will stimulate the discussion, and forums will allow delegates to explore these issues, and how future demands can be met through further development and support.

‘I encourage anyone working in the mining industry to attend,’ 
said Duncan Lee, General Manager, Africa and Europe.

‘With today’s economic restrictions and an increased emphasis on safety in the workplace, it is important to keep up with the latest trends.’

Attendees are welcome from Africa, Europe and beyond to discuss issues and swap ideas with peers. The conference is open to all - not just Maptek customers.
Presentations and discussion forums will allow all delegates to discuss the 5 key topics: reconciliation, optimisation, safety, data and resources.

Keynote speakers include Dr Bob Johnson, Founder of Maptek.
The users conference will be held about 2 hours drive from Johannesburg on a Big 5 game reserve.
Visit www.maptek.com/south_africa_2010 or download the brochure to find out more and register.

KEY BENEFITS

• Tap into global best practice
• Share efficiency and safety success stories
• Identify new solutions and developments
• Discuss current and future trends
• Access technical support to discuss specific requirements
• Network with peers from Africa, Europe and beyond

I-Site Studio 3.3 - greater efficiency for survey scan data modelling

Surveyors have gained another major advance in efficiency with Maptek’s latest software release. Improvements to the I-Site Studio 3.3 laser scan modelling software are designed to smooth routine mine surveying tasks.

Automatic detection of toes and crests saves time in open pit surveys. Surveyors can easily update mine models, which can be made available for both on site mine planners and regulatory authorities. This feature builds on the open pit update tool introduced in I-Site Studio 3.2, which allows users to scan selected sections of a pit and integrate the new data into their current pit model.

Registration A new global registration tool uses a single step process to register multiple scans and objects together. This saves time for surveyors, who previously had to match pairs of objects/data, and also increases accuracy because fewer registrations means fewer chances for error.

This tool is especially useful with the new Maptek I-Site Vehicle System, where the scanner is mounted on site vehicles for mobile scanning. Another enhancement specifically related to the vehicle system allows users to register scans by back-bearing alignment angle.

‘As Maptek adds new products, we focus on providing a total solution for our users by updating the technology that allows them to get the most from their investment’, said Maptek I-Site General Manager, Peter Johnson.

Viewing sections through laser scan data is now easier, with an interactive tool allowing users to arbitrarily place and manipulate section planes.

• I-Site Studio 3.3 incorporates many user suggestions - for example, surveyors have specifically asked to be able to label elevations on generated contour lines.
• I-Site Studio is sold bundled with Maptek laser scanners, and as a stand-alone modelling package. The 64-bit version has set the industry standard for excellence in graphics and modelling.
• Users can incorporate photography from multiple scans as part of the modelling process, with rendering and animation options delivering professional quality, high fidelity digital video output.
• As with any software release, I-Site Studio 3.3 includes a multitude of minor enhancements. The number of selected objects and primitives can be dynamically displayed. The language interface is chosen automatically based on users’ PC settings. Users can submit reports to Maptek directly from within I-Site Studio.

Learn more about I-Site Studio

Fortescue Metals Group (Cloudbreak Mine) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia recently purchased an I-Site 4400LR system plus vehicle mount system. To introduce greater efficiency for end of month and stockpile surveys.

Ok Tedi Mining Ltd which produces copper, gold and silver concentrate has purchased an I-Site 4400LR laser scanner with 3 I-Site Studio licences. The Ok Tedi mine is located in the mountainous jungle of Papua New Guinea’s Western Province. The system will be used for mine survey and regular volume reporting.

New Maptek™ vehicle mount increases survey efficiency

An innovative device allows Maptek™ I-Site™ laser scanners to be mounted on site survey vehicles, and operated remotely from the cab, saving time and improving safety.

Australian trials have proved the value of the ruggedised, shock absorbing mount which attaches an I-Site 4400 series scanner to a common survey vehicle. Typical stockpile and pit surveys have been conducted in 35% less time.

Reduced tripod setup accounts for most of the time savings, with further gains in the simultaneous acquisition of high resolution top of coal data compared to total station methods.

The mount can be left on the vehicle permanently, while the built-in ‘quick-connect’ power and LAN adapter, combined with a quick release mechanism, allow the scanner to be easily removed for safe storage.

Recent trials scanning coal highwalls, active mining areas and iron ore stockpiles have proved the flexibility and efficiency of the vehicle mount system.

'At one site, we installed roof racks AND the mount on a regular site vehicle in around 30 minutes after arrival', said Jason Richards, I-Site Sales Manager, Australia. 'We were ready to start scanning just as the site manager came out with a request for a previously unscheduled survey of the pit and ROM pad'.

'Stop-go scanning means greater coverage and eliminates tripod setup time', added Richards. 'A job that would have taken 2 surveyors 4 days, was completed in 1 day by 1 surveyor. And we're talking deliverable reports and accurate volumes in that time.'

‘Being able to drive around the stockpiles to quickly collect data for accurate volumes is a huge benefit when you’ve got a deadline, such as an ore train arriving in one hour', he concluded.

With the new mount, there is no need to use specially prepared vehicles. A bigger pool of site vehicles can be called on, and downtime is minimal when swapping between vehicles.

Reducing the need to walk over dangerous ground, and limiting the scanner carry time, improve health and safety. Interruption to other site operations is virtually eliminated.

In summary, the benefits of mobile scanning with the I-Site 4400 mount include coverage of large areas in much less time, money saved on equipment, and safer site survey practices.

NEW VULCAN DEVELOPMENT – BEYOND VULCAN 8

News is to hand from the global Vulcan product team on developments gathering pace for the next Vulcan release.

Block Caving 

A new module will encapsulate new functionality being designed specifically for long term planning of underground projects which are mined by the Block Caving method.
This module, which is undergoing industry testing before release, allows users to quickly simulate the dilution of material and its economic assessment, and calculate high economic extraction, sequencing, and long-term planning.
Integrated with visual and statistics tools, Block Caving is based on Vulcan’s powerful block modelling. All calculations and data manipulations are set up in a smart and flexible interface which simplifies the problem setup, saving time and allowing users to explore more alternatives quicker.

Chronos

Multiple enhancements are underway for Maptek’s scheduling module, Chronos.

Advanced Optimisation options will provide users with an interface to most of the advanced optimisation settings available in CPLEX. Every setting accessible through the command line solver will be available in the Chronos Problem Setup panel.
The same level of information on the optimisation progress will also be available through the Vulcan graphical console. This allows the optimisation process to be executed in the background, and interrupted through the Chronos menu, giving the graphical interface almost the same level of control as the command line interface.

Parallel Optimisation will allow users to take full advantage of multi core CPUs to run and solve optimisation problems, with significantly higher levels of performance. Given that the complexity of the process requires high amounts of CPU time, Parallel Optimisation has been upgraded to CPLEX 12.1, enabling a multi-threaded optimisation process as standard.

Short Term Scheduling will allow users to quickly generate short term plans for one or several open pit mines simultaneously. The user interface is fully configurable, allowing users to handle the objectives for the mine and the plant, using and managing multiple stockpiles automatically. This new tool will generate:

• Charts and interactive Excel or CSV reports of movements in the mine and plant, and
• High precision triangulations with resulting cuts per period, which can be fed into advanced calculations in block models.

Maptek Vulcan 8 helps you do more with more!

During tough economic times, the workload doesn’t necessarily decrease. Faced with the need to do more, with fewer resources, mine planners must work smarter and faster. New tools and streamlined menu options in Maptek™ Vulcan™ 8 mean you can do more with more!

'Improvements to display options, file size output, auto-population of fields, floating panels, menu wizards and customisable settings all help to make Vulcan 8 more usable,’ said Eric Gonzalez, Maptek's Product Manager for Vulcan. 'We've revisited areas such as drillhole compositing, block model estimation and coalescing, and grade control, to name a few.'

Engineers can save time on the ground with the new open cut drill & blast tools in Vulcan 8. On-screen preview of drill & blast patterns eliminates potential layout problems before a blast is even set. The new double stitching option allows extra holes to be inserted midway between previously created blast holes using the same or completely different hole design parameters. Excessive toe burdens can be handled by adding holes around the blast perimeter. 

In a dynamic mine environment, surfaces are always changing, and the effects ripple through the planning process. Vulcan 8 allows the depth of blast holes to be recalculated as a group to reflect the new surface, saving time and reducing errors. Holes can still be edited individually, with alternatives for maintaining the 2D collar location, or 3D vector of angled holes. New editing options allow selection of holes by echelon, reversal of row direction, renaming of blasts, and customisation of the popular datatip display. 

Safety is crucial underground. Vulcan 8 directly addresses safety and regulatory issues. Engineers will appreciate the drillhole warning which calculates how far a drillhole is from blast areas. The display highlights holes which are too close, allowing re-design of drifts if necessary. Similarly, the proximity alert allows engineers to easily check designs for existing voids.

Cost benefit analysis options mean better decisions about mining projects can be made based on the estimated revenue. The new underground stope analyser in Vulcan 8 allows engineers to optimise mine plans based on different cut-off limits, with a time-saving global gradient tool to ensure adjustments in one area are automatically updated in overall designs.

'New tools help users identify and control contaminants, assign dollar values to mining blocks, apply a discount for benches to calculate NPV, and limit the amount mined by bench or face restriction. Simple changes like setting a time lag between the start and finish of consecutive faces go direct to the heart of site safety’, said Gonzalez.

'Coal geologists dream of intuitive modelling - Vulcan 8's new integrated stratigraphic modelling technique moves from database to geological model in 5 logical steps', he added. 

The final step showcases our unique block modelling technique, HARP (Horizon Adaptive Rectangular Prism). HARP's non-rectangular block models easily handle reverse faults and very thin horizons, and can be reserved against complex 3D solid shapes such as pit cutbacks and mining blocks. A single file contains all the structural, quality, faulting and associated data; thousands of variables per block are permitted. Geological resolution and stratigraphic fidelity are preserved. Vulcan’s extensive geostatistical tools can also be applied to HARP models. 

Smarter panels and enhanced data security are welcome additions. Every file type associated with stratigraphic modelling can now be created and accessed from one user-defined directory. The interconnected workflow means that changes can be made to data at any stage in the stratigraphic modelling process; it can then be re-run without needing to start back at the beginning. 

The overall impact of Vulcan 8 is ease of use and improved connectivity. Accuracy and quality standards have been maintained while increasing efficiency and productivity. Try Vulcan 8 today to see how you CAN do more!

Learn more about Vulcan 8

Newmont selects Maptek™ technology to enhance performance

Newmont Mining Corporation has selected the Maptek MineSuite™ Production Management Information System for implementation at their Leeville and Midas underground gold operations in Nevada, USA.

MineSuite will fulfil Newmont's key requirements for increased productivity and performance by providing shift managers with real-time information on production as well as the status of equipment, delays and assignments.

Another key benefit of the MineSuite system is decreased maintenance downtime. This results from accurate reporting and the ability to receive real-time maintenance information in the underground environment during the current shift.

Data is collected and processed from underground equipment and infrastructure, with in-shift and end-of-period information and reports fed back to supervisors for short term planning.

'In the current economic climate, mining companies are searching for better ways of applying their assets to achieve production and grade targets. Mines are choosing Maptek because our MineSuite system is customisable to their site, delivering results they need to meet their objectives,' said Jon Larson, General Manager, North America.

'Moreover, Newmont wanted to partner with a vendor interested in solving not only technical issues but also the business requirements of the sites,' Larson added. 'Maptek is now uniquely positioned to deliver resource modelling and mine planning through Vulcan, production execution; management and reporting solutions with MineSuite; and material tracking using I-Site scanning systems.' 

MineSuite will also provide Newmont with a proximity awareness tool, which improves safety by alerting operators in cabs to other vehicles in the vicinity. New voice communication, process control and automation systems which have recently been installed at Midas and Leeville enable the streaming of tracking data in real time. 

Maptek staff are working closely with Newmont to develop and implement the appropriate solution for the distinct requirements of the Leeville and Midas sites. 

Maptek I-Site Australasian Sales Manager, Jason Richards (standing), demonstrates the features and functionality of the HDS4400 long range scanner to Leica Geosystems technical and sales staff

Maptek partners with Leica Geosystems on I-Site
long range scanners

Leica Geosystems’ Geospatial Solutions Division, which includes HDS™ terrestrial laser scanning products, has selected Maptek to cooperate on a long range laser scanner and associated software.

Leica Geosystems has entered into a global OEM Supply Agreement with Maptek that will facilitate the supply of Maptek’s I-Site products to Leica Geosystems. 
The partnership follows many months of competitive evaluation and negotiation. Technical demonstrations by Maptek in Leica Geosystems’ Heerbrugg, Switzerland headquarters were followed by a comprehensive qualification of Maptek’s manufacturing facility in Adelaide, South Australia.

‘The Maptek partnership promises to be especially beneficial in certain geographic regions. The first long range scanners were delivered to Leica in January 2009 for marketing into the Russian, Eastern Bloc and Asian markets,’ said Jürgen Dold, President of Leica Geosystems’ Geospatial Solutions Division.
‘The OEM Supply Agreement is based on current products and may also be extended to next generation products.’

‘Maptek’s high-performance I-Site 4400 laser scanning systems, Studio software package, and internal support organisation, combined with Leica Geosystems’ global distribution network and leadership position in the overall laser scanning industry, forms a winning partnership,’ said Maptek CEO, Barry Henderson.

‘The agreement represents a major step forward for Maptek commercially. Maptek can focus on vital I-Site R&D projects and delivering quality products as the I-Site team continues to evolve our technology,’ Henderson added.
‘The alliance serves to underpin the significant investment in Maptek’s manufacturing infrastructure and capabilities,’ he concluded.

Maptek and Leica Geosystems staff met in Adelaide in November 2008 to sign the OEM agreement.
Ten Leica Geosystems staff received intensive training over 4 days in Heerbrugg in January 2009. The training coincided with the delivery of the first 2 scanners, with further deliveries set for February and March.

‘Our industry-leading HDS™ laser scanners and software already effectively address short- and mid-range, high-accuracy as-built and topographic survey applications. This agreement with Maptek adds complementary, long-range scanning hardware and mining-specific software solutions for easier, faster and more accurate mine quantity surveys and mine mapping.’

Jürgen Dold
Leica Geosystems

Learn more about the I-Site 4400LR Scanner