Wednesday, June 8th, 2011
Customers and staff gathered at the Vines Resort north of Perth, during the heat of early April, to share experiences of the application of Maptek products.
More than 100 registrants from 6 countries made the trip to Western Australia, with industry networking cited as one of the greatest benefits of attending. Maptek themes included new techniques in modelling, survey, optimisation and data integration. Interesting customer case studies covered all resource types – iron ore, coal, potash, diamonds and gold.New developments in Vulcan, including the underground stope optimiser and rapid pit phase design, drew strong interest from the audience. Workshops included hands-on demonstrations of the I-Site 8800 and the Z&F scanners. Eureka and BlastLogic were showcased as products to watch.
Social networking at welcome drinks and poolside gourmet barbecue continued at the dinner which featured a quiz around Maptek, mining and golfing themes.
The final session promised exciting developments in technology, software architecture and product integration. Maptek staff and customers made the most of the opportunity to discuss needs and solutions in an open forum.
‘I highly recommend people to come to conferences. Even if some presentations are not oriented towards your specific field, there are still a lot of things to learn. I specialise in coal but in the metals talks I learnt techniques and shortcuts. Talking to a lot of people and exchanging ideas is a very worthwhile experience. The workshops are a great way to learn new techniques.’
Mike Kuligowski, Peabody Energy, St Louis
‘The best thing about the conference was the interaction and social contact with other Maptek users. It really opened my mind to the way that Vulcan is used in other companies and for other commodities. It was good to see new products which can improve the quality of our work. And all in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.’
Anne-Audrey Latscha, Rio Tinto
‘Previewing the Vulcan 8.1 features before they were rolled out, and seeing how Vulcan is used in other companies was very valuable. It was great to meet Maptek staff, especially those with whom you’ve only spoken on the phone.’
Hamish Pescini, Solid Energy New Zealand
‘The best thing about the conference was meeting face to face, and having dinner and drinks with Maptek people. It was valuable to talk about issues and future enhancements, and keep up with technology developments.’
David Hurley, Perilya Limited