2012 in review

Mintec expanded at an unprecedented rate in 2012.

Mintec hired at an unprecedented rate this year, which is probably just as well because on all fronts, 2012 proved to be one of the busiest 12 months in Mintec’s history.

On the product front, the company began 2012 focused on short-term planning, pushing hard on MineSight’s scheduling and planning applications. This meant continued integration of the tools in MineSight’s short-term planning suite – MineSight Interactive Planner, MineSight Haulage, MineSight Schedule Optimizer and Material Manager.

Clients also saw the integration of scheduling tools, such as MineSight Schedule Optimizer with visualization in MineSight 3D. The animation of schedules, and direct interaction between cuts and the scheduler make MSSO’s workflow infinitely more attractive.

The complexities of drillhole management were also made simpler with the release of MineSight Torque 2.2, which allowed composites to be imported from all supported data sources – ODBC, CSV and SQL.

Also in January, Mintec expanded its investment in education to the University of British Columbia, Canada, sponsoring an annual Award in Mining Engineering.

MineSight specialist, Andrew Garrity, takes branding to a whole new level at SME-Seattle in February.

In February, MineSight was front and center of SME-Seattle, as thousands of industry professionals attended the annual tradeshow organized by the Society for Mining Metallurgy and Exploration (SME). MineSight specialist, Ernesto Vivas, presented a case study about the steps required to create a practical monthly schedule for a hardrock open pit mine (La Caridad, Mexico) using MineSight Schedule Optimizer.

In the southern hemisphere, 4,500 meters above sea level, Mintec-Peru`s Ricardo Lanfranco and John Estano, were busy demonstrating MineSight`s capabilities to Buenaventura`s Uchucchacua mine, high in the Peruvian Andes.

After several hours’ driving the bumpy road from Lima, MineSight Peru manager, Ricardo Lanfranco (right) and colleague John Estano, senior consultant for geology and geostatistics, are within sight of the Uchucchacua mine.

Also in the field, Mintec’s resident raconteur, Mark Gabbitus, took the MineSight roadshow to Laos and Thailand. In Laos, the regional business development manager followed the Mekong River to Phonesack’s KSO gold mine where he upgraded the site to MineSight Version 7 and demonstrated its new features. Then it was on to the Ho Chi Minh trail and MMG’s Sepon copper-gold mine for another Version 7 installation.

Gabbitus was back on the road in March, this time in Kalimantan – the Indonesian part of Borneo – at the invitation of new Indonesian coal mining company, Kutai Energy. Meanwhile in Canada, Mintec’s Vancouver office expanded its trendy Yaletown offices to accommodate more technical staff. (There was a time you could have fit Vancouver’s staff in a phone booth – back when phone booths existed.)

April saw the launch of Mintec’s new website, which now offers a dynamic showcase of MineSight solutions via video and interactive graphics. The improved online presence only helped Mintec’s social media reach, which continued to expand via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo, Google + WordPress in 2012. Mintec’s blog, Dig This! has been viewed almost 8,000 times; its Facebook site thousands more. Such interest must surely have been aided by vivid exposure of events like Warrior Dash and the sight of Mintecers covered head to toe in mud baked by the Arizona sun. Click here for all the gory details!

Mintecers have never been afraid to get their hands dirty and a more down to earth group you couldn’t wish to meet! This year’s Mintec Warrior Dash team, we salute you!

Mintec hosted its 29^th annual seminar in May, this year re-branded MineQuest and rolled out as a global learning series staged by other Mintec offices later in 2012. At the Westward Look Resort in Tucson, five days of presentations, workshops, and one-on-one consultation made for an exceptional learning experience, and offered a tantalizing glimpse of the future.

Clients saw a preview of MineSight Atlas, a short-term planning tool set to achieve “killer application status” according to Mintec vice-president technical, Glenn Wylde. And fellow Perth office colleague, business development manager, Mark Gabbitus, unveiled MineSight Implicit Modeler, which will build surfaces and solids directly from drillholes and/or point data. MineSight’s new Unified Reserves Engine, MineSight Performance Manager, and MineSight Stope, also attracted attention. So too did the latest enhancements to MineSight Schedule Optimizer.

MineQuest 2012 gets under way in Tucson.

As ever, MineSight clients contributed significantly to MineQuest`s collaborative learning experience. Eight client presentations are available to watch here.

In July, we said goodbye to something of a Mintec legend in Don Guglielmin, a 21-year veteran of MineSight support and service to almost 50 mines from the Calgary, Canada office. Don moved into semi-retirement, but will continue as a consultant for Moose Mountain Technical Services – using MineSight, of course.

Semi-retirement agrees with Don Guglielmin.

Work on an ambitious schedule of new MineSight videos continued apace during the summer. A Mintec film crew contended with faulty aircraft and downed trees at and between various mine locations between northern British Columbia and Tucson.

Meanwhile in August, Mintec staff took a collective bow when the company was presented with a global business award. At Mintec headquarters in Tucson, chief operating officer Susan Wick and chairman Fred Banfield received the 2012 Excellence in Global Business Award from Arizona congressman Ron Barber and Carolita Oliveros, vice chair of the Arizona District Export Council.

“One of the great things about our country is that an idea and a person who really believes in an idea, can make things happen,” said Barber at the presentation ceremony. “When you look at what Fred thought about 42 years ago and where Mintec is today – over 200 employees worldwide, doing incredible work – it’s really a great tribute to the people who have made this possible.”

Better visualization and compatibility were at the heart of Mintec’s ‘bundle’ release of products in September. MineSight Version 7.5 headlined with improved versions of five products: MineSight 3D, MineSight Schedule Optimizer, MineSight Torque, MineSight Basis and MineSight Data Analyst. Also in September, Mintec released a seven-chapter product video and a testimonial driven support video just in time for MINExpo in Las Vegas, Sept. 24-26. Twelve Mintec staff attended the quadrennial event, which attracted 52,000 visitors – up 41 per cent from the 2008 event. The show didn’t disappoint.

Mintec chief operating officer Susan Wick and chairman Fred Banfield receive the 2012 Excellence in Global Business Award from Arizona congressman Ron Barber and Carolita Oliveros, vice chair of the Arizona District Export Council.

“In 30 years of attending mining events, it was definitely the busiest show, in terms of booth traffic, I have ever seen,” said Mintec president, John Davies. “At times, we had everyone talking to clients, potential clients, and giving demos. In fact, our technical team worked non-stop giving demos.”

Mintec`s formidable grade control tool, MineSight Axis, was the star of AusIMM’s Open Pit Operators’ Conference in Perth, Western Australia. The tool has been instrumental in solving grade control issues at Xstrata’s Black Star Open Pit mine, a major zinc producer in Mount Isa, Queensland. Xstrata grade control geologist, Tim Lukins, presented that success story in a paper co-authored by MineSight regional business development manager, Mark Gabbitus.

November saw successful MineQuest events staged by MineSight offices in Santiago, Lima and Hermosillo, Mexico.

Mintec executive assistant, Virginia Blackman, and regional client relations manager, Rudy Moctezuma, open the company’s Mexico office in Hermosillo.

Also in November, Hermosillo, was added to the growing list of Mintec branch offices worldwide. The office, about 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of Tucson, will serve the company’s growing client list in the region. Mintec’s London office celebrated its first anniversary and saw out the month represented at FinnMateria, Finland’s fourth annual mining exhibition.

Now Mintec is busy planning ahead, and looking forward to MineQuest 2013, its 30^th annual seminar in Tucson, April 15-19. Far from dwelling on 30 successful years, Mintec is unveiling nine new products aimed at further improving MineSight clients’ productivity.

MineSight Atlas will set a new standard in short-term planning products.

New for MineQuest 2013 will be:

• MineSight Atlas, an activity and resource-based scheduler.
• MineSight Implicit Modeler, a mathematical tool enabling geologists to build complex shapes directly from drillholes.
• MineSight Performance Manager, the newest, fully-integrated addition to MineSight’s operational product suite, featuring consolidated reporting and true mining analytics.
• MineSight Reserves, which unifies the consolidated power of MineSight’s reserve engines and features a completely integrated reserve calculation and reporting engine.
• MineSight Stope, a complete toolkit for stope design, scheduling and reporting.
• MineSight Dump Design, which designs dumps and stockpiles, targeting on a specified volume.
• MineSight Surface Resloping Tool, an invaluable addition to MineSight 3D’s Engineering Open Pit CAD, enabling engineers to reduce a shape (i.e. waste dump) to a desired final slope while balancing cut and fill.
• MineSight Sub-Blocking, which extends MineSight model files to convey detailed information along, for example, contact boundaries of geologic zones.
• Model Center, which initializes and manages models directly from MineSight 3D.

Until then, enjoy the holidays and we’ll see you in 2013.

Don of a new era

A rare photo of Mintec’s resident ironman, Don Guglielmin, stationary.

Forget Chuck Norris.

Meet Don Guglielmin.

Mintec’s resident iron man has yet to take a sick day after more than 21 years. He’d amassed 3,000 hours of overtime before he stopped counting it in 2003. At one time, almost 50 mines and clients depended on Don for service and support.

And somewhere in between, Don married Sherry, raised a family, and competed in (and won some!) marathons, ultra-marathons, winter and summer triathlons, biathlons, cross-country skiing, biking and speed-skating races.

In the Rockies, Don running the Jasper-Banff relay in 1984.

Don moves gracefully into semi-retirement July 5 with no regrets.

“I can honestly say I never could have imagined working for a better company,” says Don. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my twenty-one and a half years at Mintec, plus the additional nine years as a Mintec client (with Fording and Esso).

Don’s work rate is the stuff of legend; just ask Mintec president John Davies.

“Working with him is a singularly unpleasant experience,” says John. “On a road trip, Don’s typical schedule is: Get up at 5 a.m., run 400 miles before breakfast, eat a bowl of raw gravel for breakfast, work 15 hours nonstop with no food, then drive 2,000 miles overnight to get to the next client: All the time talking about the Chicago Blackhawks”.

With so many clients to serve, Don logged countless miles on the road, averaging 26 business trips a year between 1991 and 2000, including 36 in 1991!

“Being an Italian family man, the toughest thing was leaving Sherry and the kids on a sunny Sunday afternoon to fly out somewhere and having to miss my Sunday night family pasta feed.

An early family camping trip with wife, Sherry, and children, Faye, and Carlo.

“Flying back in at 1 a.m. on a Friday night/Saturday morning also smarted a little. I knew that Delta Friday night 11 p.m. flight from Salt Lake City all too well.”

An understanding family helped. Don still treasures a school poster project, created by his son Carlo many years ago. It reads in part:

My Dad’s name is Don. His responsibility is to support the family. Sometimes he needs to travel for work and so he can’t always be around.  To combat this, he is always here on weekends and is ready to do fun things (bike riding, hiking, skiing).

One particular road-trip in 1992 still looms large in Don’s memory. He recalls it being “routine stuff” at the time, but a little crazy looking back on it. We’ll call it, “The Four Corners of Wyoming”.

“I left Calgary on a Sunday afternoon, flew to Salt Lake, rented a car, and drove to southwest Wyoming to Rock Springs to the Bridger mine. I spent Monday and Tuesday there, and then drove through southern Wyoming to the Glenrock mine (after work of course, no travelling on company time) and spent Wednesday and Thursday there.

“After work, I drove to Wyoming’s northeast corner to Gillette, to do a demo on the Friday. After the full-day demo, I drove across northern Wyoming to Cody because I’d planned on seeing Old Faithful on the way back to Salt Lake. On the radio I heard that there was a 10k race on the Saturday, so I got up early and registered.

Don (right) with Mintecers (including pres. John Davies, second from left, and Mike England with wife Darlene, center) in El Tour de Tucson-1991.

“Wouldn’t you know it, I won my age group so there was no way I wasn’t going to wait around and get my medal.

“I drove up to Old Faithful and within five minutes, off it blasts. I ran back to the car and drove like a fiend to Salt Lake. I checked the rental back in and the guy looked at me and asked if this was really the correct mileage or if there was some mistake.

“I ran for the check-in counter. Just as I got there, I realized I had forgotten my wallet in the car. I dropped my bag and laptop and told the agent to watch it as I ran back to the car, got the wallet, did my check-in, ran through security, and to the gate.

“They had held the plane for me and I got the – ‘oh there you are’ – from the stewardess as they closed the door behind me and off we went.”

In front of the old Mintec office on Swan Road, Don (left) with good friends Don Mills, of Teck Coal, and Jim Gray of Moose Mountain Technical Services back in 1982. The trio had just completed a 10k in Phoenix.

As well as making his share of sales, especially in coal and oil sands, Don authored numerous procedures and associated programs. Many of his colleagues – not to mention several of his clients – are good friends and hiking/outdoors buddies.

“A part of me will certainly miss Mintec, but the timing just feels so right,” says Don, who plans on consulting part-time for B.C.-based, Moose Mountain Technical Services – using MineSight, of course.

Don has left the building.