MineQuest Santiago

 

More than 50 customers attended each day of MineQuest Santiago at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

MineSight’s Santiago branch is wrapping up another successful MineQuest event in Chile’s capital city. More than 50 customers attended the two-day annual seminar, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. It featured presentations and workshops by clients, as well as from specialists with MineSight and its new Hexagon Mining partners, Leica Geosystems Mining and SAFEmine.

The pursuit of productivity is at the core of MineQuest, a global collaboration between MineSight and its clients to get more from MineSight software. MineSight-Chile Branch Manager, Juan Martinez, reported excellent participation this year, with many positive messages about MineSight’s new role within Hexagon Mining. Carlos Daza of Leica Geosystems Mining, and Guillermo Surraco of SAFEmine gave presentations about the latest technologies on offer from their companies.

Juan Martinez

“Customers expressed good feedback about the current features of our tools and the plan of development of our products,” said Martinez. “There was lots of interest in the capabilities of Leica and SAFEmine, too.”

On the podium for Day 1 were geologist, Pedro Tapia, and short term planning engineer, Pablo Cruz, of KGHM Sierra Gorda. The duo presented how they implemented MineSight Axis at the Sierra Gorda copper mine in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile. The tool, used to manage, track and communicate drill and blast data, and optimize material classification, has been of great strategic benefit to Sierra Gorda with great results and much time saved. The duo reported that Axis had reduced some workflows from 90 minutes to 10 minutes.

Alvaro Peña, short term planning engineer with Anglo American Mantoverde presented how the implementation of MineSight has brought great benefits to the copper mine, located near Chañaral in Chile’s Atacama region. Great CAD tools and faster workflows were the biggest advantages MineSight has brought, according to Peña.

Luis Riquelme, long term planning engineer at Codelco Chile Division-Radomiro Tomic mine, explained the benefits of MineSight Schedule Optimizer (MSSO). The open pit mine in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile now uses MSSO in its long term planning and life of mine generation because previous software did not allow for optimization of mine plans.

MSSO allows Radomiro Tomic to generate very realistic plans, according to Riquelme, who added that the software is simple to use and allows the mine to quickly generate alternatives. The 64-bit version also allows the mine to run several plans at the same time.

Dates are already set for MineQuest 2015. Mark your calendars!

Tucson                  April 13-17

Perth                     June 17-19

Swakopmund    June 23-25

Santiago               Nov. 2-4

Lima                       Nov. 4-6

Hermosillo          Nov. 9-11

Atlas rolls with the punches

MineSight Atlas is an activity and resource based mine scheduler that is fast becoming the standard for activity based mine scheduling.

“Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the mouth.”

– Mike Tyson

It’s not exactly ancient philosophy, but Mike Tyson’s observation actually captures the loose relationship between mine planning and mine execution quite well. “Plan the work and work the plan” is, of course, our best intention, however things happen. The execution stage of any plan can be disrupted by several events. At these key points, decisions need to be made quickly based on the available information. Schedules often will require re-running and then re-communicating to operations. Three keys are vital to this process being successful:

1. The information to re-align the plan.
2. The tools to reschedule.
3. Strong communication between planning and operations.

 

Atlas visualizes an activity routed destination, and haul route in the viewer.

Traditionally, mine planners will create a short term plan using several tools; one for the design and reserves; another for haul fleet calculations; and another for activity scheduling. Undoubtedly this will all come together in a well-used but often tired spreadsheet.

Spreadsheets, as much as we love them, are notorious for errors and for being created by someone who has long left the company. Short term planning spreadsheets often carry the mystique of a clandestine period when things were truly understood. Nowadays the planner is following this ancient recipe. Traditional short term planning methods like this breed poor and false communication. The modern mine planner often resembles James Anderson in TV’s MacGyver – cobbling something together right at the last second.

MineSight Atlas is an activity and resource based mine scheduler that is fast becoming the standard for activity based mine scheduling. Atlas has all the functionality to produce the initial plan for both open pit and underground mines. Soon, Atlas will be able to connect directly to operations in order to improve the delivery of the plan for execution, and also receive key information to re-schedule when someone or something is punched in the mouth; e.g. the primary shovel has significant unplanned down time. The ability to consolidate all the required parameters for scheduling into a single product sets Atlas apart in the busy market of mine scheduling tools.

Consolidating all your required parameters for scheduling into a single products lets you have your pie and eat it – without messy spreadsheets.

Hexagon Mining brings innovation to the mining industry through several point solution companies. However, often the hardest problems are solved with the simplest concepts. Communication – the simplest idea of all our methods provides in one broad stroke the answer to so many of our technical challenges. MacGyver, struggling to gather available information to make a last-minute decision – is replaced by the smooth, well-informed class of James Bond. Communication between MineSight Atlas and the world of operations will start with Leica Jigsaw and Devex SmartMineUG. This approach will set the standard for mine planning and mine operations being connected: One product to make the plan, and an engineered approach to communicating this plan to its clients.

Good communication is not just talking – but listening. So, closing the loop completely brings key events and metrics from the operations ring back to the planning room. The punch in the mouth events and the other information about how the plan is executing can be passed back to Atlas in order to improve the next planning cycle or make rapid adjustments to the current schedule.

With products like MineSight Atlas, Hexagon Mining is not only solving miners’ scheduling requirements with a single product, but also initiating communication between often siloed domains in a way that’s shaping smart change.

Glenn Wylde | MineSight Vice President – Technical

Glenn has spent 18 years in the mining industry, initially working in iron ore and copper before moving into consulting for eight years. His consulting work focused primarily on feasibility and equipment studies. Commencing with MineSight almost eight years ago as Perth General Manager, Glenn has since become Vice President – Technical, leading development company wide.

Modest but momentous

Hexagon Mining President, Guilherme Bastos, (left) SAFEmine’s Peter Stegmaier and Haydn Roberts (right) from Leica Geosystems Mining join MineSight Chairman and Founder Fred Banfield at July’s acquisition celebration in Tucson.

MineSight President John Davies reflects on this month’s acquisition of the company by Hexagon AB and the bright future ahead for Hexagon Mining.

At MineSight’s Tucson headquarters in July, Chairman and Founder Fred Banfield welcomed some of our new Hexagon Mining partners. Hexagon Mining President Guilherme Bastos, SAFEmine’s Peter Stegmaier and Haydn Roberts from Leica Geosystems Mining had made the trip. MineSight staff presented Fred with a toy drone and a card. We all had lunch and then it was back to work.

It was a modest way to acknowledge the most momentous event in MineSight’s 44-year history; that of its acquisition by Hexagon. But then that’s in keeping with how MineSight has always done business.

MineSight has quietly become the industry leader in developing mine planning and mine modeling software. Joining Hexagon Mining is worthy of some fanfare. Hexagon is the first global technology integrator to build a true mining vertical, with a span of technologies from exploration to operation.

MineSight’s capabilities in planning, scheduling and operational software make this a perfect fit with Hexagon Mining’s other exceptional technologies: fleet management and high precision guidance from Leica Geosystems Mining, underground asset control from Devex, and operational safety from SAFEMine.

Staff at MineSight’s Tucson headquarters have been keeping their wits about them since Chairman Fred Banfield received a toy drone.

Hexagon Mining comprises more than 700 staff. Every one of those staff is solely focused on the design, planning and daily operational requirements of the mine.

How does MineSight fit into the picture? Our products are used to explore, model, design, schedule and operate.

MineSight offers geologic interpretation and analysis for drillholes and topography surfaces. We then build a model. An accurate, reliable model is the key to the mining process. A mistake here can cost millions. All the characteristics we need for evaluating the mine are included – rock type, hardness, grades, alteration – any characteristics we can measure in a drillhole or interpret from drillholes and other samples: that may be old underground workings, or downhole geophysics, or surfaces samples. All this collected and measured data is used to build up a model that can be used downstream in the design and scheduling and operations phase.

Next we need to design the mine. There are many options here – underground or open pit – size of the ultimate design, intermediate design phases. Economics is crucial; sizing involves capital expenditure and operating expense decisions. Fleet size, equipment size all are influenced by the mine design and vice versa. MineSight has tools to design, but good engineering is still absolutely essential at this stage.

Now we have a model and a design, the next critical step is scheduling the operation. At the feasibility level, we’re concerned about a long term schedule that can be 20 years. And usually we’re trying to maximize the operations NPV. Once the mine is up and operating, we’re providing tools for medium and short term scheduling, where the operations considerations (equipment, access) become driving forces. We have solutions for all the scheduling needs of a mine, down to detailed, day to day, activity based scheduling.

Four amigos – Guilherme Bastos, Peter Stegmaier, Fred Banfield and Haydn Roberts.

Operations are where the money is made on a daily basis. We offer solutions for grade control (what material to dig and where to send it), drill and blast (optimizing fragmentation to minimize energy cost in the mill), reconciliation (so we know what happened and how to correct it when things go wrong). MineSight’s operations solutions are where we intersect with our new partners. We are pushing and pulling all sorts of data to and from FMS, DFMS, and monitoring systems. The ultimate destination is a centralized data warehouse, with BI/BA dashboards to display what is going on. For clients that means a vital window on operational costs and production goals, helping them save time and money unfettered by spreadsheets and speculation.

Hexagon Mining will be a formidable force in the industry. MineSight is excited to play its part in a movement that’s shaping smart change.

MineQuest Down Under

 

Clients made the most of their chance to share in MineSight’s pursuit of productivity at MineQuest-Perth last week.

Nearly 40 customers attended the annual seminar at Fremantle’s Esplanade Hotel, June 19-20. With MineSight’s acquisition just days away, Vice President-Technical, Glenn Wylde, opened MineQuest by explaining how MineSight fits into Hexagon and its newly created mining division. He offered an overview of MineSight product development and outlined the role of MineSight’s new partners within Hexagon Mining. Two of those companies – SAFEmine and Leica Geosystems – were in attendance.

“Clients are encouraged, not only because they know that MineSight products and service will be just as good, but because of the potential offered by Hexagon,” said Wylde.

Glenn Wylde

“MineSight has a great opportunity to leverage some of the tools and abilities from the other technologies within the Hexagon group. Whether that means more functionality for our plotting tools, added GIS abilities, or just better interaction with Leica Jigsaw and SAFEmine, the potential for MineSight and Hexagon Mining is huge.”

News of more detailed MineSight product development came in a busy schedule of presentations.

Product Manager-Operations Products, Mark Gabbitus, then presented MineSight Implicit Modeler, which has made huge strides since its release barely a year ago. The latest improvement, added just this week, sees the introduction of true thickness logic, which will make life considerably easier for anyone modeling coal.

Next up were Atlas, Planner and the new unfolding utilities, comprising the Relative Surface Interpolator and Dynamic Unfolding.

MineSight’s Kristin Trappitt and Grant McEwen, with Matt Cotterell of Snowden.

MineSight Specialist Verne Vice led the after-lunch presentations, providing tips and tricks to working with MineSight 3D. Fellow Specialist Rohan Anchan presented the new and improved MineSight Reserve, which impressed one client sufficiently that he intends to implement it onsite.

Mark Gabbitus returned to discuss MineSight Performance Manager. MSPM allows you to track key metrics in the drill and blast process, dig rates and truck locations. This allows you to reconcile and improve the blasting and mining process for greater productivity and profit.

Jack Gomez (Brockman Mining), Matthew Desmond (Leica Geosystems), Dean McAllister (SAFEmine)

MineSight Specialist Andrew Baxter wrapped up Day 1, showing off the new Stope and underground design tools. Combined with Atlas, these tools make MineSight a complete underground solution for any mine’s engineering department.

Over drinks and canapés there was plenty to network about, from the mining industry and software needs to the World Cup and that amazing goal by Aussie striker Tim Cahill!

At least one client is convinced of MineSight’s progress.

“I believe the software has come forward in leaps and bounds,” said Rodney Drown, Kimberley Metals Group Mining Engineer. “It has made my engineering life easier and has provided an informative and robust system to create business strategies for the companies that I have used MineSight with.”

Sub-blocking, creating better grade models with Implicit Modeling and Unfolding, and improvements to MineSight Torque (particularly its compositing functionality) all featured in a busy Day 2.

MineSight staff Cassandra McCredden, Céleste Knight and Andrew Kaushal.

Principal MineSight Specialist Kristin Trappitt discussed using Value of Information to better define drill programs and improve mine revenue. His talk incorporated using conditional simulation and MineSight Economic Planner to create values for the blocks and then produce an optimized pit.

Rohan Anchan wrapped up the day’s last session with Plotting for Productivity. This included the changes made to plotting within MineSight 3D, which make the process so much easier for users.

“MineQuest Perth produced some excellent questions, requests and feedback,” said Wylde. “It was great to see so many clients there and good to catch up with those who haven’t needed technical support for a while. Thanks to all the clients; to our new partners in the Hexagon family; and to the MineSight staff for presenting such a great MineQuest.”

Elegant vision for a complex industry

 

At the MGM Grand Arena, Hexagon President and CEO Ola Rollén kicks off HxGN LIVE with a keynote address, the Disruptive Power of Transformation. Later, he outlined his vision for Hexagon Mining.

A perfect fit is how Hexagon President and CEO, Ola Rollén describes MineSight’s role in Hexagon Mining.

“We’re creating what we call the life of a mine, which starts with exploration, the design, and then operation and obviously MineSight fits perfectly into design,” said Rollén at HxGN LIVE, the company’s annual users’ show in Las Vegas, June 2-5.

Hexagon President and CEO, Ola Rollén.

“We now need to connect the design phase and the planning phases in the mining operation with operations, such as fleet management, surveying and so on, so we’re really excited about having MineSight.”

In an interview, Rollén explained his vision for Hexagon Mining, the company’s newest division, which unites MineSight with Leica Geosystems, Devex and SAFEmine.

“This Hexagon Mining group will actually be a little less than five percent of our total sales turnover, so that might sound small, but if we look at future potential we believe that we can make great strides and fantastic inroads into the mining industry,” he said.

“We believe we really have something to offer to the big mining companies, so we’re excited about it and I think this could grow to become something like 10 to 15 percent of total sales.”

Rollén offered a straightforward view of the challenges facing the mining industry.

Hexagon Mining President, Guilherme Bastos, (centre) flanked by (from left) Leica Geosystems’ Haydn Roberts, Urs Rothacher of SAFEmine, Devex’s Rodrigo Marinho and MineSight’s John Davies.

“‘Big data’ is one of these buzz words … but what I do believe in is connectivity. I think that we need to connect planners, operators, executives, maintenance people and so on in the operation of a mine, and I think as you connect them and you bring them together and they all share the same information, that is when you see productivity happening.

“So whether you call it big data or simply connecting people, I’d prefer to connect people actually.”

More than 3,500 people from over 80 countries attended the MGM Grand for HxGN LIVE, a showcase for Hexagon’s industry-leading design, metrology and visualization technologies. The show featured a busy Mining Track, packed with live TV panel discussions, targeted presentations, new technology previews, interactive demos and networking events.

For more on that story, click here.

MineSight’s Jose Sanchez (left) chairs a discussion featuring John Davies, (MineSight) Urs Rothacher, (SAFEmine) Haydn Roberts, (Leica Geosystems) and Hexagon Mining Pres. Guilherme Bastos.

For TV highlights of HxGN LIVE, visit tv.hxgnlive.com

Hexagon will offer two HxGN LIVE events in 2015: Las Vegas, June 1-4, and Hong Kong, Nov. 18-20. Find out more at 2014.hxgnlive.com

The beginning of an era

 

At HxGN LIVE in Las Vegas this week is Hexagon Mining President, Guilherme Bastos, (centre) flanked by (from left) Leica Geosystems’ Haydn Roberts, Urs Rothacher of SAFEmine, Devex’s Rodrigo Marinho and MineSight’s John Davies.

Room 107 at the MGM Grand might have been the only place busier than Starbucks at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. The early-morning keynote, titled ‘Life of Mine,’ assembled the leaders of Hexagon Mining – sometimes referred to by each other as The Amigos. It also attracted a full house, a sure sign of the mining industry’s expectations of Hexagon’s newest division – part of Hexagon Solutions.

Hexagon’s annual users’ show, HxGN LIVE, featured a busy Mining Track, packed with live TV panel discussions, targeted presentations, new technology previews, interactive demos and networking events. Taking centrestage under the Synergy banner in The Zone – a tradeshow floor the size of three football fields – were Hexagon Mining’s brands, Devex, Leica Geosystems, MineSight and SAFEmine.

It was Tuesday’s keynote though that marked the formal debut of The Amigos and the bold message from their boss.

MineSight Specialist Jose Sanchez (left) moderates a live TV panel discussion featuring ‘the four amigos,’ John Davies, (MineSight) Urs Rothacher, (SAFEmine) Haydn Roberts, (Leica Geosystems) and Hexagon Mining President, Guilherme Bastos.

“Hexagon has united the best companies in key areas of the mining industry,” Hexagon Mining President, Guilherme Bastos told the audience. “We believe the industry needs a supplier with a 360-degree vision, connecting the best products, capabilities and solutions.

“It’s a great moment for us, and – we believe – for the mining industry.”

Bastos explained Hexagon Mining’s vision of a comprehensive mining solution – one partner for modelling, designing, planning and scheduling, surveying, operations, safety, process automation, collaborative control rooms and special mining solutions.

Adding detail to that vision were Devex’s Rodrigo Marinho, MineSight’s John Davies, Leica Geosystems’ Haydn Roberts and Urs Rothacher of SAFEmine. The latter three joined Bastos in a live, moderated TV discussion later the same day.

Hexagon President and CEO Ola Rollén explains The Disruptive Power of Transformation.

Hexagon is the first company to assemble major mining technology layers into one vertical, providing a unified and focused solution for mining from pit to port. Hexagon Mining will also exploit Hexagon’s existing portfolio of measurement technologies already used at mines – survey and photogrammetry, for instance.

“I was familiar with aspects of Hexagon’s product portfolio, but I didn’t appreciate how advanced and strong, in terms of market penetration, some of the individual products were,” said Mining Journal editor, Richard Roberts. “The vision and will to bring these together – pretty quickly! – is impressive.”

Appearing at Monday night’s opening Keynote address, Hexagon Solutions President, Cláudio Simão, described a vision of smart mining through connectivity, integration and automation. This also struck a chord with Roberts.

Hexagon Solutions President Cláudio Simão takes the stage at HxGN LIVE’s opening night keynote.

“Technology convergence and leverage are themes that clearly play well at a time when even investment bank analysts are talking about the vital role technology will play in the next phase of the mining industry’s productivity/efficiency push,” said Roberts.

One major mining client, who preferred to remain anonymous, appreciated the keynote message from Hexagon CEO and President, Ola Rollén.

“I was impressed by his vision for simplicity, integration and convergence of systems, and about the importance of information technology in concert with operational technology in the disruptive power of transformation.”

Ola Rollén reaffirmed that vision on Wednesday.

“I think that we need to connect planners, operators, executives, and maintenance people in the operation of a mine,” said Rollén. “As you connect them and you bring them together and they all share the same information, that is when you see productivity happening.

“’Big data’ is one of these buzz words … I’d prefer to connect people, actually.”

Booth traffic was brisk at MineSight’s stand under the Synergy banner in The Zone at HxGN LIVE.

MineSight debuts at HxGN LIVE

A new chapter in MineSight’s history opened today at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, as Hexagon’s annual users’ show kicked off in style.

Thousands of delegates attend HxGN LIVE, which this year features more than 100 technologies and more than 400 technical, educational and hands-on workshops. ‘The Disruptive Power of Transformation,’ a much-anticipated keynote address by Hexagon President and CEO, Ola Rollén, caps Day 1 this evening.

Central to HxGN LIVE’s ‘Synergy Solutions’ track is MineSight, which appears in the new Hexagon Mining division alongside Leica Geosystems, Devex and SAFEmine. MineSight President John Davies and Vice President-Technical, Glenn Wylde, are dividing time between appearing in panel discussions, podcasts and interviews while Senior MineSight Specialists Alyson Cartwright and Jose Sanchez field questions at a MineSight stand. Chairman-Founder Fred Banfield, COO Susan Wick and other MineSight staff are also attending.

Hexagon is expected to complete its acquisition of MineSight later in June. Appearing at HxGN LIVE this week is part of a transition for MineSight, which began in April when news of the acquisition was announced.

In the video to debut at HxGN LIVE, John Davies introduces MineSight to Hexagon users while putting into context what Hexagon’s acquisition means.

“MineSight and Hexagon: Together, we’re the smarter solution.”

Bookmark http://hxgnlive.com/ for updates.

For those unable to attend the conference, HxGN LIVE offers more than four days of online streaming of select keynotes and popular content via HxGN LIVE TV. Access live content and re-caps on desktops or mobile devices. Free registration is available and viewing instructions will be e-mailed.

Knowledge is power @ HxGN LIVE

 

Join Mintec June2-5 in Las Vegas for HxGN LIVE, Hexagon’s annual international users’ conference. Learn about cutting-edge mining technology and see the future of mining software offered by Mintec and its Hexagon partners, Leica Geosystems Mining, Devex and SAFEmine.

Look forward to four exciting days of exclusive technology previews, a showcase of best practices, motivating speakers, panel discussions and unlimited networking.

“This is an excellent opportunity for MineSight clients to see first-hand the benefits of joining the Hexagon family,” said Mintec President John Davies. “With our new partners Leica Mining, Devex and SAFEmine, Hexagon’s mining division will provide a seamless, integrated link between mine planning and real-time fleet management – configurable to client needs and requirements.

Mintec President, John Davies.

“In conjunction with Hexagon’s Intergraph GIS and CAD products, as well as Leica hardware and software for surveying, scanning and photogrammetry, we have access to tools and technologies to leap ahead of our competition and be the force to be reckoned in the mining industry.”

Held at the Las Vegas MGM Grand, HxGN LIVE is Hexagon’s premier gathering of business leaders, software developers, industry analysts, engineers and other metrology professionals to share ideas, insights and best practices for success.

It offers three full days of strategy and learning, not only from Hexagon’s mining solution experts and partners, but from business and technology leaders from some of the world’s most successful organizations.

Setting HxGN Live apart is its technology showcase, an immersive, hands-on exhibit area that lets attendees experience smart, efficient, inspiring technology solutions in real-world environments. It’s not a traditional trade show floor: It’s the ideal place to acquire powerful knowledge for driving productivity.

Mintec announced it had agreed to be acquired by Hexagon on April 14. The deal is expected to be finalized in June. Hexagon is a leading global provider of design, measurement and visualization technologies. It employs 14,000 staff in 40 countries and offers measurement technology, from Metrology to Surveying, advanced CAD, GIS, drones, laser scanning, and mapping applications.

For more information and registration, click here.