Case Study 1 – Hamersley Iron (Rio Tinto) Western Australia
Maptek’s association with Hamersley Iron began in the late 80s. Maptek now provides a comprehensive range of software and services to Hamersley Iron. VULCAN is installed across the HI operations in the Pilbara. Using the same system at the different mines improves the mobility of staff between sites and HQ, and allows corporate planners to optimise their long-term strategies.
At HI mine sites and their Dampier port facilities, I-SiTE has streamlined stockpile management. Fast, safe and accurate, remote scanning is a cost-effective alternative to conventional photogrammetric and ground-based survey methods. Uses include volume calculations, before and after scans of blast faces, and even scanning ship holds to determine volumes and shipping weights.
MineSuite is being implemented at several HI sites to improve fleet management, product tracking and strategic planning.
Maptek is working on developments to link VULCAN and MineSuite, which will deliver further benefits.
Maptek IT is the outsourced service provider of application development and support for all of Hamersley Iron's technical applications at the mines, port and head office. Recently, Maptek IT devised a tailored web site to distribute production reports to the various divisions and sites, an easy to use method of comparing key performance indicators.
Maptek IT is now the chosen provider of development and support for technical applications for Rio Tinto shared business services.
Case Study 2 – MRN Brazil
Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN) extracts and processes bauxite ore in Brazil. Even in extreme conditions (95% humidity and temperatures of 40ºC) the I-SiTE 3D Laser Imaging system tackled mine surveying tasks at the MRN operations. Surveying complex shapes in 3D, getting to inaccessible areas and obtaining more accurate volume calculations all contribute to better planning and material movement control.
3D scan data was used to develop a system to simulate the shiploader process, predicteing delay times could be reduced by up to two hours per ship, a considerable increase in productivity and cost saving. For modelling revegetation, I-SiTE proved more accurate than the current manual method, covering a larger area in significantly less time, leaving the engineer time to do more analysis.
Surveying stockpiles was ten times faster than ordinary methods, a productivity increase of 200 stockpiles per month, allowing daily monitoring of every stockpile. An old mineral washing structure earmarked for demolition was surveyed in 3D and an exact model was produced to calculate the volume of material involved.
Surveys in the mine itself were conducted without interrupting any of the mining operations, saving time and money. Exact surveying of the waste-ore boundaries helps floor and production control, realising further cost benefits. I-SiTE also captures the natural colors of the scene, enhancing mapping and geotechnical analysis.
I-SiTE proved a versatile tool for all survey and measurement tasks on the mine site and associated production plants and shiploading facilities.
Case Study 3 – Neves Corvo Mine (Sociedade Mineira de Neves Corvo SA) - Portugal
VULCAN block modelling routines, implemented at the Neves Corvo mine, resulted in a previously unrealised spatial representation of this highly complex copper-tin-zinc deposit. As development of the orebody progressed, the existing in-house 2D block modelling system could not deliver a comprehensive 3D understanding of orebody geometry. The mine looked to VULCAN to provide a total 3D solution.
The mineralogy and structure of the orebody is extremely complex, with highly variable spatial relationships between 22 different ore types. Using VULCAN, a fully automated process created block models for the different working areas of the mine, taking into account the varying grades of ore.
The benefits of using VULCAN included a significant reduction in block model file size, the ability to update the operational block models on-screen, and easy creation of grade control plans in any orientation. Geologists can now fully appreciate and communicate the significant structural complexity of this orebody to the mining department, so they can maximise their mine planning.