Ian Jones and Anthony Fraser, RPMGlobal, Australia, discuss 'intelligent mining' and detail a solution that is helping mine operators realise increased efficiency, productivity and safety.

I n 2018, commodity prices experienced a steady increase and it is predicted that the mining industry is poised for even more growth. However, the scars of

the most recent downturn are still felt today, with companies employing a more disciplined and conservative approach to investment than ever before. These controlled investments are still geared towards digitisation, with most companies realising the potential for increased productivity, efficiency and safety.

According to last year’s InfoBrief from the International Data Corporation (IDC), successful enablement of the digital mine is only possible with an integrated mining operational platform. The InfoBrief, titled ‘Transforming the Core of Mining Operations’, notes that the challenges mining companies face are

not new. Managing costs and variability, whilst optimising resources, maximising productivity and ensuring safety are all ongoing challenges. Today, technology and data can be used to mine intelligently and give companies a platform which will meet the demands of their operations in the next 3 - 4 years.

In terms of top business priorities, 62% of mining technology leaders want to streamline operations, 51% want to reduce operational risk and 57% want to improve operational excellence.1 In order to achieve these goals, companies need to 'mine intelligently'.

What is 'intelligent mining'? When the phrase ‘intelligent mining’ is used, it is often associated with the use of the most cutting-edge technology, such as automated haul trucks, artificial

intelligence, drones etc. However, it is not just about the most innovative technology, intelligent mining is about taking the next step in the transformation of mining.

Essentially, it is a process where technology is used as an enabler to optimise processes, platforms and resources, which allows decisions to be based on reliable information. Whilst there is no denying that innovative technology has its place, its effectiveness is maximised when it is built on the foundation of connected systems and information. This means eliminating the data silos that are holding companies back from achieving powerful insights and actionable information from their operations.

Overcoming data silosIn the current environment, there are staggering amounts of data produced every day. If you look at a haul truck alone, there is data produced on the engine, payload, speed, location and even driver fatigue, just to name a few. If that is just one haul truck, imagine the amount produced when looking at a mining operation as a whole.

Without the most intelligent tools or an integrated platform in place, this data is unable to be consolidated and remains trapped within each department. Or, if the data is readily available, the sheer quantity means it can be too difficult and time-consuming to analyse and determine where the warning signs are or where improvements can be made.

This is an all too common dilemma throughout the mining industry. The problem is accepted because the better alternative, which is connected systems and information, is often perceived as too costly, too time-consuming or just too difficult.

Complete integration is also regularly dismissed by mining companies on the basis that they have achieved a level of automation already. It could be an automated fleet, material handling processes, shipments or rail processes. Whilst these individual departments may

have implemented some automation, the data flow between them is often still obstructed and requires manual entry.

However, the recent advancements made with technology mean these excuses are no longer relevant. More than ever before, mine sites big and small, are using software solutions to mine intelligently. Only by choosing the right technology can mine sites unlock the potential productivity and efficiency gains, as promised by the digital mining era.

A solution that connectsOne solution which stands out from the rest and allows companies to unlock powerful insights within their data is

MinVu. MinVu rapidly pools, validates, standardises and integrates multiple sources of data into a powerful reporting platform. Essentially, MinVu automatically filters huge quantities of data and consolidates this into information with context. Therefore, mining companies have one single source of the truth across the mining value chain and have a trustworthy source of information to base decisions upon.

Case studyMinVu has been implemented at several sites, including an opencast copper and gold mine in Papua New Guinea. Prior to its employment, the site was using a master spreadsheet to complete mass balancing. Over time, this spreadsheet became difficult to maintain and had enormous tables with daily data and year-to-date figures for each department. The spreadsheet was treated as the ‘gospel’ and had multiple other manually-produced spreadsheets and reports linked directly to it. This meant metallurgists were spending hours every day trying to maintain the spreadsheet and keep it as accurate as possible – a routine that may sound ever so familiar to many operations.

After consulting with a variety of companies, MinVu was deemed to be the best solution. Upon implementation, MinVu set up an automated process to load data into the web-based data entry tool from the multiple plant-based sources so that information could be viewed on a single screen. MinVu was able to securely and also automatically adjust the numbers, which removed the hours of work metallurgists were wasting when manually updating the spreadsheet; their time and focus could then be better used in other areas of the business. The automatic upload features also meant that the previous ‘gospel’ plant numbers were transferred to a secure database and were available in any MinVu report and could still be integrated with another third party system. The entire process automatically updated every fifteen minutes, ensuring that the information being shown was up-to-date and reliable.

Figure 1. MinVu overview.

REPRINTED FROM February 2019 // global mining review

Benefits These changes had immediate impact: it reduced the time metallurgists took to produce critical information from 3 - 4 hr/d, to less than 10 min. Now, empowered by MinVu and with the auto-adjustments, those professionals could return their focus to thriving, rather than surviving. Instead of creating one master spreadsheet made up of figures from different workbooks and departments, the data was consolidated into one single report. There is now one source of truth for information, stored in a reliable, secure system. All of these benefits were achieved with an ‘out of the box’ configuration and no additional programming was required.

Another area where single source reporting can deliver significant benefits is in the control of tyres on ultra-class fleets. The challenge here is to identify potential issues early to prevent destruction of very expensive tyre carcasses. Nearly all tyre companies provide software to monitor tyre health. Integrating this data into a single, easily understood report has proven an issue for many mines. The MinVu solution removes this common problem by integrating the data automatically, allowing ‘plug and play’ with various vendors and manufacturers. The data can then be updated at short frequencies, allowing any issues such as tyre cuts or low pressure to be flagged early. With MinVu, these common occurrences no longer balloon into significant costs, as employees are able to respond and resolve the problem earlier than ever before.

Many mining report solutions are focused on production issues. MinVu is designed to address the visibility of data across the mining value chain. Consider an opencast mining operation where data is being collected from the Modular Dispatch tool. The work being performed here is driven from two areas, the mine plan and schedule, from which the tasks are derived and the blend required by the processing plant to deliver the correct grade for shipping. A number of tools exist that can combine planned and actual values. MinVu is one of the only tools, apart from manually maintained Excel spreadsheets, that can deliver reporting that combines the production actuals and processing data together, and the only one that can do

it acurately. Understanding the full value chain is a key component of the MinVu product.

A solution in progress Whilst MinVu has delivered benefits to a variety of operations around the world already, it is only becoming more powerful as it becomes fully integrated with RPMGlobal’s suite of products after being acquired by the company last year. RPM’s CEO Richard Mathews summarised

the strategy behind the acquisition, stating that RPM will “deliver the most advanced single vendor, fully automated Short Interval Control (SIC) system in the industry.”

Since the acquisition, RPMGlobal’s development team has been working tirelessly to reach these lofty goals. By the end of 2018, these were achieved with the release of MinVu 5.0.

The latest version of MinVu has complete integration with RPM’s Enterprise Planning Framework (EPF), which allows for a standardised exchange of information between disparate systems and third party products. MinVu is also capable of integrating with asset management and short-term planning solutions, such as AMT and XECUTE, respectively.

The improvements made towards SIC capabilities has come at the right time with the industry buzzing about the topic. Whilst MinVu has been assisting companies in this area for several years, its integration into RPMGlobal’s suite of products gives it further practical application. It is no longer just about the management of production with today’s dispatch tools, it is about visibility to help see previously hidden, actionable insights.

ConclusionMinVu reports, combined with MinVu Shift Manager, can unlock the value in managing the ancillary tasks occurring on a mine site. Knowing when a machine is unavailable and understanding the composition of the workforce can enable proactive decision-making due to the availability of trustworthy data. If tasks are managed via spreadsheets, the impact of the decision-making process is difficult to quantify and areas where improvement is needed can be hidden. By mining intelligently, with an integrated suite of solutions, MinVu unlocks the true value of propelling a mine site to new levels of productivity, efficiency, safety and profitability. Only by mining intelligently will mining companies be able to accelerate ahead of their competitors in 2019.

References 1. International Data Corporation, 'Transforming the Core of Mining

Operations', 2018.

Figure 2. Consolidated process flow at the Papua New Guinean mine site.

global mining review // REPRINTED FROM February 2019