Mining Industry A Bentley White Paper Dave Body Solution Executive, Sustaining Infrastructure

Digital Data - Big Data 4 Mine Surveying - Overview 6 Mine Surveying - Regulatory Requirements 7 Mobile Laser Scanning 11 The Changing Face of Surveying within the Mining Industry

This ability to successfully leverage digital data across an enterprise – often described as “information mobility” – provides a key to unlock value across the entire mine lifecycle. The mining industry typically operates in a cyclic fashion with periods of strong growth followed by inevitable downturns. The industry is currently in the throes of a downturn with many owner-operators now looking inwardly in an attempt to identify opportunities to improve productivity, while reducing costs. For many, as they attempt to drive productivity enhancements, their attention has turned towards innovation....

Introduction The mining industry typically operates in a cyclic fashion with periods of strong growth followed by inevitable downturns. The industry is currently in the throes of a downturn. However, many experts within the industry are signaling this downturn as something more than an inevitable cyclic movement and are now describing this as a “seismic or paradigm shift.” As owner-operators continue to slash billions of dollars of spending, shed jobs, divest underperforming mines, cut back on capital projects, and attempt to reign in wages, many have begun to focus on long-term optimization...

value across the entire lifecycle and without it, data languishes on “islands” where it becomes stale and obsolete. As the mining industry transitions into this era of digital data and information mobility, there is growing recognition of the scale of digital data being created and the need to better manage, maintain, and disseminate this information across the entire enterprise to ensure the right information reaches the right people at the right time. For example, Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron ore mining, transport, and shipping activities are already generating 2.4 terabytes of data per minute....

»» Geographic information systems (survey, topographical, satellite, etc.) »» Mine planning information (designs, schedules, etc.) »» Engineering/CAD models »» Spatially referenced documents (tenements, leases, etc.) »» Automated services (real time data import from weather stations, air/dust monitoring stations, conveyor belt sensors, location tracking, etc.) »» Production systems data (Modular, Jigsaw, drill holes, slope monitoring, Acquire, etc.) “To overcome this enterprise-wide disconnect, Anglo American implemented the Geospatial Integration Project (GIP), designed to build an integrated...

Image courtesy of Trimble which is often measured in years, if not decades. This continual cycle becomes the focal point of a mine’s operation, with particular emphasis directed towards the results achieved throughout the extract phase. In order to test the execution, effectiveness, and accuracy of mine planning methods it is necessary to measure production against this plan. This tests both the accuracy of the geological and evaluation models on which the targets are based and the efficiency of the ore and metal recovery departments. Key to this is the accurate positioning of the excavations...

Mine Surveying – Technology Due to the advancement of survey equipment technology, traditional and historical surveying workflows are continuously being challenged. However, unlike other surveying disciplines (e.g., engineering or cadastral/land surveying), some aspects of mine surveying deal with unique circumstances. This is especially evident for underground operations, where surveying methods and techniques need to overcome the challenges of this environment. For this reason, traditional and historical survey workflows (i.e., tape and offset surveys) are still evident within industry today....

Image courtesy of Hornonitrianske Bane Preievidza including a dramatic savings in survey and processing time usually associated with more traditional survey approaches. In many regions, laser scanning workflows have been slow to make an impression within the mining industry. However, the past few years has seen a very different trend with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), airborne laser scanning (ALS), and mobile laser scanning (MLS) systems becoming ever present within the industry. The increase use of this technology can be traced back to a combination of factors, including reduced size and...

Using a number of Bentley solutions, including Bentley Pointools, MicroStation, Bentley Descartes, and Bentley Rail Track, a 3D information model of the rock surfaces and associated infrastructure (pipes, structures, etc.) was developed. Additionally, the 3D design of rail track used to transport the transformer into place was also created. To complement the rail track, a 3D model of the rail dolly was developed, with the minimum cross section footprint of the required transformer added to the dolly. Leveraging this information, an animation of the movement along the rail alignment was performed,...

simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technique that consists of a spinning 2D LiDAR unit and an industrial-grade mounted inertial measurement unit (IMU), the acquired scan data is processed through a series of steps to produce a dense and accurate geo-referenced 3D point cloud that can be collected quickly and efficiently, without disrupting mining operations. An extension of this SLAM technique has recently been successfully completed in South Africa using a handheld version of the vehicle-mounted SLAM technology. • South Africa’s Mponeng mine, the world’s deepest and most substantial...

• Drawing on over 30 years of software development experience and industry knowledge, Bentley Systems, in development partnership with mining majors such as Anglo American Platinum, AngloGold Ashanti, Lonmin Platinum, and Royal Bafokeng Platinum Mines, is set to launch Bentley OpenMine Survey – a new and comprehensive surface and underground survey application for the mining industry. Acknowledging the need to support today’s requirements with tomorrow’s needs ensures the soon-to-be-released Bentley OpenMine Survey solution addresses the digital data and big data conundrums, while addressing...