More than 6,000 industry professionals are expected at 2019 SME in Denver, Feb. 24-27. Among them will be Hexagon’s Mining team, who will be both exhibiting our latest solutions on the tradeshow floor and providing thought leadership in the show’s conference sessions.
We hope you can join us at Booth 1611 for demos and discussion of Hexagon products spanning survey and monitoring, planning, operations and safety. What are the challenges facing you and your mine? Are you pursuing a digital strategy to make the most of your data? Drop by – we’d love to chat!
Our three presentations on Tuesday, February 26 and one on Wednesday, February 27 each reflect SME’s 2019 theme: Smart Mining: Resources for a Connected World. Below are outlines of what to expect and some information about the presenters themselves. For more information about other shows we’ll be attending, visit our Events page.
Measuring traffic safety performance indicators, by Marcos Bayuelo
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 10:05 a.m., Room 605 (Health & Safety: CMSP Best Practice Sharing)
Gauging production performance is relatively straightforward: ore or waste moved from one point to another. Measuring the safety outcomes of traffic interactions and assessing the risk of vehicle collisions, injuries and fatalities is more complex. Creating a solid system of safety performance indicators (PIs) is not a simple technical exercise, although it is sometimes seen as such. Fundamental questions of governance must be raised.
How do we define the various dimensions of traffic safety performance, and what should be the currencies of evaluation embodied in the PI system? Is there sufficient technology to measure the defined PIs? How can we measure good performance, and who determines it? Who is the audience for safety PIs? Finally, are the actual safety PIs a tool of control in hierarchic organizations or are they truly serving as instruments of managerial self-examination?
We raise these questions to ensure technology delivers the best available knowledge into PIs for better decision-making that prevents traffic-related accidents. Technology adoption and industry knowledge can provide the correct answers to determine a virtuous set of PIs that evolve with experience. The challenges of introducing and developing new techniques for measuring safety performance reflect specific organizational characteristics. Each mine is unique. Technology must be flexible enough to achieve the desired goal of monitoring, controlling and minimizing the risks associated with mining traffic.
About Marcos
As Product Manager-Safety, Marcos and his team are committed to developing solutions that are based on time spent with customers to understand their needs. Since joining Hexagon in 2013, Marcos has held roles in Service and Support, and in the Product Introduction team. He has developed a unique blend of business and technical savvy from this experience, allowing him to realize our safety vision with innovative solutions. He has a BS in Electronic Engineering from Autonoma University in Colombia and an MBA from Universidad Vina del Mar in Chile.
5D slope steepening oversight and analytics, by Seth Gering
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2:45 p.m., Room 502 (Mining & Exploration: Innovations & Technologies: Data Driven Innovation: Inspiration to Action)
Interoperable 5D visualization and analytics is the next major step in advancing mining technology. There is an accelerating need to become more precise in mine designs and operations due to uncertain commodity prices, mineral scarcity, improved safety standards and an increasing need for sustainability. Steepening mining slopes is one significant method for reducing stripping ratios and maximizing NPV. However, to do this safely and consistently requires comprehensive oversight, understanding and control. Mines need the ability to visualize and analyze their geology, water, blasting, mining, terrain, and monitoring data in: 3D, with real-time and playback visualization, and temporal analytics.
About Seth
As Product Manager, Seth brings a wealth of experience to managing operational planning products. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1999 with a BS in Geosciences before working on hydrology and GIS projects for the United States Geological Survey and General Dynamics. He returned to school to pursue a Master’s in Education. After teaching middle school science in Tucson, he worked for a geophysics company before joining Hexagon Mining.
3D modeling of predicted and actual blasting vibrations by Johnny Lyons-Baral
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 3:45 p.m., Room 505 (Mining & Exploration: Operations: Blasting II)
Velocity attenuation curves are used to predict blasting vibration potential in open pit mines. However, these predictions are rarely mapped out and especially not in 3D heatmaps with the underlying geology visible. Linear regression analyses consider the distance from the nearest hole in a blast scaled by the maximum instantaneous charge and how it relates to the peak particle velocity vibration at seismographs throughout a mine.
For this study, because the analysis is being done in 3D mine planning software, correlations of the velocity attenuation curve fitting constants can be analyzed compared to block model rock types and RQDs.
About Johnny
As Senior Application Engineer, John began his current role as a mine planning specialist in June 2013, after completing the coursework for a Master of Science degree in Geological Engineering from the University of Arizona. He graduated, completing his master’s thesis, demonstrating a new way of using LiDAR for geological characterization and stability analysis of caves. He has worked on mining, highways, and natural areas’ slope stability analysis, and modeling projects. John also held a full Arizona teacher certification and received a BA in Education from Prescott College.
Unlocking Project Value: A Mine Planner’s Perspective, by Ernesto Vivas
Wednesday, Feb. 27, 9.25 a.m., Room 506 (Mining & Exploration: Operations: Mine Scheduling and Optimization II)
The mining industry reports hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue every year. Mine planners wield the mandate to evaluate and update several mine plans on a regular basis. However, some questions must be examined to understand important aspects of a mine plan. For example, where are we excavating? Where are we dumping? How is the material routed from the excavation source to the dumping destination in every period? What is the value of the plan?
These questions help us understand the value of a mine plan. The value is derived from the gross revenue associated with the sale of the payable product, minus the mining and processing costs. Every time a mine planner creates a new iteration of the mine plan additional information and details are included. The additional details and controls increase the operativity and attainability of the plan, which improves reconciliation between planning and execution. The improvements can vary but it is not unusual to uncover 5% or more in project value after an optimization study.
If you consider the value of a mine plan can be hundreds of millions of dollars and in some cases billions of dollars, then arguably mine planners unlock fortunes every time the mine plan is improved. This value improvement can be quantified and compared against the previous plans. This paper discusses practical mine planning examples that show how project value can be unlocked with the help of mine planning optimization software applied to open pit truck and shovel operations.
About Ernesto
As Senior Mine Planning Specialist, Ernesto has helped customers in hundreds of projects, from the Arctic Circle to the South Gobi desert. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 2000 with a BSc in Mining Engineering. Prior to joining Hexagon (MineSight) in 2005, Ernesto worked in mine operations and consulting services.