Modern Mining August 2020

SUPPLY CHAIN News

Desktop tools that enable mining profes- sionals to interact with their data are the building blocks upon which Maptek innova- tion was founded. Almost 40 years on from the early borehole modelling tools, Maptek has released Vulcan 2020, featuring inte- grated geology and optimised mine design. Today Vulcan is populated with func- tionality that provides holistic benefits to modern mining operations. These trans- late into increased productivity for specific applications – such as geological model- ling, automated mine design and grade control – as well as improvement to the mining business in terms of cost efficien- cies, where examples include drillhole Enhanced geology and mine design with Maptek’s Vulcan 2020 optimisation and dynamic reserving. New in Vulcan 2020, Vulcan Drillhole Optimiser helps exploration projects, open pit and underground operations to con- fidently develop infill drilling plans that maximise resource recovery. With Drillhole Optimiser geologists can accurately assess multiple scenarios and budgets taking into account existing drilling, locations and resource classifications. Operations see tangible results in greater orebody confidence, fewer wasted drillholes and improved cost-effectiveness. Dynamic pit design is the goal of the Automated Pit Designer enhanced in Vulcan 2020. Engineers experience a

dramatically improved pit design process, reducing the time to proceed from pit opti- misation outputs to an actual pit design complete with ramps. End of period reconciliation of volumes is now easier than ever with the updated open pit Compliance tool. Automatic com- parison of multiple surfaces against solids helps planners identify how closely short and mid-term plans have been followed. Dynamic reserving is a fast, interactive feature that displays reserve information for nominated regions on the fly. Vulcan users can get basic or advanced reports, charts and fast reserves simply by picking a solid. Digital processes and increased auto- mation are key enablers for future mining success, according to Maptek Group prod- uct manager for Mine Planning, Jesse Oldham. “The focus on how effectively material is moved has well and truly shifted to tech- nologies that help acquire, manage and process data efficiently to generate value.” “The new crop of geologists and mining engineers has different expectations of the tools at their disposal,” Oldham adds. “They want to push and extend technology to the limits, using the workflows and automations to do the manual data work so they can spend their time on high-end tasks such as interpretation and analysis.” “Maptek is driving a renewed focus on interoperability between applications, rather than recreating a similar capability in each product suite. This gives customers access to superior functionality that repre- sents the most effective, productive and integrated approach to tackling a problem.” “Centralised data plays a fundamental role in the digitalisation process. The great- est benefit is found in the ability to connect information to find the ‘signal within the noise’. The digital approach allows pre- viously hidden data relationships to be identified and exploited.” “Our technological innovations are matched by the way we enable the use of them from anywhere,” reflects Oldham. “The disruption arising from COVID-19 chal- lenged Maptek, like most organisations, to think differently.” “We are excited to help our customers transition to Vulcan 2020, and we can all look forward to more impressive develop- ments on the geology and mine planning technology roadmap,” concludes Oldham. 

Vulcan Drillhole Optimiser helps exploration projects, open pit and underground operations to confidently develop infill drilling plans that maximise resource recovery.

Caterpillar’s new bucket for hydraulic mining shovels Caterpillar now offers an innovative two- piece bucket for Cat hydraulic mining shovels. The design reduces downtime by limiting refurbishment to the area of the bucket subjected to most of the wear – the basket. The replaceable basket enables faster, easier and safer rebuilds compared to traditional buckets. In addition, the basket design can evolve with mine site conditions to further reduce downtime and optimize capacity over the life of the bucket.

The durable upper structure of a bucket will host several baskets during its long ser- vice life, thus the need for optimising basket replacement. Also, the two-piece bucket is lighter than conventional buckets, yet it fea- tures high wear resistance. The basket is a single piece of struc- tural steel with no liner or wear plates, and the floor and sideplate thickness are opti- mised for bucket size and anticipated wear rate. The basket is retrofittable onto legacy buckets used in compatible digging conditions.

The two-piece bucket enhances both safety and serviceability. Replacing just the basket requires less gouging, welding, and grinding than buckets protected with wear plates. The single-piece basket design also reduces potential haz- ards caused by stored energy. After the initial design is completed for the application, replaceable baskets can be ordered in advance and stocked on site. 

The two-piece bucket enhances both safety and serviceability.

42  MODERN MINING  August 2020