Modern Mining September 2023

The appetite for the uptake of science and technology at tertiary level has been exponential, with significant demand for Maptek training and support.

Maptek plays a pivotal role in helping mines to harness the benefits of improved productivity, efficiency and safety.

resulted in a significant appetite from industry and tertiary institutions to fill the educational gap. Slabbert says that “Every year the number of miners aligning with latest technology has soared, driven largely by the push for increased efficiency, a lower mining carbon footprint and improved safety at mining operations. The industry, which employs thousands of people, continues to invest heavily in training to upskill existing employees and new recruits. “Increasingly the industry is making use of the latest technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, to gain insight into how better to plan and mine more efficiently, with reduced costs and improved safety. This drive is being adopted across all mining processes, from exploration through to production systems and plant environ ments. Moreover, there is a big push for enhanced data capture as it promotes improved decision making.” Maptek’s aim is to help mining personnel use data for better outcomes, especially technology related tools that aid miners and explorers to inter rogate their reserves and deposits. “Miners operating across a variety of commodi ties are keen to adopt Maptek online and in-person training programmes. As part of our service-level agreement, Maptek encourages mining houses to make a set amount of days available each year to allow our consultants to upskill mining employees. We flag mining houses a year in advance to ensure that set days are mapped out for training and skills development. To ensure that personnel get the most value out of the technological solutions offered, our programmes include revision of key technologies

and tools. Our comprehensive, hands-on training ensures that our customers’ employees can imple ment the tools in their daily activities and unlock the full value of our solutions to keep abreast of the rapid adoption of technology.” Maptek’s offering to the mining sector The technology specialist has a vast suite of prod ucts for the mining sector, including the Maptek Compute Framework (MCF), which applies machine learning algorithms and cloud computing to process large tracts of data. This provides an ideal solution for intensive computing tasks such as stope design and modelling and Blast MCF for optimised blast design, from drilling to charging specific parameters for optimised outcomes. “Technologically advanced tools,” says Slabbert “harness vast quantities of data within hours, allow ing mining personnel, such as mining engineers and geologists, time to undertake higher value work and interrogate the resulting models for the best outcomes.” Maptek partners with tertiary institutions The technology specialist also collaborates with

The company has several partnerships with regional universities.

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