It’s Tip Tuesday! Today’s post comes from Ivan Alvarez, one of our Technical Support Specialist.

The wait is finally over! GEOVIA MineSched™ 9.0 was released last month.

This latest version includes a lot of new features that make work easier for users. One of these new features is the ability to read tunnels design information directly from a GEOVIA GEMS™ Project. This saves valuable time as GEMS clients can now work directly in MineSched and eliminates the previous step of transforming the tunnel data to GEOVIA Surpac™ format.

If you are using GEMS Desktop with Access Data Bases, to start using this feature, please install MineSched 9.0 32 bit and follow the instructions:

1. Open MineSched 9.0 and press the ADD button to upload a Block Model from the GEMS project selecting the .gpr file.
   
2. Once the model is loaded and the parameters configured, select the SETUP DEVELOPMENT Tab and press the LOAD DESIGN button.
   
3. Select the .gpr file of the GEMS project and the Tunnel Workspace with the information that you want to load.
   
4. After mapping the columns, press OK to finish the process.
   
5. Finally, you are able to see and modify the tunnel information.
    

By following these steps, you will now be able to read tunnels design information directly from a GEMS Project while in MineSched.
 

Looking for more MineSched Tips & Tricks? Check out Ivan’s recent post on Using the Interactive Viewer for MineSched Animations. Be sure to check back next Tuesday for more Product Tips & Tricks. 

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Today’s post comes from Mark Bese, our Senior Industry Marketing Manager.

For several years now, there has been a very public conversation amongst mining leaders about the need for significant change in the industry to address systemic productivity and cost control issues. Even with the return to lower, more variable commodity demand, the irony is mining companies would still be realizing near record profits had they previously invested in productivity initiatives and technologies as other industries did. This is a core reason why the conversation about change in the mining industry has focused on looking at what other industries have implemented.

To realize their desired improvements, mining companies require greater agility in both business planning and mining operations management. Dassault Systèmes, which has played a key role in helping to introduce transformational change in 11 other industries, has responded by launching its first two Industry Solution Experiences for mining: Lean Mine Construction and Perfect Mine and Plant.

Lean Mine Construction unites mining companies and their engineering, procurement, construction, and management (EPCM) partners in an immersive collaborative universe for site infrastructure and processing plant design, project planning, procurement, and construction management. The design, collaboration, procurement, project management, and “intelligence” tools required are all available in the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to help ensure mine sites are completed on time, on budget, and to specification.

With Perfect Mine and Plant, all levels of a mining organization collaborate to make the company more agile in response to operational performance variation, emerging business opportunities, and changing market conditions.  Executives, planners, and mine managers use data from across the mining value chain, along with decision making tools, to optimize long-term plans, align financial objectives, and to ensure that all levels of the organization are synchronized for greater strategic control. At the operational level, integrated planning, maintenance, mining, plant activities, and their end-to-end visibility, enable high-impact, rapid adjustments to improve cost-per-tonne and keep productivity on track.

Visit Dassault Systèmes Natural Resources to learn more. 

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This is Part Three in a series on Strategic Mine Planning by Darrienne Thobaven, one of our Strategic Mine Planning Knowledge Consultants. Part One focused on Putting the Strategy Back into Strategic Mine Planning. Part Two discussed Taking the Pain out of Tactical Planning.

A good quality mine planning process includes both strategic and tactical components. When a flawed planning process is employed, issues often manifest in the short term or production planning areas. A three phased mine planning process can be employed to avoid this tactical planning pain in an open cut mine.

The three phases of mine planning ensure that the highest value is received from an open cut mine based on a practical schedule, which is implemented in a shorter planning horizon.

Phase 1: Practical NPV Schedules

The first phase results in practical NPV-based schedules. The schedules include pit stage selection (chosen from a series of nested pit shell candidates and not based on the sub-optimal criteria of revenue factor 1!), determination of an NPV driven mining sequence and application of mining practicalities. Best practice pit shell generation requires careful preparation of input parameters, including activity based costing and application of the theory of constraints.

Once pit shell candidates are created in a Lerch Grossman algorithm, the truly strategic planning begins with scenario analysis of multiple schedules representing different strategies. The pit shells for the interim stages have a greater impact on NPV than the stages in later years of the mine life; therefore, optimum interim pit shell selection is vital for strategic planning success. Interim pit shells are not an input to the schedule, but rather an output of an automated scheduler which has all of the pit shell candidates to choose from. 

The pit shells also need to be modified for minimum mining dimensions while minimizing the reduction in NPV. GEOVIA Whittle’s NPVP module automatically finds the pit shells for the interim stages with the highest NPV after modifications are made for mining equipment practicalities. It also finds the mining sequence that generates the highest NPV for the modified shells, while honoring constraints such as fleet and process plant capacities, vertical rate of advance and input parameters changing with time.

a href="http://www.geovia.com/sites/default/files/Fig%202.png" alt="Output from Whittle’s NPVP module showing that different pit shells are chosen for different annual vertical rate of advance limits." title="Output from Whittle’s NPVP module showing that different pit shells are chosen for different annual vertical rate of advance limits." rel="lightobx">

The pit shell for the final stage is chosen using the skin analysis methodology in the NPVP module. Other key learnings from phase 1 include project sensitivities and robust areas of the pit.

Phase 2: Simultaneous Optimization

To truly receive the most value from a project, simultaneous optimization of mining sequence, cut-off grade, stockpiles and blending is performed. Whittle’s SIMO module performs the optimization of all items in one step, producing a higher NPV solution than a sequential optimization of the same parameters. A variable cut-off grade strategy (as opposed to a static marginal cut-off grade) allows the highest value material to be processed soonest in the mine life. Cut-off grade optimization is aided by strategic stockpiling capacity so that medium value material can be set aside for later processing, allowing more high value material to be processed earlier.

Again, this phase includes strategic investigation of schedule items such as number of stockpiles, stockpile definition, blending definition and the previously-listed schedule constraints. An important final step in the strategic workflow is exporting the chosen pit shells, creating pit designs and importing the pit designs back into Whittle. This allows the schedule to run on the pit designs rather than the pit shells, and provide final output for Phase 3.

Phases 1 and 2 detail a strategic workflow in Whittle, which can be compared to a tactical workflow.

Phase 3: Tactical Implementation

All the hard work of the first two phases is wasted, if the strategic plan is not used as the basis for the tactical plans to follow. Implementing the Whittle schedule and outputs in a tactical scheduler such as GEOVIA MineSched^TM is vital for the translation of the company mission and strategy to mining production.

Stay tuned for the details of strategic implementation in a tactical plan in next week’s blog - the fourth and final installment in this series.

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Today’s post comes from Cory Case, one of our Technical Support Consultants.

A common question when setting up more advanced GEOVIA Whittle™ projects is how the client can gain more control or organization over the optimization process. The first place to look would be the Expressions function, denoted with the f(x) symbol, which is available for the majority of fields in the Pit Shell and Operational Scenario node. 

With Expressions there can be more control over prices, costs, recoveries, grades, etc. Users are not limited to using static values for these cases. The expressions function contains a section titled User Variables; which by default will list a grade and product for each element and a quantity for each rock type.

This list can be added to open up options and enable some more advanced setup options. Here are the three most commonly used options:

1. Centralizing equations

Oftentimes, the same equation will be used in multiple locations or will need to be edited frequently. It is convenient to have all the expressions in one place to be used all over the project. This can be done by creating an expression on the Expressions Tab of the Pit Shell node, which will be copied to the operational scenario node automatically. Here are expressions for Mining and Processing Cost Adjustment Factor.

These expressions will now show up under the user variables options when the expression builder is entered in the appropriate boxes on the Mining and Processing Tab.

By having all Expressions on one tab, is much more efficient to see them all in one list and they can be changed without having to hunt through the project. When Expressions are applied by period in the Operational Scenario Node, their change year-by-year can quickly be seen, without the hassle of many additional forms.

2. Block based conditional attributes

A lot of the time, some of the variables to be used are not dependent on simple expressions or logical functions but rather physical constraints of the orebody design or other outside forces. An example is recovery being dependent on rock type, zone type and weathering: the recovery may change radically across the project with no discernable pattern. It is very useful to use the User Variables in conjunction with the Multi-Element Node. The recovery is brought in an element where the recovery of a given block is the “grade” of that block. 

This can then be used by going to the Processing path and selecting the expression button for the recover. In the image, below, AU.P is the amount of gold and AU.G refers to its grade, while MX.Q is the quantity of MX rock type.

3. Flag fields

Very similar to the above option, an optimization is often completed only on the Measured and Indicated, but not on the Inferred Blocks. The estimation certainty is not directly the rock type, and when there may already be many rock types in the model, it is not a very elegant solution to break up each rock type into three separate types. A much more elegant solution is the concept of using a flag field, which can be done with these steps:

1. Code the block as 0, 1, 2 or 3 for not-estimated, measured, indicated and inferred in a float field in the model.
2. Import this field as an element so that the flag is the grade of the block.
3. Under the User Variables tab, select this grade in an “if” statement or range to filter out inferred in the recoveries.

These are just three possible ways to use these User Elements to gain more control over convoluted and advanced projects. For more an explanation into what is possible or how these can help your specific project, please contact GEOVIA Support. 

Looking for more Whittle Tips & Tricks? Read Cory’s post on Understanding the Difference between Mining Width and Net Present Value Practical Pushbacks Modules. 

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Today’s post comes from Martina Barnett, our Technical Customer Support Manager.

Over the last few years, the GEOVIA Discussion Forums have helped enable many GEOVIA software users to interact with each other via a global “User Community”.

Why join the User Community?

• Fosters inter-user engagement to ask questions, exchange tips and discuss hot topics
• Provides a platform for customer communication and issue resolution with knowledgeable GEOVIA staff that regularly monitor the site
• Leverages your investment in your annual Maintenance & Support
• Assists with our improved understanding of your interests
• Provides a window into other solution-focused services and capabilities that we are able to provide

Should users choose to participate in one of our regular external beta programs, all beta installation files and Beta Testing Guide(s) can be found in the relevant Discussion Forums as well.

To participate in these Forums, login to GEOVIA Support and select the Discussion Forum link. If you don’t already have a login, simply select the Create New Account button and follow the instructions to create your own personal login. Please note that your license must be current to create a new account.

How do I post a new discussion?

Once you have logged into GEOVIA Support, follow these steps to enter a new post.

1. Select the product applicable to your post.
   
2. Post a new topic by clicking Start New Topic. 
   
3. Give the topic a title and enter details in the dialog area. If you have data or image files that help to define the topic you’re posting about, use the Attach Files section to attach them to the post.
   
4. Click Post New Topic. All users within the GEOVIA Community, including GEOVIA staff, can read and respond to your topic.

How can I be sure to get all the latest news and posts from the GEOVIA Community Discussion Forum?

You can choose to be notified by email when any new posts are posted to a Discussion Forum.

1. Select the product forum to follow from the list. Once you’re in the forum, click the Follow this forum button.
2. When prompted, select the frequency of email notification that you would like.
   

Can I receive updates on just a specific topic/post?

Yes. You can choose to receive email notifications of traffic related to a specific post.

1. Select the post of interest and click the Follow this topic button. 
   
2. You will then have the option to select the frequency of notification as you would for following the forum.

Should you have any questions about posting in the GEOVIA Community Discussion Forum, please don’t hesitate to contact GEOVIA Support. In the meantime, Happy Posting! We hope to hear from you soon.

Looking for more information on GEOVIA Support? Check out these past posts:

Extended Hours for GEOVIA Technical Support
Troubleshooting the Support Help System
How-To Product Webinars Available on GEOVIA Support Center

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Today’s post comes from Rick Moignard, CEO GEOVIA.

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of attending the annual 3DXPERIENCE FORUM North America, which took place in Las Vegas, NV on November 10-12^th.

Focussing on Business in the Age of Experience, this year’s FORUM showcased how Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform can uniquely help organizations compete with the emerging new business model. In today’s connected society, consumers expect instantaneous answers, delightful experiences and simplicity. Dassault Systèmes software solutions can help navigate the future by enabling innovation and collaboration across the business ecosystem.  

On the first day of the FORUM, we were pleased to have Tony O’Neill, Anglo American's Group Director - Technical & Sustainability, provide a plenary session keynote entitled “On the Cusp: Game Changing Innovation in Mining.” Tony discussed how increasing demand for commodities has the mining industry facing many critical challenges and that the mining industry must rely on innovation to continue to meet that demand.  For more information on Tony’s keynote, please read the transcripts and presentation.

The 3DEXPERIENCE FORUM was an exciting time for the Natural Resources Industry, as we launched our two new Industry Solution Experiences.  As well, our Natural Resources Track featured various mining customers and their innovative use of technology.

Rick Howes, CEO Dundee Precious Metals, discussed how partnering with Dassault Systèmes and other technology leaders enabled them to build a premier low-cost gold producing mine, which resulted in their creating a competitive advantage through innovation.

Tjaart Willemse, Head of Mining for DeBeers discussed how the mining industry needs intelligent mine planning systems to track and optimize for multiple parameters.

IBM's Murray Bruce discussed the future enablers of transparency in mining operations - with higher visibility, mining operations can be more intelligent.

Mike MacFarlane, Former Executive Vice President at AngloGold Ashanti closed out the afternoon with a session on how the investment cycle within the mining industry is being challenged. Increased distance from hoisting horizons to new mining areas adds to operating costs. The mining industry is changing, and central monitoring centers are at the heart of the paradigm change. A new mining trend is emerging: Think Big, Test Small, and Scale Fast.

The 3DEXPERIENCE FORUM was a great opportunity to demonstrate to our mining customers the value of partnering with Dassault Systèmes and how we can learn from the successes of other industries to transform our business.  For more information, please download our Free Whitepaper – Looking to Technologies used by Other Industries to Drive Productivity & Efficiency in Mining.

Want to read more Tales from the Road? Check out Steve Carter's post on Dassault Systèmes’ First Natural Resources Forum. 

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With our continued commitment to advanced scheduling solutions for the mining industry, Dassault Systèmes has released the latest release of GEOVIA MineSched ™– the world’s most innovative scheduling software for mining, featuring fully standalone capabilities for an improved user experience.  No longer dependent on GEOVIA Surpac™ for its operation, MineSched 9.0 supports integration to any geology and mine planning software, and provides mining companies and engineers the tools to help maximize productivity and profits.

With the most advanced user interface in the market, MineSched may be used wherever and whenever scheduling is needed and will receive data inputs in a wide variety of data types and formats. The independent nature of the new 64-bit MineSched 9.0 supports large data that may be exported to a wide list of output formats allowing all numerical, tabular, and geometric results to be consumed by practically every possible solution that may require it.

Intuitive, rapid setup and guided workflows take the complexity out of scheduling, putting real decision-making power back in the hands of engineers and mining operations while ensuring stakeholder confidence.

Given MineSched is not reliant on any geology and mine planning software solution, consultants who are often asked to support different GMPs, and, in some cases, multiple GMPs,  may especially enjoy all of the benefits of MineSched 9.0 for their client scheduling requirements, without being tied to any one GMP solution.

Here is a quick video overview that highlights some of the new and exciting features in MineSched 9.0.

We hope you are as excited for the latest release of MineSched as we are. For more information on MineSched 9.0, click here.

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Today’s post comes from Lilian Lelis, one of our Technical Support Specialists.

GEOVIA GEMS™ users often have to use a block model created in other software, such as GEOVIA Surpac™. The difference in storage format for data in the difference packages can present a challenge. This challenge can be easily overcome by using the Block Model Converter to import block model data to use in GEMS.

To import an external block model in GEMS using the Block Model Converter, follow these steps:

1. In the Project View area, right-click the Block models icon, and select Import Block Model Project.
   
2. Select From an external block-model format.
3. To create a new workspace, click Create Workspace - the Block Model Converter will automatically complete the block model geometry parameters later on.  Alternatively, you can select an Existing Block Model Workspace, however, please note that the workspace will be completely overwritten during the import, and you will need to enter the block model geometry parameters.
4. Click Next to open the Block Model Converter application.
5. Click the Open icon to open a Block Model file of the source data format available in the data of type dropdown list. In the Block Model Properties tab, the properties of the source block model are displayed.
   
6. In the Block Model Attributes tab, the attributes of the source block model are displayed.
   
7. If modifications are made to any of the values of the target block dimensions, the block model must be reblocked, which can be a lengthy process. To perform reblocking, edit the Target Parent Block Size and click the Reblock icon.
   
8. Once the reblocking has been performed, select the attributes to be imported in the Reblocking Attributes tab.
   
9. Select Return to GEMS.
    
10. After GEMS imports the attributes, the Block Attribute Mapping form for each folder appears. In the Name dropdown list, select each folder to see the attributes imported. Click OK 
     
11. Review the summary of the import, and click Done. 
12. Open and display the block model in GEMS.
     

And that’s it – by following the simple steps, you can easily import external block model formats for use in GEMS.  Should you need more information, or need assistance in importing your external block models, please contact GEOVIA Support.

Looking for more GEMS Tips & Tricks? Check out our earlier post on Creating Solids from Non Intersecting Surfaces.

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Today’s post comes from Mariana Nobile, one of our Technical Customer Support Consultants.

For GEOVIA InSite™ user, the Locations module allows you to configure the mining sources, stockpiles and any other material movement flow points of your operation. The Location Reference stores manually-entered data imported from a block modeling package while Locations are the initial point of material tracking in the system.

Here are some Tips & Tricks to both create and maintain the Locations and Location Reference data deployed as part of your InSite Configuration.  

Tip #1—Use Locations

1. From the Explorer bar, browse InSite from URL http://<InSiteServerName>/InSite.

2. Go to Data Management > Sites and Locations > Locations OR type Locations directly into the magnifying glass at the top ribbon (search option).

3. For a best process flows, clone similar location instead of creating a new one. The idea is to copy the grouping information such Locations Category, Type, etc. The mandatory fields to create a Location are:

• Site = ‘XYZ’
• Code = meaningful code as short as possible
• Description = meaningful location name description (ideally the same as Code)
• Active =  Makes sure the active check box is selected
• Location Category = select one Location Category available from the dropdown list according to the group of category that the location should belong to.
• Location Type = select one Location Type available from the dropdown list according to the group of type that the location should belong to. 

4. Enter the following optional information, if required. While the information is optional, some of it will be used for reporting and filtering functions.

• Parent Location = if a locations belongs to another locations, the user can set up the Parent/Child relationship at this column by, selecting the Location from dropdown list, which creates a tree relationship for report purposes (optional field). Tip: For Reporting and Data Entry purpose, the Locations will require a specific Parent Locations to be associated by cloning a location, so users can be sure all relevant fields are set up efficiently.
  
• Underground = tick this check box if the location is an underground mine location. 
• Mining Method =  if this information is required, the mining method options need to be entered first at the Reference Data, so the user can select the mining method for this location. 
• Financial Status =  if this information is required, the Financial Status options need to be entered at the Reference Data, so the user can select the Financial Status for this location. 
• External Source = tick this check box if the location is an External Source. 

Tip #2—Clone a Location 

1. Select the desired Location to be cloned (click on the Location row).

2. Click on Clone Current Row form Location functions options.

3. Cloned row displays with suggested information from original Location selected to be cloned.

It’s important to note that the benefit of this function is that Location Reference Data and grouping columns (Location Category and Location Type) are copied over helping the user to be sure the new location has the minimum required information to function. However, the user must review the data (material, measure, value, effective date, etc.) at the Reference grid on each row as it needs to be changed or updated according to the new Location relevant data.

Tip # 3—Adding a New Location Reference using clone functionality

1. Select one Location row.

2. At the References tab, click ‘Clone’ to add a new cloned location reference, e.g.: Density.
3. Change the ‘Value’ and the ‘Effective Date’ columns with the appropriated data and press ‘Saves Changes’. Note: If the location reference measure is used in a Calculation routine, e.g. the grade is inherited from a Stope firing location to all relative firing transactions, and then it will apply this grade against all transactions between the location references Effective Date to the end of time.

By following the steps in these tricks, InSite users can quickly and effectively create and maintain the Locations and Location Reference data.

Be sure to check back next week for more Product Tips & Tricks.

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Today’s post comes from Olga Stagurova, our Regional Vice President Russia.

In October, my team and I had the pleasure of participating in the 3DEXPERIENCE FORUM in Russia, which was held at the Renaissance Moscow Monarch Centre Hotel. It’s been two years since Gemcom Software International was acquired by Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, and whose products form the brand GEOVIA – one that offers effective solutions for the entire mining operation with plans to expand across other sectors of the Natural Resources industry.

Highlights at the FORUM included the GEOVIA presentations, which demonstrated the high level of technical and technological development available to the mining industry. During the plenary session of the event, Oleg Mikhailov, Managing Director of Lebedinsky GOK presented a keynote regarding the Innovative IT solutions used by METALLOINVEST Enterprises. 

The Natural Resources breakout track proved very informative with customer and partner speakers sharing their experiences in solving different mining production challenges with GEOVIA’s innovative software solutions.

Dassault Systèmes technology is very intriguing to our mining customers, especially those used in the nuclear energy industry, whose challenges often parallel those of the mining industry. Innovative collaborative solutions can help solve tasks of any level of complexity, and will always be in demand, which are at the foundation of the Dassault Systèmes solutions today.

I sincerely hope that the 3DEXPERIENCE FORUM in Moscow will become one of those events that mining specialists classify as “must visit” and will add to their calendars as soon as the date of the event is announced. I look forward to connecting with everyone at next year’s FORUM!

Interested in reading more Tales from the Road? Check out a recent post by our CEO, Rick Moignard, as he shares his insights from the 3DEXPERIENCE FORUM North America. 

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It is with sad news that GEOVIA recently learned of the passing of Tony Cram, the founder ECSI and creator of what is now the GEOVIA Minex™ software. An outstanding thinker and innovator, mining would not be where it is today without the contributions of Tony Cram - we thank him for all efforts to advance the mining industry.

Tony Cram passed away peacefully on the 13 November 2014, aged 75. Below is a biography on Tony, provided by his family and close friends, which highlights some of his many achievements. 

Tony Cram 1939 - 2014

Anthony Adrian Cram, or “Tony” as he was known, was born on March 20, 1939.

Only 12 years later alongside his father, who was a mineshaft sinking contractor, Tony first went down into an Illawarra coal mine. After this introduction to mining, Tony went into the family business, R.G. Cram and Sons, where he focused on civil engineering and ultimately natural resources development.

Tony went on to study Civil Engineering at the University of NSW, and completed his Master’s Degree there in the early 1960s. Tony was a gifted problem solver, a true innovator who was often years, and many times even decades ahead of his time.

The technological legacy that Tony Cram has left with the world is astonishing and few people, if any, know the full extent of his achievements. Following is a list of some of his accomplishments, compiled from the collective memories of some of those privileged enough to share in Tony’s journey:

1966 – Engineering Computer Services (“ECS”) is formed. Early consulting contracts include:

• Project scheduling, engineering, and finite element analysis of the sails of the Sydney Opera House.
• A land use evaluation system for NCDC used in planning all Canberra suburbs in the 1970s, and satellite cities around Melbourne and Darwin after cyclone Tracey.
• Radio positioning software to site oil platforms in Bass Strait, and ships on New York Harbour.
• Software development of very early traffic control computer programs.
• Awarded a government grant later that year, ECS Research is formed and moves to Mittagong, in the Southern Highlands of NSW.

1969 – Exporting begins after winning a contract from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which in turn applies that work to a study it was undertaking in Saudi Arabia. Under Tony’s guidance ECS Research pioneers the processing of airborne geophysical data for resource exploration, providing state of the art maps to numerous resource based clients.

1973 – The OAPEC oil crisis forces countries to look at cheaper fuels, which triggers a coal mining boom. ECS responds with MINEX software, which is utilized throughout Australia and is ultimately exported around the globe, including to the United States, South Africa, Canada, Japan, India, Indonesia, South America and the Middle East.

1975 – The parent company ECS moves from Sydney to Bowral, also in the Southern Highlands.

1980 – ECS develops a geometry based timeshare system for ships at sea to process geophysical data in Bowral.

1985 – SO₂ (sulphur dioxide) emission restrictions came into force and “cleaner” coal was sourced from increased underground mining activity. ECS responds with “MINEX Eclipse” underground coal mining software.

1996 – ECS develops the MINEX Gravel Scheduler for the Penrith Lakes Development Corporation and turns a sand and gravel quarry into the Olympic Rowing & Aquatic Course for the 2000 Olympics.

1997 – Tony decides to retire, and creates a plan to handover the business to ECS staff via a share purchase, and ECS International (ECSI) is born. Tony agrees to stay on and continues to innovate, guide, and mentor for another 5 years.

1998 – ECSI is awarded AustMine’s Emerging Exporter of the Year Award, and the NSW Premier’s Award for Exporter of the Year in the Minerals Industry category.

2002 – (Editor’s Note) - Surpac purchased ECSI and created the Surpac Minex Group. In 2006 the Surpac Minex Group was acquired by Gemcom Software International Inc. In 2012 Gemcom Software was acquired byDassault Systèmes and the GEOVIA brand was created targeting the Natural Resources industry.

2002 – To pursue his love of sailing, Tony, a skilled sailor, moves to the South Coast near Bateman’s Bay. From time to time he consults on various projects, always keen to innovate and solve problems where he can.

An outstanding thinker, innovator, entrepreneur, leader, mentor, friend, and family man, Tony is sorely missed by all who knew and admired him. He was the epitome of how much one person can accomplish while positively influencing and helping others over a lifetime and his legacy will continue to do so for many years to come.

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2014 has been an exciting year for GEOVIA. We officially launched two new Industry Solution Experiences, released new products, published the eBook Increasing Mining Productivity and Efficiency, shared our Special Report on Mining Innovation and wrote countless blog posts.

Below are the top 10 GEOVIA blog posts from 2014:

1.  Technological Change is Coming to Mining

2.  Putting the Strategy Back into Strategic Mine Planning

3.  The Increasing Use of Software in Industrial Minerals Operations

4.  Mincor Resources Saves Time, Money and Resources with Surpac

5.  Tales from the Road at the 3DEXPERIENCE Forum Las Vegas

6.  Using Digitiser Drafting Mode in Surpac

7.  Discover the World’s Most Innovative Software

8.  GEOVIA Named as a Top 7 YouTube Mining Channel

9.  Using Soft Boundaries for Advance Interpolation in GEMS

10. Mining in Space – The Next Frontier

Did you have a favorite blog post that wasn't on the list? Share your favorite post in the comments below!

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It’s Tip Tuesday! Today's post comes from our Chief Technology Officer, Steve Carter.

To understand GEOVIA Surpac’s™ approach to validation of solid models, it’s necessary to first understand what solid models are used for by geologists, surveyors or mining engineers.

At the core of solid modeling, people use them for a few reasons:

1. To model the physical shape of some measured or designed structure.
2. To calculate the volume inside a closed structure, a stope, geological solid, tunnel, etc.
3. To use as a geometric constraint against a block model to calculate the grade of mineral content in a structure.

If the shape is the only thing being modelled, then validation is much less important, and it can often be ignored. While validation is not important for item 1, above, it is absolutely critical for accurate results for items 2 & 3. But, why is this so important?

Calculating the volume of a solid is achieved through a remarkably simple algorithm. This algorithm sums the volume underneath each and every triangle in the solid. When the solid complies with ALL of Surpac’s validation criteria, some triangles have a positive volume beneath them, while others have a negative volume beneath them. The summing of these volumes produces the net volume of the solid.

Using a solid as a geometric constraint for a block model ultimately relies on a test to determine if a point is inside or outside the solid. The algorithm that does this also requires that the solid complies with all of Surpac’s validation criteria.

Regardless of if the solid is having its volume calculated or it is being used for a block model constraint, if the solid is not valid, errors will result. The magnitude of the errors could range from unnoticeably small to enormous. Regardless of the magnitude, if the results can’t be trusted, then you are in trouble, quite possibly an enormous amount!

Surpac’s solid validation rules are there to keep you from stepping into a troublesome mess.

To help create valid solids, Surpac has a number of items on the Solids Validation menu - the most important being:

• Validate object/trisolation displays the validate objects and trisolations form for when you want to try Surpac automated tools for fixing the problems that make your solid invalid.

• Solids Repair displays the solids repair panel when the job of making your solids valid is much more complicated. 

Looking for more Surpac Tips & Tricks? Check out Steve’s earlier post on Using Surpac’s Digitser Edge Follow Mode.

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It’s Tip Tuesday. Today’s post comes from Ranajit Das, one of our Senior Mining Consultants.

It is often required to plot plans and sections together to give a better representation and a ready reference of section locations. It has been seen that users have exported plans and sections to other CAD package to achieve this. This can be entirely done in GEOVIA Minex™, including inserting images, image clips from spreadsheet tables or other documents using the following process:

Step 1: Plan your drawing. Select the paper size and decide the layout of the drawing. The layout includes the location of the plans, sections, images, scales, etc.

Step 2: Prepare mounts for each of the areas in the drawing. While preparing the mounts, select the same paper size in each case. The scale for the sections should be the same. The scale for the plan and section may or may not be the same, depending on the user’s choice. If they are not the same scale, then each frame should have a scale bar. Use the Sheet Border and Margins to adjust the plans and sections and place them where you want to. TIP: To visually determine the correct offset and margin values necessary to place the mounts in the right location, use the Rounding Grid. 

Step 3: Create the plans and sections in individual graphics windows as you would do for each individual mount. Once all the plans and sections are plotted, the Object Control Panel show the number of plans and sections selected. In the example, below, there are two plans in Graphics 1 & 2, and three sections in Graphics 3 to 5.

Step 4: Combine the items in the different graphics windows into a single window. To bring objects from one graphics window to another, right click on the object, choose Move to Graphics Window, and then choose the destination window. Repeat for all the plans and sections.

Step 5: Add text to the Text Box.

Step 6: Review your final plot in Graphics 1, which is ready for Graphics Capture.

By following the steps in this process, you can quickly and easily plot plans and sections together. For more information, please contact GEOVIA Support.

Looking for more Minex Tips & Tricks? Check out Ranajit’s post on Creating 3D Views of Surface Infrastructure in Minex.

Be sure to check back next Tuesday for another Tip & Trick.

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This the final post in a 4-part series on Strategic Mine Planning, by Darrienne Thobaven, one of our Strategic Mine Planning Knowledge Consultants. Part 1 discussed the difference between strategic and tactical planning. Part 2 explored the consequences when a flawed planning process is used. Part 3 discussed the first two phases of mine planning.

Today, we look at how to preserve the Net Present Value (NPV) of the strategic plan through a successful implementation in the tactical plan. The discussion is specific to open cut planning using GEOVIA Whittle™ and GEOVIA MineSched™ , and details one of many ways to achieve it.

When it comes to Mine Planning, the final phase (of the three phases) is the implementation of the strategic plan into the tactical plans so that the company mission can be achieved in production. This phase often has the greatest organizational challenges as strategic planning is usually performed by a different person than the person completing the tactical planning. Furthermore, these two (or more) people are often located thousands of kilometers apart, which can make communication of the plan problematic.

Strategic Planning Requirements

Consistency between schedule inputs, including blocks to be scheduled, is vital for maintaining NPV. For best implementation results, the final strategic schedule should be based on pit designs rather than pit shells. This ensures the locations in MineSched are the same physical pit volumes as the pushbacks (or stages) in Whittle, which will result in the same blocks referenced in both the strategic and tactical schedules.

The requirements to achieve the NPV in Whittle must be identified with the appropriate data, and clearly communicated to the tactical planners. For a complex schedule, such as a SIMO schedule, the following items must be taken into consideration for a successful outcome:

• Schedule of Key Performance Indicator (KPI) results by year
• project sensitivities
• rock code (material) definitions
• total tonnages mined by location by year (actual tonnage rather than the Whittle limits)
• processing limits
• stockpile movements in and out by year
• stockpile definitions
• minimum value processed for each rock code by year
• vertical rate of advance limits by location by year, and
• location start date

It’s important to note that the limits entered into the operational scenario node in Whittle may not be reached in the schedule each year. The value to be entered in MineSched is not the limit, but rather the output value from the schedule. For example, in the images, below, the first image shows a mining limit of 20 Mt in the operational scenario node, whereas the second image shows the actual schedule tonnes to be used in MineSched.

Tactical Planning Requirements

To be able to measure compliance of the tactical schedule to the strategic schedule, an appropriate KPI must be used. As the strategic plan is usually financially driven, the MineSched scenario requires a financial indicator in the block model such as Net Smelter Return or value per bottleneck unit (as identified in the strategic plan when using the theory of constraints). The cash flows can then be reported on an annual basis and compared to the annual cash flows reported in Whittle. Simply comparing physicals between the two schedules does not ensure that the desired financial result is achieved.

For a schedule employing cut-off grade optimization, such as a SIMO schedule, the minimum value processed per year can be implemented using MineSched’s variable cut-off definition based on the financial KPI. SIMO schedules are often sensitive to stockpile movement and, therefore, applying stockpile movement constraints is a necessity. By allowing MineSched to feed lower value material as it is exposed in the pit, rather than sending to the stockpile, can result in a vastly different financial result. Using the maximum capacities and maximum rates of the stockpiles in MineSched replicates the strategic use of stockpiles.

After implementing the strategic outputs as constraints in MineSched, a validation schedule can be run using end of period surfaces exported from Whittle as MineSched locations. This schedule allows validation of the MineSched scenario and provides a general sanity check. Subsequent schedules might be based on stage designs when more flexibility is required across the periods.

It is possible to target a high value for an attribute in MineSched and targeting grade or a financial KPI is often used in an effort to achieve the best financial results. However, targeting the financial KPI gives poor compliance in complex schedules without the appropriate constraints. Instead of using targeting, employing constraints to replicate the mining sequence might give better compliance.

For further details about best practice mine planning, please contact your GEOVIA Services representative.

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It’s Tip Tuesday! Today’s post comes from Ross Pemberton, one of our Knowledge Consultants.

3DVIA Composer is a presentation and visualization software that connects directly to GEOVIA Surpac™ to produce high quality freely distributable 3D content, for public consultations, investor presentations or management meetings. With Microsoft Office™ connectivity, embedding your geological model or mine plan has never been easier! With a variety of outputs, your 3D content can easily be shared and emailed amongst colleagues; with automated installation and animations, technical knowledge is not required. 

When showcasing stratified deposits inside of Composer, geological surfaces are in close proximity and visualization of these units in 3D can be a challenge. Inside of Composer, there is a range of functions to assist in refining your 3D model content, to present your deposit in the best possible way. Here are some useful tips for presenting stratified deposits in Composer

How to apply vertical exaggeration in Composer

1. Open Composer and display your 3D content.

2. Ensure your data is saved in 3DVIA format. Go to File > Save as > 3DVIA Composer. Save in 3DVIA Composer format (*.smg). Tip: Saving in *.smg format allows access to all functionality; some other non-native formats are restrictive.

3. Edit colors, textures, renders and more.

4. Change Vertical exaggeration.

a. Select the “Root” to select all objects. All objects then turn yellow.

b. Go to Geometry tab > Scale.  

c. Change the Z scale to your desired vertical exaggeration.

How to Change Perspective

5. Click on  located at the bottom right of the screen. This is particularly useful when displaying stratified models and recording animations.

And that’s it. By following these steps, you can apply vertical exaggeration or change perspective when presenting stratified deposits in 3DVIA Composer.

If you require any further assistance please don’t hesitate to contact your GEOVIA representative.

Looking for more tips on using 3DVIA Composer with Surpac? Check out Ross’s post on How To Export Surpac Models Into 3DVIA Composer To Produce Interactive 3D Content

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It’s Tip Tuesday. Today’s post comes from Ranajit Das, one of our Senior Mining Consultants.

When using GEOVIA Minex™, you might be required to do repetitive tasks every day, every week, or every month (updating the borehole database, plot sections, or report reserves). How easy would it be if you could complete this with just a few clicks of the mouse?  Well, sit back and relax and let Minex do the tasks for you. Minex supports Tcl and Tk to automate tasks. After you have created the scripts, (or had them created by GEOVIA), run them repeatedly to perform repetitive tasks at a single click. Tk can be used to create a user interface, which runs on top of Minex.  

Here is an example of a Tk graphical user interface (GUI). This specific script automates the process of updating the borehole database as soon as new holes are drilled, and is also capable of updating the model using the new borehole data.

These forms can be designed and created as required by the user. The input from these forms is passed to Tcl/Tk scripts, which can run Minex tasks for specific jobs. To learn more about Minex tasks, try recording a task and replaying it.

Here are the steps to record a macro, which will rotate the graphics window slowly about the current center of rotation.

1. Press  to start/end recording a Tcl script.  The macro Save form is displayed. Tip: You can also start recording a script by choosing Tools > Scripting > Start/stop recording a script

2. Type the name that you want to use for the macro, and click Apply. By convention, Tcl scripts are stored in the Script_Files folder of organised projects.

3. Perform the tasks you want to record. In this case, click on the menu Graphics → 3D Navigation and move the slider at the bottom to the right. Any object(s) that are in the current graphics window will start rotating. Click Stop when you want to.

4. Press  to start/end recording a Tcl script. Note: you can also stop recording from the Tools → Scripting menu.

5. While the macro is running, you will see the Stop icon glow. The start button will also now become a STOP button. 

Playing Back a Macro

There are several ways to activate a macro in Minex.

1. When a macro is running, a prompt appears in the output window as: “Running macro ..<path>\<macro_name>.tcl”

2. If the User Scripts folder has been specified and the macro resides in this folder, then the macro can be activated by clicking on the corresponding icon in the toolbar.

3. When the Macro Playback icon is clicked , Minex asks for the name of the macro to be played. Once selected the macro is run. Another way to select the macro is to right-click the name in the Explorer window and select playback, as shown here. Double-clicking the name of the macro also works.

When a Tk macro runs in Minex, it locks the user interface. Until the Tk window is closed, Minex remains inactive. An example of a Tk macro is the Minex Pit Optimizer input interface. 

Minex can record all attributes of the user inputs provided or may record only the changes. This depends on the user’s choice. This setting can be changed by selecting Tools → Options → Scripts.

Select “True” to choose all parameters in the forms to be recorded, even there has not been any changes made. Select “False” to record only those parameters, which have changed. The recorded macro can be edited using any text editor. Add other Tcl commands to repeat tasks, or make it intelligent to further decide based on your inputs. You can also create an icon or a menu item to run macros. Contact GEOVIA support for details on how to accomplish this.

The "Updating a Geological Model" macro discussed in this post can be configured to suit your requirements. Some key features of this macro are:

• Each major step has been put into a separate tab
• Enter and validate borehole data, and create histograms and statistical reports
• Create Father Son or Ply Split relationships, and view a schematic diagram of splits
• Select boreholes from a file or by Type
• Perform Multi Seam Multi Variable gridding
• Create cut and merged models
• Report detailed resources and create cross-sections
• A detailed user manual is included

Please contact GEOVIA for customization of this macro or for any other automation requirements.

Looking for more Minex Tips & Tricks from Ranajit? Check out some of his earlier posts to learn about Plotting Plans & Sections in Minex and Creating 3D Views of Surface Infrastructure in Minex.

Be sure to check back next week for more Product Tips & Tricks! 

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The GEOVIA Surpac™ fault modeling menu is a simple and efficient method of creating surfaces where only one edge has been observed in the field. This could be the trace of a fault from a geological map or a cross section line. This function is also useful if you would like to georegister a scanned cross section or geophysical profile in Surpac. After the DTM has been created, you can use the function file>images>drape an image file over a DTM.

There are various ways to model a fault in Surpac:

• Using a digitized fault trace (the fault modeling menu)
• From a single survey point. (the fault modeling menu)
• By digitizing the extents/trace of the fault plane and using one of the triangulation functions (the manual method).

Today, we’ll discuss using a digitized fault trace.

You can digitize a fault trace manually, from surveyed point coordinates, by bearing and distance from existing points or on top of a draped image. The string does not need to be draped on top of the surface, as the fault function can project the surface in two directions.

Once you have a fault trace, you may choose to use a single dip and dip direction for the whole fault, or changing values for a twisted surface. If you would like to enter changing values along the trace, here there are various methods:

1. Use the function edit>point>maths. This will allow you to enter the description field values as below. In the image, below, the d1 field will contain the dip angle in degrees (negative values mean below horizontal), and the d2 field will contain the dip direction in degrees (not the strike). Once you select "apply", you will be able to graphically select the points you would like these values to be added to. The function will allow you to click points in succession until you select Esc on your keyboard.

2. If you would like to set every point in the segment to the same description field values, enter the values into the fault modeling menu.

You are now ready to use the fault triangulation function. Go to surfaces>fault modeling>generate fault from trace. You will be asked to define:

• If the fault is generated from a segment or a string.
• The elevations that the fault trace will extend to.
• The dip and dip directions; which can be selected from description fields, or typed if you would like to use a single value.
• The graphics layer the surface will be sent to.
• The numbers of the new strings.
• The DTM object number.

Once that is completed, click “Apply”, and select the segment or string you want to triangulate into a fault plane. The result may look similar to below.

Each point of the string has been copied along the dip and dip direction until it reached the entered elevations. This was then triangulated automatically. Note: If you would only like to extend the fault in one direction from the original trace, you can use the box selector to select the triangles along one side of the trace and delete them manually.

Looking for more Surpac Tips & Tricks? Read about How to Display Stratified Models in 3DVIA Composer and How to Handle CMS Data in Surpac.

Be sure to check back next week for more Product Tips & Tricks! 

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This is Part 1 in a new series on Mining Innovation.  Over the next few months, we will showcase how the Mining Industry can look to technologies that successfully advanced the performance of other industries.

Mining is on a quest for innovation to increase productivity.

With climbing industry costs and cyclical commodity prices, it’s clear that mining companies must focus on operational performance and project delivery with close attention to detail. As these economic struggles for the industry continue, Mining companies need to employ new technologies if they want to remain afloat. 

A recent article in Compass Magazine featured an interview with Mark Cutifani, CEO of Anglo American, in which he spoke about sustainable innovation in mining. Cutifani stated that “as time goes on, there are less of the really great deposits to be found, so being the first to identify the potential of a resource and extract it more efficiently could give us a five-year advantage. The manufacturing sector has been in the position for the last 70 to 100 years where competitive advantage rests on your ability to innovate, how you run your underlying processes and being super-responsive to markets. We’ve got a lot to learn from our colleagues in other industries on all three fronts.”

By employing new technologies used by other industries, mining companies can better manage their businesses – and the bottom line - by:

• Reducing costs
• Increasing recovery
• Making real-time decisions
• Using its assets productively
• Meeting customer quality and quantity demands
• Ensuring safety and environmental compliance

Let’s take a look at how technology used in the Energy Industry can help the Mining Industry improve both productivity and efficiency.

Hydro-Québec

Hydro-Québec needed to perform a refurbishing feasibility study on its Manic-3 generating station and to evaluate the cost and time required to perform the project.

Engineers created a virtual model of the station and all the equipment it contained. They simulated the different refurbishing tasks. The types of analysis simulated during the refurbishing study were disassembling, moving and reassembling equipment. This required strict scheduling and the necessity to ensure the safety of the employees.

By virtually representing the plant and equipment, from simulating the dismantling to the moving and reassembling of equipment inside the plant, the study reduced project time by 200 weeks and saved CA N $50 million.

Read the Full Story

Entergy Nuclear

Entergy Corporation’s Entergy Nuclear business unit, which manages the second largest fleet of nuclear reactors in North America, needed to improve safety through superior planning, shorten maintenance outages and transfer knowledge to a new generation of workers.

Traditional tools, including physical mockups, tabletop exercises and walkthroughs, are effective but expensive and cannot be stored or replicated for training and reuse. They created virtual 3D models of the plant based on laser scan data. Engineering processes were simulated and two previously unrecognized obstructions were identified and eliminated, saving the company one to two days outage time and up to $2 million. Detailed simulations allow workers to train and become familiar with tasks at hand prior to potentially hazardous operations, and for older workers to hand institutional knowledge on to a new generation of employees, quickly and comprehensively.

Read the Full Story

These are just two examples from which the mining industry can learn and utilize to improve performance. To learn more, download our FREE White Paper: Looking to technologies used by other industries to drive productivity & efficiency in mining

Be sure to check back later this month, as we share examples of how technology used by the Automotive Industry can benefit the Mining Industry.

Like what you read? Subscribe to our blog and all future posts will be delivered directly to your inbox. Just enter your email in the box on the right side of the page and click “subscribe.”

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It’s Tip Tuesday! Today’s post comes from Martina Barnett, our Technical Customer Support Manager

GEOVIA GEMS™ is our software application designed for use by both open pit and underground mining professionals, and can be used in exploration, resource modeling, mine design, long-term planning and production scheduling. As with most software packages, GEMS also has a few little known tricks that can make your life a little easier when digitizing lines and selecting TINs or lines to use in other functions.

Tracing existing lines

When digitizing lines, you may often wish to trace either a portion or the full length of an existing line.  To do so, start digitizing a new line (Line > Create) and select the most appropriate line type for what you’re doing.  When you get to the portion of the line that you want to trace, click on the first vertex along the line to anchor the beginning of the trace.  This will make vertex that fall directly onto the vertex of the existing line.

Now digitize the next point of your new line slightly ahead of the first digitized point, making sure to click on the existing line, but not on the next vertex. As you do this, you will hear a sound that is different from the digitizing sound that occurs when you click on a vertex.  This will not make another vertex yet.

Now you may click on the last vertex you want to include in the trace anywhere along the existing line (even the last vertex of the line) and the line will be traced to that location.  Make sure that the existing line is unbroken between the first (anchor) and last vertex and that there are no portions of the line that share vertexes with another existing line, otherwise GEMS will not be able to determine which path to trace.

When you’re done with your new line, you can right click to finish digitizing.  If you’d like to continue with your new line, simply carry on digitizing when the tracing is completed. Note: This works for polygons as well.

Selecting TINs

When you are prompted to select a TIN for use in a clipping or intersection function etc., you can click the space bar on your keyboard to bring up the list of TINs currently displayed on the screen.  Simply select the TIN(s) you’re looking for from the list using your mouse. If you want to select multiple objects at the same time, use the Ctrl key on your keyboard.

When the TINs you want are selected, simply click the OK button and continue with the function.

Selecting lines

When using the mouse to select lines for further processing (grooming, expansion, etc.) and there is more than one line found in the snapping box of your cursor, you are presented with a list of those lines on the screen. 

To select a line further down on the list, simply click your right mouse button. This will highlight the name of the line next on the list AND shift the line highlight on the screen (in yellow) to the next line on the list. When the line you want is highlighted, simply click the left mouse button to select it.  Note: You are not required to move the mouse during this process.

This method also works when moving line vertexes, and is very useful if you don’t want to ‘lose your place’ by moving your mouse to make the line selection.

That’s it! Hope these tricks and shortcuts help in your day-to-day use of GEMS.

Looking for more posts from Martina? Check out her previous blog on Using GEOVIA’s Community Forum and the Extended Technical Support.

Be sure to check back next Tuesday for more Product Tips & Tricks.

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