Thread Rating:
  • 1 Vote(s) - 4 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3D Mining Software At Work Beneath The Waves
#1

Not new, but a good refresher even for the oldies.  Link to a previous post on yazoo:  Mining software helps plan Sol 1's 9,000 required cuts


Neville Judd
Published on 05 September 2014

3D mining software for design and planning is being used to explore the ocean floor. Toronto-based Nautilus Minerals has been granted a mining lease to mine the world’s first seafloor copper/gold project known as Solwara 1. Earlier this year, Nautilus reached an agreement with the Papua New Guinea government to restart the Solwara 1 project.

Think Jules Verne meets the 21st Century! The first ever company to commercially explore the ocean floor for minerals is using 3D mining software for design and planning. Toronto-based Nautilus Minerals has been granted a mining lease to mine the world’s first seafloor copper/gold project known as Solwara 1, in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea Nautilus is using software created by Tucson-based MineSight, a Hexagon AB company which specializes in comprehensive mine planning and mine modelling software.

Fig. 1 - Nautilus’s Bulk Cutter pictured under assembly. The Bulk Cutter will eventually mine material at high rates on areas benched by an Auxiliary Cutter 1,600m below the waves off Papua New Guinea. Photo courtesy Nautilus MineralsFig. 1 - Nautilus’s Bulk Cutter pictured under assembly. The Bulk Cutter will eventually mine material at high rates on areas benched by an Auxiliary Cutter 1,600m below the waves off Papua New Guinea. Photo courtesy Nautilus Minerals

Earlier this year, Nautilus reached an agreement with the Papua New Guinea government to restart the Solwara 1 project. Malcolm Roper, Nautilus Senior Mining Engineer. In the Bismarck Sea to the north of Papua New Guinea, the Solwara 1 deposit boasts a copper grade of approximately seven per cent. Land-based copper mines typically feature copper grades of 0.6 per cent.

Fig. 2 - Malcolm Roper, Nautilus Senior Mining Engineer.Fig. 2 - Malcolm Roper, Nautilus Senior Mining Engineer.Gold grades of well over 20g/tonne have also been reported by Nautilus in some of Solwara 1’s intercepts. Seafloor Massive Sulphide (SMS) deposits form directly on the ocean floor where superheated water carrying metals from deep in the earth mixes with cold seawater, depositing metal-rich minerals.

They are considered the modern analogues of volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, historically a major source of the world’s copper, gold, zinc and silver.

SMS and hydrothermal sulphide systems were discovered in Papua New Guinea by a research vessel in 1985. Numerous research projects followed in in the late 1980s and 1990s. In 1997, Papua New Guinea became the first country in the world to grant commercial exploration licenses for such deposits.

Solwara means ‘salt water’ in Tok Pisin, the most widely used language in Papua New Guinea.

Nautilus’ Senior Mining Engineer, Malcolm Roper, called the April 24 agreement with the Papua New Guinea government a “great step forward in our partnership in developing this new industry”.

Fig. 3 - Solwara1 Map World locationFig. 3 - Solwara1 map world location“This agreement allows Nautilus to focus on securing a vessel for the mining operation,” added Roper. Nautilus is eyeing MineSight Atlas for help in its short term plans to deal with more than 9,000 cuts.

Released in 2013, MineSight Atlas is a complete package for manual scheduling and stockpile blending. It provides a resource-based, true calendar approach to scheduling, and manages all material movement and reclaim.

Exploiting MineSight’s powerful CAD tools and visualization, MineSight Atlas directly accesses multiple block models, making mine areas for open pit and underground mining easy to manage.

“The advances in MineSight software are welcome,” said Roper.

“The package is a far more integrated approach to mine planning. Nautilus has reviewed the new software suite and we see considerable benefit investing in Atlas.

“Our current mine design has more than 9,000 cuts, each with tonnes, grades, specific energy, resource classification and modelled grade variability, which are reported from the production schedule. Dealing with such a large number of elements require time and diligence to ensure the mine planning process is correct and auditable.

“Atlas, once set up, would reduce the number steps and time in creating and reporting the production profile for this operation.” Nautilus has been an active participant in MineQuest, the global seminar series presented by MineSight each year. Roper’s presentation at MineQuest Brisbane in 2012 certainly furthered the series’ mandate of collaboration and education.

“The technology these guys are developing to extract minerals from 1,600 meters below sea-level is quite astounding and MineSight is right there with them,” said Mark Gabbitus, MineSight Product Manager-Operations.

“It’s very exciting to be involved in this project and we really appreciate Nautilus showing us what they are doing,” said Gabbitus. Nautilus holds approximately 450,000 square kilometers of exploration territory in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, New Zealand and the eastern Pacific.  At Solwara 1, once operating, three remote-controlled seafloor production tools will disaggregate and collect rock from the seafloor, before pumping it as slurry through a 1.6-kilometer pipeline to a production support vessel. Nautilus is using MineSight to design and schedule the operation, which is not without its hurdles.

Fig. 4 - Undersea miningFig. 4 - Undersea mining

“There are many challenges to this deep sea mining project,” said Roper. “Trying to mine hard rock, remotely, with bespoke equipment, at 1,600 meters water depth, with ambient pressure close to 16MPa and from a vessel that is pitching and rolling, are but just a few, but that’s what makes working on this project so interesting.”

Numerous MineSight products are already in use at the project: MineSight Interactive Planner, Op Engineering, MineSight Geology/Geostats, MineSight Basis Modeling, MineSight Schedule Optimizer, and MineSight Economic Planner.  “Our previous working relationship with MineSight has always been good, and this was a major influence in adopting MineSight for the Solwara 1 project, as well as the customizable nature of the software,” said Roper.

“The main benefit provided by these tools is that they are within the same package. This means there are no workarounds required to work with the data in later stages of the mine planning process.”

Fig. 5 - Underseamining3DFig. 5 - Undersea mining using 3D mining software for design and planning.

Under April’s agreement, the Papua New Guinea government has taken up a 15 percent stake of the Solwara 1 Project, with the option for a further 15 percent stake. Papua New Guinea made an initial non-refundable payment of US$7 million to Nautilus with the remainder of its share (US$113 million) paid the following month into escrow.

The company continues with the build of its equipment,” said Roper. “Assembly of the Bulk Cutter finished in April with Factory Acceptance having commenced in Q3 this year.

Fig. 6 - SulphideFig. 6 - Seafloor Massive Sulphide (SMS) deposits form directly on the ocean floor.

“Overall, the tools are over 90 percent complete with the pump and riser system over 50 percent complete.”
On the search for a suitable vessel from which to conduct the mining operation, Roper said several options are available either on a lease, joint venture or ownership basis. “Each option has its own merits.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neville Judd is Corporate Communications Coordinator at Mintec, Inc. & MineSight® Applications – Global Mining Software Solutions.

Reply



Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)