INNOVATION IN MINING AND METALS
Controlling costs for a 20-million-ton-per-year coal mining operation in South
Africa requires statistical evaluation of multiple databases. Anglo Coal required
a system to link spatial information to various databases to allow analysis
of possible outcomes based on changing variables. Because most of this
information was inextricably linked to the Survey Department, a three-phase
project was implemented.
In Phase 1, the project team selected MicroStation GeoGraphics and Microsoft
SQL as the standard information repository and manipulation tool, with a
primary focus on linking production data with spatial referencing. The second
phase is enhancing fixed and dynamic reporting and integrating with Geo Web
Publisher to make the tool web-enabled. Phase 3 will incorporate all disciplines
that influence operations and decision making.
FINALIST
VIEW PRESENTATION
PDC Consultants
BHPB Rapid-Growth Project Newman Hub
Perth, Australia
BHP Billiton retained PDC Consultants to provide mine information modeling
with intelligent 3D review models and shop detailing for more than 8,000 tons
of mechanical and structural steel and associated platework at the Newman
Hub near Perth, Australia. The expanded mining operations will include a car
dumping facility, crushing and screening plant, coarse ore stock pile,
stockyard, train load-out facility, 12 conveyors and transfer stations, and
associated infrastructure.
ProSteel was used to model and detail complex mechanical items, including
bins, curved trusses, transfer chutes, and liner systems. By enabling
collaboration across the project lifecycle, the software helped reduce the
estimated modeling and detailing man-hours by 10 to 20 percent and allowed
PDC Consultants to exceed the client’s aggressive schedule by finishing three to
four months earlier than expected.
