Mine2-4D is a Mine Planning and Scheduling System that delivers cost and performance improvements through efficient Data and Change Management. It provides a fully integrated system for engineers to manage the complexity of data from geological, survey, and mine design layout by producing complete and detailed mine plans and schedules.  In addition, it has the ability to quickly assess the financial implications of variations in a mine plan.

 

Mine2-4D can be delivered as part of a complete mine geology and planning system or implemented to complement existing software applications. 

 

Mine2-4D is to Mining Engineers what Central Databases are to Geologists. For too long the Engineers have lagged behind the geologists in the concept of central databases. Mine2-4D is the answer to this problem.  Why should engineering be any different to geology when it faces the same data integrity, data management, and change management challenges? The answer to this question has to do with the degree of complexity involved. Mine2-4D addresses this complexity by applying an engineering approach to the problem.

 

A major strength of the Mine2-4D system is its ability to integrate directly with EPS, the premier Scheduling package available to the mineral extraction industry. Mine2-4D provides you with processes that automatically interrogate a geological model using solids, and manage the data for incorporation within the scheduling activities. Allocation of resources, attributes and activities can also be created graphically within the system. At this point, you will have a complete 3-dimensional data set available to schedule the design.

Mine2-4D integrated planning system

  • Data management and archive
  • In-built design standards
  • In-built process flow
  • Multi-user sub-projects
  • Automated master combine process


Geological Modeling

Mine Design

Data preparation

Sequencing

Export data to scheduler

Scheduling

3D Presentation

2D Presentation

 

 

Generic geology package

Conduct geological modeling using any generic geology package

 

Model imported from any generic geology package

 

Manually create stope outlines and development center lines

User defined detail followed by automatic generation of physical entities

Automatic generation from user defined rules and manual point and click on-screen

Seamless and automated

Gantt environment, resource leveling.

 

EPS Visualizer and LP blending modules available.

Animations that can be whole-mine or filtered data sets.

 

Excellent tool for trapping schedule errors and communicating schedules

Template style plotting automatically linked to schedule updates.

 

mineORBIT module available for 3D visualization.

 

 

Traditional planning system

  • Relies on individuals to apply defined planning standards
  • No method of structuring data sets and controlling access/version
  • Transferring data between packages time consuming and erroneous


Geological Modeling

Mine Design

Data preparation

Sequencing

Export data to scheduler

Scheduling

3D Presentation

2D Presentation

 

 

 

 

Generic geology package

Generic design package

Generic Gantt scheduler

N/A

Plotting macros or

CAD packages

Conduct geological modeling using any generic geology package

 

Model imported from any generic geology package

 

Manually create stope outlines and development center lines

 

 

Custom written macro systems and/or on-screen creation and interrogation of solids

 

Time consuming

 

Dependent on skills of individuals.

 

Unreliable and inflexible hard coded system with no professional support

 

Not possible – must be completed in Gantt chart

 

 

 

Creating sequences in Gantt charts is time consuming and error prone

Custom written macros passing data through text files and/or manually transcribed data

 

Time consuming

 

Error prone

 

Macro systems require updating when new scheduler versions released

 

Often not mining specific (eg Microsoft Project)

 

 

May not handle weighted mineral grades or rate based activities (eg m/mo development as opposed to duration of an activity)

Not possible

 

 

 

 

Cannot visually check schedules for errors and difficult to communicate (especially to operations)

Plotting capabilities in most generic mining packages are poor

 

 

No link to schedule – must manually transcribe scheduled positions

 

Very time consuming

 

Difficult to update