Operating three collieries and one open cut mine in the country, BHP started trialling Mining Dynamics in February and has since settled for using the enterprise solution.

Runge vice president of enterprise mining solutions Glen Kuntz said Mining Dynamics runs on a server with no desktop software required as all the interaction is done through the web application interface.

He said the software can store, manage and visualise all types of spatial information, whether it be mine plans, schedules, geology models and reports.

Kuntz said Mining Dynamics controls all types of geological and mining desktop applications, meaning that it uses the execution and automation of business process to interact with other software applications and ERP solutions such as SAP, Oracle or JDEdwards.

As expected, Mining Dynamics is fully compatible with data from Runge’s XPAC, XERAS and XACT desktop solutions but can also interact with competitor products such as Maptek’s Vulcan and other applications from Gemcom, Minesite and Datamine.

Mining Dynamics has also been fully certified by SAP to integrate with SAP solution landscape.

Overall the solution provides an interface to integrate critical information, including 3D data, into mining business processes, which not only makes the information easily available but can also speed up decision making by its ability to quickly disseminate timely information through its business intelligence layer, which consists of strategic, collection, analysis, dissemination and reflection stages.

At the successful trial in South Africa the solution helped identify the root causes between planned and unplanned activities.

“Unplanned work is generally on the average of 2.5 – 5 times more expensive per mine than planned,” Kuntz said.

“What Mining Dynamics is doing is basically delivering an operational dashboard that is allowing you to visualise and interrogate these spatial and transactional differences so you can get a better chance of getting back on track, as planned.”

For possible applications to longwall mining operations, Runge principal mine planning engineer John Hives said the solution will help focus on the non-productive activities where numerous resources and manning are required.

In the event of unexpected equipment failure which diverts fitters from their scheduled tasks in a shift, Hives said the combination of Runge’s desktop and enterprise solutions could be used to quickly identify a resourcing issue that might not be felt until a shift the next day, which could trigger further operational delays.

As a geological engineer by trade, Kuntz has a lot of experience in working on resources and reserve forecasting and modelling and said reconciling the changes made was often last on the list of tasks that need to be completed in a timely fashion, when there is a greater focus on business improvement and moving tonnes as efficiently as possible.

To save time, he said changes made to the geology model, mine plan and schedule will be automatically reconciliated with the previous mine plan once loaded up into Mining Dynamics.

“So from a speed point of view you’re going from where reconciliation used to take weeks and months, to reducing that time down to hours.”

Kuntz said BHP was now looking to Runge to add more functionality to the solution because the workforce felt empowered by the system for it embraces human behaviours, business process and decisions.

Under normal conditions Mining Dynamics can have 20 to 50 users operating at any given time. Kuntz said a return on investment was usually six months to a year.

He said the software can help mining companies improve their asset cost curves position and maximise cash generation by reducing operational costs.

Kuntz said the software was designed for mining companies that sought to improve their operating discipline by eliminating non-value activity, to improve accuracy in mine forecasting and understand the causes between planned and actual results.