Coal USA talked with Gemcom about one product, Gemcom Minex, which has continued to evolve with the needs of operators for three decades.

With the significant progress the industry is making developing operations and bringing closed operations back to life, mine planning has become more important than ever. Gemcom’s Minex has been taking on projects from greenfield exploration to rehabilitation across the world.

During the product’s development, Gemcom said, it considered some factors vital to the end user, including speed. As much work at this stage of a mine’s development is time-sensitive, having a product that can rapidly model data-intense projects and produce an efficient model saves both time and money.

Transparency is another benefit, as it permits the user to see confirmation of the design process at each stage. Connectivity with corporate databases and common files and data storage formats as well as other mine planning data keeps one set of information in one place.

Minex also integrates geological considerations with the design and planning of the product and pairs it all with features such as scheduling, surveys, rehabilitation and other functions for more accurate decisions.

Minex business unit director Ben Farquharson says today’s Minex is a complete transformation from the product developed and introduced 30 years ago, particularly since the company’s acquisition of Surpac Minex Group in mid-2006 that brought with it significant investment and R&D for the product.

“In fact, over the last five years, Gemcom, which has eight different products spanning from exploration through mine production management, has invested $C78 million in product development and acquisitions,” he says.

“Since Minex has been at Gemcom, there has been an overall focus of marrying technical capabilities with ease of use and to deliver a great user experience. People need to accomplish their tasks faster because they are pressed for time, and a modern interface is a significant contributor to that.”

The biggest benefit to the modern industry, of course, is the ease of use of any technology – many professionals will not accept a product that is not easy to learn and easy to use.

“We appreciate that … professionals’ time is valuable and that they are rare resources,” Farquharson said. “Therefore, usability continues to be a theme for us in our development roadmap.”

All of the system’s design tools, including underground, are tightly integrated with geological seam modelling tools.

“By using Minex, you are going to have more accurate reserve calculations, which lead to better mine planning and scheduling,” Farquharson said.

With markets in Asia, particularly Indonesia, India and Mongolia as well as Australia, Africa and Colombia, Gemcom’s global presence is driving its growth.

Published in the August 2011 Coal USA Magazine