Mining IT: product releases to fill 2012 calendar
Richard Roberts, 15 December 2011
THE optimism of many leading mining software suppliers about business in 2012 is linked to what a number of them are calling major product releases scheduled for the next 12 months. Let what promises to be a rolling series of launches and technical seminars begin!
Runge will be among the first out of the blocks in 2012 with its XPAC 7.12 mine scheduling software, due for release in January. The company is promising new 3D graphics, data analysis tools and a fresh user interface.
Still in Australia, Maptek is also planning a busy start to the year with the first I-Site 8400 medium-range laser scanners due to come off the company’s Adelaide production line on January 1. Maptek will release BlastLogic, an operations and design data management solution for drill and blast engineers, in the first quarter of 2012 and further into the year we will see Eureka, under development in 2011, for exploration geologists.
“Eureka brings together disparate geospatial data into a single interactive 3D work space with modelling and analysis tools,” Maptek says.
Then there is the software developer’s flagship GMP product, Vulcan. The widely used software has been around for more than 15 years and contains more than 2000 menu items.
“We know it has to provide the power and speed to handle larger data sets and advanced graphics requirements for our 6000 global users,” Maptek CEO Barry Henderson told HighGrade Mining IT.
“Vulcan 64-bit is about to undergo a rigorous beta testing program before being released to customers. The new version will allow users to access the more than 3GB of addressable memory on the 64-bit platform.
“Leveraging multiple cores on hardware, and graphics processing units on modern graphics cards, are other Vulcan developments that will help meet our goal of delivering bigger, better and faster software.”
US-based Modular Mining Systems says early 2012 will see the first commercial installation of its AssetAlert asset tracking and control system, officially launched at the EXPOSIBRAM mining show in Brazil in September.
“We will also release additional enhancements to the ProVision 3 machine guidance line-up and add more equipment types for the new platform,” sales and marketing VP Mike Lewis said, adding: “Watch for Modular to introduce new best of breed solutions that will provide revolutionary improvements in the safety space.”
CAE Mining, formerly Datamine and now part of Canada’s CAE Inc, will launch CAE Studio 5D Planner, successor to Mine2-4D, in early 2012.
“It is easier to use with a smart workflow and improved user interface as well as an integrated visualiser among the many new features,” said deployment and marketing manager, Greg Shapland.
Trent Bagnall, former managing director of QMASTOR and now heading Triple Point Technology’s coal and mineral supply chain solutions arm, said 2012 would see new releases of the company’s Pit to Port and PortVu products, “incorporating a significant amount of web (Silverlight) functionality”.
There would also be “some great new mobile applications for our products as well”, while integration to the Triple Point product range was “also on the cards” following the American company’s recent takeover of QMASTOR.
Fast-growing Australian geoscientific information management systems leader acQuire will release the acQuire Monitoring module early in 2012.
“The Monitoring module will address a strong need for acQuire to be able to manage temporal data for a number of domains such as hydrogeology, geotechnical, energy – geothermal, coal seam gas, oil sands – and environmental,” acQuire CEO Warren Cook said.
“We will also be delivering our first web-based product, Neo Web. This technology will allow us to provide our customers access to interrogate their GIM data over a web environment. The intention here is to engage audiences that have no knowledge of how to use the current acQuire technology.”
Cook said acQuire had been researching methods of enhancing its learning solutions and would be launching a range of e-learning courses throughout 2012.
“Given the demand for acQuire over the past five years we see a need to engage the consulting community to develop a mutually beneficial solution to support our customers,” he said. “In 2012 acQuire will be releasing the acQuire Partnership Program.
“Also, to meet the demands associated with automation acQuire is embarking on a number of interoperability projects. These will become more visible throughout 2012.
“Finally, we are continuing the development of our acQuire Managed Services capability. We now have a lot of knowledge about the optimum business model and the use of the standard exploration workspace. acQuire Managed Services is at the hub of our cloud solution and this will become more apparent throughout 2012.”
Another fast-growing firm, Queensland-based MineWare, aims to adapt its successful Argus shovel monitoring system to work on hydraulic excavators.
“While there will be continued development of MineWare’s core technologies, Pegasys, Argus, and mRoc Desktop, this adaptation will be the single largest development that will be delivered,” managing director Andrew Jessett told HighGrade Mining IT.
Coming off a frenetic year of product updates in 2011, US GMP software developer Mintec’s president John Davies says there is growing excitement at the company’s Tucson, Arizona, HQ and at branches around the world about what’s programmed for 2012.
“We’re on the cusp of releasing some major new products, so we’re very optimistic about Mintec’s growth in 2012,” he said.
“We have been pushing hard on our scheduling/planning applications, ranging from long-term planning to short range, to operational support tools. The integration of the tools in our STP suite –MineSight Interactive Planner, MineSight Haulage, MineSight Schedule Optimiser and Material Manager – provides a formidable tool for rapid schedule evaluation.”
Change a truck constraint, a feed grade requirement, a tonnage constraint, and reschedule in seconds, is what Mintec is telling users.
“The STP suite is all linked through a common database that contains all the source and result data so there are some amazing reporting opportunities with the data,” Davies said.
“The biggest focus [in 2012] will be on short-term planning. We have a new product in development that further ties together the complex world of STP. This product will include Gantt scheduling, animation and interactive display connected to MineSight 3D and with full equipment scheduling, and dynamic charting and reporting.
“We are continuing to develop new tools and applications that will serve clients with underground and stratigraphic deposits.”
More 64-bit versions of MineSight products will be released in 2012.
“You’ll also see the integration of scheduling tools such as MineSight Schedule Optimizer with visualisation in MineSight 3D. The animation of schedules, and direct interaction between cuts and the scheduler will make the workflow in MSSO amazing,” Davies said.
As reported recently in HighGrade Mining IT, Australian-based software developer ioGlobal will introduce its new SaaS (software as a service) extension to its ioHUB assay data management product in the first quarter of 2012.
Also in Perth, Western Australia, still one of the world’s busiest mining software development hubs, services and technology firm Snowden is plotting the release of Reconcilor V7 and “continued development” of its Evaluator optimisation solution in 2012.
Canada’s Gemcom made seven product announcements in 2011, including the unveiling of Gemcom Hub.
“You can expect to see numerous releases from Gemcom next year across our product portfolio,” president and CEO Rick Moignard said. “It is too soon for us to comment on specifics.”
While the detail is similarly light on at this stage, a formal launch of Oracle’s business intelligence solution for mining – which is apparently at roll-out stage with big mining customers such as Thiess – is said to be on the (somewhat broad) 2012 horizon.
“We are not in a position to speak about the solution … at this point in time,” a spokesperson said this week.
Also on a broader note, Mincom’s VP global mining solutions, John Jessop, said 2012 could be a year of more subtle advances in mining’s IT reach.
“On the hardware side there will be a series of incremental but still significant improvements around sensing technology, mass-material movement technology, autonomous mining and communications networks,” he said. “On the software side, the biggest innovation won’t necessarily be in creating brand new capability, but in better orchestrating existing capability.”
Micromine’s solution delivery and development manager for its Pitram mine production management product, Ivan Zelina, said 2012 would hopefully see increased investment in wireless coverage of opencut and underground mines. He expects autonomous and/or semi-autonomous mining equipment to become “a reality rather than just an R&D initiative”.
More IT solutions on the mine face helping to safely increase production are expected to emerge, along with intrinsically safe, rugged hardware (computers and WiFi hardware) for underground coal mines.
“Underground proximity detection is here, is working well, so hopefully it will be taking off,” Zelina said.
Also in the December 15 - 21, 2011 edition
- AFRICA
- Eritrea risk narrows Zara field
- ASIA DESK
- Not all good as gold in China
- AUSTMINE
- MST buys Nixon Communications
- BREAKING NEWS
- Abenab progress for Avonlea
- Alara advances
- Alcoa declares divi
- Alcyone search boost
- Better news for St Barb
- Black Fire complies
- Bu Dun Hua copper
- Chief sees higher rating for Endeavour
- Cockatoo extension
- Impala sacks drillers
- Industrea win
- Kingston shines
- Maiden Rosie resource
- More Bass trouble
- More concerns on uranium supply
- Nany option exercised
- Newcrest output up
- Palito reassessment
- Pegasus finds copper
- PGM output up
- Radar on track
- Redhill expands holding
- Rio in control
- River attraction for Silver Lake
- Southern Cross ready to move forward
- Stonehenge sets sights high
- Straits gain
- Strategic permit
- Tanoyan update for Reliance
- Trafford's exploration boost
- Two Rivers death
- Ventnor copper hits
- WA uranium policy
- West Rand mines to merge
- Windfall at lake
- Winmar attracts investor
- Yellowhead on track
- CENTRAL ASIA
- Can miners really side-step a war?
- COAL
- Mardon's new year wish
- CONSULTING
- Consultants see room to grow in 2012
- Lory leads SKM mining into new growth phase
- CONTRACTING
- Contracting briefs: Redpath, Thiess, Decmil
- FINANCE
- A golden path to Dubbo development
- Copper deficit a fixture for the future
- Kagara opts for safety first
- Money’s almost too tight to mention
- Terramin view expected to become clearer
- FORUM
- How the JORC and Valmin codes work
- More must buy into JORC discussion
- FROM THE CAPITAL
- Capital management will be key 2012 theme
- GOLD
- Loyal to the cause
- Upside seen despite Teranga downslide
- HEAVY METAL
- Atlas Copco expands mining range
- ISSUES
- State-run miners: best of a bad bunch
- MINING
- Independence gloom unwarranted
- MINING INTELLIGENCE
- 'tis the season (still) to be wary
- MINING IT
- Auto-money changes everything
- Innovation is the new black
- IT notebook: ARANZ Geo, Immersive Technologies
- IT notebook: Devex receives certification
- IT optimists
- Mining IT: 2011 rebooted
- XPAC to lead dynamic software revival
- PEOPLE
- People on the move: Gindalbie Metals, Abcourt Mines, Carbon Energy
- SOUTH AMERICA
- Chili backers like its prospects
- VIEW FROM THE WEST END
- Bitten on the bum by a Black Swan
