Growth at a price
February 1 - 7, 2012
AUSTRALIAN microcap software firm ISS Group can beat the effects of a strong local currency and withstand fierce competition to increase annual revenue by up 40% during this year and next, but it faces ongoing margin pressure from these market forces.
IT optimists
December 15 - 21, 2011
AFTER posting high growth rates in 2011, and despite the economic storm clouds over Europe and the US, all of the 16 leading global mining IT firms spoken to by HighGrade over the past few weeks remain optimistic about what 2012 has in store for them. Here senior executives explain why.
IT notebook: FEI, Itasca, Mincom
February 1 - 7, 2012
FEI Company vice-president and general manager Paul Scagnetti says the company’s recent acquisition of ASPEX Corporation would prove pivotal to its ongoing strategy aimed at moving automated mineral and petrographic analysis “outside the laboratory to where mining, and oil and gas companies are exploring, extracting, processing and refining”.
IT notebook: Visualisation Sciences, Codan, CAE
January 25 - 31, 2012
VISUALISATION Sciences Group (VSG) has described the latest version of its 3D visualisation and analysis software for digital rock physics and core analysis as a “major step forward … in functionality and usability”.
IT notebook: ARANZ Geo, Immersive Technologies
December 15 - 21, 2011
NEW Zealand’s ARANZ Geo, developer of 3D geological modelling software Leapfrog Mining, has forged an alliance with mineral laboratory services group ALS Minerals to give “joint customers” fast and easy access to analytical data, certificates of analysis, and detailed drill core inspection results from anywhere in the world and while still working in a 3D modelling environment.
Mining IT: 2011 rebooted
December 15 - 21, 2011
THE past 12 months have seen two significant trends in the mining IT space that could be mirrored in 2012.
Mining IT: product releases to fill 2012 calendar
December 15 - 21, 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!
Innovation is the new black
December 15 - 21, 2011
PERHAPS not surprisingly, Rio Tinto topped a list of mining industry innovators nominated by the world’s top mining IT company executives in HighGrade’s annual IT sector survey.
XPAC to lead dynamic software revival
December 15 - 21, 2011
THE first comprehensive makeover of a Runge software product post the largely unrealised Mining Dynamics vision will be unveiled next month as the company positions itself to capture a bigger share of the fast-growing mining software market in 2012 and beyond.
IT notebook: Devex receives certification
December 15 - 21, 2011
BRAZIL’S Devex has received conformity certification from the relevant authority in the country for its Smartmine Tracker SMT100C mobile mine machinery onboard computer.
Auto-money changes everything
December 15 - 21, 2011
THE world’s leading supplier of mine production management systems says the recently announced autonomous-truck deal between Rio Tinto and Komatsu is a watershed development for the industry’s burgeoning information technology sector and a harbinger of the new high-tech jobs to come in the mining industry.
Coming up: HighGrade Mining IT Outlook 2012
December 8 - 14, 2011
HIGHGRADE’S exclusive survey of the world’s mining software and information technology systems leaders has produced a raft of valuable insights into the industry’s expectations and predictions for the next 12 months.
IT notebook: Modular Mining, US tech, Mintec, Maptek, Gemcom, Geosoft
December 8 - 14, 2011
US-BASED mining technology firm Modular Mining Systems will this week conduct an international webinar on machine guidance systems under the banner, “Stick to the plan: how high-precision GPS can save you time and money”.
Research improves pit slope modelling software
December 1 - 7, 2011
AN Australian mining service and technology firm’s years of experience in the assessment of iron ore openpit slope stability in Western Australia’s Pilbara region has led to the development of new shear strength criterion to more accurately model the highly anisotropic strength of bedded rock masses, and a significant improvement in the modelling software.
ioHUB launch countdown underway
December 1 - 7, 2011
THE Australian-based software developer ioGlobal has started the countdown to the launch early next year of a new SaaS geoscientific information management offering it describes as a potential ‘game-changer’ for the company.
Product focus: Avizo Fire
December 1 - 7, 2011
GERMANY’S Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics is harnessing advances in computational hardware and imaging in its efforts to understand complex petrophysical processes and to improve the assessment and characterisation of porous reservoir rocks.
RepRisk offers monitor to non-financial enterprises
December 1 - 7, 2011
A ZURICH-based company has introduced the first enterprise edition of its software as a service (SaaS) online environmental, social and governance risk management application for multinational companies.
Maptek introduces 12kg site scanner
December 1 - 7, 2011
MINING technology company Maptek is looking for similar success with its streamlined laser scanner to the international market penetration achieved with the long-range I-Site 8800.
Software developer primed for 2012
December 1 - 7, 2011
MINTEC has laid the foundation for another year of strong growth in 2012 with the release of MineSight Version 7.0, which the US-based company says sets “a new standard for integrated mine-planning software”.
FMS newcomer forges market stronghold
November 17 - 23, 2011
A “significant” investment by the world’s largest mining contractor in Australian-developed production, maintenance and productivity tracking technology has given the supplier a vital boost in an increasingly competitive market.
