Integrated Mine Engineering solution: Implementation of CAMP at Raglan, Falconbridge Ltd

摘要

Computer assisted mine design has greatly evolved over the last decade. The mine plans are more detailed, refined and are better integrated with scheduling processes. However, many different applications have been marketed with various degrees of success and numerous mining companies have been adapting to ever changing systems. The CAD system that was in use at Raglan Mine had the constraint of being limited to design only. Raglan endeavours to improve its underground mining performance by compiling better metrics, measuring key performance indicators as well as integrating these activities in the mine planning process. In its Sudbury Operations, Falconbridge Ltd. has developed a system that fully integrates mine planning to its production process and vice versa. The Computer Aided Mine Planning (CAMP) system is a program running on a 3D platform that enables the user to store the drawing's components such as blocks and objects in a hierarchy similar to Microsoft's Windows Explorer. This feature permits the programmer to exploit the full potential of the CAD using C++ programming. Many modules were conceived to help the geologists, miners, engineers, surveyors, mine designers and underground foremen in their day-to-day activities. Raglan Operations decided to implement CAMP and to integrate other mining processes which would enable the mine site to achieve its objective in measuring and controlling its production. While working in an AutoCAD environment, the mine engineering department will face many challenges to integrate the new system into existing activities without slowing down the Operations, but the results are expected to exceed the current use of CAMP that is done at the Sudbury Operations.