Aggregates Manager

November 2016

Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine

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Technology allows simpler, more accurate planning OPERATIONS An M ine planning for aggregate operations, even 30 years ago, was fairly primitive. Aerial photographs provided a platform from which a map could be drawn, but plans were no more complicated than pen on Mylar. "Ev- erything was analog. As a mine de- veloped, we would use overlays of Mylar to create models of the mine by year," says Rob Vogel, founding partner of Q4 Impact Group. For a greenfi eld site, a geologist would go to the county courthouse for a paper property map, says Jim Stroud, vice president of Subhorizon Geologic Resources. "Everything was hand-drawn," he adds. "The fi rst year I had a computer to work with in planning was 1992. We began to use Excel and then AutoCAD through the 1990s." Vogel calls the advent of using spreadsheets "Phase II" in the evo- lution of mine planning technology. "Aggregate producers were more concerned with generating volume by year, and made all of their calcu- lations by hand. When spreadsheet programs came into use, it made the calculations a lot more effi cient. We were able to more quickly and easily create different scenarios for produc- tion," he says. As the technology became more sophisticated, and online services were increasingly available, county parcel data was easier to fi nd and use. "Most counties have parcel data, with zoning and all layers there to see – streets, creeks, boundaries – all online," Stroud says. "Today, GIS is the way to go for exploration. You can look for, say, properties of 100 acres or more, with parcels zoned for heavy industry or allowed zoning classifi cations for mining. Then you can overlay the geology." Zoning and permitting are often a challenge for producers. Every county has different land use restrictions. "You need all the information you can get to make your point. If there is no technical reason to deny a spe- cial-use permit and rezoning, if you have addressed air, land, water, traf- fi c studies, with all of the evidence, it becomes more diffi cult to turn down your requests," Stroud adds. Stroud and Vogel agree that today's technology for mine planning is light years ahead of what was available even 10 years ago. And some, such as Google Earth, is free. As a preliminary platform to work into AutoCAD or other mine planning software, Google Earth easily takes planning to a high level of technolo- gy at a low cost. One of the industry's newest technological tools is the unmanned drone. According to Scott McTavish, solutions consultant for Kespry, Inc., 3D views from a drone's high-reso- lution imagery provide an effective method to plan for development. Fight data is automatically uploaded to the cloud, then software auto-gen- erates contour lines and overlays PDFs showing site-specifi c data. CAD and GIS data can be downloaded and put it into advanced mining software packages, he says. AGGREGATES MANAGER Millennials are more comfortable with technology than their preceding generations have ever been. Not as a result of this, but possibly as a cause, computer products that aid in mine planning have become in- creasingly sophisticated and accurate – from mapping and GIS to LIDAR to geologic modeling and cloud com- puting software. There are even some resources that producers can use at no cost, such as Google Earth, with which a high level of planning can take place as a preliminary platform. The planning of aggregate mines has come a long way over the years. There was a time when producers would fl y by the seat of their pants, concerned more with producing volumes of material year by year than with grade control, slopes, waste versus salable prod- uct, etc. As the need for zoning and permitting grew, producers began to pay more attention to planning the life of the mine. Evolving technologies became increas- ingly important to assist with detailed plans for effi cient and profi table mining. Process improvements via technology Continuing evolution 1 4

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