Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/742224
OPERATIONS ILLUSTRATED OUR EXPERTS An Evolution in Mine Planning November 2016 Scott McTavish is a solutions consultant for Kespry Inc. He is con- sidered to be a pioneer in the drone space; before joining Kespry, McTavish formed one of the fi rst UAV (un- manned aerial vehicle) surveying companies in the world. He also spe- cializes in UAV survey- ing and business devel- opment. McTavish has degrees in geography and GIS from Western University. Vice President of Subho- rizon Geologic Resourc- es, LLC, Jim Stroud is a licensed professional geologist. He started the company with his partner, Brett McLaurin, in 2013. Prior to that, he served as staff geologist, senior geologist, and manager of geological services for Vulcan Materials Co.'s Mideast Division. He has a bach- elor's degree in Geology from North Carolina State University. Rob Vogel is the founding partner of Q4 Impact Group, which facilitates company efforts in best practices, core competencies, and bottom-line improve- ment. Previously, he served as president of Vulcan Materials Co.'s Midwest Division. He has a bachelor's degree in mining engineer- ing from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from the University of Chicago. The advent of drones to aid in mine planning has made many aspects of the process safer and more accurate for producers and consultants. In a nutshell, drones follow a predetermined fl ight path that the producer has generated from mapping software. Once the drone is launched, it ascends to the set height and begins to take photos at regular intervals. For each photo, the drone stores the coordinates, photo ID, timing, and camera angle. Data from the drone is processed automatically in the cloud, generating 3D images of the site from the mul- tiple overlapping photos generated by the drone. The producer or consultant can visualize spatial data with overlays and also download it with CAD and GIS data and use the information with advanced mining soft- ware packages to plan for greenfi eld sites, permitting, track land use, compare changes in slopes and high walls for stability, visualize topography before and after for reclamation plans, and more. Even 30 years ago, most mine plans were a product of a hand-drawn or aerial photographic map, with clear Mylar overlays that showed models of the plant, depict- ed in ink, as it evolved year by year. Some producers had access to PCs and used MS-DOS or early versions of Excel spreadsheet programs to provide more sophis- ticated and effi cient calculations for different scenarios that could aid them in developing their mine plans. As Windows-based computers evolved, so did better programs for mine planning. Miners and producers be- gan to more widely use computer-aided design (CAD) programs, such as AutoCAD, to create graphical block models of the mine that could illustrate scenarios and mine development over time. Windows programs that aided in slope planning helped to reduce rock-slide incidents with benches and faces. The way it was New to mine planning Windows-based computing The sky Is the limit (or is it?) 2 5 3 6