Right: A wind farm in the mining regions of Atacama and Coquimbo
Global software, hardware and services provider Maptek has joined the Coalition for Eco Efficient Comminution (CEEC) as a new sponsor, signing on for three years of sponsorship.
Announcing the Maptek sponsorship, CEEC CEO Alison Keogh welcomed the company to CEEC’s worldwide network of visionary miners, mining supply companies and researchers working toward more sustainable practices.
“Maptek is the first mining design software company to sponsor CEEC’s important work. It delivers advanced tech solutions to people making key decisions at mine sites, and has a truly global reach, which means Maptek can help drive large, positive impacts,” said Ms Keogh.
“High-impact Maptek technologies are used at thousands of sites worldwide, so Maptek is in a great position to work with miners to find and implement new ways to create value and reduce footprint. Together, we see exciting opportunities for mining companies to leverage technology as we all strive to decarbonize and achieve the best possible ESG outcomes”.
Maptek solutions cover the whole mining cycle, and the company’s vision is to change the way mining is done, forever. It believes that, through the right tools, it can support better decisions to make mining safer and more efficient.
Maptek CEO Eduardo Coloma said these aims can be best achieved by considering comminution outcomes from the earliest stages of mining.
“Building eco efficiency and sustainability into a mine's operating model is more than possible. The latest technologies allow us to predict energy and productivity improvements by linking the orebody to the plant. There are a lot of opportunities, and we hope to contribute to sharing the world’s leading practices and technology options to accelerate these through our support of CEEC,” he said.
“CEEC objectives to drive efficiency, productivity and sustainability throughout the whole mining life cycle are well aligned with Maptek aspirations.”
Coloma believes the industry can share site knowledge and practical ways to optimize energy consumption and reduce operating costs, with better downstream cost efficiencies.
He added that partnerships and collaboration are key to success. Maptek brings established partnerships with miners and collaborators, including CEEC Sponsor PETRA Data Science, and is looking forward to working with others to help share practical site optimization and industry decarbonization options.
Coloma said understanding its customers' future energy plans now enables users to incorporate solar and wind energy usage into mine scheduling tools, and predict better plant and energy performance.
“Maptek solutions already include multi-objective optimization for blast design and fragmentation prediction and analysis, all helping to drive improved productivity and performance from mine to mill. Tracking fragmentation on a blast-by-blast basis helps operations improve mining performance,” he said.
“We’re keen to share inspiring ideas and solutions like this, to help encourage uptake of best practice, which is fundamental to increasing sustainability for the future of the mining industry.”
Ms Keogh said Maptek coming on board as a CEEC sponsor highlights the huge potential to translate improvement goals around mining footprint and productivity, and connect them across the silos into real actions on the ground at mine sites.
She noted that industry now has advanced technology to make decisions that drive big impacts downstream: from blast design and execution, to ore-waste delineation, efficient excavation and fleet use, through to energy and water use in the mill and beyond.
“Technology options available now offer exciting and tangible options. We can leverage advanced, practical software at sites, and extend this further with new knowledge from big data and digital twins. I look forward to mine sites sharing their work to not only test and plan, but also put in place these positive changes across mine sites worldwide,” she concluded.
About Maptek:
Maptek is a leading provider of innovative software, hardware and services for the mining industry. Founded 40 years ago, its technology solutions cover the whole mining cycle from exploration to reclamation. For more information on Maptek, visit the company’s website here.