Virtual Twin Tech – A Unified Source of Truth, Empowering Resilience in Mining Complexity

“Science is inexhaustible, limited only by the imagination”1 It all starts with digital twin technology which establishes a digital representation of a component or process. This data-driven computer model takes inputs from the real-world and enables the product or process to be monitored, controlled and optimised in real time; later, feeding data back – building a constant cycle of improvement.1 “We are creating virtual universes that connect things together, and allow miners to understand their operations much more clearly,” says DelleMonache.

Imagine a technology that can create a digital twin of a heart or brain and can then simulate reactions to surgery or drugs to enable decision making and reduced risk. “This is the power of our digital twin tech that has now become a reality,” says GEOVIA CEO Mauro DelleMonache, “Our technology can now be applied to mining too, with all its previous unknowns and current complexity, and decision makers can now visualise their operations, enabling enhanced efficiencies and sustainable production further down the line.” It is no wonder that the global digital twin market size was valued at USD7.48-billion in 2021 and, according to Grand View Research, is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.1% from 2022 to 20301 – just imagine the challenges that can be overcome by the power of digital twin technologies within this inexhaustible space of science going forward!

The latest advancements in the GEOVIA portfolio include the introduction of the Strategic Mine Planner Role in December 2023 and the launch of the Underground Mine Designer Role in February 2024 within the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE platform. And there is yet more to come as the company plans to release four additional roles on the 3DEXPERIENCE for the mining industry this year – the Geology Modeler, Geoscience Referential Manager, Earth Engineering Co-ordinator and Pit Optimizer Roles. The planned role-out promises to further enhance these two newly released roles as well as the established 3DEXPERIENCE.

The Sustainable Solution

DelleMonache explains, “The two new GEOVIA roles showcased at the Mining Indaba are built to facilitate smooth collaboration, streamlined data exchange and enhanced workflow efficiency, empowering mining entities to: make faster, well-informed decisions and to elevate operational performance, enhance safety and achieve sustainability and operational objectives. Our motivation stems from the vision of shaping a sustainable planet where technology, knowledge and expertise play pivotal roles in advocating responsible management of natural resources.”

The process begins with the digitisation of the miner’s resource or ore-body, followed by developing a digital twin of the mine plan. DelleMonache expands, “Before the drilling or excavation starts, the miner can ‘see’ the ore body as a digital asset, understand it completely, and then virtualise and visualise the planning of the mine to realise production in the most optimal way. After interconnecting these processes, simulating and hypothesising can begin: the impact of strategic actions and how these cascade throughout the organisational value chain can then be predicted.

And within this process lies a strong sustainability message,” says DelleMonache, for example when one is able to make the decision to remove only the overburden required, as opposed to everything – saving fuel and time, and improving productivity. One can even simulate the impact of weather conditions on tailings dams, he says. Simulating and evaluating impacts prior to action, empowers decision makers and allows planned control of carbon footprint with the objective of ultimately reducing it.

Virtual Twins for Safety Enhancement

The virtual twin of a mine can be used to simulate safety training and improve safety outcomes. DelleMonache explains that existing mines glean a plethora of data harnessed in real time by various sensors in the working environment that can be utilised to predict air quality, water quality and more. “Once you have this data in hand – whether the objective is safety, increased efficiency and resultant productivity or ultimately sustainability – this is where all the magic of this technology happens.”

He explains, for instance, a mine might have underground sensors able to detect carbon dioxide levels, and these can be monitored and scenarios can be simulated as to where the safest areas are to work at that time through the digital twin tech. Additionally, harnessing the fact that people think visually, this technology enables a virtual replica of the mining environment where safe training of individuals can take place before they even set foot in the reality of an intrinsically hazardous area.

The Future Potential of Data Analytics

If science is limitless, then the potential of data analytics to improve safety and productivity in the mining industry is limitless. DelleMonache highlights the importance of collaboration to offer future value-added services in the mining industry. “The industry, however, is conservative at times and herein lies the challenge. Progress will require us to break that barrier going foRward. We are looking for clients that want to work with us to create a new value proposition. The company collaborates continuously with existing clients currently using their software solutions. Combining GEOVIA’s advanced knowledge of its software capabilities with the client’s expert understanding and visibility of their business, the software system’s features and benefits can be optimised to better understand the net present value of the client’s resource.

“That is a basic example of pre-existing solutions and knowledge transfer to mining operations, however we are looking for clients to work with us on solutions that are not native to our software, but where we must extend the capabilities of the system – perhaps create some new code or algorithm to help manage a new challenge prevalent in the mining industry. This kind of collaboration requires a long-term approach and in-depth engagement with the focus on the value proposition, not only for the client but for the sustainability of the industry. This could involve land management, water quality, and other ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) challenges. It is precisely in this area that mining companies are quite altruistic, and the industry is prepared to share solutions for the greater good. We see the South African mining market as a very sophisticated mining terrain and we are always looking for more clients to help develop this kind of proof of concept.”

What is the Strategic Mine Planner Role?

This role complements the Pit Optimizer Role launched in December 2021 and enables the user to develop a comprehensive strategic plan, by conducting an evaluation of critical input parameters through multiple scenario analyses from development to closure. It allows the user to simultaneously or sequentially apply several advanced value-adding options for optimising capacity to create an optimised mining schedule that prioritises value and ecological responsibility. The main app of the role uses a unique proprietary optimisation engine (GEOVIA Mine Maximizer – GMX) that is an extension of the Bienstock-Zuckerberg (2009) algorithm. GMX is the solution engine provided with the Strategic Mine Planner and Pit Optimizer roles available on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. It provides increased net present value (NPV) while significantly speeding up runtimes.

Highlights:

• Intuitive interface to model the technical constraints and economic parameters of the mining planning challenge
• Rapid generation of pit and practical phases
• Modelling of complex planning problems that include sustainability variables, blending and haulage optimisation
• Iterative review and plan updates due to full design and planning data associativity
• Comprehensive tools for de-risking projects and sensitivity analysis
• Robust, practical and fast life of mine scheduling benefits

Benefits:

• Defines a comprehensive and robust strategic plan through multi-scenario analysis
• Uses advanced value-adding mechanisms for optimising practical phases, ultimate pit and life of mine scheduling
• Reduces project uncertainty via sensitivity analysis and generates realistic schedules
• Advanced constraint modelling for sustainability variables, blending and hauling
• Unified design and planning integration, enabled by the 3DEXPERIENCE platform underground

What is the Underground Mine Designer Role?

This role will allow the user to rethink the design approach to underground mining through the evaluation of multiple options using generative parametric modeling. One will be able to generate and evaluate multiple development designs through an automated parametric process, offering optionality assessment of designs – all within a “Safety by Design” approach, allowing consideration of safety standards related to underground excavations from physical constraints to geotechnical features. In summary, the new Underground Mine Designer Role will allow significant time savings and transparency through seamless process and data model continuity between different mining levels, development areas and practical access designs.

Highlights:

• Parametric assessment of multiple design alternatives for secondary underground access development
• Modularised development of design components through application of predetermined templates
• Integration of geotechnical inputs to ensure safety and stability
• Visualisation of design outputs

Benefits:

• Dynamic optionality assessment and flexibility of designs through rapid generation of multiple outcomes utilising parametric design
• Significant time savings and data providence clarity through complete data lifecycle associativity
• Safety by Design allowing consideration of safety standards related to underground excavations
• Technical robustness of access and level designs linked to physical constraints and geotechnical features
• Significant time savings and transparency through seamless process and data model continuity between different mining levels, development areas and practical access designs

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