By Daniel Gleeson, International Mining
Hexagon has announced the global release of its AI-powered 3D blast movement solution, Hexagon Blast Movement Intelligence (BMI), at the same time highlighting a real-world application of BMI at Centerra Gold’s Mt.Milligan copper-gold mine, in Canada.
In partnership with Augment Technologies and through integration of an AI-driven blast movement engine, Hexagon BMI is billed as boosting blasting efficiency and providing high visibility into ore dilution for informed ore and waste delineation post-blast. This leads to the safe production of an accurate block model of the muckpile and, ultimately, an uplift in yield.
The ability to generate a Muckpile Block Model™ – a post-blast representation of the grade control block model – is a distinguishing feature of BMI. Paired with Hexagon Blast Movement Monitors, the AI can be validated and improved as the engine helps to safely and rapidly produce the Muckpile Block Model. Importantly, the model is produced without personnel having to walk on the muckpile to place or retrieve the monitors.
What also makes BMI unique is its integration with Hexagon’s MinePlan Block Model Manager, a data-integrity solution built for collaboration and data sharing across different roles and mining phases, eliminating errors and undue complexity in the block modelling process. By centralising data and using server-based features like block model management, version control and change notifications, Block Model Manager ensures the integrity and auditability of data, according to Hexagon. Its application programming interface improves the access, reuse and integration of that data with other systems to enhance mining operations.
“Our Blast Movement Intelligence solution has proven profoundly useful for optimising downstream processes,” James Dampney, Vice President Resource Optimisation and Material Movement at Hexagon, says. “It can quickly interpret complex data, learn from that data and estimate movements based on that data, getting smarter with each blast so that the model is machine-precise, improving the thousands of decisions that cascade from resource modelling and ore delineation.”
BMI not only enables mines to quickly, safely and confidently define with a high level of precision the routing of the revenue-producing material but also empowers them to conserve energy throughout the rest of comminution, ultimately improving ore recovery and yielding a better bottom line, Hexagon says.
Armed with the additional insights from MinePlan Block Model Manager, Hexagon’s BMI serves as a data-rich, high-fidelity blast movement solution that can positively impact every stage of the downstream mining process. Its global market availability marks a pivotal development in meshing safety and efficiency in the industry, the company concluded.
Centerra Gold Senior Mine Geologist, Alexis Eapen, will be interviewed onstage in the Hexagon booth at MINExpo 2024 on September 25 about how BMI has supported improvements in the drill and blast workflow at Mt. Milligan.
