In today's world, the use of software for modeling deposits and mining is no longer something extraordinary. There is a sufficient number of software products on the market, which, depending on the modification of the manufacturer, cover almost all the needs for the mining and geological conditions of enterprises and the processes performed by mining engineers, geologists and mine surveyors.
The Russian features of this industry, obvious to the specialists working here, are somewhat different from the principles that guide foreign companies - the main manufacturers of mining and geological software (hereinafter GIS - geoengineering systems), offered today on the domestic market.
The Russian reality is such that enterprises need GIS adapted to the conditions in which they have been working for a long time and habitually. It is also important that in nature there are no identical deposits and, accordingly, each mining enterprise is unique and has its own individual characteristics and nuances in the engineering support of mining operations.
Examples of such distinctive features include the type of mineral and the morphology of its occurrence, the methods and systems for mining the deposit, the technology of mineral processing, which creates exceptional working conditions that distinguish enterprises from each other.
It is important that the information technologies imposed on the engineering staff do not radically break the established production and technological processes performed by specialists, which is inevitable when a third-party GIS is recklessly planted in its original format. A change in the established way of working of specialists can, at best, make them dislike new software, and at worst, kill a new technology in its infancy, even before it is fully implemented.
Many years of experience in sales and implementation of various software GEOVIA allows us to say unequivocally that in the basic configuration, foreign GIS do not meet the needs of Russian engineers in solving their everyday tasks. This statement is confirmed by the fact that Russian users regularly receive requests for such GIS functionality that goes beyond the idea of foreign developers about the needs of our market. This is true for all software products that are in demand in Russia, including software of Russian origin, which, as a rule, is finalized and sharpened by the manufacturer to meet the needs of the enterprise already during its operation. This creates the illusion that Russian packages fully meet the needs of our market, which is often not true.
As a rule, a GIS in the standard package is a set of certain elementary specialized tools, the competent use of which allows solving rather complex problems. At the same time, obtaining the final result can be achieved both in several steps, and by pressing one or two buttons.
Of all the existing options for achieving the goal, the most interesting for the user is always the one that requires a minimum of resources (time-money-people). Among the products GEOVIA most harmoniously fit into the Russian market such a product as .
According to our observations, the most weighty arguments when choosing it are the Russification of the package, friendly interface and the ability to adapt the product to the individual needs of the user.
The concept of adapting the program to the needs of the enterprise, proposed by the developers of Surpac software, allows users to independently add and develop a software product using the common TCL language, adjusting the program to their own tasks.
In addition, when using the Surpac software, the missing functionality of the software, the so-called "buttons", can be logically and mathematically described using the above-mentioned programming language. The "buttons" created in this way can then be used as additional tools for engineers.
It's no secret that no software works on its own. This is true for both complex engineering software and simple office applications.
Thus, the effective use of GIS is unrealistic without the participation of interested specialists with a sufficient level of qualification. Thanks to the engineering thought and creative approach of specialists using the TCL language directly in the field, the hope of getting a set of “buttons” at their disposal for the implementation of individual logically completed daily operations, performed by the line personnel of the enterprise at certain intervals, loomed before enterprises.
The experience of using Surpac in the industry has shown that enthusiastic and interested professionals can redesign the program to suit their needs, completely changing it to such an extent that the functionality and interface become less recognizable.
For several years of work with specialists of the Russian division GEOVIA accumulated experience in successfully solving problems of automating everyday processes and implementing a number of specific algorithms.
Currently, the most vulnerable part of most mining and geological packages is their inability to ensure that the conduct of mine surveying works complies with the current instructions. In most cases, when using any software at an enterprise, surveying services are forced to supplement the mandatory mining and graphic documentation both in electronic form and on standard hard paper media, i.e. actually do double duty. This does not add to the users' positive attitude towards the software.
To implement compliance with regulatory documents (not without the participation of customers), the specialists of the Russian division of GEOVIA developed specialized modules and tools for maintaining mine surveying tablets and longitudinal / transverse sections in the form that is accepted at the enterprise and complies with certain norms and rules.
The new functionality allows you to print information on paper at regular intervals, which is specified in the relevant paragraph of the surveying instructions.
mine surveyor cut
The lion's share of time in mine surveying is occupied by drilling and blasting, which includes the issuance of the basis for the design of boreholes, shooting of actual wells, analysis of the correspondence between the fact and the drilling plan, closing the drilling volumes and the volume of the blasted rock mass.
At the request of the Customer, a specialized drilling and blasting accounting module was developed that uses an external database for design and actual boreholes, the use of which not only allows you to perform all the necessary scope of work in a shorter time without the use of classic tools and consumables (ink and pen), but also ensures that the output results comply with applicable rules and regulations. This module is currently being successfully used at two Russian enterprises.
Copy from the mining plan for the design of drilling and blasting
Especially for the geological services that update geological data and ore preparation, tasks were set, algorithms were written, and a set of tools was implemented to harmoniously combine modern XNUMXD modeling technologies and the work procedure worked out for years at enterprises. This made it possible to avoid rejection of new technologies in enterprises with a rich history of successful existence. Moreover, this approach to software implementation has appealed to old-school specialists who had no previous experience with GIS.
GEOVIA specialists have rich experience of working on production sites, which allows them to realistically assess the needs of the market and anticipate the desires of customers, offering them additional functionality developed using proprietary algorithms. One of the most striking examples is the module for calculating the weighted average planned distances and lifting heights for transporting rock mass by type and direction. This module (Fig. 3) turned out to be quite in demand, and today, with minor changes, it is already used at several enterprises. An additional convenience of the module, noted by users, is the ability to build a longitudinal profile of roads (Fig. 4), in accordance with building codes and rules, and highlight problem areas with an overestimated slope with color. For GIS, this proposal is unique today.
Distance calculation module menu
Longitudinal profile of the road
For geologists who use the classical method of identifying ore intervals using the cut-in method when calculating reserves, a specialized module has been developed that combines the use of an external geological database, the standard set of Surpac tools and classical mathematical and logical expressions for distinguishing ore and non-ore intervals recorded using TCL.
Flexibility distinguishes this package from competitive products.
Thanks to the possibility of adapting the purchased software to suit their needs, the Client gets the opportunity to seamlessly integrate the new technology into the processes operating at the enterprise.
In addition, as a result of reducing the influence of the human factor on the data processing process, the number of non-systemic errors is reduced to zero, providing confidence in the results obtained. The possibility of formalizing processes and results allows you to bring input and output data to uniformity.
In the modern world, the demand for GIS is growing, which allow solving a complex of related tasks in a single information space. This is exactly what has been successfully implemented by the specialists of the Russian division of GEOVIA in the Surpac software by developing embedded specialized applications.
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Source: habr.com