Mining consultancy RungePincockMinarco’s (RPM’s) latest commodity-based solution, Open Pit Metals Solution (OPMS), which is a comprehensive, end-to-end openpit metals mine scheduling solution, has received exceptional reviews from initial customer feedback, supporting the company’s view that commodity-based solutions represent the next step in the evolution of mine scheduling.

Three customers, namely mining major Anglo American, privately owned Zamin Ferrous Group and Centurion-based Ukwazi Mining Solutions, have already bought OPMS software licences following the release of the product in September at international mining exhibition Exposibram 2013, held in Brazil.

“The speed with which customers have seen the value of this product and how quickly they want to buy it and get going have surprised us,” says RPM CEO Richard Mathews.

RPM mine planning product manager Alun Phillips says OPMS has a process-driven user interface that guides users step by step through the scheduling process from end to end.

It takes the power of RPM’s industry-leading scheduling product, XPAC, and delivers it in a streamlined, simplified, commodity-focused solution. “Users can now master the application quickly, while, at the same time, having the scheduling confidence that comes with using XPAC,” says Phillips.

This key benefit was a driving force behind the decision of Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore division to buy OPMS for use at its Kolomela mine after having performed an in-depth market evaluation.

“We want our engineers to spend their time planning the mine, not managing multiple data sources or writing complex scripts to build a mine plan,” says Kolomela mine mining manager Terence Jordaan.

“OPMS puts everything in one place and automates data consistency and validation in an off-the-shelf product. The simplified user interface turns what is normally a complex exercise into a swift, simple and iterative scheduling process.

“Like many organisations, we have limited time to make decisions. With OPMS we can now run multiple scenarios in minutes rather than days, and our engineers can apply their expertise to making informed recommendations,” says Jordaan.

The removal of scripts dramatically reduces the time taken and the complexity involved in implementing the product, while another advantage of the product is that users can quickly and easily master the solution and start producing practical schedules.

RPM says OPMS has been described as a ‘best of both worlds’ solution with a stream-lined user interface built on top of the industry’s most robust scheduling engine, and it was this approach that first interested the Zamin Ferrous Group.
 

Zamin Ferrous Group mining GM Tadek Wojtowicz says the company has already implemented OPMS in its planning operations and benefited from the significant reduction in implementation time that enabled a seamless changeover from their previous application.

This viewpoint is strongly supported by Ukwazi Mining Solutions. As a leading mining consulting company in Africa, Ukwazi was one of the first companies to buy and integrate OPMS into its daily operations.