Five customers were inducted into the Maptek Hall of Fame today. The award recognises outstanding dedication to Maptek and contribution to improving our products. Maptek Director of Client Experience, Steve Uecker, said that Maptek wished to honour significant customers who have championed Maptek solutions.  

‘After 35 years of operation Maptek has built strong industry relationships. So many individuals and corporations have deployed our technology since inception. It was extremely difficult to narrow it down to the five people selected for 2016,’ said Uecker at the inaugural awards ceremony.

2016 Hall of Fame inductees
Janna Linebarger, a Mining Engineer with Barrick Gold Corporation, has been using Maptek Vulcan since 1998.  ‘The move to Vulcan allowed us to integrate and share data across the technical services group more efficiently,’ Linebarger said. ‘Previously, geology and block model estimations were being done in one package, with engineering in another.’

‘The best part of working with Maptek has been the support,’ she added. Roger Cooper is a Geostatistician with Newmont Mining Corporation in Denver. Cooper has been a Vulcan user since 2003, applying the software at Placer Dome, Rio Tinto and Newmont. He collaborated with Maptek on perfecting unfolding tools, and this remains his favourite feature alongside simulations.

Catherine Joyner is a Mining Engineer with Minetech in Helena, Montana. Joyner started using Vulcan in 2000 at the Barrick Goldstrike Rodeo Mine on the Carlin Trend in Nevada. She has applied Vulcan to many different underground applications globally with Barrick, Micon International Limited, and now as co-owner and principal at Minetech USA.

‘Working with Maptek to meet specialised software needs is a highlight of our association,’ Joyner said. ‘Increasing efficiency by implementing batch plotting and streamlining survey data conversion are memorable projects.’

Joyner currently uses Vulcan for underground design and stope optimisation, and is embarking on a feasibility study for a large underground mine using Vulcan Gantt Scheduling. Luis Castro is a Mining Engineer with Endeavour Silver Corporation, Mexico, which began operations in 2004. When Maptek opened an office in Mexico in 2005, a symbiosis commenced between the Exploration team led by Castro and Maptek. This soon grew to include the operations group.

From initial development at Guanacevi until today, with three sites in operation and a further three advanced exploration projects, Vulcan has been an essential tool for Endeavour Silver. It is used daily for modelling and interpretation of structures, as well as resource estimation and mine planning.

‘Support is definitely the key word in our relationship; the Maptek team has provided continuous support over our 10 year association,’ said Castro. ‘Maptek technology, including Vulcan software, has been vital in solving complicated modelling and resource estimation problems in our vein-type mineralised structures.’

Robert Clifford is a Mining Engineer with Thompson Creek Metals Co. in Denver, Colorado. Thompson Creek Metals purchased their first Maptek I-Site laser scanner in mid 2007 and it soon became an essential component of surface volume calculations for month end reporting. All three Thompson Creek Metals operations now use I-Site scanners and I-Site Studio software as an integral survey tool.

‘I-Site systems provide us with an efficient and productive survey solution, replacing repeated costly LIDAR flights’, commented Clifford. ‘The best part of being a Maptek customer is the continued development of the I-Site product to streamline workflows in acquisition and analysis of spatial data,’ he added.

‘Of course, we value all of our customer relationships and look forward to adding more faces to our Hall of Fame in the coming years,’ concluded Uecker. Awardees were presented with a plaque and jacket by Steve Uecker and General Manager Mexico & the Caribbean, Alberto Ramirez, in a ceremony at MINExpo Booth 6028. Celebrations will continue at a celebratory dinner with Maptek staff in the evening.