For an established company, there is much that is new about Mintec and its MineSight software in 2014. New products, new training, new clients and new owners mean everyone at the Tucson, Arizona-based company is excited for the future.

Mintec is a software developer and service provider for the mining industry. Founded in 1970, Mintec has grown into a global network of mining professionals providing technology, service and support in the most complex mining operations in the world.

MineSight, the company’s comprehensive modelling and mine planning software platform, offers integrated solutions for exploration, modelling, design, scheduling and operation. With so much MineSight innovation in the last year, Mintec introduced the University of MineSight in January to ensure its clients stay ahead of the technology curve.

MineSight Atlas, Mintec’s resource-based, true calendar approach to multiple-activity scheduling, is reshaping short-term planning. One industry poll has already named Atlas the best mine planning software in the industry.

Thanks to its integration with MineSight Atlas, the enhanced MineSight Schedule Optimizer is now an essential and integrated planning tool for clients needing a standardised approach to scheduling. This moves clients ever closer to true inte-grated planning – one package for short-term, medium-term and long-term planning.

Also creating a buzz is the MineSight Implicit Modeler, a mathematical tool enabling geologists to build complex shapes directly from drillholes. Future versions of Implicit Modeler will feature block models as input/output; integra-tion with true thickness calculation logic for seam modelling; and a complex geological model builder for an automatable and auditable model build process.

The new MineSight Performance Manager addresses the critical issue of reporting a mine’s vital information through powerful analytics. With spreadsheets eliminated and a common data warehouse, Performance Manager ensures that data transfer to other systems (such as SAP) is seamless.

Underground miners are enjoying a host of new MineSight underground tools. MineSight Stope, Sub-Blocking, Room and Pillar and the Decline Design tool are among the underground products introduced this year.

Meanwhile, Mintec was acquired by Swedish multinational Hexagon in June. Joining Hexa-gon’s other mining technology leaders – Leica, Jigsaw, Devex, and SAFEMine – would open a new world for Mintec and its clients, says Mintec chairperson Fred Banfield.

“We have access to tools and technologies to leap ahead of our competition and be the force to be reckoned with in the mining industry,” says Banfield.