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Data-management systems supplied to Tanzania gold mines

10th October 2014

By: Mia Breytenbach

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: Features

  

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Despite a current lull in mining and exploration projects in Tanzania, Australia-based mining software solutions and services provider Micromine Africa has this year supplied two of its mining data-management solutions to the gold mining industry in Tanzania and aims to increase its software supply to the country.

“The Geobank software, which provides an efficient environment for data collection, validation, storage, analysis, reporting and extraction, also uses a scalable data model and is currently used at five operating gold mines and by six gold exploration companies in Tanzania,” says Micromine Africa customer services manager Craig Peek, noting that the software can be tailored to meet specific exploration and mining requirements.

Peek highlights Geobank as particularly efficient at collecting data through field research, while still promoting the integrity of the databases, but adds that the company also aims to increase the supply of its field-logging solution software Geobank Mobile.

“Geologists can use this software at the field sites, capture data at the core drill rigs and then transfer the data to the office, as the software enables users to confidently collect and manipulate geological field data. It also ensures accurate data capturing through real-time validation and data input controls, which reduces errors,” he says.

Other features of Geobank Mobile include efficiency enhancement through customisable calculation fields, in-built data approval and transfer mechanisms. The mobile system can be integrated into the existing Geobank and Micromine software applications. It also increases user productivity and reduces costs by eliminating the need to reprocess data, Peek points out.

He adds that the latest version of the solution, Geobank Mobile 2, is due for release shortly and will build on the application’s sophisticated data-logging capabilities.

“Users will be able to synchronise data with the structured query language, or SQL server, making data transfer between devices simple. Also, validation, one of the solution’s most important functionalities, has been redesigned to provide a single consolidated view and improved performance.

“Micromine Africa believes that several significant decisions regarding mining projects are based on data initially collected, particularly for the exploration aspect of a project. In light of this, the company aims to provide customers with a method to keep the data as accurate and as safe as possible,” Peek stresses.

He notes that, owing to current exploration activities in Tanzania, a significant number of minerals samples are sent to and from testing laboratories.

With this in mind, Geobank provides the Sample Tracker module, which stores and manages data pertaining to the collection, preparation and sample analysis, explains Peek.

“Gold companies send at least 120 to 200 samples each day to different laboratories, which may create a significant amount of paperwork and administration. Sample Tracker enables companies to track the various samples by automating the dispatch of samples.”

Peek says users can reconcile the dispatch of a sample dispatch against the receipt of that sample, as well as ensure that suspect data are rejected early.

In addition, Geobank runs validations on returned samples to ensure that they comply with the relevant tolerance levels to quantify the ore grades and that the laboratory’s results coincide with the mining house’s ore grading.

User Conference
Micromine Africa plans to host a user conference in Mwanza, Tanzania, in March next year. This will be a two-day information and training course for existing and prospective clients in the region, which will also demonstrate the company’s latest software, Peek says.

The company will also demonstrate the capabilities of its flagship product, the three-dimensional orebody modelling solution Micromine, and its mine operations system that records, manages and processes mine site data in real time, Pitram Solutions.

Micromine Africa also aims to market Geobank in other sectors, such as the nickel and tanzanite mining sectors, as the software is not commodity-specific.

Peek also notes that Geobank contains a coal module that offers functionality to effectively deal with the added complexity of coal data.

“Users can produce meaningful results and make informed decisions about coal data using Geobank’s coal-specific features, while also identifying invalid or missing washability data,” he points out, highlighting the potential scope for the company to supply Geobank to the coal mining industry in Tanzania.

Peek adds that, although Geobank is gaining momentum in Tanzania, Micromine remains the company’s most popular product, with more than 20 Micromine user licences currently in Tanzania.

He says two universities in Tanzania have integrated the Micromine software into their syllabus, each with a ten-user network licence.

Peek emphasises that if more local mining students are trained in using the Micromine software, it would be easier for them to find employment, particularly at Australian-owned mining companies active in the region, as their knowledge of the software, considered an “industry standard”, is one of the preferred systems used by those companies.

Market Focus
Although Peek notes a slowdown in new investment and exploration in Tanzania’s mining market, with exploration projects placed on hold or reduced as a result of lower commodity prices, he emphasises that the company will “take on the market challenges, as it provides cost- effective products”.

“As Micromine Africa believes Tanzania is a country with strong emphasis on exploration and mining, the company has always concentrated significant effort into the country’s market and is exploring opportunities to establish a permanent presence in the region,” Peek says.

He believes the company’s presence will be effective within the next financial year.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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