Mining consultancy RungePincockMinarco’s (RPM’s) enterprise financial modelling system, XERAS for Enterprise, which was launched last month, is being implemented at South African coal miner Sasol Mining, in South Africa; export coal miner Yancoal, in Australia; and mining services contractor BUMA, in Indonesia.

An additional seven potential customers are either trialling the software, undertaking a proof of concept, or negotiating to acquire the product, according to a statement by RPM.

Launched with the support of global enterprise resource planning (ERP) software company SAP, XERAS for Enterprise integrates SAP’s financial and maintenance management modules with the financial modelling capabilities of XERAS, RPM’s financial modelling software for mining.

“The economic principles that underpin a mine are at the heart of RPM’s approach. XERAS for Enterprise is an example of the way in which we are making it easier for our clients to truly balance the economics of a project against the operational realities,” says RPM financial modelling product manager Darren Rostron.

“The software enables one to manage a schedule, review the finan- cials, manage another schedule in addition to the first schedule and compare those financials within minutes – not hours or days,” says RPM mine planning product manager Alun Phillips.

Rostron adds that more time can instead be spent on understanding what a mine is capable of and less time on managing and moving data.

This integration enables high levels of financial visibility and cost control, from individual mine sites to corporate management reporting systems, allowing for more control and auditability over the whole process, which was the key benefit that motivated Sasol Mining to buy XERAS for Enterprise.

It was critical for Sasol Mining that its operational systems were more tightly integrated into its corporate ERP system, SAP, so that planned results and actual financial results could be better analysed.

The XERAS for Enterprise implementation at Sasol Mining will automatically consolidate XERAS models from multiple mine sites into an enterprisewide view of the business.

Sasol Mining expects the budgeting process to be more accurate and streamlined, as the information flow between these key systems can now be monitored and controlled. Data integrity will be maintained through functionality within XERAS for Enterprise, providing confidence for all users that they are always using ‘one version of the truth’.

The integration of Sasol Mining’s operational systems into SAP allows for actual monthly results in XERAS to be visible and enables management to easily reforecast and compare results of the different sites. The corporate visibility and control of key budget assumptions, ensuring governance over data integrity, were also key in Sasol Mining’s decision to implement XERAS for Enterprise.

When fully implemented, Sasol Mining intends to use the software to manage the integration between SAP and XERAS for all the financial aspects of modelling, budgeting and forecasting.

Sasol is an early adopter of XERAS for Enterprise and is working with RPM to influence the product direction, as additional functionality opportunities are being identified during implementation.

Meanwhile, Yancoal is also implementing XERAS for Enterprise.

Yancoal Moolarben mine commercial operations head Reece Margetts says Yancoal prides itself on being one of the world’s most innovative coal companies.

“We see enormous business benefits in using technology such as XERAS for Enterprise to set up a best-of-breed integrated forecasting system that ensures complete financial visibility. The solution provides us with a level of control and trust in the planning process that we have never had before, giving us the confidence to make the right operational decisions.”

In Indonesia, RPM is working with the BUMA group to implement XERAS for Enterprise.

BUMA, a new RPM client, is using XERAS for Enterprise to consolidate multiple financial models to immediately explain the difference between actual and planned financial results. The company is also using the software to easily indicate the financial implications of changes in the mining environment in their forecasts.

“Having spoken with many of our customers, particularly those using SAP systems, I am convinced that being able to move data seamlessly among corporate systems and operational systems will become a must-have going forward,” says RPM CEO and MD Richard Mathews.

He says miners using software such as XERAS for Enterprise will have a competitive advantage over those that do not and he is excited to see the quick uptake of the software, which RPM believes validates the investment in its enterprise products.

Since the original launch of XERAS for Enterprise, RPM has released two updated versions of the software

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