Mining services company Sandvik Mining has developed a mining software called Intelligent Sandvik Underground Rock Excavation (iSure) that optimises drilling and enhances blast effectiveness.
Sandvik’s iSure is a tunnelling project manage-ment suite with tools that provide guidelines for different stages of the drilling and blasting process. It is designed to enable miners to achieve increased speed and efficiency, while taking load- ing and hauling requirements into account.
After extensive evaluation on mines globally, Sandvik business line manager for underground drills Saltiel Pule notes that the software has been introduced in mines across the sub-Saharan Africa region, where tunnelling and blasting operations are taking place.
“The software is unique and has the ability to advance mine tunnelling on the African continent to a higher level. Not only does it guarantee smooth tunnelling work, but it can specifically guide users on the different stages of the drilling and blasting pattern process to achieve the best possible results,” he points out.
The software also provides hole-burden cal-culus and enhances hole location accuracy, which, in turn, reduces the need for scaling and ensures better blasting and pull-out. This also allows better rock load ability and smoother collaring when the next round of drilling and blasting begins.
“iSure combines tunnel-line, theoretical pro-file design and drill-plan design, as well as data collection analysis. Rather than [miners] relying on less accurate traditional approaches, it provides users with tunnelling patterns to be configured at the end of the round (when the success of blasts is critical). iSure also offers a project tree that combines all tunnel plans in one project and can include either one tunnel plan or several different plans,” Pule says.
iSure has been introduced into Sandvik’s 400- series mining jumbos, including the DD421-60C drill rig, which provides operators with data relating to their own tunnel developments. This also allows operators to view blasting outcomes and make adjustments as required to ensure the best possible pull-out.
Pule highlights that, apart from being intro-duced in sub-Saharan Africa, iSure has already been released in South Korea, Switzerland and Sweden and results prove that marked improve-ments in tunnelling performance are being achieved.
“Technology like this truly has the ability to transform the industry and we believe it is our duty to ensure local mines adopt and embrace technology in order to remain competitive on the global stage,” he concludes.