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MODERN OPEN PITS
working departments that previously had little to
no improvement mechanisms, HxM Blast allows
you to monitor a blast from design through to the
implementation. It also provides features to
validate and improve the entire blasting process.
Feedback and monitoring can now be directly
used to continuously improve the blasting
process, creating smarter designs.”
The integration of Leica’s J2drill format now
allows designs to be exported to Leica Fleet
Management Systems. Once drilled, the actual
locations can be loaded and updated against
designed locations. This benefits the charging
process and helps create an accurate blast design.
The introduction of charging allows holes to be
attributed with explosive information. This is
supported by a configurable consumable library,
where blasting consumables and related
properties can be entered and managed. Once
supplied, the consumables, namely explosives,
charges and stemming, can be selectively used to
create custom blasting templates. Templates can
then be assigned to selected drillholes to
customise a blast. Additionally, costings and
details of consumables can be tracked and
reported on via integrated ARC (Advanced
Reporting and Charting) reporting.
“HxM Blast continues to integrate and is set to
receive Measure While Drilling (MWD)
information from Leica J2drill. This will allow
information from the drill rig, such as the rock
hardness, to be used to interpret different
geologic units or seams. Such information can be
fed back into HxM Blast to make a smarter
blasting plan.”
SAFEmine’s Collision Avoidance System (CAS)
is also being integrated with Jigsaw’s fleet
management system. CAS critical alarms will
appear on Jpanels, incorporating GPS positions
and equipment ID. Heavy equipment with CAS
and Jigsaw hardware will move from an
awareness situation to an avoidance system
based on SAFEmine CAS. Controllers will also
receive notification when a critical CAS event
happens in the field, allowing quick action to be
taken. The integration will also allow mines to
identify where CAS events are more frequent, and
take preventative measures.
Point Cloud data from UAVs and laser scanners
can also now be loaded into MineSight and
viewed in unlimited detail in the new xViewer
inside of MineSight 3D. This data can also be
wire-framed using the new Point Cloud Mesher
for volumetrics and modeling.
“The wider group of Hexagon companies is
also involved with synergies being exploited for
mining solutions. For instance, GeoMoS from
Hexagon Geosystems monitors prisms with an
automated total station to enable slope
monitoring. Development is planned for 2016 to
bring movement vectors into MineSight 3D as live

50 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2015

objects so that engineers and managers can
assess the stability of pit walls when creating
mine plans.”
Overseeing much of this integration is HxM
Athena. Version 1 of Athena is a performanceindicator bundle that makes sense of data from
production planning, grade control,
fragmentation, drill operations, and plan
compliance. Interactive heads-up displays are
integral to HxM Athena, a solution that
empowers miners to transform data into
knowledge. Using a robust data integration
process, HxM Athena imports, validates,
analyses, and combines purposeful data from
multiple sources. Real-time fleet management
telematics are overlaid with geological and
geographical models, planning and mine-centric
KPIs. By displaying the information in near realtime in a centralised location, inefficiencies are
quickly exposed, allowing miners to solve
problems and improve productivity.
“For example, poor excavator productivity
could be related to an operator, the haulage cycle
capacity, or a result of poor drill planning and
blasting. If you are only looking at the excavator
dig rates, other variables may be overlooked.
HxM Athena assembles all this data into a single
place, allowing decision makers to see the real
cause of issues and make decisions to implement
smart change and improve quality and
productivity.”
Future versions of HxM Athena will address
safety, production, and machine health, with
links to the SAFEmine Collision Avoidance
System and Leica Jigsaw Jmineops and Jhealth.
Since its release over a decade ago Jigsaw has
provided a 24-7, real-time fleet management
solution. Hexagon Mining says it will now couple
this with the power of GIS. “This provides a
wealth of expanded information and intelligence.
Hexagon Mining is working with Hexagon
Geospatial and combining years of experience
and expertise to integrate GeoMedia into Jigsaw.”
Later in 2016, Hexagon Mining will offer a userfriendly, highly intuitive GIS-FMS solution “that
will significantly improve decision-making.”
Central to this application will be a new
GeoMedia-MineMap application, delivering a set
of standard GeoMedia tools. “Comprehensive
spatial, production, planning, and safety data will
give users unprecedented insight into fixed
assets and pit visualisation.”

Hitachi unites expertise in Mining
Project Division
Hitachi is a global company involved in many
industries, but a key focus area is mining, where
the company recently established a Mining
Project Division (MPD). “The objective of MPD
Group is to draw on the collective capabilities of
the Hitachi Group companies as One Hitachi to

create a smarter and more efficient approach to
mining.” Over the past three years, MPD has
worked in c