Newsletter March 2012 In 2012, we expect that emerging trends NEW YEAR like virtualisation, cloud-based services, INSTALL enhanced business intelligence capabilities Vulcan 64-bit coming in April New focus: Maptek CEO, and social platforms will become focal Barry Henderson talks about points for our industry. Many of our opportunities in 2012. customers are already working to leverage these technologies and Maptek is devoting In 2011 Maptek celebrated 30 years significant resources towards researching in business. As we enter 2012, we and developing solutions that will exploit look forward to the challenges and this potential. opportunities as we work to meet the growing needs of the mining industry. Introducing a new product to the market is an enormously satisfying achievement Our Vulcan users want the ability to after the dedicated work invested in its manage larger datasets. Data volumes creation. Certainly that is the case with REGISTER are growing exponentially across all BlastLogic - our innovative drill and blast Users Conference, Adelaide in May industries, and the increased use of accuracy management system. What is mine-operated tracking and sensing distinctive about this development is the devices will certainly accelerate the customer collaboration from the very start trend for unstructured data types such of the process. as video, text and media files. Software interoperability, tagging, privacy and This has enabled Maptek to shape the security of data are also issues. Our Vulcan technology knowing it will deliver real development team is addressing this. benefits. BlastLogic will help drill & blast engineers manage all their operational Scanners are now essential mine survey and design data, enabling them to improve equipment. Two large coal entities in North processes and optimise mineral recovery. America and Australia each ordered 7 high VISIT US performance I-Site 8800 systems at the Our first users conference for this year MINExpo, Las Vegas in September end of last year. We expect uptake of our will be held in Adelaide, Australia at the I-Site systems to accelerate this year. end of May. I hope to meet many of our customers at this premier event. The first I-Site 8400 long range laser scanners rolled off the production line in January 2012, and many sites with the high resolution imaging I-Site 8800 are taking on an extra 8400 for routine topographic survey and volumetric tasks. > In this issue Scanning Powerlines Future Vulcan News & Views Users Conferences I-Site Survey Guide BOOK A DEMO I-Site 8400 Laser Scanner + I-Site Topo Software Scanning acquires finer detail (closer 01 POWERLINE point spacing) in less time than traditional survey techniques. The scan data SCANNING can be used for a range of tasks. > Locating conductors for sag profiling The Maptek I-Site™ 8800 laser > Locating infrastructure for as-built data scanner was deployed to locate > Locating surrounding topography, conductors on powerlines to features and buildings to create test the suitability of the method annotations, surfaces and contours – for sag profiling. as well as measure height clearances > Matching photo data with known The power transmission lines near Carina in geometry 02 Queensland, Australia, are strung between towers over a 300 m span, with 24 unique > Scan data can be easily exported wires to differentiate. The scanner was set and used in other CAD packages up in several locations to help determine Laser scanning prevents features being the optimum scanning positions, the missed during a survey, as everything can attainable range of the conductor from the be located in the scan data. Scanning scanner, and the time required to conduct can be done before or after survey such a survey. All scans were taken on an control is established, or without survey arbitrary coordinate system. control for arbitrary scans. Using a simple user interface on the scanner After scanning at different resolutions it controller, trained operators can conduct was determined that 5-minute scans taken the scans without surveyors on-hand. 03 in two locations along the 300 m length Survey control is required to register provided adequate detail to produce lines the scans on a coordinate system. of best fit along the point data, provided there were no obstructions. Therefore, The hand-held controller provides a survey of each span would collect real-time feedback so users can see that enough data for all conductors in view in the conductors are being located during approximately 10-15 minutes of field time. the scan process. Traditional survey techniques can be prone to sighting All conductors could be projected to or coding errors when locating many a uniform vertical plane for easy comparison conductors in a single span. This is against each other or with archival data. not an issue with laser scanning. 01 Scanning automatically located 24 separate Measurements can be taken for ground conductors (including overhead earth cables) clearance information, and to identify Laser scanning allows resources to be 02 Point data of towers and conductors 03 Conductors in the span converted to lines; trees growing under the conductors which allocated more efficiently. Surveyors can could be within a dangerous height range. surrounding topography surface and contours; provide survey control, but don’t need annotations show trees underneath conductors to do all the field work. Draftspeople Surrounding data (such as trees, buildings, can work with the scan data, with the roads and paths) can be identified and surveyors using their expertise to guide traced, or the coordinates can be used the outcomes. In this way more cost for placing symbols and annotations effective resourcing can be achieved. in a CAD package. All data presented can also be used in CAD packages. Contact [email protected] MARCH 2012 2 MAPTEK FORGE What can users expect to see with Enhancements in resource modelling will VULCAN IN 2012 the Vulcan 8.1.4 software upgrade? include new methods for working with folded deposits, ultimately offering better In preparation for release of the Since Vulcan 8.1, our approach has been modelling options for this environment. Maptek Vulcan™ 64-bit version, to add selected functionality with each we talked with Vulcan Product upgrade, delivering new features to We’re planning a support analysis tool customers more frequently. Our 64-bit for predicting and validating grade models, Manager, Eric Gonzalez, about version has virtually the same functionality and general tools for mass editing the upgrades and features expected as the 32-bit version. The 64-bit support attributes of objects. Extending metadata in the new software. is not just for certain areas, modules or to triangulations is another area of focus. programs; our whole suite will be What is the primary focus behind delivered this way. An advantage for users is that extra the new 64-bit version of Vulcan? information can be stored and used Vulcan 8.1.4 includes new options for through triangulation models. We will Our customers need to process data resource modelling, data interchange, also provide a larger colour palette and models with a greater level of and the short term planner. Other and more colour depth for design detail than previously possible. Current additions worth mentioning are objects. Additionally, the Vulcan computer hardware is built with support composited models for stratigraphic Chronos scheduling module will for 64-bit, and many applications deposits and improved grade shells. have enhanced performance. are transitioning to this standard. Will Vulcan 64-bit affect current users? What is planned beyond Vulcan 8.2? We are providing a 64-bit version of Vulcan to leverage the capabilities of the latest There will be only minor changes in user Our 3D graphics environment is currently technology. At a time when most workflows. Changes in setup procedures being improved to deal with entities other applications are still migrating mostly relate to third-party components more efficiently. We are researching the and adapting to the new platform, like ODBC drivers. Users of high-end use of the processing power of graphics Maptek’s release of Vulcan 64-bit will hardware will notice that loading large cards to improve the speed of massive help us stay on top of the market. triangulations or block models works calculations; the aim is to help in reserving now without memory constraints. large models. Customer requests for What are the benefits of Vulcan 64-bit? Vulcan to use corporate database Data is compatible between platforms, infrastructure are being addressed. Vulcan 64-bit users will be able to allowing users running Vulcan 8.1.4 32-bit take advantage of modern hardware to share data seamlessly with 64-bit users. Other plans range across model creation with more memory. A 32-bit operating and editing for both stratigraphic and system is limited to less than 4GB When will Vulcan 64-bit be released, and non-stratigraphic deposits, through all of useable memory, which is shared will existing customers have to pay more? mine applications to scheduling. I’m among all applications including sure that Vulcan users will be excited Vulcan 8.1.4 is scheduled for release the operating system itself. A 32-bit about the new tools that will be on April 10. Users will receive installation application on a 32-bit operating system delivered in the short and long term. actually never reaches full potential. discs with the new 64-bit version and an upgraded 32-bit version. Existing ‘Benchmarking conducted by With enough memory in a 64-bit system, customers will receive Vulcan 64-bit Maptek, and supported by the global a 32-bit application can access more under their maintenance contracts. Vulcan 64-bit customer beta testing memory than when running on a 32-bit program, shows massive step-wise platform, but it is still limited to 4GB.