Turning data into knowledge with Jigsaw

Author: Nicolette Tapper, June 2016 

The Pueblo Viejo gold mine, in the Dominican Republic, is a joint venture between Barrick Gold and Gold Corp., which hold 60 per cent and 40 per cent ownership respectively. The mine is operated by Barrick Gold. Efficient fleet management and production optimisation is a priority.

The focus of fleet management in any industry is to capture, measure and control. Hexagon Mining’s fleet management system, Jigsaw Jmineops, is used commonly to optimise the real-time scheduling and dispatch of mobile mining equipment. Information provided by the fleet management system (FMS) gives greater control of operations and production. Jmineops optimises and centralises equipment tracking, dispatching and diagnostics, ensuring that activities and operators can be directed, material movement can be confirmed, and machine health can be monitored.

Pueblo Viejo purchased the entire suite of Jigsaw software, and is running Jmineops, Jview, and Jhealth. In the pit, it has implemented Jtruck, and J²guidance for high precision on shovels/loading units, production blast drills, dozers and track dozers.

“One of the biggest benefits of the Jmineops system is the amount of data it captures,” said Shane Boak, former FMS Administrator at Barrick Gold. “Everything that’s happening in the pit, in the mining environment, whether it be time-based information, where the material is being picked up, where it’s getting dumped, who’s operating the equipment, how fast it’s going, or what’s happening with the engine.”

Software + hardware = mining solution

In addition to Jmineops, Hexagon Mining’s software modules and hardware components provide more precise measurement, enhanced operations logic, and wider ranges of equipment usage in run-of-mine (ROM) processes. The Universal Hardware Platform (UHP) also allows numerous Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) independent interfacing options and integration potential for further equipment diagnostics, maintenance, and lifecycle management all within the same system.

“We used these tools to pull all this information together so we could make more informed decisions,” said Boak. “We keept trucks running longer and faster, optimising production and better managing risks.”

Hexagon Mining’s business intelligence (BI) suite for reporting and analytics, Jigsaw Jview, is then used to expand data collection and information management into knowledge. This improves processes, production efficiency and management decisions, all of which helps the mine stay on budget and achieve or exceed goals.

“It was all recorded. This is where the BI tools came in really handy to come back, analyse all of this information, and use it to make more informed decisions,” said Boak. “We could then improve our use of the FMS and our processes based on past performance and benchmarking results with goals.” 

Explore next chapter: Customised data for better decision making

Story: Turning data into knowledge with Jigsaw
Chapter 1: Software + Hardware = Mining solution
Chapter 2: Customised data for better decision making
Chapter 3: Data analysis for increased safety
Chapter 4: Convenient data for immediate action