A visualization based on an ore pass scan by Emersent Hovermath, administered by Dwyka Mining Services, at Petra Diamonds’ Finsch mine. (Photo: Emersent)
Petra Diamonds partnered with Dwyka Mining Services to trial Emesent Hovermap technology at Finsch mine at scanning an indoor stockpile, orepasses and vertical shafts, and a series of access tunnels and ramps.
Petra Diamonds said hardware was lowered down ore passes, flown by drone into drawpoints, and attached to vehicles to scan shafts and ramps. Dwyka Mining Services then delivered point cloud data sets for Petra’s survey team to geo-reference and analyze. Also delivered were visualizations of ore passes, allowing engineers to see their actual condition.
The visualizations exceeded all expectations, Alex Holder, projects lead, Petra Diamonds, said. “The data captured in one ore pass saved us significant time and effort by confirming it was irreparable,” he said. “That saved us millions.”
The data collected by Hovermet became the basis for a data library.
Petra plans to use the solution at its other sites in Africa, Emesent reported.
