MINE DESIGN
remote and often logistically challenging environments, it is hardly surprising
that there is a strong market for comprehensive software tools that can take
some of the risk out of the design
process. Each of the major suppliers
has its own list of 'satisfied customers',
working in locations from Nevada to
Papua New Guinea, and from Australia
to Appalachia.
It is, of course, sensible to remember that all of these software packages
rely on having accurate data to work
with, so it is essential that users ensure
that their input information is not only
clean, but is as accurate as can be
achieved. After all, the old maxim
'garbage-in, garbage-out' applies to
design software as much as it does to
any other data-reliant process.
In common with other sectors of
mining and exploration technology,
there appears to have been a steady
trend toward consolidation within software suppliers, usually with the aim of
amalgamating complementary products. Most suppliers claim dominance
in one particular aspect or another,
although it is clear that no one compa-
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Hard Dollar says its Project Cost Management (PCM) package enables mining companies to make project decisions that avoid cost overruns.
ny has an over-riding position in the
wider world market. Software development and computing power have gone
hand-in-hand here as elsewhere in the
industry, with 64-bit technology becoming mainstream where large amounts of
data have to be handled.
Shareholders should always be able
to see where a project's design has
not met the mark. Whether they can
do anything about it is, of course,
another matter. Perhaps the best thing
about good design is that it just keeps
paying dividends.
JANUARY 2013 • E&MJ; 39