Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr
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Pedro Fuenzalida, innovation manager for Antofagasta Minerals, explained that, "After the successes seen in the manufac- turing industry by deploying technologies that helped standardize operations, we wanted to bring mining into the 21 st cen- tury by introducing the same principles to our dynamic operations through digital innovations. We believe this to be the future of mining where advances in analyt- ics can enable better decision making and deliver step change in productivity improvement and help in stabilization." IntelliSense, whose technology is used to optimize processes and systems through a combination of sensors, software and simu- lation, can point to recent successes from its technology's deployment in uranium min- ing, for example. The company explains that its applications combine real-time sensor data with sophisticated equipment and sys- tem models to deliver process insights. These insights are used to deliver optimiza- tion services that are tested on a virtual process simulation environment, eliminating implementation risks and ensuring adaptive process control. In the Antofagasta deploy- ment, the technology is aimed at achieving optimal control of the thickener circuit with low variance via tracking, modeling and sim- ulation of the system, taking into account input material, clay content, flocculant use and equipment operation. Expected results include delivery of thickened tailings at tar- get percent solids, reduced flocculant con- sumption and implementation of condition- based thickener maintenance. According to Intellisense.io, its busi- ness model of delivering "Optimization applications as a Service" results in little to no upfront capex cost, faster deployment and continuous solution upgrades that deliver rapid ROI to their customers. A five-year strategic partnership agree- ment signed by the two companies will see IntelliSense.io working closely with Antofagasta Minerals on delivering needed technology across the mine extraction, mineral processing and waste management processes with the primary goal of improv- ing efficiency, reducing environmental impact and delivering bottom line benefits to the mine operations. Fuenzalida said, "By bringing interna- tional high technology companies to Chile and demonstrating the impact these tech- nologies can have in the local and regional mining industry, addressing common chal- lenges such as constraints on water and energy and minimizing environmental impact, we are showing our commitment to invest in innovations not only across our mining portfolio but also in Chile. We aim to improve the skill base of the Chilean mining industry by exposing and training teams on leading edge technologies to compete in the global market place." IntelliSense.io announced that it also is setting up a "Center of Excellence for Digital Technologies in Chile" that will serve the Latin American mining industry across copper, gold, iron ore and platinum mining operations. Portions of the information included in this article were provided to E&MJ; on behalf of Optical Cable Corp. (www.occfiber.com), IMI Precision Engineering (www.imi- precision.com), IntelliSense.io (www.intel- lisense.io), and Honeywell Process Solutions (www.honeywellprocess.com) . DECEMBER 2015 • E&MJ; 69 www.e-mj.com C O N T R O L S & S E N S O R S