Minarco-MineConsult maintains an extensive database of costs and details of all projects undertaken, and has developed a suite of specialised software - MiMaSo (Mine Management Software).
MiMaSo covers:
We developed MiMaSo because the industry needed fully integrated, user-friendly, and easy-to-customize mining planning software. All MiMaSo applications were developed on a spreadsheet platform for easy manipulation, transfer, and integration of data. Unlike other scheduling packages that require many days - sometimes weeks - of customization to achieve the desired reporting structure and user-to-PC interface, MiMaSo can usually be customized in a day or two.
Returns the life of plant average hourly cost breakdown ($AUS) of operating a piece of equipment. The breakdown covers the areas of ownership, labour, and materials. Cost estimates are derived from first principles with algorithms for fuel consumption, wear, repair and maintenance being formulated empirically. Several aspects of the site conditions including operator skill, duty cycles and material characteristics along with the equipment owner category influence estimates via job factors (multipliers).
This application evaluates from first principles the viability of a mine owner project by establishing cash flows for eleven core cost centres over the project life. Revenue, operating and capital costs, based on a given production schedule cover all facets of the mining operation from core mining activities (including contractors) to administration and other indirect costs. Loan repayments, detailed capital depreciation etc. all feed into the cash flow which in turn is expressed as an NPV or IRR.
Estimates the unit mining rates a contractor should bid for a contract derived from first principles returned as $/bcm and/or $/t for a given source/destination profile.
Incorporates the contract production schedules, equipment capital, mobilization schedules, operating and maintenance costs, admin and other support and numerous project variables. A detailed costing matrix is established for each excavator/truck combination used in production on an RL basis. The strength of this package is its ability to communicate directly between mine owner costing and contractor costing.
The scheduler utility is customized for each client's particular requirements. It essentially consists of a mining block database, a sequencing mechanism simulating mining, and a scheduling or reporting page quantifying the sequence in time-based increments. Suitable for either coal or metal projects, several pits can be scheduled containing either multiple rock type or multi-seam deposits and carries as many quality parameters as necessary. Scheduling is achieved by specifying targets for material movement or desired product specifications. Several additional modules include a material movement by depth generator, dumping schedule, and a graphical sequence plot which color codes the block layout plan for the given schedule.
This spreadsheet derives typical productivities for shovels, excavators, and front-end loaders and returns the number of, and operating hours for, trucks and excavators required to achieve a predefined mining target. Support fleet requirements are also derived and return in this module. Many factors are incorporated, including material specifications, rosters, equipment specifications, mechanical availabilities, and efficiencies. For equipment numbers, core algorithms include a truck and excavator productivity simulator deriving cycle times from first principles. A life of mine dumping and coal/ore hauling schedules are used in conjunction with a detailed roster for all major equipment. Equipment matching is an integral aspect of the application, which typically accommodates up to eight loader/truck configurations.
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