The Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC) has upgraded its capability in mine planning, with its recent migration into a new software, Surpac, that allows the company to be fully compliant with government regulations.
Junior geologist John Aldrich Angeles said that purchasing ‘Surpac’ in 2019 helped the engineering department of RTNMC and other subsidiaries of Nickel Asia Corp (NAC) to have a uniform style in the calculation and reporting of data needed for the mining operation.
Angeles said that previously, RTNMC is using Microsoft Excel but shifting to Surpac helped them visualize the data better for the understanding of engineers involved in site operation.
“Carefully ay tina-transcribe natin ‘yong data from MS Excel into this software, Surpac. From here, dati kasi Microsoft Excel, halos hindi mo siya ma-visualize kung ano ang itsura ng deposito na nasa ilalim ng lupa, meron ka lang values at navi-visualize lang ng individual user upon looking sa data. Ngayon, dahil itong software na ito ay may kakayahang mag generate ng 3D models, makikita mo ‘yong pinasok mo na data from MS Excel in a 3D model.” he said.
“Kung ano ‘yong navi-visualize ng individual user o na-i-interpret niya, mas nakikita iyon ng ibang geoscientists and engineers. Mas madali maka-gather ng data and of course, ‘yong power nitong software na ito ay mas automated na, kung dati sa Microsoft Excel, kung ano lang yong knowledge mo sa validation and sanitation ng data ay doon lang nasusukat ang accuracy ng pag compute mo ng resources. Syempre sa paggawa ng isang model ang gusto natin ay zero or close to zero errors para mas accurate ang ating resource calculations. Kumbaga dito sa Surpac, kapag pinasok mo ang data from excel na may kaunti pang errors ay i-rereject niya lahat ng ito, automated na siya at madaling mag trace ng source of errors and in return madaling i-correct ang data,” he added.
Engr. Ronelbert Suguitan, division manager of the engineering services department, said that the software costs about P5 million excluding an annual subscription amounting to P500,000.
“Ang maganda kasi sa kaniya ay hindi lang pang-compute, magagamit din ng mining engineers namin para buohin ang plano bago siya minahin. Ang maganda sa kaniya, ‘yong software mismo ay pwede mo siya ilagay sa kahit ilang computer, meron lang siyang USB, dongle na tinatawag,” he said.
“Halibawa ay natapos na ng aming geologist gumawa ng ore block model, ito naman ay gagamitin ng aming mga Mining Engineers para i-base ang gagawin nilang mine design model.” He added.
Suguitan said that their proficiency in resource calculations and mine planning had increased due to software’s (Surpac) capability.
“Isa rin sa nagiging limitations namin ay ang database na may lamang invalid data o errors, sa pag gamit nitong Surpac ay madali naming maisasaayos agad ang aming database.
He added that Surpac software releases general reports to see the errors and helps to present the data better on different areas of concern.
The Surpac is now the trend software in the mining industry and most of the large companies operating in the country have availed such as RTNMC and other NAC’s subsidiary companies, he said.
Surpac as explained by its developer, Geovia, is a geology and mine planning software, supporting mining operations and exploration projects in more than 120 countries. It delivers “efficiency and accuracy” through ease-of-use, powerful 3D graphics and workflow automation that can be aligned to company-specific processes and data flows.
