The Future of Mine Planning Software – New Tools and Innovations

Modern mine planning software plays a crucial role in the operation of many of the world’s mining operations and projects. Mine planning software provides the mining industry with a fast, accurate, cost effective and efficient tool in order to manage their business interests worldwide. Every aspect of the mining industry is today using some form of mine planning software. From exploration to rehabilitation, the use of software is becoming more and more widespread. Mine planning software companies are constantly under pressure to evolve products to meet new challenges and solve new problems. Development of software is a result of both programming foresight and reaction to industry demands. Without mining industry feedback, many of the products now available would probably not have been developed. Mining software is an extremely competitive market which constantly drives the levels of development to new heights. This paper discusses some of the most important new tools and technologies incorporated in modern mine planning software and presents potential areas of improvement and further development. to the most cost effective approach to providing the users the applications they need. The major objective remained the same throughout this development: to provide users with tools that allow quick and accurate management and assessment of the value and risk associated with the exploration, feasibility and production of mineral resources. With the increasing range and sophistication of the applications, the development and management of the software requires a greater level of coordination than the simpler non-integrated systems of some decades ago. Professional development of the software by dedicated teams of software engineers is essential to the production of software that satisfies users’ expectations. 2 STRUCTURE OF MINE PLANNING SOFTWARE