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Interactive infographic Β· open-pit limestone mine

Anatomy of a digital mine

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Survey drone for mine drone survey and stockpile volumes
01 Survey

Drone survey maps the lease

Each flight produces an orthomosaic, contour map, digital terrain model and stockpile volumes for the whole lease, without stopping production. Every later step plans on this map.

MCDR 2017
drone survey requirements followed
Full lease
covered in hours, not days of ground survey
3D model
benches, dumps and stockpiles
Drone survey β†’
Mine planning on a 3D model of an open-pit mine
02 Plan

The mine plan sits on the latest map

The IBM-approved plan, Surpac data or KML files are laid over each new drone map, so actual excavation is compared with the plan flight by flight.

IBM plan
tracked against actual excavation
Surpac Β· KML
imported onto the drone map
Timeline
step through past flights
Mine planning β†’
Drill and blast analytics on an opencast bench
03 Drill & blast

Every hole is logged at the face

Depth, burden, spacing and charge are recorded for each hole. The blast area is drawn as a geofence on the drone map, and explosive stock is tracked against the blast.

4 values
depth, burden, spacing, charge per hole
Geofence
blast area on the live map
Magazine
explosive stock per blast
Drill and blast analytics β†’
Excavator loading a dumper under OITDS truck dispatch
04 Load & dispatch

Each dumper goes to the right shovel

OITDS assigns every dumper to a shovel from live GPS positions and queue lengths, and the operator sees the assignment on the in-cab terminal.

8–17%
higher fleet and excavator efficiency in deployments
2.5–9%
lower operating cost in deployments
In-cab
assignment on a 7-inch terminal
OITDS truck dispatch β†’
Dump truck on a haul road monitored by Haul Road AI and dashcam
05 Haul

The haul road is measured, not guessed

Grade, roughness and dust are tracked per road segment from the drone surface and dumper telemetry. Dashcams watch the road and the operator, and warn in the cab.

1:16
design grade checked per segment
2 cameras
road and operator on each dashcam
10–15 min
data lag in zones with no network
Haul Road AI β†’
Fuel bowser refuelling a haul truck with fuel monitoring
06 Fuel

Every litre of diesel is accounted for

Tank sensors log every refuel and calculate litres per engine hour for each machine. A drop that does not match a refuel or engine running raises a theft alert.

>99%
tank level measurement accuracy
LPH
litres per hour per machine and shift
Alert
machine, time and location on a theft
Fuel monitoring β†’
Limestone crusher fed from several faces for grade control
07 Weigh, crush & blend

The crusher gets the grade the kiln needs

The weighbridge records tonnes per trip and contractor. LSF, SM and AM are tracked by face, and the blend plan sets how many loads come from each face this shift.

LSF Β· SM Β· AM
tracked for every face
Per trip
weighbridge tonnes and contractor
Blend plan
loads per face per shift
Limestone grade control β†’
Workshop maintenance bay with predictive maintenance for HEMM
08 Maintain

Breakdowns are planned before they happen

Equipment health data streams to the workshop. Preventive services raise alerts before they fall due, and machine learning flags machines heading for failure.

Job cards
on the workshop kiosk
Prediction
from fleet telemetry
MTBF
and availability per machine
Predictive maintenance β†’
Mine control room with operations dashboard and AI safety surveillance
09 Control & comply

One screen for the whole mine

Production, quality, fuel, breakdowns and alerts meet on one dashboard. AI on the site CCTV flags zone intrusions and missing PPE, and DGMS registers fill from the same data.

63% β†’ 83%
on-time punch-in at one cement mine, Jan–Sep 2026
32 β†’ 17 min
time to first load at shift start
DGMS
registers from operational data
Operations dashboard β†’

Questions about the digital mine

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