Eltirus

Steve Franklin, founder of Eltirus, examines the industry and how decision makers can make more informed choices about quarry resources.

How has the industry changed over the past 12 months?

There is a new focus on sound geological knowledge to underpin resource planning. We have talked a lot in the past about the importance of geology and doing it right. By this I mean, good targeting of drill hole locations, standardised logging of chips and core to the Australian standard, using field-based logging software and modelling of the results. Why? Because without this knowledge, a site can have some very unpleasant surprises in terms of either unplanned overburden campaigns or rock quality issues.

This year has seen a huge upswing in the number of geological campaigns we have conducted across Australia and New Zealand, and I particularly note a determination by our clients to ensure that they spend the money needed to get the right result the first time. Exploration is expensive yet it is not uncommon to see quarries that have gone to the trouble of drilling holes, only to lose the samples or core, not use a geologist to log the samples and then not bother to model the results either.

What have been some of the key lessons from 2023?

While the desire for effective geological knowledge is increasing across the industry, I am very concerned by the lack of a similar degree of interest in robust geotechnical engineering. In reality, the work that we do is mostly about risk reduction and reducing the risk of pit walls failing is a critical part of that work. It’s not enough for geotechnical understanding to be relegated to site inspections and awareness training. A sound understanding can only be built through effective knowledge of geological structures, material strength and modelling by a competent engineer.

None of this is cheap and, in my experience, geotechnical studies tend to be a ‘grudge purchase’. The reality however is that the absence of good geotechnical knowledge can be incredibly expensive to an operation should the worst happen.

What is the most exciting development that you have seen? How do you believe it will begin changing the industry?

You probably know that to get an accurate GPS position there must be a correction system of some kind – e.g., a base station or service such as AllDayRTK, VRSNow etc. These are both excellent services, however, can be expensive for the lower usage common in quarry operations. Enter AUSCORS, a network of over 700 GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) stations across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region that provide a free correction service. While there are some limitations to this service (e.g., GDA2020 only), this is a big deal for anyone on a site that needs accurate positioning.

While “exciting” might not be the term many of you will apply to the general availability of AUSCORS, it really is the democratisation of high accuracy positioning and will open a raft of new opportunities.

Why should quarries embrace the digital revolution? What are some of the risks of being left behind?

Some years ago, I sat in a quarry planning meeting with the client representative and four other consulting company representatives. Everyone had their part of the solution as a paper drawing, all at different scales and impossible to overlay to see how the different work packages integrated. Frankly, it was unworkable.

Digitalisation makes it possible to quickly and accurately integrate data. Simply put, it ensures that you have the information at your fingertips to make better decisions and as a client so famously put it, “allows you to make your mistakes on the computer, not in the field”.

How are quarries already making use of digitalisation?

In the past, quarry planning has tended to focus on the long-term conceptual pit that was put forward to a regulator to win approval for a new quarry or the extension of an existing one. We have always focused on making planning a reality and it is a never-ending source of wonder to take one of these long-term plans from a 2D drawing, bring it into 3D and find that it simply doesn’t work – incorrect bench elevations, poor or no access.

In one example we saw “patches” applied to a CAD drawing to cover up inconsistencies in the design.

Digitalisation tools, well used bring a level of rigour to planning that is impossible with simple 2D plans on paper and ensures that there is a way to break down the long term plan into bite sized chunks that can be successfully worked through in the field. Increasingly this approach is recognised by regulators and senior management alike as a rigorous approach that ensures continuity and ensures a considered approach.

Drones are a primary enabler of digitalisation and we see these commonly used across the industry. We are increasingly seeing the take up by quarry operators of Deswik.Suite quarry design software and Leapfrog geological modelling, along with a range of other systems that enable data to be collected, analysed, and visualised digitally. From measuring stockpiles to better understanding site geology to planning extraction sequences, digital tools are becoming more and more commonplace.

How do you believe autonomous operation will affect the industry?

When people think of autonomous operation they tend to think of machines that are fully self-functioning with little or no human involvement, whereas what we are actually talking about is a scale of autonomy. The area that has been most impacted by autonomous operation to date is blast hole drilling. Hole Navigation Systems and Auto-Drilling capability are now common and have proven time and again that they can beat the best human operators on a consistent, day in, day out basis in terms of metres drilled.

That’s not to say there isn’t a place for human operators, there definitely is (and will be for quite some time to come) and it is generally in relation to exception handling – situations that a machine does not have the intelligence or judgement to do or simply can’t now (e.g., bit changing, maintenance). Autonomous trucks are the most likely next technology we will see, though this may still be a way off yet if current indications are anything to go by.

What can be done to prepare for autonomous operations?

Digitalisation, putting in place the telecommunications and power infrastructure needed and making sure that companies contemplating this approach are part of groups such as the Global Mining Guideline Group (GMG) to help them understand the magnitude of the technical and change management issues that are occasioned by such a fundamental change. Putting in place the technical groups needed to scope, manage and run autonomous fleets will be critical, as will developing the professionals to run them.

What are some of the risks that automation poses?

Probably one of the biggest risks is cybersecurity. There have already been instances where autonomous trucks have been hacked. This said, cybersecurity is one of the larger issues all businesses face these days and autonomous operations will provide another set of factors and issues to resolve in a larger picture.

How will these emerging technologies help address the growing skills gap?

It won’t address it at all, it will exacerbate it. We already know that the number of people graduating survey, geology and mining engineering courses is at an all-time low. At the same time, the requirements for professional certification are increasing, making the situation more difficult again. To complicate this further, we compete against a growing requirement from the mining industry for the same skill set, albeit with much deeper pockets to pay for those skills.

As an industry, we need to look further in terms of what we currently believe the skills gap is – it’s not just operators and quarry managers.

It is important the community knows that the extractive industry has a positive impact. Image: Steve Franklin/Eltirus

What else needs to be done to ensure the quarrying industry has enough skilled labour?

Somehow the community must be brought to see that the extractive industries are a positive contributor to the Australian community, not a negative one. This is in essence a public relations issue.

I think we need to do much more to get in front of school children and young adults to tell them about the value our industry brings to their society (rather than them have a negative or at best, tolerant attitude towards it) and make it an interesting industry that people want to choose as a career. There is only so much that you can do to maximise the current pool of people that are available – we must change community perceptions, prove the value of what we do and in doing so, make our industry of interest to a new generation – AI, digitalisation, autonomous operations, and sustainability are where their interests lie – lets work towards that.

How is Eltirus helping quarries navigate the changing landscape?

Our primary role is in providing decision makers with the data to make better decisions about quarry resources. We do that through digitalisation and bringing to bear skills from the mining industry to solve difficult resource problems, but also in working to bring about an awareness of new technologies and issues.

As quarries become more challenging to operate, the tools and research that we conduct will become increasingly more valuable to quarry viability and sustainable operation.

What are you most excited to see in 2024?

When we started in 2016 quarry digitalisation was unknown. The work that was done at Fulton Hogan’s Stonemaster quarry near Brisbane was groundbreaking and has led to major changes across the industry. Since that time, I have had the opportunity to work with some remarkable people across the industry and for that I am very thankful.

2024 is going to be a very important year for us technically and we look forward to talking more about the work we are doing with data collection, analysis, and AI.

To find out more, contact Steve Franklin on +61 474 183 939 or steve.franklin@eltirus.com