Sentry is an active monitoring system for tracking movement and notifying stakeholders about potentially unsafe areas of an open pit operation, Maptek said. A long range I-Site 8820 laser scanner and dedicated software help sites measure and analyse unpredictable wall movement.
The I-Site point cloud data which is used in the Sentry solution can also be processed and modelled for survey reconciliation, stockpile volumetrics, geological mapping and kinematic analysis. Sentry allows several areas to be monitored within a single scan extent. Animations, continual analysis and graphical reports provide comprehensive information for reviewing results to guide future monitoring, Maptek said.
CMC is responsible for removing all of the overburden and bringing the ore to the surface at the Portia gold project 100km northwest of the Broken Hill regional mining centre. At Portia the gold occurs in a 2-3m layer below 75m of clay overburden (about 7Mm3), which is being removed to access the ore.
At Portia the Sentry solution will be applied to track movement and stability of walls in the open pit. The I-Site laser scanner will also be used for routine survey applications throughout the operation. A rugged Maptek mount attaching the I-Site laser scanner to the roof of a site vehicle gives CMC greater flexibility for surveying large areas efficiently.
“We went with Maptek for several reasons. Price, local support, ease of use and the combination of survey and monitoring applications makes the choice obvious,” said CMC principal Steve Radford.
“Prior to mining commencement we’ve remodelled and constructed 35km of access roads and an airstrip as well as establishing infrastructure such as workers’ camp, on-site concrete batching plant and maintenance facilities.
“In remote environments where you need to ensure worker safety, Sentry provides a diagnostic tracking tool with clear visualisation and analysis capabilities so we can make reliable engineering decisions,” he said.
