GIS: Mine Management with GIS
Highland Valley Copper, one of the world's largest mines, looks to GIS to provide management solutions.
By Vicki Speed

Faced with fierce competition, increasing environmental concerns and rising production costs, the international mining industry stands on the threshold of change. It is no longer enough to maintain the status quo. Successful businesses must develop innovative ideas and technology-driven processes that allow them to manage mining activities more efficiently and affordably than ever before.
      Highland Valley Copper (HVC) clearly understands this call to action and the company has set in motion a series of programs designed to keep it at the head of the pack. Already HVC is the largest base metal mine in British Columbia, Canada, and one of the largest in the world, shipping about 320 million pounds of copper this year. Its leading role can, at least in part, be attributed to its unique location in one of the most resource-rich portions of the world.
      But, as Mark Richards, senior mine engineer at HVC, explains, location isnÕt enough. ÒOur mine has a very low grade ore reserve compared to those found in other parts of the world,Ó he says. ÒIf we are to remain competitive, we have to manage our mines better than anyone else. That means better tools, better trained people and better processes.Ó This need has sparked a number of innovations that range from computerized truck dispatch to an inpit crushing and conveying system.
      A further improvement in HVCÕs competitiveness is expected to come from the companyÕs recent move into technology-driven collaborative work processes. Called GeoEngineering, the company is in the midst of incorporating geographic information system (GIS) technology, called GeoEngineering, into its existing infrastructureÑa move that will dramatically improve the firmÕs ability to support corporateÑwide mapping and analysis tasks.
      While GIS has been around for more than 30 years, originating in the environmental management fields, it has yet to be accepted as a useful tool in the mining industryÑdespite its seemingly ideal fit. Mapping and geographic analysis is a big part of extracting ores like copper from the earth. Maps are created almost daily to support various tasks such as exploring the potential of new orebodies, actual mining processes, and, finally, restoring land to its natural state. And yet, the potential of GIS to support and improve these efforts on a broad scale has not been realized. Richards explains, ÒFor some time, many of us in the industry have perceived that GIS with its traditionally steep learning curve, was just too complex. As weÕve learned, that just isnÕt true anymore.Ó
      Supported by Pacific Cascade Group (Abbotsford and Terrace, British Columbia, Canada), a local reseller, HVC quickly found out just how far GIS development has evolved. Pacific Cascade demonstrated a number of GIS tools currently available in the market and through a series of demonstrations showed the strengths of each of these products. Not long after, the firm invested in MicroStation GeoGraphics (Bentley Systems Inc., Exton, Pa.), a GeoEngineering tool that fully integrates computer-aided design (CAD) technologies with the latest in GIS functionality. As a GeoEngineering tool, this product is designed to provide an interactive work environment that allows everyone from office managers to field supervisors a fluid communication process. Richards adds, ÒOur firm has used PC-based CAD tools for some time. Now we have the opportunity to easily migrate into the automated mapping and analysis environment and dramatically improve the management of information from the pit to the office.Ó

GIS-Based Mining
The HVC operation is centered near the town of Logan Lake about 220 kilometers northeast of Vancouver, British Columbia, in an area known as the Highland Valley. The firm currently holds about 5,900 hectares of disturbed land and ore is mined from two large pits within this area. Most of the land is owned by the provincial government and some by landowners like HVC. Mineral holdings are held as leases, claims and crown grants. Other industries also use the land for activities such as cattle ranching and forestry.
      Richards says, ÒNot only do we have to manage the land that we mine, but we also need to know where othersÑsuch as farmers and forestersÑare located.Ó
      For years, HVC has relied on MEDSystem (Mintec, Tucson, Ariz.) mine planning software and AutoCAD (Autodesk, Sausalito, Calif.) to display information in a mapping format. Most of the detailed geographic and non-geographic information such as water utility locations, legal boundaries, reseeded areas and much more, is stored in databases within the Microsoft Access databases. Typically, when a map was needed, the engineer or supervisor would pull the data from the corporate database and then draw the map on the CAD system using a standard mine survey grid. These maps were difficult to maintain or update regularly and were virtually impossible to scale up and down.
      The result: Information existed on more than one map sheet or computer file. Updates were not always made across all copies and when they were made they were very labor -intensive. ÒClearly, we needed an interactive system that could tie to our corporate database,Ó concludes Richards.
      The goal was to find a GIS that could fit into the PC infrastructure that HVC employees were already familiar with. After an extensive research effort and viewing demonstrations, HVC selected BentleyÕs MicroStation GeoGraphics running on a Windows NT platform. The firm selected this GeoEngineering solution primarily because of its ability to interact seamlessly with office productivity tools and particularly Microsoft Access. In addition, it provided them the opportunity to easily translate existing map information from the CAD database and begin to build a geographic resource. The Windows NT environment, say officials, provided improved reliability and distributed networking capabilities.
      Just five months later, HVC staff were ready to go. Once again, Pacific Cascade stepped in to offer a comprehensive training and implementation course to HVC surveyors, engineers, and geologists. This two-week training course covered the use of MicroStation and MicroStation GeoGraphics in the HVC environment using existing HVC data. This allowed HVC staff to work on data that is familiar to them and begin the process of developing a workflow for initial projects. By the time training was finished, HVC staff was well on the way to building GeoEngineering processes to work in daily routines. Response to the new tools, according to Richards, has been very positive. ÒWe are already very familiar with the overall Windows environment and CAD from past experience. The training courses helped by giving all of us some additional insight into the potential of GIS in our daily work routines,Ó he says.
      Database development began in July of this year. Most of the baseline data was taken from aerial photography that is routinely taken of all of the HVC properties. This amounted to 26 topographic maps (scale:1:5000). Continuing development involves converting existing AutoCAD maps to the MicroStation GeoGraphics GIS environment through standard translation routines. The information is readily available to all HVC staff immediately after it has been translated and checked in the GIS environment.

GIS in Practice
Land Reclamation. One of the most prominent uses for HVCÕs GeoEngineering technology tools will be in reclamation, a task that costs the company about $2 million annually. HVC has a disturbed area of 5,900 hectares, of which 1,300 hectares have already been reclaimed. Reclamation involves a number of activities that include resloping and contouring land forms, capping waste dumps with a growth medium such as overburden or topsoil, harrowing the land prior to seeding, seeding and planting, and then fertilizing and maintenance for the following three to four years after seeding.
      Richards emphasizes: ÒThese reclamation maps have been extremely labor intensive in the past. Each one must accurately show where the resloping effort is taking place, what types of fertilizer are being used, if the seeding was done and what types of plants and bushes have been planted. It involves tracking a lot of data in a lot of different scales and formats.Ó These maps vary from dump construction and resloping plans to five year mine reclamation plans.
      ÒWith GIS, we expect to reduce the time that is required to prepare these maps and produce a better quality final product,Ó he adds.
      Land Tenure. Land ownership in the Highland Valley is divided amongst private landholders like HVC and the provincial government of British Columbia. In the past, legal plans that show mine claims and ownership have been produced in an ad-hoc fashion and yet are extremely critical to HVCÕs long term mining interests. ÒHVC management has implemented a comprehensive effort to re-document and update the entire area including such things as rights of way, leases and water rights,Ó says Richards. ÒGIS is the ideal vehicle for this effort.Ó
      HVC GIS developers anticipate that all legal maps will be digitized into the GIS before the end of the year. During that time, surveyors will complete a detailed survey of the land using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. Richards adds, ÒThat is another advantage of GIS technology. Because GIS is a geographic-based tool, position information recorded from a GPS receiver can go directly into a GIS database.Ó
      Slope Stability. Those engineers responsible for ensuring slope stability during the mining process are interested in using GIS to monitor ground movement. In the past, ground movement mapping has been done using AutoCAD. Pit crews anticipate the day when they will be able to record field observations of these slopes or pit walls directly into a pen-based notebook computer that incorporates a plug-in GPS receiver and the GIS software. As the data is recorded, the operator will perform queries to show rates of ground movement, sizes of geological cracks, the relationship between structures and hydrological changes and much more.
      The list of possible applications continues to grow and attract the interest of nearly everyone from office staff to field operations personnel at HVC. Mine engineers can more easily produce water analysis reports. Geologists see the possibility of maintaining geology maps that are currently prepared manually or in non-graphic analysis software packages on the GIS. Surveyors see advantages of GIS as a display and analysis tool for ongoing GPS data gathering efforts.
     The overall conclusion by everyone at HVC is that GeoEngineering will have a tremendous effect on management decision-making by providing better information in a timely and understandable format. ÒThe GIS/CAD industry has gone through some dramatic growth in recent years. That growth and evolution has worked to our advantage. Even with no GIS background, and very little training, we are able to migrate easily into a fully-functional GeoEngineering environment,Ó concludes Richards. ÒIt is an additional resource that will allow us to compete effectively. Frankly, itÕs just better business.Ó

About the Author:
Vicki Speed is a Dove Canyon, California-based freelance writer specializing in the engineering and computer technology markets. She may be reached at 714-589-9995.

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