Drew Larsen Director of Business Development - Mining ASI MINING
What is the genesis of ASI Mining?
ASI Mining operates as a privately held company, with Autonomous Solutions Inc. (ASI) being the majority shareholder and Epiroc, which acquired a 34% stake in the company in 2018, holding a minority stake, but also serving as our collaborative distribution partner. Since 2006, ASI Mining has been at the forefront of autonomy in surface mining, starting with the automation of a Caterpillar 777 haul truck for Phelps Dodge in Arizona.
Ae have observed a strong desire in the mining industry for flexibility in fleet and equipment selection. Our agnostic approach separates technology decisions from truck procurement, enabling mine operators to choose different makes and models tailored to their needs. OEM agnostic autonomous technology enables miners to pivot to the machine fleet that best meets their needs, by maintaining a dynamic and adaptable approach to vehicle automation.
Can you delve into ASI Mining’s portfolio of solutions?
Our primary focus revolves around haul truck automation, specifically our Autonomous Haulage System (AHS). Our robotics expertise has led us to automate various applications. Partnering with Epiroc, we have connected drilling solutions to our autonomous traffic management system, which is called Mobius. Additionally, since 2016, we have delved into semi-autonomous blasting solutions with two blasting companies, foreseeing integration with drilling capabilities in the future. Beyond drilling and blasting, we have extended our automation efforts to include dozers, wheel loaders and excavators.
Could you highlight some projects where ASI provided its solutions?
Notable projects include working in 2018 with Barrick Gold and later Nevada Gold Mines to deploy autonomous haul truck conversions of Komatsu 930E-2 haul trucks in their Goldstrike project, showcasing early AHS adoption in the US.
What are the company’s goals for the next 12 months?
Our primary goal is to expand our customer base globally following the announcement of our AHS commercialization.
Guido Pérez General Manager – Americas MICROMINE
Could you introduce us to Micromine?
Micromine is a software company with comprehensive solutions addressing the entire mining life cycle, from geological modeling and resource estimation during the exploration phase to mining design, planning, and asset optimization solutions. Our relationship with Newmont, now Nevada Gold Mines, led us to establish our first office in Elko and we have been operating in the US for the last decade.
Could you highlight what solution Micromine offers to Nevada Gold Mines?
One of the most successful and proven solutions we supply to them is Micromine Pitram, which manages day-to-day operations and requires no in-site development, only configuration, allowing for a record implementation time.
What are the advantages of Micromine Alastri?
In 2021 Micromine acquired Precision Mining and Alastri, two Australian companies. The latter has been disrupting Australia’s market in hard-rock open-pit projects, specifically in short-term planning or scheduling. Unlike other planning systems that require on-site implementation and extensive customization. Micromine Alastri is powerful in calculating cycle times and conducting haulage forecasting. In many projects where multiple variables come into play, existing systems often lack the flexibility to adjust these variables, resulting in overly conservative forecasts. Moreover, they can overlook key variables such as ramps’ inclination, weather conditions, and other statistical factors.
Because Micromine Alastri allows for multiple variables to be considered as part of it’s calculations, it can deliver highly accurate mine schedules and forecasts. Plans created using Micromine Alastri have consistently demonstrated a narrow error range of +2% to +3%, while other systems produce significantly higher error rates of around 20% with the same data.
Is there any other case study you would like to share?
One of our clients with a mine in Panama ws the first to purchase all Micromine’s solutions simultaneously, including Micromine Geobank for geological data management, Micromine Origin, Micromine Beyond, and Micromine Alastri.