Iron Ore Tracking

Our client was experiencing difficulties in accurately tracking ore samples from their blast fields to their analytical lab. We turned their major headache into an easy to operate, streamlined system that improved the overall profitability of their mining operation considerably.

The Challenge

Our client was experiencing difficulties in accurately tracking ore samples from their blast fields to their analytical lab. This tracking challenge continued onwards throughout the lab itself. They found the process to be tedious, and near impossible to manage. Due to the complexity of the task, it was difficult to maintain consistent results. As a result quality control and profitability of the whole mining operation were being adversely affected.

A solution was needed that would integrate our client’s GIS (geographic information system) and their LIS (lab information system) software to accurately track the origin of the ore samples and connect them with the data from the lab results.

Our Systematic Solution

We set up a new process to download the GIS information of the blast plan to a handheld device with GPS and RFID technology, making use of their existing mobile handheld devices.

• The person putting the markers on the blast field wrote to an RFID tag in the stake from their handheld device.
• The people drilling for sampling put the stake in the sample bag.
• On arrival at the analytical lab, the sample bags were automatically acknowledged by the software which verified that each sample had arrived.
• The samples were tracked through each stage throughout the lab. This means our client can now see the status of all their samples, on one screen, and in real time.

The Result: Quality and Profits Increased

Our client was delighted with the result. We had turned their major headache into an easy to operate, streamlined system. Their quality control improved and with that, the overall profitability of their mining operation increased considerably.