Austral Resources' Anthill Mine will soon be the benefit of sophisticated new technology to improve copper grades.
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Austral's mine contractor Thiess has selected deep-tech mining start-up Plotlogic to deploy its OreSense technology at the Anthill Copper Project.
Part of Austral Resources Lady Annie Project, 80km north of Mount Isa, the Anthill Project is on track to achieve planned copper production of 10,000tpa commencing mid-2022 over a four-year period after commencing mining in January.
Austral commenced Anthill ore processing in April and plan to achieve significant copper cathode production increases from May with processing at nearby Mt Kelly.
Now Plotlogic aims to increase the grade of copper being mined and reduce waste while enhancing safety and sustainability with its high precision digital assaying and mine face scanning technology,
The OreSense technology helps miners cut costs and risks, as well as improve sustainability outcomes by distinguishing high-grade mineralisation from waste material in real time.
Plotlogic said it does this by fusing huge amounts of data collected by a range of highly sophisticated sensors, including hyperspectral cameras working near the infra-red part of the light spectrum, in combination with LiDAR, geo-location information and advanced machine learning algorithms.
Plotlogic said Oresense would reduce the need for expensive and time-consuming off-site laboratory analysis of samples, and would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by minimising fuel consumption and optimising the grade of material fed to the heap leaching process
Thiess Group Executive Growth & Strategy Abdul Jarrah said the trial with Plotlogic would test and validate the benefits of the technology to determine its viability for the Anthill Project.
"If the trial is successful, we will seek to expand the application of this technology across our metals projects to safely and sustainably maximise resource recovery for our clients," Mr Jarrah said.
Plotlogic founder and CEO Dr Andrew Job said they saw a huge amount of potential for this relationship.
"Mining should be able to generate the resources society needs without harming the environment," Mr Job said.
"Plotlogic's goal is to work with our customers to use AI and automation to deliver the future of natural resources - one that benefits both society and the industry."
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