Srk bolsters rock mechanics program for leading fertilizer company By Tim Coleman
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ince 2012, SRK has been working with a major North American producer of agricultural nutrients that owns and operates a potash mine in Canada and a phosphate mine in the USA. SRK has been helping the mine’s engineering department to expand their rock mechanics program, with a focus on collecting data to aid daily operational and long-term mine planning decision making. Because data management and collection methods are integral to this program, SRK is creating a centralized database to store the rock mechanics data collected by instruments installed around the mine. This centralized database will enable rock mechanics engineers to access the data more quickly and efficiently than if it was dispersed across the instruments that collected it. SRK has also developed a front-end application that queries the data and makes it easy to produce charts that
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support daily operational decision making. To save time with data entry, SRK has implemented the Environmental Systems Research Institute’s Collector for ArcGIS application. Running on a tablet, this app allows users to electronically record data from rock mechanics instrumentation while underground, therefore saving office time for data analysis and review. It also enables instrument locations to be represented spatially on a mine plan, making it easy for users to refer to the data collected for each area of the mine. Furthermore, SRK has set up the app to enable users to map geological features directly on a tablet while underground. By eliminating the need for geologists to convert hand-drawn maps into digital maps, they have more time for carefully interpreting the data in the office.
About SRK Consulting SRK Consulting is an independent, international practice providing focused advice and solutions to the earth and water resource industries. As a one-stop consultancy, SRK offers specialist services to mining and exploration companies for the entire life cycle of a mining project, from exploration through to mine closure. Formed in 1974, SRK employs more than 1,400 professionals globally in over 45 permanent offices on six continents. SRK’s specialists are leaders in fields such as due diligence, feasibility studies, mine waste and water management, permitting, and mine closure. The industry background of many of SRK’s staff ensures that advice is not only technically sound but also thoroughly practical. Among SRK’s clients are many of the world’s major, medium-sized and junior metal and industrial mineral mining houses, exploration companies, financial institutions, construction firms and government departments. To learn more about SRK Consulting, visit www. na.srk.com.
Contacts – Tim Coleman, Principal Consultant, Mining and Rock Mechanics, SRK Consulting (Vancouver) T: 1-604-681-4196 | F: 1-604-687-5532 E: tcoleman@srk.com – Mark Liskowich, Principal Consultant, SRK Consulting (Saskatoon) T: 1-306-955-4799 | F: 1-306-955-4750 E: mliskowich@srk.com 6