The Carbon-Zero Mine

Overview

Automation and the electrification of everything have created conditions where dramatic carbon improvements can be achieved with a little non-traditional thinking. So, can we achieve a 100% electric mine running on renewables? We begin this presentation series with a session on path planning to minimise environmental damage followed by an overview of the simulation framework required to evaluate an electric mine. The sessions will be rounded out with a deep dive into a simulation model of an all-renewables electric mine and finish out with a software engineering perspective on EV design for mining applications.

Agenda

Time (AEST)	Session Title
12:00 pm	Introduction: The Carbon Zero Mine – Wilco Volwerk, MathWorks
12:05 pm	Path Planning to Minimise Environmental Impacts – Dr Peter Brady, MathWorks When running large geological surveys there is a need to run large grids of sensors, which are usually placed in straight lines. However, in this talk we show an approach that recognises that there is a tolerance, and we can move around trees and sensitive sites yet still meet targets.
12:15 pm	Electric Mine Simulation Framework – Dr Peter Brady, MathWorks The simulation of an electric mine is a complex multi-scale challenge including electricity use at the per second level in an EV up to multi-year wind intensity and solar irradiance statistical analyses. This talk addresses a coherent framework to integrate these simulation horizons into a total mine evaluation.
12:25 pm	Q&A
12:30 pm	Simulation of a Flexible, All-Renewables Powered Mine – Andy Reynolds, Inspire Resources In partnership with OZ Minerals and a cohort of companies, we built a simulation of an underground copper mine, based on a real ore body, with the aim of revealing the value of flexibility. One of the flexibility use cases modelled was all-solar operation, which required a load dispatch algorithm to be developed. We found that flexible (discontinuous) operation plus 4-hour energy storage gave optimal net present value. This raises new possibilities for concepts of operation at remote mine sites where grid transmission is not feasible.
12:40 pm	Using GitHub Actions CI for Rapid Equipment Electrification Kyle describes the lifecycle advantages of CI/CD in the context of Model-Based Design, then reviews a sample deployment where we automate the development of new controller software to electrify a piece of battery electric mining equipment.
12:50 pm	Q&A

> Click here to go to the event series page: Realising the autonomous, carbon neutral mine

Highlights

Learn about autonomy in mining impact reduction
Integrate multi-scale models to simulate an electric mine
See a discrete event simulation of a mine in practice
Hear about the software engineering required when working on a mining EV

About the Presenters

Dr Peter Brady is a Senior Application Engineer with a background in numerical simulation, analysis and high-performance computing. Peter covers these areas of the MathWorks products as well as machine learning, deep learning, deployment and cloud. He has worked on numerous projects for mining companies, including mets accounting, process modelling and plant optimisation. Peter is allocated as a technical account engineer for several Australian miners to provide a single point of contact as well as support for developing technical proofs, product deep dives and specialist support to MATLAB and Simulink users. Peter has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelors in Civil Engineering both from UTS and is a Chartered Practicing Engineer with Engineers Australia (CPEng NER).

Andy Reynolds is President of Inspire Resources Inc., a Canadian social enterprise mining company founded in 2019 to deploy a new business model (Mineral Impulse™) for integrating natural resource projects into community economic development plans. His experience includes almost a decade managing resource sector research and development in Canadian government labs, and several years consulting to mining companies regarding innovation partnerships. He had migrated to Canada in 2009 after a 23-year career as a marine engineer officer in the UK’s Royal Navy, where his roles included front line operations and maintenance, management of technology, procurement, programs and portfolios, and international collaboration. He holds B.Eng and M.Sc degrees from the Royal Naval Engineering College, is a UK Chartered Engineer and a Professional Engineer in the province of British Columbia.

Kyle van Berendonck is an engineering consultant at Cuedo Controls, a Melbourne-based consultancy specialising in software development for vehicle electrification. He has prior experience integrating over 100 unique models of electric vehicles.

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