Mining and quarrying are deep-rooted businesses. The oldest known mine is located in Southern Africa and was active, quite appropriately, during the stone age — an astounding 43,000 years ago. Possibly even more incredible are the ancient mines that are still producing.

Fast forward to today, where we find an industry with a long history now characterised by advanced technology and innovative processes. The product hasn’t changed, but increasing infrastructure and construction needs create a demand for constant innovation in how the material is collected and processed. Mines and quarries must stay on the cutting edge to keep up, maximising productivity and profits in a rapidly changing industry. One-way producers are doing this is by embracing advanced technology and diagnostics processes.

Plant simulation software helps operations to spot and fix bottlenecks and take some of the guesswork out of plant design. This tool provides an overall view of the efficiency of the entire operation in order to optimise processes and look at opportunities for improvement, both in the case of existing sites and new mines or quarries for all mineral processing applications.