The 2021 mining exploration project portfolio includes 60 projects with an aggregate investment amount of US$ 506 million.

Arvizio and Sight Power companies announced a partnership aimed at delivering augmented reality (AR) digital twins to the mining industry; as well as a seamless integration of mining data, 3D models and LiDAR scans to share between Sight Power's Digital MineTM platform and Arvizio's Immerse 3D augmented reality solution.

"This combination provides the industry with a powerful and integrated suite of mining operations software and AR to optimize the mining process by reducing costs, improving efficiency, increasing productivity and improving safety," reported Canada's Arvizio.

It added that digital transformation is a major trend in all aspects of mining and AR is emerging as a key component to incorporate and visualize mine planning data into the design, planning, operations, resource management and investor relations processes.

"Digital Mine is a system for collecting and processing detailed information related to all operations and work processes in the mining business. This information, when combined with modeling, monitoring and distributed sensor systems, provides a cohesive solution to automate daily routine operations for geologists, mining engineers, mine surveyors and other specialists, resulting in increased labor productivity and reduced technical errors," they explained.

The company said its "Immerse 3D" system allows 3D models and LiDAR scans, used with Digital Mine, to be visualized in AR, and that Immerse 3D's advanced model optimization and hybrid rendering capabilities are ideal for visualizing LiDAR scans and geological models of mining operations that can cover many miles/kilometers and include multiple layers. In addition, Immerse 3D enhances the Sight Power Digital Mine platform by extending Digital Mine capabilities to include AR visualization and collaboration for multiple users and locations in fully synchronized sessions using web meeting platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

For his part, Sight Power CEO Sergey Reznichenko stressed that working with leading mining companies using Digital Mine demonstrated that combining operational technology, monitoring systems, devices and spatial datasets into a single workflow system streamlines mining operations at every stage.

"We are delighted to partner with Arvizio to integrate Immerse 3D AR visualization into our workflows and use augmented reality to train stakeholders around the world for more efficient information sharing, troubleshooting, verification of key operations and safety systems in their mining projects," said Sergey Reznichenko.

The extension of the Immerse 3D platform enhances the capabilities of Digital Mine technology using AR in these and other scenarios:

• Supporting personnel training and equipment repair to reduce operating costs and downtime.
• Expanding Digital Twin capabilities in processing plants for real-time monitoring.
• Real-time virtual presence at the mine site.
• Continuous evaluation of mine evolution models to identify problems and avoid costly overruns.