Archived News

Maptek Vulcan™ 7.5 released (December 2007)

Vulcan Version 7.5 allows straight lines, polygons and curved lines to be used in the blocking out process

Maptek Vulcan™ Version 7.5 provides customers with innovative functionality to improve daily productivity.

Vulcan 7.5 features a new module for oil sands operations, upgrades to open pit, coal and underground design menus, direct import/export of DWG and DGN files, enhanced capacity to store metadata with design objects. Performance and usability have been improved. Vulcan 7.5 is compatible with the Microsoft® Vista operating system.

The stratigraphic development team has focused on improving Vulcan’s capability to handle greater data complexity and size, rationalising workflow, maintaining flexibility and enhancing viewing.

The Oil Sands Module calculates total inground bitumen, either within a specific area or over the entire block model. Block Area Averaging gives users a choice of methods to select an area and then display points that represent blocks in that area. Dilution Modelling estimates diluted grades along the bitumen/waste contacts as determined by the Total Volume of Material:Bitumen Volume-In-Place ratio. Specification files can be saved for different ratios. This helps users to ensure they are running the correct specifications. Other stratigraphic operations can take advantage of the new block compositing tools.

Users can now design open pits with better transition between batter and berm changes and automatic blending between varying road widths. Different road widths and grades are catered for within the same polygon and within slot cuts.

Underground, the Automatic Ramp Generator allows users to design decline or spiral ramps by nominating a start and end point and gradient. User-defined constraints include maximum grade for turns and straight sections, and optional transition grade at start and finish. Users can build accurate solutions based on block model variables such as development cost and ore values (top left).

Vulcan worldwide (December 2007)

BC Gold, which is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, has leased Vulcan for modelling several different sites.

BHP Billiton in Suriname has purchased Vulcan for geological modelling, resource estimation, mine design and road design.

BHP Billiton, UK office, has purchased a Vulcan Explorer licence.

BHP Billiton Escondida, in Antofagasta, Chile, has purchased Vulcan for resource estimation, including simulation tools and geotechnical toolbox with downhole televiewer interface for its open pit copper mine.

Cía. Minera San Gerónimo in La Serena, Chile, has purchased Vulcan for geological modelling, resource estimation and mine design of its underground copper mine and future open pit extension.

Codelco Andina in Los Andes, Chile, has purchased Vulcan Chronos Scheduling and Haulage Profile modules for long-term scheduling and optimising truck requirements in the open pit copper mine.

CP Mining Management, a subsidiary of CITIC Pacific Ltd, operates the greenfields Cape Preston Iron Ore operation in northern Western Australia. CP Mining has purchased multiple MineModeller licences with Drill & Blast and Surveying Upgrade modules.

Denison Mines, Denver, Colorado, has 7 active uranium mines in North America and has purchased Vulcan for use throughout their properties.

Geovectra, a specialist geological consulting firm in Santiago, Chile, has purchased Vulcan GeoStatModeller.

Haldeman Mining Company (HMC), Iquique, Chile, has purchased Vulcan for geological modelling, resource estimation and mine design.

Heathgate Resources, the owner and operator of the Beverley Uranium Mine in northern South Australia, has purchased Vulcan GeoModeller with Tetra Modelling for resource estimation at its insitu leach mine.

Holcim Ecuador located in Guayaquil, Ecuador, has purchased Vulcan NGRAIN interfaces to optimise Microsoft Office® connectivity for visualising Vulcan models in presentations and reports.

Keegan Resources, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, has several properties including gold projects in Ghana, West Africa. They will use Vulcan for geological modelling of deposits.

Kinross - Rio Paracatu Mineração has purchased a GeoStatModeller with Geotechnical and Mine Design upgrades for its open pit gold operations at Paracatu, in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Mineral Resources Services, Reno, Nevada, has purchased Vulcan for geological modelling.

Newcrest Mining Limited has chosen Vulcan for its Cadia East project in New South Wales. GeoModeller licences with Geotechnical upgrades will be implemented for the proposed development of a large open pit and underground gold-copper mine.

Renison Consolidated Mines will use Vulcan for resource calculations, modelling and interpretation of their Agate Creek Gold Project in northern Queensland, as well as coal projects in NSW.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore, UK, has purchased 2 Vulcan GeoModeller licences for use in Guinea in West Africa.

Rio Tinto, La Granja project in Perú, has purchased Vulcan for geological modelling, resource estimation and mine design for open pit operations.

San Anton de las Minas S.A. de C.V. (SAM) has purchased Vulcan for exploration of the Cerro del Gallo gold-silver deposit in a historic mining district in Guanajuato State in central Mexico.

SideScope Consulting – Sacrison, located in Elko, Nevada, has rented Vulcan for geological modelling.

Maptek Users Conference brings customers and staff together
(November 2007)

The Maptek 2007 Users Conference took place October 29-31 at The Inverness Hotel in Englewood, Colorado.

More than 60 people from various mining companies joined Maptek staff for the 3-day users conference held at the Inverness Center in Engelwood, Colorado, at the end of October.

Engineers, geologists, consultants and educators attended, from Albian Sands Energy Inc., Barrick Gold Corporation, BHP Billiton Ekati, Bureau of Land Management, Chevron Mining Inc., Cleveland Cliffs (Michigan, Northshore, United Taconite, Cliffs Mining Services, Hibbing-Taconite, Wabush/Scully sites), Iron Ore Company of Canada, McIntosh Engineering, Newmont Mining, Peabody Engineering, Petro-Canada, Phelps Dodge, Queenstake Resources Ltd, Rio Tinto Minerals (London, Denver, Perth), Somincor, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, SRK Consulting, Stillwater Mining Company (Nye, East Boulder mines), Thiess Australia, Kennecott Exploration, Minera Los Pelambres, Peabody Energy (PRCC), Thiess Pty Ltd and The University of Utah.

The program catered for engineers on Day 1 with Maptek Vulcan case studies covering haulage profile, Chronos and IDS scheduling, pit optimisation, ore blending, tailings dam design and Maptek I-Site for underground surveying.

Day 2 focused on new technology and customer feedback, with sessions run by Marketing Director, Matt Pesce, and Vulcan Product Manager, Steve Uecker, as well as new software developments introduced by Fernando Rodrigues, leader of Vulcan Technical Services in Denver.

Day 3 featured geology-focused talks covering grade control, block modelling, geological modelling and tetra modelling, as well as surveying and mine planning applications featuring I-Site.

The event was a great chance for networking between Maptek customers and staff. Client ideas, such as the interactive editing tool for underground ramps, which displays grades dynamically while maintaining control on operational constraints, were incorporated into the Vulcan Version 7.5 release.

The Vulcan Olympics brought out the competitive streak in users, with finalists Andy Connell, Paul Jones, Ryan Barnett, Luis Sierra, Allan Schappert, Chris Hunter and Ziggy Hladysz losing out to winner Michael Wilkins (top right).

The success of Maptek’s recent Users Conference represented the culmination of hard work and dedication on the part of our clients, business partners and Maptek staff from all parts of the world. Maptek employees from Australia, Europe, South America and North America provided attendees with access to a wide range of skills, knowledge and expertise.
.
Maptek was able to deliver the breadth and quality of content offered during the conference with the input of our customers who provided outstanding presentations detailing how they use Maptek products to achieve best practices in their work. I offer my thanks to each and every attendee in making this the finest Maptek Users Conference to date.
Barry Henderson, CEO

The 2007 Users Conference attracted clients from hard rock and coal operations, and open pit and underground mines. I am sure everyone was able to take away something useful; we certainly look forward to seeing our clients again at the next conference.
Tony Peterson, Technical Services Manager, Denver

XI Maptek Users Conference in South America (September 2007)

Official photograph Maptek customers from Chile, Brazil and Ecuador plus staff and students from the universities of Antofagasta, Santiago, La Serena, Catolica del Norte and Chile attended the highly successful XI Maptek Users Conference in Viña del Mar in August. These 60 participants joined Maptek staff from Brazil, Chile, USA and Australia. Presentations from Maptek Vulcan users highlighted the range of applications for our products from mine planning, grade control, geotechnical studies, grade estimation through to pit optimisation. Maptek I-Site presentations proved how Maptek’s latest laser scan data software tools provide simple and accurate solutions to real mining situations. Customers gained new insights into how to derive maximum benefit from Vulcan and I-Site by listening to expert Maptek staff. At the conference dinner, Maptek Sudamérica Senior Vice-President Marcelo Arancibia presented an award to long-standing Maptek customer, Hugo Urrutia (right), who has been using Vulcan for 10 years. Mr Urrutia has more than 40 years experience in mining and is a qualified Civil Mining Engineer and Member of the Mining Engineers Institute of Chile, with a Diploma in Strategic Contract Management. He has worked for Pelambres Mining Company since 1998, and is currently Long Term Planning Senior Engineer in the Planning and Development Management Office. This was one of the most successful conferences that I have experienced since joining Maptek. It exceeded our expectations in both support and the content of users papers. The customer focus group was excellent, allowing us not only to see what we are doing well but also to identify how we could do better. We will continue to improve, and to differentiate ourselves based on the high quality application support we provide to our customers. Marcelo Arancibia		Team bowling social night Conference dinner Maptek staff

Vulcan worldwide (September 2007)

Brockman Solutions, a geology consulting firm in Western Australia, has acquired Vulcan GeoModeller with Geotechnical tools.

Canning Services (Rio Tinto) in Victoria has acquired Vulcan GeoModeller with Geotechnical tools for evaluating the Kintyre uranium project in northwest Western Australia.

CP Mining Management, which is based in Perth, WA, and manages and coordinates the construction and operation of iron ore projects, has purchased a Vulcan Enviewer licence.

Creative Mined Enterprises, which undertakes project consulting specialising in mine optimisation, design and scheduling from its base in Fremantle, WA, has acquired Vulcan on short-term rental.

CVRD, Itabira, has acquired Vulcan GeoStatModeller for use at their operations in Minais Gerais state, Brazil.

Dart Mining, a gold and base-metals exploration and development company based in Melbourne, Victoria, has purchased Vulcan Explorer. Dart will initially focus on prospects in the Lachlan Fold Belt in northeastern Victoria and southeastern New South Wales.

LARCO in Greece has purchased Vulcan GeoStatModeller with Open Pit Mine Design, Vulcan Interactive Road Design, Lersch Grossman Optimisation and Floating Cone Optimisation for their operations.

Leighton Contractors is responsible for bulk excavation and selective coal mining operations at the new Sonoma Coal project, situated in the Bowen Basin, 200 kilometres northwest of Mackay, Queensland. Leighton has purchased Vulcan MineModeller with Surveying, Drill & Blast and Interactive Road Design modules for the project.

MDL Senegal in Tanzania has purchased Vulcan MineModeller with Geology and Haulage Profile tools, as well as Vulcan GeoStatModeller and Survey module for the Sabodala gold project, 650 km from Dakar.

Newcrest Mining Limited in Melbourne has purchased a Vulcan GeoStatModeller licence with Gaussian Simulation and Cokriging for use by the technical group overseeing their Australasian operations.

Applied Geostatistics course (August 2007)

The 6th Citation Program in Applied Geostatistics was held in the Maptek Denver office from July 9 to August 3. The accredited course combined academic knowledge of modern geostatistical tools with industry experience, focusing on mining. The course was attended by a wide range of mining professionals, from those running grade estimations to experienced users who needed a deeper knowledge of the theory and practice of geostatistics.

Instructors were Dr Clayton Deutsch, Professor and Director of the School of Mining and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Alberta, and Eric Gonzalez, Regional Manager for Maptek Mexico and the Caribbean. Dr Deutsch teaches and conducts research in geostatistical methods applied to resource estimation and grade control. Eric is a Mining Engineer who has been using Vulcan software since 1996, specialising in the Geostatistics package. He completed the Geostatistics Citation in 2003.

Applied Geostatistics courses are also conducted by Maptek in Chile and Perth, Australia.

BHP Billiton adopts Vulcan for Olympic Dam expansion (June 2007)

BHP Billiton has adopted Vulcan for the Olympic Dam Expansion project (ODX) in South Australia’s far north. This project will be the largest open pit mining operation in Australia, rivalling BHP Billiton’s giant Escondida copper mine in northern Chile, which also uses Vulcan.
Read more - download case study (pdf 144 KB)

Intensive course in Mining Geostatistics (June 2007)

Maptek South America was pleased to present certificates to students on completion of the 5th Intensive Course in the Application of Mining Geostatistics. The course, which required attendance for four weeks over a two-month period, involved theoretical and practical aspects, with the objective of providing knowledge in the theory and use of modern geostatistical tools, with an emphasis on mining.

This year 19 students came from different companies throughout South America: Alessandro Medeiros Silva, Cecilia Germano Porto, Anderson Goncalves Candido, Paulo de Tarso Ferreira and Fernando Rosa Guimaraes from AngloGold, Brazil; Viviana Scavuzzo, Cerro Vanguardia, Argentina; Jorge Artal, Antofagasta Minerals, Chile; Fernando Saez, Xstrata Tintaya, Perú; Carlos Medrano, Poderosa, Perú; Leonardo Hiram, Serra Grande, Brazil; Emerson Ricardo, Yamana, Brazil; Yuan Tay, Collahuasi, Chile; Jose Bertini, Golder, Chile; Carolina Vasquez, Chile; Antonio Magri, Chile; Fernando Didona, Cerro Colorado, Chile; John Estaño, Xstrata Copper, Perú; Giovanny Ortiz, Angostura Project, Colombia; and Marcelo Tapia, Cerro Colorado, Chile.

Presenters Dr Clayton Deutsch, University of Alberta and Dr Eduardo Magri, University of Chile, with course graduates

Vulcan worldwide (June 2007)

Buhlmann & Associates, a consulting firm located in Flin Flon, Manitoba, has purchased Vulcan for geomodelling applications.

CBH Resources has purchased a Vulcan MineModeller for use in the development of their new Rasp Mine at Broken Hill, NSW.

Energy Resources of Australia has purchased Vulcan GeoStatModeller licences for geological and resource modelling of uranium mineralisation in the Ranger deposit, Northern Territory.

Iluka Resources, Hamilton, Victoria has purchased a prepaid Vulcan MineModeller for mine design of open cut mineral sands operations.

International Enexco has purchased Vulcan for underground design of the Mann Lake Project, a copper mine located in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan.

Jubilee Mines in Western Australia has purchased multiple Vulcan licences for geological modelling and underground mine design for the Cosmos, Sinclair and Perth operations.

Kings Minerals in Brisbane has installed GeoStatModeller licences with Geotechnical tools for modelling and analysis of their sites in Queensland.

La Mancha Resources has purchased Vulcan for geology and mine planning at its Frog’s Leg gold operation west of Kalgoorlie in WA.

Measured Resources in Brisbane, Queensland has purchased a prepaid Vulcan GeoModeller for their new geological consultancy.

MiningOne Pty Ltd based in Victoria, has acquired a long-term Vulcan rental licence for underground mine modelling consultancy work.

Oxiana Limited in Melbourne, Victoria has purchased Vulcan for use in strategic mine design work for Oxiana group operations.

Peabody Pacific will use Vulcan for modelling and mine design in the head office in Brisbane, Queensland. Peabody Pacific’s Wilpinjong Mine in New South Wales is implementing Vulcan for mine design and resource calculations.

Rio Tinto’s Canning Resources has purchased a GeoModeller with Geotechnical tools for evaluation of their Kintyre uranium project in Western Australia.

Roche Mining has purchased a MineModeller licence for daily mine design tasks at the Boggabri coal mine in New South Wales.

Scorpio Mining Corporation has acquired Vulcan for exploration, geological modelling and resource estimation for the Nuestra Senora Project, an underground polymetallic deposit near the town of Cosala in Sinaloa State, Mexico.

View Resources has acquired Vulcan on long-term rental for under-ground design at the revitalisation of the Bronzewing gold mine operations about 400 km north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

Version 7 released (March 2007)

Vulcan Version 7 has been released to clients following a comprehensive development phase and rigorous software testing.

Version 7 includes major enhancements for coal customers and Chronos users. New tools have been added to CAD, Open Pit, Dump Design and Statistics menus. Improvements to existing tools in Survey, Geotech, Pit Layout, Bench & Batters, Progress Maps, Image Registration, Ring Design, Drill & Blast, Grade Control, Pit Optimiser, Grade Shells, Geophysics and Intelligent Objects are supported by a further 1000 smaller enhancements and fixes.

For more information on all of the new features (530KB pdf)

 'Global customer input has been important in establishing this version as the most stable, relevant, easy to use mine planning and geological modelling software on the market.' Steve Uecker, Global Product Manager

Vulcan worldwide (March 2007)

BHP Billiton World Exploration has purchased Vulcan Explorer for evaluating local and international iron ore projects.

Bullion River, French Gulch Mine has purchased Vulcan for survey and mine design on a project in Redding, California.

Cameco Corporation has purchased Vulcan and Enviewer licences for Corporate offices in Saskatoon, as well as Cigar Lake, McArthur River and Rabbit Lake mines. Cameco is the world’s largest uranium producer, supplying 20% of the world’s low-cost uranium. Vulcan will be used extensively for modelling, design and scheduling.

Cape Lambert Iron Ore Ltd is using Vulcan for resource estimation of a large magnetite deposit in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Cemento de El Salvador S.A., CESSA, has bought Vulcan open pit and blast design and sectional resources for the cement plant in Metapan, northeastern El Salvador. Part of the Swiss Holcim Group, CESSA is a leading cement manufacturer and the market leader in El Salvador.

Edward Boulton Pty Ltd, mine planning consultants in Mackay, Queensland, have adopted Vulcan for use in open pit coal operations. Graynic Metals Ltd is implementing Vulcan for geological modelling in their Australia-wide exploration for base metals.

Idemitsu Boggabri Coal has purchased Vulcan for geological modelling and mine design for their central NSW open cut coal operations; and Idemitsu Coal has purchased Vulcan with MultiElement Pit Optimiser and Chronos scheduler for use in their Brisbane long-term planning office.

Millennium Coal has bought Vulcan for open cut design at their new coal operations in central Queensland. Minera Ecuacorriente in Ecuador has acquired Vulcan with Iroads and Haulage Profile for their open pit project.

Minera Florida, an underground gold mine in Alhue near Santiago, has acquired Vulcan for geological and engineering studies. Minera Florida is part of the Meridian Gold group.

Petro-Canada has acquired Vulcan for geological modelling and mine planning at the Fort Hills oil sands mine in Athabasca Oil Sands Basin, northeastern Alberta. The project has an expected life in excess of 40 years.

PT Kalteng Coal has purchased multiple Vulcan licences for a new BHP Billiton coal mine in Indonesia. They will use Vulcan for survey, geological modelling and open cut mine design, and Chronos for reserving.

Queen’s University, located in Kingston, Ontario has purchased an educational licence for use in education and research.

Rio Tinto Minerals, located in Denver, has acquired Vulcan for strategic mine planning work in the Minerals Group.

Stonehenge Metals Ltd has commenced a lease-to-purchase of Vulcan for evaluation of tin, nickel and base metal projects in Tasmania.

TafeSA has incorporated Vulcan into geology courses at the O’Halloran Hill campus, with training and ongoing support from Maptek Adelaide.

Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua has acquired five underground modelling licences for teaching mine engineering students. The University is located in the mining zone of Chihuahua State in the north of Mexico.

Western Mesquite Mine, owned by Western Goldfields, has purchased Vulcan for modelling and design of its open pit mine in Yuma, California.

Maptek Sponsors Computer Lab at South Dakota School of Mines (January 2007)

Maptek has announced that it will be sponsoring a state-of-the-art computer lab and global communications centre at the South Dakota School of Mines Department of Mining Engineering and Management.

The Maptek Advanced Mine Design Centre will begin construction immediately and should be ready for students by the fall of 2007. Additional enhancements will be made over the next three years with expected completion by 2010.

This new centre will enhance the faculty’s ability to promote and teach the technical aspects of the mining industry. Due mainly to South Dakota’s recent enhancement of the curriculum to include mining business and management and the resulting increase in enrollment, students are forced to share computers in a cramped classroom. The new facility will be twice the size and will enable 25 students access to computers. Other features of the new centre include:

• Video conferencing capabilities for distance education and global communications
• Dedicated wall space for both a large plasma screen and blackboard
• A ceiling mounted air projector that is networked to all tablet PCs and desktops
• Ergonomic seating and new equipment furniture
• New flooring and improved lighting
• Air conditioning and updated heating and ventilation

South Dakota’s mining program is the fifth largest in the nation with a current enrollment of 60 students and expected enrollment of 80 students in 2008. This new centre will help the school continue to produce high quality, trained engineers for the mining industry.

Established 25 years ago, Maptek offers a range of cutting edge software and hardware technologies. Vulcan software, a 3D geological modelling system, is currently used for modelling and mine planning at more than 600 sites worldwide. It will also be used as a teaching tool at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

Agincourt Resources is using Vulcan at their newly acquired Martabe Gold Project in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Antofagasta Minerals has acquired Vulcan for exploration, geological modelling and resource estimation. Antofagasta owns Los Pelambres and Michilla y El Tesoro in Chile.

Crow Butte, Power Resources Inc., has purchased Vulcan to model uranium deposits in Nebraska which are amenable to insitu leaching.

Fortescue Metals Group, a new major iron ore operator in the Pilbara region of Western Australia has purchased multiple Vulcan licences with various configurations for geology, grade estimation, mine planning and scheduling. FMG plans to ship their first load of ore to China in 2007.

Geological and Mining Australia Pty Ltd, based in New South Wales, has purchased Vulcan for coal modelling consultancy.

Holcim Ecuador has acquired Vulcan geological modelling and mine design modules for quarry applications.

Macarthur Coal, based in Brisbane, will use Vulcan for design and evaluation of new mine sites in central Queensland.

McManus and Grocott, a consultancy company based in Westport, New Zealand, has acquired Vulcan for use in open cut coal modelling.

Minera Candelaria, a Phelps Dodge site in Chile, has acquired Vulcan and Chronos for open cut mine planning.

Lo Increible Mining Company has acquired Vulcan for exploration activities. This mine is located in Venezuela.

Office Pipi Inc. is our new Vulcan reseller in Chigasaki, near Tokyo. Office Pipi will provide sales, support and training services to the Japanese market.

Peabody Resources Wilkie Creek Mine, near Dalby in southern Queensland, has acquired Vulcan for mine modelling. The mine produces steaming coal for export.

PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals is using Vulcan for geology and grade estimation at their Gosowong Gold Mine on Halmahera Island, Indonesia.

Punch Consulting, based in Bunbury, Western Australia, is using Vulcan for consulting work on various commodities including coal and mineral sands.

Initial Vulcan training at St Ann (left to right) Bryan Murray, Paul Porter, Guy Bourque, Eric Gonzalez (Maptek) and Tina-Shea Myrie

Vulcan sales (September 2006)

Australian Solomon Gold, which operates the Gold Ridge Mine in the Solomon Islands, has purchased a prepaid GeoModeller for modelling the deposit.

Barrick Goldstrike has purchased Vulcan for the Storm Project, a new mine development adjacent to the Meikle-Rodeo site in Carlin, Nevada. The project is an underground gold deposit where Vulcan will be used for geological modelling, geotechnical mapping and analysis, underground mine design and survey.

Cascade Coal Pty Ltd has purchased a prepaid MineModeller for their Westport mine on New Zealand’s South Island. Vulcan will be used for short-term mine design and to develop both medium and long-term plans.

Century Mining has purchased Vulcan for mining project feasibility studies as well as for production geology, grade control, open pit blast and mine design and scheduling for the Sigma Mine in Val d’Or, Quebec, Canada.

Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. (Vancouver Office) has purchased Vulcan for project engineering and planning for the Diavik underground mine in the Canadian North West Territories.

Exploraciones Mineras Parreña, part of the Servicios Industriales Peñoles group, has purchased Vulcan GeostatsModeller for the exploration office in Chihuahua, northern Mexico.

Extrativa Mineração e Indústria has purchased Vulcan for geological modelling, optimisation and mine planning for their underground and open pit reserves at many sites in Brazil.

Golding Contractors has purchased Vulcan for use at the new Kogan Creek Mine 20 km southeast of Chinchilla on the Darling Downs in Queensland. Golding is the mine operator for the project, which will provide coal to the Kogan Creek Power Station when it begins operation in 2007. The deposit consists of multiple thin seams. Vulcan is currently being used on site for short-term planning and design.

Holcim (Costa Rica) SA, part of Holcim Ltd which is among the world’s largest cement producers, has acquired Vulcan GeoModeller with Open Pit Design for their operations in Costa Rica.

International Uranium (USA) Corporation is engaged in uranium exploration and production. Located in Denver, the company has purchased Vulcan for geological modelling and mine design.

Power Resources Inc. (PRI), owned and operated by Cameco Corporation, has purchased Vulcan for the head office in Lakewood, Colorado. PRI will use the software for geophysical analysis, geologic modelling and reserve estimation for the insitu U3O8 leaching operations in Wyoming and Nebraska.

Terrane Metals Corporation, a Canadian mineral exploration and development company, will use Vulcan for geological modelling and exploration. The company
is located in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Vulcan Worldwide (June 2006)

Century Mining Corporation, located in Blaine, Washington, has acquired Vulcan for use at its head office and Sigma-Lamaque Mining Complex in Val d’Or, Quebec. Vulcan will be used for geological modelling and mine design of the operating open pit gold mine and future underground extension.

Curnamona Energy has purchased a Vulcan Explorer for management of drilling data and modelling of 3D sub-surface stratigraphies in the search for palaeochannel uranium in the Curnamona region of South Australia.

Galway Resources Ltd has purchased a timed licence for geological modelling and estimation, as well as Vulcan Enviewer for modelling reviews and presentations. Galway, located in Elko, Nevada, will use Vulcan at its Indian Springs Tungsten deposit in northeastern Nevada.

MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates Ltd, based in Richmond, British Columbia, has purchased Vulcan for underground video scanning, texture mapping and 3D modelling of mining faces. Vulcan will be used for ore control and geotechnical mapping as well as producing triangulations with ireg textures. The project is sponsored by Anglo American Base Metals.

Mining Engineering Consultants Pty Ltd, a consultancy formed in 2005 to specialise in open cut coal mining, has purchased Vulcan’s MineModeller for use at the Millennium Mine. MEC is assisting clients in Queensland’s Bowen Basin with design and optimisation of new and existing mines.

Oxiana’s Prominent Hill Gawler Craton copper-gold project in the far north of South Australia has acquired Vulcan MineModeller to coordinate the collection and presentation of all geological and mine planning data.

Pike River Coal Company has purchased Vulcan GeoModeller for the new Pike River underground coal operation located on New Zealand’s South Island. Vulcan will be used to build stratigraphic and quality models of the high quality coking coals.

Poitrel Mine is a new truck and shovel open cut mine west of Mackay, Queensland, operated by BMA on behalf of owner BHP Mitsui Coal. Vulcan is used for the entire mine planning sequence by BMA and Leighton Contracting, from geology through long to short term planning. BMA will trial Vulcan’s block and new reverse fault modelling functionality to improve accuracy of resource definition and scheduling for the heavily faulted deposit.

PT Inco open cut nickel laterite mine on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, has implemented Vulcan’s Chronos scheduling module. Chronos optimisation will be used by the long term planning department for this complex operation with at least 60 mining areas and critical blending considerations. PT Inco also purchased Pit Optimiser and Haulage Profile licences.

Western Areas NL has acquired Vulcan for geological modelling for feasibility studies for the Forrestania Nickel Project, 400 km east of Perth, Western Australia.

Vulcan Worldwide (March 2006)

Andina (Codelco) has acquired Vulcan as well as Gaussian Simulation upgrades. Andina is a copper mine incorporating both open pit and underground operations.

BHP Billiton has acquired 10 Vulcan software licences for mine planning at the Escondida open pit copper mine located in the north of Chile.

BHP Billiton has acquired an initial five Vulcan software licences and three months consultancy services for the Olympic Dam Expansion project based in South Australia’s far north. Vulcan will be used by the project feasibility team for geotechnical investigations and ore resource modelling.

BHP Billiton Nickel West has purchased two Vulcan licences for geotechnical and structural modelling at the Mt Keith mine in Western Australia.

Bullion River Gold has purchased Vulcan for exploration, geological modelling and resource estimation at its French Gulch project in California.

Geothermal Explorers Ltd of Switzerland has purchased a Vulcan Explorer licence to help model the geological structures for a proposed Enhanced Geothermal System development in northern Switzerland.

Hellman and Schofield Pty Ltd, a consultancy firm, has acquired Vulcan Geomodeller for their WA office in Perth.

Los Pelambres (Antofagasta Minerals) has acquired Vulcan plus the Vulcan Pit Optimiser Multiple Element module for life of mine planning for the copper operations.

Northgate Minerals purchased Vulcan for exploration, geological modelling and resource estimation activities on various prospects throughout Canada. It will be used in Northgate’s Vancouver, BC office.

NRG Flinders in South Australia has purchased the Vulcan Pit Optimiser module for life of mine planning for their thermal coal operations. Maptek consultancy work led to use of the optimiser for positioning maximum highwall extents of the three terrace mining operations.

Pincock Allen & Holt has purchased Vulcan for their consulting business in Lakewood, Colorado. They will use the software for modelling and mine planning.

PT Borneo Prima, owner of a central Kalimantan (Indonesia) coal exploration licence that contains coking coal, has purchased Vulcan to help locate and identify coal deposits and to allow rapid evaluation of the prospectivity of an area. BP is using Vulcan to model geology and subsurface hydrology and to assist in eventual mine planning and quality control.

Rio Doce is a wholly owned subsidiary of CVRD engaged in coal and mineral project development in Australia and Asia. Vulcan software will be used on their coal projects.

Robolistic Ltda has acquired Vulcan for exploration, geological modelling and resource estimation in Antofagasta, Chile.

Sacre-Coeur Minerals, Ltd, Vancouver, BC, has purchased Vulcan for pre-feasibility work on their opencut gold deposit in Guyana. They will also use Vulcan for exploration and modelling of a project in Madagascar. They will use the software to model for resource and reserve evaluation.

Servicios Industriales Peñoles SA de CV has bought Vulcan for the exploration department in Torreón city, Coahuila State, Mexico. Peñoles is the world’s largest producer of refined silver, metallic bismuth and sodium sulphate, and Latin American leader in refined gold, lead and zinc production.

Southwestern Resources, of Vancouver, BC, will use Vulcan for geological modelling and resource estimation of their worldwide mineral deposits.

Thiess Ltd has selected Vulcan for use in the new Wilpinjong coal operation under construction in New South Wales.

Wellfield Services Ltda has acquired Vulcan plus the Geotechnical module and Downhole Televiewer for their consulting business in Chile, to be applied to modelling and geotechnical work.

Xenith Consulting, a new mining consultancy in Brisbane, Queensland, has acquired Vulcan for assessing deposits. Xenith has open cut mining expertise including modelling, life of mine plans, equipment selection and performance, and a highly regarded reputation for dragline projects.

Young-Davidson Mines, Ltd purchased Vulcan for use at its project in north-western Ontario. They will use the software for exploration, geological modelling and resource estimation at their Toronto office.

.

Vulcan Worldwide (December 2005)

Eti Soda, a subsidiary of Park Teknik, which operates an underground coal mine and power plant in Çayirhan, Turkey, has purchased Vulcan Geomodeller and Open Cut Design for development projects.

Mines Management Inc. of Spokane, Washington has purchased Vulcan for resource/reserve estimation, mine planning optimisation and geological evaluation of the Montanore Project and future projects.

NovaGold Resources Inc. has purchased Vulcan for exploration and resource modelling. NovaGold is located in Vancouver, British Columbia.

RDCIM Ltd, Noumea, New Caledonia, a consulting firm to nickel operations in the region, has purchased Vulcan for projects including pits, stockpiles, roads and water management facilities.

Resolution Copper Mining LLC, based in Superior, Arizona, has purchased Vulcan for exploration. If evaluation and feasibility studies are successful, underground production should begin in the next decade.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore Atlantic Ltd has purchased two Vulcan Geomodeller licences for its iron ore project in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa.

Thiess Pty Ltd, with about 40 Vulcan licences throughout Australasia, has purchased the Chronos Reserver module. Mining engineers can take advantage of its advanced reporting tools, user-friendliness, and power through a direct spreadsheet interface to Envisage design objects and triangulations. The Chronos Reserver will be used in most of Thiess’ long-term projects, as well as tender work requiring reserve calculations.

Planning tools (December 2005)

Maptek Chile recently implemented tools and procedures for short term planning at the Cerro Colorado mine. They updated their data administration methods to improve time management and data quality.

A system was developed to use a tablet PC for direct database entry and validation of geological mapping data in the field. The Horus system was implemented for field entry of the depths of blastholes via a PDA which can also be used to log drillhole geological data.

Various Lava scripts were developed to assist in the interaction of these applications with Vulcan, as well as to implement tasks associated with grade control via the block model. These include: assigning geological units from the blasthole database to the short term block model; tools to edit the blocks; options to run various estimations; and tools to backup and restore block values by blast.

Vulcan Worldwide (September 2005)

Australian Gold Mines has purchased Vulcan for geological and mine modelling at an underground gold mine near Omeo, 400 km northeast of Melbourne, Victoria.

Cement Australia Holdings Pty Ltd has purchased Vulcan for geological and mine modelling. Ordovician limestone is mined in quarries adjacent to the cement manufacturing plant at Railton, south of Devonport on Tasmania’s northwest coast.

Copper Resources Corporation (Hinoba Holdings) has bought Vulcan for pre-mine feasibility studies on the Hinoba-an Copper Project in the Philippines.

Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., a subsidiary of Rio Tinto plc, has purchased 8 Vulcan licences for open cut modelling and mine design, as well as Chronos for scheduling. Diavik Mine is located on the 20 sq km East Island, in Lac de Gras, 300 km northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and will employ both open cut and underground mining methods.

Endeavour Silver Corporation, Vancouver Head Office has purchased Vulcan. One licence will be used in exploration and another will be used at Endeavour’s gold-silver mine near Durango in Mexico.

Eurasian Minerals Inc. has purchased a timed Vulcan licence for resource analysis in their Littleton, Colorado office.

Fortescue Metals Group Limited has acquired Vulcan via long-term rental to assist in geological modelling and mine design. FMG is evaluating iron ore reserves in the Chichester Ranges in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Grupo Minetti, part of the Holcim Group, has purchased Vulcan for geological modelling. Minetti SA, based in Córdoba, Argentina, operates four cement plants with an annual production of 4.1 million tonnes.

Lisbon Valley Mining Co. LLC has purchased Vulcan for final feasibility and mine start-up of a planned copper-gold open cut mine in La Sal, Utah.

Mine Support Services, located in Brisbane, Queensland has purchased Vulcan for consulting projects.

Northgate Minerals in Vancouver has rented Vulcan for its Kemess Mine in Smithers, British Columbia.

Optimal Mining Solutions has purchased Vulcan for consulting projects from its office in Brisbane, Queensland.

Practical Mining LLC, a consulting business in Spring Creek, Nevada, has rented Vulcan for underground mine planning.

Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) has acquired a long-term Vulcan rental licence for geotechnical work in its Perth office.

Tanami Gold NL has acquired a long-term rental of Vulcan to assist with resource modelling and exploration in the Tanami Region of the Northern Territory, Australia.

Terramin Australia Limited has purchased Vulcan for modelling the Angas zinc project near Strathalbyn, 60 km southeast of Adelaide, South Australia.

The University of Alberta, in Edmonton, has purchased an educational Vulcan licence for research and undergraduate use in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Winstone Quarries has purchased Vulcan for mine modelling at its quarry operations in Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

Xstrata Coal has purchased Vulcan for modelling at the open cut Westside Mine near Newcastle, New South Wales. Westside has an annual output of 800 kt.

Zostrich Geotechnical in Washington State has purchased a timed Vulcan licence for geological modelling and geotechnical work.

New Mexico office (September 2005)

Maptek México y el Caribe
Av. Tulum 269 Oficina 9 SM 15-A
Cancún - Quintana Roo
México - CP 77500

MineSuite training (September 2005)

MineSuite training covers five modules, including topics such as data entry, reporting and hardware maintenance. Courses can be conducted in our office (Newcastle or Brisbane) or on site.

Mini modules covering data entry, data management and planning, and reporting can also be run on site for a minimum of two people.

Contact support@minesuite.com or visit www.minesuite.com/training.html for course outlines.

Vulcan Worldwide (June 2005)

Bilfer Madencilik AS has purchased Vulcan for orebody modelling, reserve estimation and production planning at their large open pit iron ore operations in Turkey. They also own chromite ore operations.

CVRD, Minas Oeste has purchased Vulcan for drillhole database, advanced geological modelling and geostatistics at their open pit iron ore operations.

CVRD, CDM has purchased Vulcan for drillhole database, geological and mine planning applications. CDM is the mineral development centre for resources and reserves evaluation, conceptual and pre-feasibility studies.

Equinox Minerals in Perth will rent Vulcan for mine design and resource
evaluation for their Lumwana copper-cobalt project in northwest Zambia.

Luzenac Australia will rent Vulcan for mine design at their talc operation at Three Springs, Western Australia.

Minera Mantos de la Luna, an open pit copper mine operating since August 2004, has bought Vulcan for engineering and geology tasks. The mine is located in the Río Loa Valley near Tocopilla, Chile

Vulcan Training at BHPBio (March 2005)

Due to the upsurge in demand from China for iron ore from BHP Billiton’s Pilbara operations, BHP Billiton Iron Ore has significantly expanded its Resource Development Group. Skilled 3D computer modelling is required to accurately estimate tonnage and geochemical constraints in iron ore, particularly for companies aiming for ‘world’s best practice’ and to meet JORC requirements.

With this in mind, Maptek’s Perth Technical Services Team set up customised Vulcan courses using BHPBIO datasets. The newly recruited reserve definition geologists were trained to produce standardised, timely, quality geological models.

This training was designed to meet BHPBIO business requirements. The four-day program covered basic Vulcan tools and led to staff building competent wireframing using their own datasets. This experience provided them with a strong foundation to convert their geological ideas, developed on hard copy plans and sections, into computerised 3D models.

The interactive 3D visual nature of Vulcan has enabled BHPBIO to raise the quality of models produced.

Vulcan Worldwide (March 2005)

Apollo Gold has leased two Vulcan licences for its Black Fox Project, an underground gold mine near Timmins, Ontario. Apollo Gold will use Vulcan for geological exploration, modelling and conceptual mine design for the project, which is in the feasibility stage.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) state office in Arizona has purchased Vulcan for resource production verification and mineral lease applications for BLM properties in Arizona.

Noranda is engaged in all aspects of copper production and marketing, including exploration, mining, smelting and refining. The South American copper business includes the Antamina copper-zinc mine in Peru and the Altonorte smelter in Chile. Other copper assets are Falconbridge’s Collahuasi and Lomas Bayas Mines in Chile. Noranda has purchased Vulcan to evaluate current and future prospects.

Specialty Minerals Inc. (SMI) has purchased Vulcan for its limestone quarry in Lucerne Valley, California. Vulcan and Chronos will be used to schedule and blend high and low grade ore for processing into 55 different products.

Maptek to supply MineMAX iGantt (December 2004)

Maptek is expanding its distributorship of MineMAX products. This follows on from Maptek’s success in delivering effective scheduling solutions to the North American mining market.

In 2005, Maptek will supply the MineMAX iGantt production scheduling system throughout the Americas, Africa and Asia-Pacific. iGantt enables open pit and underground operations to carry out activity-based or resource-based scheduling of production activities with an easy-to-use, interactive Gantt chart.

iGantt integrates with Vulcan software through a dedicated module developed by Maptek to facilitate ease of use by production scheduling staff.

New Vulcan Users (December 2004)

Cargill Deicing Technologies has bought Vulcan for the Avery Island Mine in Louisiana, US. Cargill will use Vulcan for geological modelling, flow hole database, structural modelling, mine modelling and visualisation of the underground salt mine.

Dundee Precious Metals Inc., head-quartered in Toronto, Canada, has purchased Vulcan to evaluate current and future prospects within the Dundee Precious Metals Group.

Heron Resources Limited has purchased Vulcan for resource and prospect evaluation across their nickel leaseholds in the Kalgoorlie region, Western Australia. The Kalgoorlie Nickel Project is a potentially world-class nickel laterite deposit located within the Kalgoorlie Goldfields.

Maricunga Mining Company (50% Bema and 50% Kinross Gold Corporation) owns the Refugio open pit gold mine 100 km east of Copiapo in northern Chile. Maricunga has purchased Vulcan, Chronos Scheduler and the Lerchs&Grosman Optimizer for mine planning and geology at Refugio mine, which is operated by Kinross.

Placer Dome’s Denver office has purchased a Vulcan licence for modelling and design of various open cut projects.

Portman Limited has purchased Vulcan for modelling the iron ore deposit at Koolyanobbing in Western Australia. Portman supplies iron ore to the Chinese and Japanese markets.

Queensland Geological Services, long associated with the Queensland coal mining and exploration industry, has acquired Vulcan to service their expansion into mining engineering projects.

Specialty Minerals, Inc. (SMI) has rented Vulcan and Chronos for open pit quarries in California and Nevada. SMI is a leading worldwide producer and supplier of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), a synthetic material that enhances paper quality and reduces manufacturing costs. The Lucerne Valley Operation in California mines and processes high quality limestone.

Vulcan Worldwide (September 2004)

BHP Billiton’s EKATI Diamond Mine has purchased 16 Vulcan licences for its operations in the Northwest Territories, Canada. EKATI is BHP Billiton’s only diamond mine, producing nearly 4% of current world diamond production by weight and 6% by value. EKATI will use Vulcan for geological modelling, geotechnical analysis, underground and open cut mine design, blast design, survey and scheduling.

Bilfer Madencilik AS in Ankara, Turkey, is renting Vulcan Explorer with the option to purchase. Bilfer Madencilik will use Vulcan at its iron ore mine.

Canamera Geoscience has purchased Vulcan for exploration, geological modelling and resource estimation. Canamera, located in Calgary, Alberta, will use Vulcan for visual presentation of mineral deposits to prospective mining industry investors.

CF Industries Inc. purchased two Vulcan licences for its open pit phosphate operation in Wachula, Florida. CF Industries will use Vulcan for all aspects of mine planning, from exploration, geological modelling and mine design to schedule optimisation with Chronos.

Gabriel Resources, a Canadian-based precious metals exploration and development company, has purchased Vulcan for mine modelling and design at its Rosia Montana open pit gold operation in central-west Romania.

Kinam Magadan Gold Corporation, a subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corporation, has acquired Vulcan for mine modelling and design at its underground Kubaka Mine. The former open pit mine, located in the Magadan Oblast in far eastern Russia, began underground operations this year.

MB Mining, a consultancy company based in Mackay, has purchased Vulcan for projects in central Queensland.

Minera Falconbridge Lomas Bayas, a porphyry copper deposit situated in the Atacama desert at an altitude of 1500 m, about 120 km from the Chile port of Antofogasta, has purchased Vulcan for survey, geology, grade estimation, mine design and mine planning, as well as Chronos for short and long-term scheduling.

South Gold Exploration, based in South Africa, has purchased Vulcan for use in exploration.

Vulcan Version 5 (June 2004)

Vulcan Version 5 was released to all Maptek clients worldwide on Friday June 25. This release is the culmination of 12 months of intensive R&D, building on the strengths of Vulcan's robust underlying architecture.

"The exciting new functionality in Vulcan Version 5 is the result of Maptek's ongoing commitment to ensuring that software development reflects the needs of our client base. The formalisation of the 'Project Leader' system which utilises our global technical services team has allowed us to further refine this link between client and developer.

This philosophy permeates Vulcan development from the smallest CAD enhancement to our major long-term R&D projects.

With QA for Version 5 under control, Maptek is already setting priorities for the next round of developments destined for future software releases."

Peter Odins, Steve Uecker
Global Product Managers - Vulcan Software

New Vulcan Users (June 2004)

Antofagasta Minerals, among the 10 great copper producers of the world has bought four Vulcan licences for developing projects in Chile and Peru and to share mining information within the group.

Barrick Tanzania (Kahama Mining Corporation Ltd) has purchased Vulcan for their new Tulawaka gold operation, in the Lake Victoria gold belt, 160 km south-west of the port city of Mwanza.

Cazaly Resources, with tenements in the Kalgoorlie region of Western Australia, will use Vulcan for geological modelling.

Chelopech Mining AD has purchased a Vulcan licence for the Chelopech underground gold/copper mine in Central Bulgaria, to assist with advanced geological modelling and geotechnical analysis.

CTT, a subsidiary of the Managem-ONA group in Morocco, has purchased Vulcan for its Bou Azzer mine, 120 km south of Ouarzazate in the Anti-Atlas Mountains.

Hancock Prospecting, which is exploring iron ore prospects in the Pilbara region of WA, has purchased Vulcan for geological modelling and advanced statistics.

Kurudere Madencilik AS, in Ankara, has acquired Vulcan for ongoing exploration and evaluation of gold deposits in Turkey.

McIntosh Engineering, a mining consulting company, recently purchased multiple Vulcan licences for their Tempe, Arizona office. McIntosh will use Vulcan for modelling and underground mine planning.

The Marston Consulting Company, in St Louis, Missouri, is renting Vulcan for modelling complex coal seam geology. Marston is a geological and environmental services company.

Nustar Mining, which is developing a significant gold mine in the Pilbara, is leasing Vulcan for geological modelling, mine planning and design.