Until engaging Metallurgical Systems, this site was carrying a large inventory of chunks and reverts in order to smooth over production shortages. However, the tracking of this material was rudimentary at best. The site was also using overly manual analytics processes and relied on a large and complex network of Excel reports. As such, locating the original source of a specific data point was near-impossible as there was no transparency in the data. Analysing the data itself and identifying potential issues in the plant was very challenging.
The site engaged Metallurgical Systems to implement MI Core® and to develop a digital twin, dynamic simulation model that could account for the production, inventory and consumption of chunks and reverts. This dynamic model calculates all inventories and streams daily, and they are reported on at an hourly granularity. This digital twin is now a very reliable, single source of truth.
Through the digital twin’s dynamic mass balance, MI Core® can calculate how much copper should report to the chunks or reverts inventory. The site’s recovery calculations are now far more accurate as they are no longer largely impacted by the estimated amount of material stored in chunks and reverts inventories. Due to the ease of accessing data used in reporting, it’s now significantly easier for operators to investigate and address issues within the plant.