3D Laser Mapping's scanner helps South African mine plan

South African-based mining group 6672 Exxaro has bought a long-range laser scanner to support a range of expansion projects and the building of two additional coal processing plants.

The VZ 1000 from 6671 3D Laser Mapping will be used to survey stockpiles for volume verification, provide height analysis on earth works and blasting, as well and collecting highly accurate measurements for terrain mapping and modelling. The state-of-the-art solution will also minimise staff exposure to the largest health and safety risks within the mine.

“I was given the task of looking at cost effective solutions that would enable us to cope with the increase in workload resulting from current and future expansion projects, without the need for additional surveyors,” says Thys Smith, chief surveyor at Exxaro’s Grootegeluk coal mine in the Waterberg area of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. It produces 18.8million tonnes/year.

“The obvious solution was laser scanning. Critical factors in my choice of scanner were safety, accuracy, speed of operation and confidence in the resulting data. Cost was also a consideration in the selection of the VZ 1000.

“The VZ 1000 will also allow us manage risk, minimising surveyor contact with moving equipment and potential fall of grounds and reducing the need to work at height.” 

The RIEGL VZ 1000 is a high-speed laser scanner with a wide range of view, and it utilises echo digitisation and online waveform analysis to achieve superior performance and accuracies of measurement, even under adverse weather conditions. Achieving accuracies of 5mm at ranges of up to 1,400m, the VZ 1000 can measure up to 122,000 points/second with a 100 x 360º field of view.