SightPower Inc has announced the awarding of C$612,000 funding from Canada’s Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA) for the development of an automated mine shaft inspection AI-based system for the global mining industry.
A National Network of Innovation for Mining, MICA is designed to bridge the innovation-commercialisation gaps that delay commercial success, domestically and globally. MICA leverages public and private sector investments to benefit the mining sector, both domestic and global, and the Canadian economy by investing in and advancing made-in-Canada solutions and integrating cross-sector innovators nationally; plus fostering networking opportunities and intersectoral collaboration to generate synergies and help increase the number, scale, and market reach of Canadian SMEs.
SightPower says it offers stakeholders holistic technology for the digital transformation of a mining enterprise with seamless integration of mining data. Sight Power’s Digital Mine™ platform is data agnostic and works across formats of any data type. This flexibility supports the connection with legacy products, compliance with workflows, data exchange with monitoring and fleet management systems, and the incorporation into ERP systems.
The technology allows for the creation of a digital twin of a mine site, generating a dynamic tool for mine operators to manage their operations. The result is more effective mine design, planning, resource management, mineshaft operations for underground mines, and optimal mine-to-mill solutions.
The statement said: “Mine shafts are the lifeline of underground mines, and miners depend on safe uninterrupted and efficient flow of material. All shaft constructive elements must always be kept in good working conditions for safe and uninterrupted functionality of an underground mine. To prevent any potential accident and to maintain the continuous hoisting operations, every mine shaft must be stopped for 4-12 hours per week undergoing a visual inspection which is ineffective, unreliable, and puts the inspection team in an unsafe environment. The project supported by MICA and undertaken by SightPower will bring to industry a unique technological solution for mineshaft inspection.”
Instead of unreliable and potentially unsafe visual inspections, SightPower is developing an innovative hardware-software technology that will enable the automation of mine shaft inspection. Data collected by the hardware device, consisting of a laser-scanner and high-resolution camera, will be fed into SightPower’s digital mine platform. The result will be a digital twin of the mine shaft.
The AI driven, automated shaft monitoring system offers significantly better accuracy and reliability than what can be achieved by an inspection done by a person. This lowers the probability of accidents thus improving safety and efficiency of mining operations, and provides almost continuous shaft availability, bringing a significant financial gain by increased operational time and production.
“We are very encouraged to support SightPower’s Automated Mine Shaft Inspection technology which may significantly improve operational capabilities and increase safety of underground mining operations,” said Chamirai Nyabeze, Network Director at MICA.
“MICA support creates the unique opportunity to combine nowadays data collection capabilities with a concept and the technology of digital twinning and AI-based data analysis. This combination for mineshaft operational support is a revolutionary step for the whole industry,” said Borys Vorobyov, CEO at SightPower. “We are delighted to team with MICA and MICA members to make this technology available for any underground mine in and outside Canada.”
