The long-range, high-speed scanner employs a unique echo digitisation and online waveform analysis for accurate measurements.
Exxaro will initially, deploy the RIEGL VZ 1000 at the Grootegeluk Mine, in the Limpopo Province, South Africa, covering a mining right area of 6,500ha with pit size of 820ha.
Exxaro’s Grootegeluk coal mine chief surveyor Thys Smith said that the company plans to increase output without additional surveyors for present as well as future expansion projects.
"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," Smith added.
"The VZ 1000 gives us the necessary range and distance on the coal face combined with the accuracy of data we require. The results can be integrated with our current software and solutions already in place in other areas of the business."
3D Laser Mapping’s solution is designed to minimize risks to workers in the open pit mine, which produces 18.8Mtpa of final coal products.
