Exploring and planning for a new mine generates enormous amounts of data—geology, drill hole information, infrastructure plans, social and environmental baselines, and much more. Normally, that data exists mostly on paper and spreadsheets until actual development begins. But now, we’re using virtual reality to build entire operations and travel through every stage of the mine life without even leaving the office.
Teck has partnered with Vancouver technology company LlamaZOO to create “virtual twins” for mine planning and community engagement for our projects. The immersive virtual reality experience brings people to the site without having to travel there and allows them to see aspects of the proposed mine that you couldn’t otherwise see.
During a virtual tour, users can fly over the site to view orebodies in the ground with different minerals highlighted, the infrastructure required and the scale of it, and the weather and topography of the mine site and surrounding area. Users can also advance through the different phases of mine development during the virtual tour, including the post-closure and reclamation landscape. And the orebody itself—hidden deep underground—can be fully viewed in three dimensions.
Virtual reality is helping our stakeholders better understand proposed projects and the associated reclamation and mitigation measures. It’s also helping to enhance mine planning, from productivity to environmental measures, and support reclamation planning.
