GE Intelligent Platforms has partnered with RKA Consulting to provide Proficy Plant Applications at Pilanesberg Platinum Mine, a project that has improved efficiency and productivity for the mining company.

Three of four phases of integrating the Proficy Plant Applications modular solution into the existing Proficy iFIX HMI/SCADA system have been completed over the past 18 months, bringing measurable improvements to production processes and lowering machine downtime without any loss of data or production during the installation of the software.

“The supply chain of heavy equipment in the crushing and milling process is crucial for the mine, and we monitor the process plant and the equipment in it,” says Johnny Teixeira, regional manager, Mining and Metals, at GE Intelligent Platforms. “We have given managers and engineers visibility into the process. They can see how each piece of equipment is performing and whether it meets yield targets.

“In addition, they can see whether a machine is losing time, when a machine is failing and why it is failing,” Teixeira continues. “The software looks at yields in real time, giving managers immediate monitoring of the yields of different ore blocks, thereby enabling quicker decision making to maintain production levels.”

Pilanesberg Platinum Mine (PPM) comprises a single open-cast mine with its own crushing and milling facilities. It has a monthly processing capacity of 417 000 tonnes through its concentrator, as well as a monthly milling capacity of 285 000 tonnes. The mine is in the western limb of the Bushveld Complex in North West Province in South Africa, an area that accounts for about 75% of the world’s platinum production.

Proficy Plant Applications automates and integrates information-related activities for managing production execution and performance optimisation, helping businesses to balance the trade-offs across the many competing priorities of production operations.

It provides a potent manufacturing execution (MES) and manufacturing intelligence environment for tracking and optimising operating efficiency, energy and resource consumption, product and process quality, environmental and product safety compliance, schedule execution, WIP inventory tracking, and genealogy / traceability.

GE Intelligent Platforms provides solutions for the mining industry that maximise throughput with greater process consistency and repeatability with proven solutions designed for performance optimisation. The Proficy Plant
Applications solution is suitable for any mine or large-scale production process.