ViMINE: UNSW’S innovative mine planning

If you’re a UNSW Mining Engineering student, ViMINE enables you to experience various aspects of a mining operation by integrating several types of simulation into one environment. In scenario-based learning activities, you can access information from multiple simulations and make decisions throughout the whole life of a simulated mine.  

This platform takes you from initial exploration to final site rehabilitation and evaluates their effectiveness for building systems thinking skills. Essentially, you’ll have access to a fully "operational" mine to experiment with. 

 The aims of using ViMINE are to: 

• Give you access to authentic experiential learning in which you can place technical decision-making in a socio-economic and environmental context
• Develop ViMINE as an integrated simulation environment that combines use of technical, environmental and socio-economic simulation tools
• Establish effective designs for learning activities in mining engineering with a view to developing these further in mining engineering and in other engineering disciplines

Specific educational objectives of the ViMINE are: 

• To develop an authentic 4D experience for students to build their understanding of complex mining operations throughout a mine life cycle
• To provide a framework to allow students to build a simulation model of an authentic mining operation
• To give you experience of the consequences of their technical decisions using different simulation scenario
• To allow you to learn from mistakes in virtual environments without causing any loss of life and damage to property
• To engage you as a more active and powerful participant in the learning process

ViMINE has the capability to be used at different levels of sophistication for study to give you an overall picture of various mining activities and processes. Both the facility and the learning designs could also be easily adapted for other engineering disciplines where multiple simulation tools are already available. 

ViMINE allows you to carry out several mine design projects where they link separate mine planning and design simulation software packages, as part of one simulation exercise – i.e. the results from one simulation tool will flow through to another. Currently there are two modules that have been developed in the first stage of ViMine 1 – ViMine 1A: Introduction to Mining Methods and ViMine 1B: Mining Method Selection. 

Get in touch 

ViMINE is currently offered to individuals free of charge for academic uses and  personal research  upon request. We hope this offering will provide feedback to both improve the software and develop new functionality as such your feedback is integral to our future. Should you wish to implement the software on a wider scale or for commercial purposes,  

UNSW’s technology transfer office NewSouth Innovations would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact us for more details and to arrange a discussion with NewSouth Innovations. We  welcome any feedback and comments regarding ViMINE on the web.  

To use these modules, please complete the end user licence agreement for ViMINE 1A or ViMINE 1B. 

 For more information, contact Professor Serkan Saydam.