High speed laser scanner for one of the world's deepest gold mines

3D Laser Mapping's scanner will be used for high speed, high accuracy, non-contact laser data acquisition, set to determine off-line and grade mining at Mponeng, where depths are currently more than 3 kilometres below surface.

The high speed laser scanner will help improve operational efficiencies and reduce the risk to personnel working in the active mine, as Anglogold Ashanti are also hoping to use the scanner to monitor workings for signs of deformation; a common phenomenon as rocks at these depths are under enormous pressure. The company currently undertakes visual inspections. Using the scanner they would now be able to capture highly accurate and repeatable measurements, at regular intervals, in order to identify deformations at the earliest opportunity.

The operation extracts the Ventersdorp Contact Reef (VCR) at depths between 2,400 metres and 3,900 metres, through sequential-grid mining producing more than 500,000 ounces of gold a year, MineWeb reports.

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