Roy Hill
“The reason why the technologies are essential is because machine learning, AI, VR, Augmented Reality, the Digital Twin is what enables our people to focus on more value-added work rather than repetitive work.”
– Christine Eriksen;
Program Director, Automation
Goals
- Build a greenfield iron ore mine and mine process plant based on modern control room automation principles.
- Establish end-to-end visibility of the entire mining value chain from pit to port.
- Create an organizational culture free from bureaucracy.
- Meet mining capacity of 55 million tons per annum.
Challenges
- Avoid the organizational silos that many leading mining companies have evolved from.
- Realize resource-to-market potential by avoiding hidden inefficiencies.
- Connect, automate, and control each component of the pit-to-port mining site from a control center located 1,300 km away from operations.
Results
- Established an ROC (Remote Operations Center) that centralizes all roles and functions linking mining operations.
- Creating a fully integrated, greenfield mine-to-port operation that’s controlled remotely.
- Managing an ore reserve of 2.3 billion tons.
- Mining approximately 1 million tons/day.
- Feeding approximately 73 million tons per year into crushing facilities.
- Streamlining processes by facilitating collaboration among different functions, and creating a high performance team connected by a digitized process.
- Optimizes resource-to-market opportunities with real-time execution.
Real-Time Value Chain Optimization from Pit to Port
Perth, Australia Located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Roy Hill is a fully integrated 55 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) iron ore operation that includes a greenfield iron ore mine, process plant, heavy haul railway system from mine-to-port, new port facilities and a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Perth. The Roy Hill deposit has more than 2.4 billion tonnes of proven iron ore resource. At full capacity, Roy Hill will be mining almost 350Mtpa total movement, requiring 14 mining fleets.
Navigating the Pitfalls of a Volatile Industry
Over the past three years, there has been little to celebrate in the mining industry. Varying demand for commodities, unstable commodity prices, corporate restructuring, and reductions in CAPEX spending have been featured in countless headlines over this period of time. With the help of its ecosystem partners, including AVEVA, Roy Hill is changing that narrative.
Avoiding the Fragmentation of Organisational Silos
“As a ground up development, Roy Hill had the ability to recruit their own people, establish their own culture, and define their own operating model with a focus on their own vision. What has resulted is an organisation free of bureaucracy where efficiency is readily possible through streamlined processes that can drive high performance, fit for purpose outcomes.”
– Doug Warren;
Vice President, Software, and Industry Solutions at AVEVA
Whether its multiple mines, processing facilities, or logistical requirements, most leading mining companies have historically evolved as organizational silos. However, in the age of increasing automation, data, and digitalization, these silos can have the adverse effect of preventing end-to-end visibility, limiting optimization opportunities, and creating hidden inefficiencies that inhibit mining companies from realizing resource-to-market potential.
By establishing a fully integrated control center, Roy Hill has been able to avoid these pitfalls with the help of its ecosystem partners, including AVEVA.
Partnering with AVEVA to Develop a Tailored Solution
With mine and port operations involving electrical switchgear and distribution, variable frequency drives, critical power systems (UPS), and power monitoring systems, it was critical that Roy Hill have a trusted partner that can overcome the challenges of a modern greenfield site.
With a fully integrated digital solution that was completely synchronized before the first shovel went into the ground, the AVEVA mining portfolio is enabling Roy Hill to make smarter, more timely decisions that fulfill its organizational vision.
“It enabled us to rethink how is it that we can run an end-to-end mining business, and do that in a way that has never been realized before.”
– Mike Lomman;
General Manager, Demand Chain
Controlling it All from 1,300 km Away
All of these processes and technologies are brought together in Roy Hill’s state-of-the-art ROC (Remote Operations Center) in Perth. In one facility, all aspects of Roy Hill’s operations–from real-time execution to scheduling to planning, and everything from the mine to the processing plant to rail and port–are being monitored and controlled at a location that sits 1,300 km away from the actual mine site. By cultivating all of this expertise in the same room, Roy Hill can dramatically improve opportunities to collaborate, de-risk decisions, and place greater focus on business improvements.
Roy Hill selected AVEVA as a strategic partner for its industry experience, consultative approach, and compelling mining industry offerings, which included the following solutions:
- Demand Chain Planning and Scheduling (DCPS)
- Inventory Tracking and Quality Management (ITQM)
- Delay Accounting (DA)
- Capacity Simulation Model (Pre-CAPEX Analysis)
The DCPS solution enables Roy Hill to optimize its end-to-end demand chain from pit to port–even across different time zones and gaining greater visibility throughout its operating and asset lifecycles.
Roy Hill is tracking real-time inventory and high fidelity data through its ITQM solution, enabling the mining company to close the loop between actuals and the schedule (conformance to schedule), and between actuals and the plan (conformance to plan).
For key financial insights into production slowdowns and outages, Roy Hill utilizes AVEVA’s DA solution. And while it may seem rudimentary compared to a typical manufacturing scenario, it is very rare in the mining industry to see these results on a shift by shift basis, as it is often only reconciled monthly.
With the amazing combination of process, technology, and people, Roy Hill has achieved industry-leading efficiency and competitive advantage, emerging as Australia’s largest single mine producer.
AVEVA has worked closely with Roy Hill to help drive significant achievements, and continues to work hand-in-hand to further its digital transformation and innovation strategies within the mining industry.
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