Mine design students prove smarter together

Friday, November 8th, 2024

Maptek has awarded the 2024 Maptek Mine Design prize to University of Adelaide Mining Engineering students Ryan Braes, Ben Barrow, Mitchell Roberts, Guillaume Stander and Mitchell Jakab for their outstanding effort in this year’s competition.

Estimates of the capital expense and operating costs during mine life, along with internal rate of financial return, were determined based on the principles taught during the semester.

Students noted that the project was the most realistic, real-world application of their learnings, and they gained additional value when applying it to their honours studies.

Maptek Senior Technical Solutions Specialist Steve Sullivan said the winning team demonstrated the professionalism and technical skills required to transition to full-time employment within the mining industry. 

‘The group covered the project scope comprehensively for designing and planning both open-cut and underground operations, and the critical transition between them,’ Sullivan said.

‘Importantly, they produced an easy-to-read and comprehensive report about their feasibility study. The quality of their work puts them in good stead to further expand upon their university learnings and apply themselves to the global mining industry.’

Maptek staff taught five weeks of mine design during the first university semester and helped judge the student reports alongside Associate Professor Dr Chaoshui Xu.

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