Global firm RPMGlobal has released environmental disturbance modeling and reporting capabilities to its XPAC line of mine scheduling software.
The company, which has been working to advance its functionalities for environmental, social and governance (ESG), wrapped up on-site testing in September with a Canadian mining client with which it collaborated for development of the module.
With the addition of the new capability, XPAC Solutions can restrain a mining schedule based on pre-set limits for water catchment and flora and fauna zones – such as when a user wants to request a reduction in environmental distance, for which the software can now locate a different schedule to honor the restriction.
“This new module is required because organizations now need to plan and report how much environmental disturbance has taken place in specified areas, allowing organizations to plan better when applying for, and receiving ground disturbance permits,” the Australian-based company said.
“This forward-looking environmental view gives users the foresight they need to understand how the mining process will impact a piece of land. Users can easily configure the product across many different sensitive habitats and report results independently or in combination.”
In short: with the automatic environmental disturbance reporting functionality, users of the software no longer need to manually place a mine schedule in a GIS system to build environmental reports. The system will configure the product once and then generate the needed data each time a mine schedule is run.
Head of ESG Ngaire Tranter pointed out the new module will be a crucial solution for mines in areas with stringent environmental restrictions.
“Organizations require forward-looking solutions that help them efficiently manage and demonstrate compliance with increasingly complex environmental rules and regulations that govern the industry,” she said. “Across many jurisdictions, policy makers and regulators are strengthening environmental disclosure requirements which underpin the importance of innovative software solutions that help mining companies navigate this evolving space.”
RPMGlobal first opened its ESG division in July 2021.