RPM extends its reach into mine design

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (August 8, 2014) – RungePincockMinarco (RPM) has today finalised the acquisition of rights to the Mine2-4D design software from MineRP.

The acquisition of a non-exclusive right to the code will allow RPM to develop its own mine design products and offer integrated design capability with its market leading scheduling and simulation products.

“This acquisition is really exciting and accelerates our plans to expand our capability across the mining value chain,” commented Richard Mathews, CEO at RPM.

The Mine2-4D design product has recently undergone a complete rewrite, using next generation development tools to allow superior levels of enterprise integration and processing capability.  Under the terms of the acquisition, RPM has acquired unrestricted rights to rebrand, commercialise and exploit the software code and any successor products developed by RPM.

“The Mine2-4D product is well known in the industry and by utilising this existing foundation we have a low risk, fast track approach to getting mine design on our software roadmap and delivering a more holistic offering to our customers”.

RPM has historically provided export/import functionality for design tools of multiple third-party vendors allowing feedback between the design and scheduling processes and it will continue to do so. The full integration of an RPM specific design tool with RPM’s scheduling and simulation applications will however, greatly enhance the mine planning process.

“Having our own design tool will mean we can provide our customers with a complete planning solution. With design functionality, geological reserving, and operational scheduling, a fully integrated offering will enable customers to immediately evaluate the impact of changes in the physical environment on scheduled activities”.

“The product also comes with a new graphics engine at its core, which is based on leading visualisation technologies. Our client base is increasingly looking to use the visual representation of geospatial data to validate plans, simulate and analyse alternatives. We will be embedding these new technologies across our existing products to greatly enhance the user experience and take this visualisation capability to the enterprise level”.

RPM will be increasing the size of its development team to support this acquisition and accelerate the release of an RPM branded mine design product.  It is expected that the first release of the new RPM design product would be available in the second quarter of FY2015.

Earlier this month RPM successfully completed a placement of 35,000,000 ordinary shares to institutional investors at an issue price of A$0.60 per share, raising $21 million before costs for the purpose of accelerating the Group’s software strategy.

“We thank our investors for the support they have shown us. We have spent a lot of time and energy over the last year working through the various options available to us to expand the reach of our software offering. Adding integrated design capability to our software stable is the first in a number of significant steps we intend to take in the execution of our software strategy”.

 

About RungePincockMinarco (RPM)

RungePincockMinarco is the world’s largest publicly listed independent group of mining technical experts, with history stretching back to 1968. We have local expertise in all mining regions and are experienced across all commodities and mining methods.

Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange on 27 May 2008 (ASX: RUL), RungePincockMinarco is a global leader in the provision of advisory consulting, technology and professional development solutions to the mining industry. We have global expertise achieved through our work in over 118 countries and our approach to the business of mining is strongly grounded in economic principles.

We operate offices in 18 locations across 12 countries.

Find out more at www.rpmglobal.com