The role of a dynamically updated digital twin in modern tailing storage facilities management: monitoring to modeling

Overview

Video Transcript

[00:00:00.094]
(gentle music)

[00:00:10.160]
<v Janina>Hello and welcome everyone.</v>

[00:00:12.170]
Thank you very much for joining us today

[00:00:14.250]
at our Seequent presentation.

[00:00:17.070]
My name is Janina Elliott.

[00:00:19.230]
I am Seequent’s Global Central Technical Lead,

[00:00:22.060]
and I’m joined today by Jennifer Biddlecombe,

[00:00:24.380]
our Senior Account Executive for North America.

[00:00:26.900]
And the two of us are part

[00:00:28.980]
of Seequent’s tailing solution team,

[00:00:31.680]
and have the immense pleasure to moderate today’s talk

[00:00:35.920]
on The Role of Dynamically Updated Digital Twin

[00:00:39.900]
in a Modern Tailing Storage Facility.

[00:00:43.370]
At the end of the talk, we will make sure to address several

[00:00:47.190]
of your burning questions regarding the resolution.

[00:00:50.180]
But in case there isn’t enough time,

[00:00:52.560]
rest assured that we will provide you with an answer

[00:00:56.530]
just after the webinar via a personalized email.

[00:01:00.710]
So with no further ado, I’d like to introduce our colleague,

[00:01:04.720]
team leader and speaker for the day, Pieter Neethling.

[00:01:11.590]
Now, Pieter, as the Segment Director for Mining Operations,

[00:01:17.680]
Pieter is strongly focused

[00:01:18.870]
on making Seequent’s Geoscience Portfolio more relevant

[00:01:22.520]
to production geologists and environmental experts.

[00:01:26.450]
And through his focus growth, and this focus growth,

[00:01:29.200]
he aspires to solve essential operational challenges

[00:01:33.410]
centered on safety and productivity workflow improvements.

[00:01:37.370]
Now, Pieter has more than 30 years of experience

[00:01:40.810]
in the mining industry with varying roles in operation,

[00:01:45.020]
including lead positions in consulting

[00:01:47.520]
and mining technical services

[00:01:49.050]
at multiple top tier organizations.

[00:01:52.380]
But a special interest and passion of Pieter’s

[00:01:54.660]
has always been the safe development and maintenance

[00:01:56.610]
of tailing storage facilities.

[00:01:58.140]
And this is the focus for his talk today.

[00:02:01.090]
Okay, over to you Pieter, here we go.

[00:02:05.300]
<v Pieter>Thank you for the introduction Janina.</v>

[00:02:07.870]
Hi everyone.

[00:02:09.360]
Today I’m going to talk to you about the value

[00:02:11.140]
of a dynamically updating digital twin,

[00:02:14.240]
and the role it might play in mitigating potential failures

[00:02:17.440]
of tailings storage facilities.

[00:02:21.610]
Before I progress with the presentation,

[00:02:23.740]
I would like to make a statement

[00:02:25.090]
of confidentiality and disclaimer.

[00:02:28.470]
Please note that the presentation

[00:02:30.090]
is for informational purposes only,

[00:02:32.440]
and it’s not a commitment

[00:02:33.560]
to deliver software features or functionality.

[00:02:38.000]
And now for some context for why digital twin

[00:02:40.690]
becomes so important.

[00:02:43.610]
The mining sector is increasingly exposed to environmental,

[00:02:46.750]
social and governance compliance.

[00:02:49.590]
And the need to comply

[00:02:50.540]
with the associated regulatory frameworks

[00:02:53.000]
has necessitated a shift in the way the industry

[00:02:55.950]
manages risk and adheres to responsible mining practices.

[00:03:01.300]
Investors also want to ensure that their money is used

[00:03:03.610]
in a sustainable and responsible fashion,

[00:03:06.560]
as evidenced by the signatories

[00:03:08.090]
to the Principles for Responsible Investment.

[00:03:11.930]
Greater transparency entailings management disclosure,

[00:03:15.380]
and working with industry

[00:03:16.490]
and community regulatory and financial stakeholders

[00:03:20.470]
to promote the application of consistent disclosure

[00:03:23.580]
that informs better tailings than stewardship,

[00:03:26.490]
has become a key operational objective.

[00:03:30.540]
These social economic and political risks,

[00:03:33.110]
along with the need to digitally transform the industry,

[00:03:36.730]
means everyone is talking about tailings.

[00:03:41.510]
Recent events have reminded us

[00:03:43.320]
that more work needs to be done

[00:03:44.820]
to increase dam resilience and due diligence.

[00:03:48.840]
To truly be able to learn from a failure event

[00:03:51.420]
and fulfill the ultimate goal of the global standard,

[00:03:55.240]
it is essential that there is complete transparency

[00:03:57.970]
regarding the chain of events.

[00:04:00.900]
All data analysis and decision-making processes

[00:04:04.640]
need to be clearly understood.

[00:04:07.170]
However, to achieve this objective is easier said than done,

[00:04:12.090]
with people, processes and technology challenges

[00:04:15.500]
core to mitigating the risks

[00:04:17.400]
and embedding a cohesive safe tailings management solution.

[00:04:22.840]
Let’s take a look at some of the challenges.

[00:04:25.260]
Complexity comes in many forms and here are a few examples.

[00:04:29.840]
Monitoring and understanding of data and systems

[00:04:32.880]
for some of the largest man-made structures on earth,

[00:04:35.470]
and that these are evolving structures

[00:04:37.500]
makes this inherently challenging.

[00:04:40.270]
The changing factor of safety, at a TSF as it evolves

[00:04:44.270]
is a major concern.

[00:04:46.460]
And scenario testing, to help predict potential failure,

[00:04:49.750]
as a TSF evolves with time, is a significant pain point.

[00:04:54.690]
The monitor to model to design workflows are by and large,

[00:04:58.040]
still unnecessarily complex.

[00:05:00.710]
This consumes resources and introduces risk.

[00:05:05.040]
And finally, there are a host

[00:05:06.910]
of multi-stakeholder collaborations to manage.

[00:05:11.100]
Technical teams that we have engaged,

[00:05:13.200]
believe it’s not just data and file incompatibility

[00:05:16.740]
that is an issue.

[00:05:18.530]
But also the lack of multidisciplinary interaction

[00:05:22.110]
and comprehension that is a cause for miscommunication.

[00:05:26.630]
Our conversations with senior management

[00:05:28.950]
find a common thread

[00:05:30.600]
where reporting on all of their storage facilities

[00:05:33.760]
that are at varying ages, conditions and locations,

[00:05:37.610]
particularly where there is little standardization

[00:05:40.210]
in how the structure is being monitored is a major issue.

[00:05:45.130]
They agree that their teams waste a lot of time struggling

[00:05:47.810]
to get the data into a useful and consistent format.

[00:05:53.470]
Managers are therefore not fully confident

[00:05:55.960]
that they are delivering a comprehensive picture

[00:05:58.740]
of all of the assets and the problems are not being missed.

[00:06:05.380]
So how is Seequent helping tackle these challenges?

[00:06:08.330]
The key to any solution is that it provides the means

[00:06:11.470]
to work effectively as a team and ensure data transparency.

[00:06:16.260]
These are the underlying principles that allow

[00:06:18.560]
for a robust review and decision making process.

[00:06:23.180]
But how is this accomplished?

[00:06:25.210]
Firstly, all stakeholders in the project,

[00:06:28.520]
were the modelers from different geoscientific groups,

[00:06:32.180]
project managers, or third parties such as consultants

[00:06:36.380]
and JV partners need to have access to the latest data

[00:06:39.980]
in as near real time as possible.

[00:06:43.920]
Secondly, everyone needs to work collaboratively

[00:06:47.170]
from a single source of truth to create up-to-date models

[00:06:51.320]
that facilitate the development of a digital twin.

[00:06:56.143]
A robust monitor to model to design workflow

[00:06:59.470]
bridges the gap between typically disconnected monitoring

[00:07:02.810]
and technical analysis workflows.

[00:07:06.760]
The sequence TSF solution, a continuous modeling paradigm

[00:07:11.100]
is established that solves the data management

[00:07:14.130]
and multi-stakeholder conundrum,

[00:07:16.350]
and centers activities on as-built performance

[00:07:20.160]
and failure prevention with good communication,

[00:07:23.150]
a key success factor.

[00:07:26.270]
Core to our solution is Seequent Central,

[00:07:29.110]
a cloud hosted model and data management system,

[00:07:32.270]
with web based visualization capability

[00:07:35.110]
that facilitates collaboration.

[00:07:38.230]
Seequent’s modeling suite comprises Leapfrog,

[00:07:41.512]
Oasis montaj and Geostudio,

[00:07:44.560]
all of which addresses the modeling and analytical needs

[00:07:47.540]
of geologists, geophysicists and geotechnical engineers.

[00:07:53.360]
Seequent works to provide the best of breed solution

[00:07:57.120]
by working with partners and their products.

[00:08:00.410]
For example Esri.

[00:08:03.416]
Modflow and Feflow for flow modeling

[00:08:05.710]
are examples of industry standard products

[00:08:08.480]
Seequent’s TSF solution works with.

[00:08:12.750]
In combination, the outputs define a live digital twin

[00:08:17.030]
and completes the monitoring to modeling

[00:08:19.780]
and design workflow.

[00:08:21.550]
Let’s take a look at the role of our expert applications

[00:08:24.590]
in a little more detail.

[00:08:27.250]
Geophysical methods from the ground, air and satellite

[00:08:30.410]
provide efficient remote sensing of TSFs.

[00:08:35.010]
Geophysical methods are a great way to see non-intrusively

[00:08:38.160]
into the subsurface and provide information

[00:08:41.460]
on say water content.

[00:08:44.070]
These methods can easily be repeated at regular intervals

[00:08:47.150]
over the same area,

[00:08:49.330]
giving a great reference point for monitoring changes.

[00:08:53.520]
Permanently in place systems are also on the market.

[00:08:57.650]
These dense data collection techniques are superb

[00:09:00.410]
for filling in between physical measurements.

[00:09:02.860]
Like piezometers, basically guiding the construction

[00:09:06.280]
of the 3D digital twin and making it more accurate.

[00:09:11.730]
The geological model forms the foundation

[00:09:13.890]
of the digital twin, where continuous assessment

[00:09:16.730]
of the altered rock, tailings depositions,

[00:09:19.700]
along with the structural discontinuities

[00:09:22.460]
can impact the physical structure.

[00:09:25.710]
The geological model with the hydrogeological

[00:09:27.890]
and geotechnical analysis are inseparable

[00:09:31.000]
from a robust workflow, and to fully understand changes

[00:09:34.440]
in the foundation characteristics of the structure.

[00:09:38.620]
More specifically, it is typical

[00:09:41.020]
that geotechnical model domains

[00:09:43.110]
and their associated soil and rock designed parameters

[00:09:47.180]
are attributed to geological model domains.

[00:09:50.910]
This generally means a geotechnical model

[00:09:53.080]
is only as good as its geological model,

[00:09:56.240]
with the geological model playing a significant role

[00:09:59.310]
in informing geotechnical design parameters.

[00:10:03.540]
In summary, an accurate representation

[00:10:06.680]
of the geological conditions

[00:10:08.630]
is fundamental to developing optimized tailings solutions,

[00:10:13.530]
particularly at the design stage.

[00:10:16.340]
This adds significant value and cost savings,

[00:10:19.520]
both at construction and during ongoing maintenance

[00:10:23.140]
over the lifetime of the tailings facility.

[00:10:27.100]
What is key to the stability of tailings?

[00:10:30.810]
Water management is one of the biggest challenges

[00:10:33.020]
for managing the tailings facility,

[00:10:35.620]
especially those using wet transport and deposition.

[00:10:40.100]
The hydrogeological extension provides an efficient

[00:10:43.030]
and robust workflow for transferring the model

[00:10:46.180]
in the digital twin to Modflow and Feflow,

[00:10:49.570]
including importing results back into the digital twin.

[00:10:54.100]
This saves time and effort

[00:10:55.590]
as well as facilitates a regular update

[00:10:58.230]
of the forward-looking analysis for TSF behavior.

[00:11:04.350]
Geotechnical analysis is the key

[00:11:06.440]
to understanding factors of safety and reliability.

[00:11:11.640]
Geotechnical analysis is an integral part

[00:11:14.180]
of modern TSF design and management.

[00:11:17.730]
The analysis is used not only to provide insights

[00:11:20.400]
on deformation, consolidation

[00:11:22.970]
and stability at the design stage,

[00:11:25.740]
but to adapt the design to actual conditions

[00:11:28.210]
during construction based on the interpretation

[00:11:31.390]
of monitoring data.

[00:11:34.020]
As such, the key benefit of geotechnical analysis

[00:11:37.580]
within the digital twin lies in the ability

[00:11:40.430]
to make informed decisions about the immediate

[00:11:43.930]
and forward looking performance of the facility.

[00:11:48.210]
A dynamically updated digital twin of the physical system

[00:11:52.590]
ensures knowledge transfer

[00:11:54.450]
throughout the history of the site,

[00:11:56.760]
meaning that decisions are intentional rather than reactive.

[00:12:02.830]
The importance of a geotechnical digital twin

[00:12:05.690]
was recently highlighted at Seequent Lyceum

[00:12:08.530]
by a colleague of mine.

[00:12:10.730]
He presented the findings

[00:12:12.090]
of a retrospective numerical simulation

[00:12:14.750]
of the construction history

[00:12:16.460]
of the Mount Polley Tailings Storage Facility.

[00:12:20.600]
The simulation, as seen in this video,

[00:12:23.580]
incorporated a thin layer of clay

[00:12:25.690]
that exhibited strength loss during deformation.

[00:12:30.340]
The simulation revealed a repeating pattern

[00:12:32.560]
at each stage of construction,

[00:12:34.740]
the excess pore water pressure generation, dissipation

[00:12:38.700]
and equilibration of the flow system.

[00:12:44.060]
More importantly, each stage of construction

[00:12:46.510]
was associated with a change in strength

[00:12:49.140]
along the developing rupture zone.

[00:12:51.910]
The strength varied between peak and residual

[00:12:55.120]
right up to the point of failure.

[00:12:57.740]
All it took was one additional bump

[00:12:59.740]
at that stage of construction

[00:13:01.740]
to cause full strength loss in the clay,

[00:13:04.640]
resulting in a catastrophic failure of the entire facility.

[00:13:10.320]
A key realization was that deformations of the TSF

[00:13:13.640]
were negligible up to the point of collapse.

[00:13:17.010]
As such, monitoring would not have been diagnostic

[00:13:20.270]
of the impending failure,

[00:13:22.380]
which highlights the need for a geotechnical analysis

[00:13:25.680]
as an integral component of the digital twin.

[00:13:30.050]
We can easily imagine how a dynamically updated digital twin

[00:13:34.030]
with version control, multiple realizations of the geology

[00:13:38.740]
and a single source of truth, whatever for the engineers

[00:13:42.740]
to explore different physical phenomena

[00:13:45.240]
as the facility evolved.

[00:13:48.020]
Moreover, the digital twin could have been passed down

[00:13:51.210]
from the outgoing to incoming engineers of record,

[00:13:55.250]
allowing the knowledge transfer to be unbroken.

[00:14:00.580]
So in summary, when we assess what is required

[00:14:03.880]
to manage tailing storage facilities safely,

[00:14:07.430]
and the requirements of the global tailing standard,

[00:14:10.470]
teams have to think about holistic design.

[00:14:14.210]
The digital twin becomes the basis for design

[00:14:17.450]
used at all phases of the project life cycle.

[00:14:20.920]
Development of the digital twin forces the engineers

[00:14:24.030]
to understand the physical system

[00:14:26.790]
and make informed decisions

[00:14:28.370]
about the facility’s performance as it evolves.

[00:14:33.660]
A comprehensive digital twin

[00:14:35.330]
that consistently incorporates changing data

[00:14:38.240]
and evaluates all spatial, numeric

[00:14:41.090]
and intellectual information in a 3D plus temporal context

[00:14:45.590]
helps to identify problems early.

[00:14:50.180]
It can also help design targeted monitoring programs.

[00:14:54.280]
Interpreting monitoring data is a significant challenge

[00:14:57.780]
because it goes beyond plotting a time series

[00:15:00.810]
and trigger thresholds.

[00:15:03.030]
Again, that is only valuable if it’s interpreted

[00:15:06.410]
in the context of the digital twin.

[00:15:10.460]
A continuously updated digital twin

[00:15:13.090]
enables an adaptable design that allows material changes

[00:15:17.050]
in the design to be identified in the moment.

[00:15:21.010]
Informed field decisions can be made

[00:15:23.120]
to either alter the design

[00:15:25.120]
or accept the current construction trajectory

[00:15:28.050]
that meets the factors of safety.

[00:15:31.900]
We truly believe a paradigm shift is required

[00:15:34.560]
whereby tailings governance needs to shift

[00:15:37.170]
from a dominantly reactive long-term modeling approach

[00:15:40.760]
to a more strongly agile,

[00:15:42.740]
even predictive short-term modeling method.

[00:15:46.530]
To help prevent failure isn’t about one piece of data

[00:15:50.010]
or a single technology.

[00:15:51.890]
But it’s how you bring it all together that counts.

[00:15:56.030]
Thank you for your time and attention.

[00:15:59.120]
But just before I hand you back to Janina,

[00:16:01.780]
please note that we have a host of additional information

[00:16:04.280]
on tailings that you can source

[00:16:06.190]
from our seequent.com website.

[00:16:09.360]
Over to you Janina.

[00:16:12.870]
<v Janina>Thank you very much, Pieter</v>

[00:16:13.920]
and yeah that is wonderful.

[00:16:16.990]
So I would like to address of course the audience

[00:16:22.630]
in the last couple of minutes.

[00:16:23.920]
And if you have any questions regarding Pieter’s talk

[00:16:27.420]
please feel free to write them here in the question window.

[00:16:30.880]
And in previous conversation with a few of the attendees,

[00:16:35.250]
there were a few questions that were asked

[00:16:37.660]
and we want to make sure that we address these as well.

[00:16:40.870]
So I’m going to ask my colleague Jenny if she’s available

[00:16:45.650]
to help me address those questions.

[00:16:48.755]
(Jennifer chuckling)

[00:16:50.130]
<v Jennifer>Hi everybody.</v>

[00:16:52.980]
We’ve just got a couple of questions here Janina.

[00:16:56.330]
What was meant by more agile

[00:16:59.710]
rather than reactive workflow

[00:17:01.870]
is one of the questions that just came up.

[00:17:05.030]
<v Janina>Oh yeah okay.</v>

[00:17:06.260]
Yeah so the way that tailings monitoring and governance

[00:17:10.030]
is currently conducted is somewhat lengthy

[00:17:13.140]
and not always linear process.

[00:17:15.080]
So the flow of observational and measure data

[00:17:18.250]
is often inhibited by lack of interconnectivity

[00:17:21.220]
between technology,

[00:17:22.690]
but also between those multidisciplinary teams.

[00:17:26.920]
The consultants, the reviewers, the geotechnicians,

[00:17:29.600]
the third parties,

[00:17:30.480]
everyone involved is somewhat disconnected from each other.

[00:17:33.880]
And so that very nature of this aggregated process means

[00:17:37.610]
that we’ll never really sees the full real-time picture

[00:17:40.730]
or the complete digital twinness if you will.

[00:17:43.490]
So to understand all of those influencing factors at play,

[00:17:46.870]
and because of that,

[00:17:48.200]
one can only really react when or if a red flag goes up.

[00:17:53.220]
So only when everyone works from a one source of truth

[00:17:56.350]
and has insight into each other’s expertise

[00:17:59.270]
and forward thinking 3D models and design work,

[00:18:03.020]
one can partake in a more agile and even predictive workflow

[00:18:07.000]
that mitigates the risks from the start

[00:18:09.140]
and also identified issues before they truly turn

[00:18:11.830]
into real problems.

[00:18:13.710]
That’s the idea.

[00:18:17.360]
<v Jennifer>Fantastic.</v>

[00:18:19.860]
We’ve just got one other question here as well.

[00:18:24.710]
How does the solution allow companies

[00:18:27.530]
that adhere more closely to those new global standards

[00:18:31.120]
that have recently been put together?

[00:18:33.980]
<v Janina>Yeah, they’re the new global standard of</v>

[00:18:36.251]
(indistinct chattering)

[00:18:37.440]
Yeah then you have a close look at this document

[00:18:40.340]
and believe me, we have.

[00:18:42.266]
(Janina laughing)

[00:18:44.050]
The headlines and that is really six chapters

[00:18:46.860]
and they all ask to for the operator and everyone involved

[00:18:53.020]
in the tailings facility to meaningfully engage people.

[00:18:57.540]
To build an interdisciplinary knowledge base

[00:19:01.140]
and to develop robust designs that integrate

[00:19:04.800]
that knowledge base.

[00:19:05.890]
And together develop an organizational culture

[00:19:09.090]
that promotes learning, communication

[00:19:11.750]
and really early problem recognition.

[00:19:13.570]
That’s the key.

[00:19:14.900]
And all of these aspects are truly fulfilled

[00:19:17.930]
when an uninhibited and real time communication

[00:19:21.700]
in 3D occurs.

[00:19:23.440]
So when there’s interactive collaboration

[00:19:25.620]
that can take place between everyone involved,

[00:19:28.070]
and that’s exactly what our solutions are aiming to do.

[00:19:31.360]
Our individual products integrated with each other

[00:19:33.960]
and underpinned through Central.

[00:19:36.170]
It really brings people and data together

[00:19:38.480]
and promotes that intellectual exchange

[00:19:41.290]
between subject matter experts, stakeholders

[00:19:44.240]
and of course also the public to build a really clear

[00:19:47.260]
and perpetual transparent view of everything

[00:19:52.390]
that governs that side.

[00:19:54.430]
And so in that sense,

[00:19:56.100]
we really quite closely adhere to the global standard.

[00:20:01.600]
Yeah.

[00:20:02.460]
<v Jennifer>Thanks Janina, I think that was,</v>

[00:20:04.313]
that answered that really well.

[00:20:07.440]
I think that was all the questions.

[00:20:09.760]
So if anyone else who, oh, sorry,

[00:20:12.610]
let me just check there’s something else.

[00:20:17.150]
Does Leapfrog allow real-time data streaming into the model,

[00:20:21.360]
to say monitoring and visualize the phreatic surface?

[00:20:27.540]
<v Janina>Yeah, it depends on what kind of,</v>

[00:20:30.780]
very good question.

[00:20:31.613]
It depends on which format it comes in.

[00:20:33.270]
But ultimately in Central we have built a dynamic link

[00:20:36.410]
where you can bring in point information for example,

[00:20:39.250]
and link it dynamically and directly to Leapfrog.

[00:20:43.000]
So in Leapfrog you would be able to build a phreatic surface

[00:20:46.690]
or any kind of 3D surface

[00:20:48.970]
based on that xyz point information.

[00:20:51.510]
And as soon as that information in its raw form

[00:20:55.280]
is refreshed in Central,

[00:20:58.430]
in the Central data room and its repository,

[00:21:01.020]
then your Leapfrog project will automatically

[00:21:03.070]
be notified about it.

[00:21:04.600]
So in that sense you can just right click, refresh

[00:21:07.250]
and then your phreatic surface will rebuild

[00:21:09.920]
based on the new information.

[00:21:11.830]
And depending on how you set up your project,

[00:21:13.970]
you have an opportunity then to actively compare

[00:21:16.770]
what that surface looks like

[00:21:18.500]
relative to the previous interpretation, the previous model

[00:21:21.770]
and what those changes mean going down the roads

[00:21:25.110]
in terms of your hydrogeological assessment

[00:21:26.760]
of the site, yeah.

[00:21:29.946]
<v Jennifer>Fantastic.</v>

[00:21:31.170]
And if there is any questions about workflow

[00:21:34.430]
or if anyone would like to get in touch with us

[00:21:36.850]
about setting up those different workflows

[00:21:38.790]
to dynamically link that data then we’d love to talk to you

[00:21:42.950]
and perhaps have a look at what you’re working with

[00:21:45.860]
at the moment.

[00:21:47.180]
<v Janina>Thank you very much for joining</v>

[00:21:49.330]
and thanks Jenny, thanks Pieter for the great talk

[00:21:52.370]
and we hope to hear from you soon.

[00:21:54.440]
Have a great remaining conference.

[00:21:57.793]
(gentle music)