Rio Tinto Fer et Titane (RTFT) has been processing ore from northern Quebec for more than 70 years. It is a world leading producer of high-grade titanium dioxide feedstock. This product is commonly used as a pigment to whiten a range of products such as paint, textiles and paper. It also produces iron and steel used in specialized applications such as the automotive industry and wind turbines.

At the beginning of March, Technical Specialists Marty Wanner and Andrew Palangio arrived on-site. Andrew and Marty met representatives from BBA and Rio Tinto to get them logged in and ready to begin commissioning the Momentum 5 Conveyor Particle Analysis System.

The WipWare team was brought to the site where the Momentum camera assembly was installed where they verified the physical installation and connections. The installation performed in this location by Rio Tinto Fer et Titane was excellent, with special attention given to safe and organized cabling for an overall neat and meticulous installation.

Once the electrical team completed their work, Marty and Andrew connected to the work station to begin the commissioning and confirm good connectivity between the camera and workstation. After confirmation that the system was operational and data was being received, a training session was scheduled on the Momentum 5 system and WipFrag software.

After a 2 day visit to Rio Tinto Fer et Titane, the setup of the Momentum system and camera was successfully completed due to the great teamwork between BBA and RTFT personnel and the visiting WipWare technical specialists.

Marty and Andrew would like to thank everyone involved at Rio Tinto Fer et Titane. They were welcoming, efficient, and helpful.

WipWare’s Technical Specialists, Marty Wanner and Thomas de Sousa were on site at Detour Gold Corporation (DGC) gold mine and processing plant in Cochrane Ontario, Canada.

The initial trip took place in December when the cameras were installed and commissioning began. In February, the guys returned to Detour Gold to complete the commissioning of the third camera and calibrate all three Momentum cameras.

The Detour Lake open pit mine is located in northeastern Ontario, approximately 300 kilometres northeast of Timmins and 185 kilometres by road northeast of Cochrane, within the northernmost Abitibi Greenstone Belt.

The mine is situated in the area of the historic Detour Lake open pit/underground mine operated by Placer Dome which produced 1.8 million ounces of gold from 1983 to 1999. The Detour Lake operation has a mine life of approximately 22 years.

For this trip, they were completing the installation and commissioning of a Momentum 3-camera Online Conveyor Particle Size Analysis System. The installation and calibrations were successfully completed during this visit with help from the DGC team. Real-time particle size telemetry is now being collected.

The quality of current data collected from all three cameras is very good and will yield accurate relevant results. The Momentum system will prove to be a highly effective tool to measure material size and shape telemetry in real-time.

For more information on our systems, please visit our website.

WipWare’s Chief Technical Specialist, Marty Wanner traveled to Hanson’s Base Point Quarry in Shell Cove, NSW Australia at the end of January to commission WipWare’s 3-camera Momentum 5 Online Conveyor Particle Size Analysis System. With the support and assistance of the Hanson team, the 3 camera system was successfully commissioned and real-time particle size telemetry can now be collected.

In this location, the installations were being performed outside. As a result, sunlight canopies were installed to prevent sunlight from penetrating the analysis field and affecting the results.

All three cameras were installed prior to the visit. Our technical specialist was able to proceed with confirming connectivity, calibration and commissioning of the three camera installations. Sample material was placed on the conveyor belt to verify camera focus.

WipWare’s VAR (Value Added Reseller) Glen Blackstock with Micron Scientific Australia Pty Ltd was on hand as well for the permanent installation of this system. After the permanent installation of the system, a WipFrag demonstration, which is the HMI (Human to machine interface) for the system, was done for Hanson personnel. During this demonstration, all aspects of the system were reviewed and the Hanson team were trained on the use of WipFrag.

The Momentum 5 system will be able to detect changes in material size and shape allowing automation and optimization efforts in real-time.

For more information on our systems and software, go to Products and Services on our website.

WipWare’s technical specialists, Marty Wanner and Andrew Palangio traveled to Wausau, Wisconsin in November to commission our Momentum 5 Conveyor Particle Analysis System at the 3M Greystone location. The 3M team that originally installed the camera assembly did a remarkable job, with cables well protected and routed in a neat and tidy fashion. The camera was inspected and found to be working properly. The camera control box was also reviewed and all connections were inspected and found to be properly coupled.

Once connectivity was established between the workstation and the camera, the edge detection parameters were determined and image analyses proceeded. While the system was gathering data, Marty and Andrew took this opportunity to showcase our WipFrag software with a drone flight over the muckpile to perform a UAV analysis. While the drone was in flight, images were also snapped at ground level with WipFrag iOS on an iPhone to demonstrate the capabilities of the Apple app version of  the software.

The UAV image created is a GeoTIFF orthomosaic file – a mosaic of stitched-together drone images with scale and GPS information embedded in the file. This image format is required for UAV image analysis in WipFrag. The technical specialists walked through the differences between UAV image analysis and other image analyses in WipFrag. Then, the specialists compared the UAV analysis with the muck pile analysis and generated further merged analyses for demonstration.

After completing the UAV image analysis demonstration, they reviewed the data that the Momentum 5 analysis system had been collecting and fined tuned the calibration.

The setup of the Momentum 5 analysis system and camera was successfully completed due to the great teamwork between 3M Wausau’s personnel and the visiting WipWare technical specialists.

Thank You to 3M’s Greystone team for  providing essential information and assistance to ensure a successful on-site visit and commissioning.

From November 14-15, our Technical Team made their way to the NORCAT Training Centre in Sudbury.

The first class slated for WipWare trainees Marty, Tom and Andrew was the Working at Heights training modules. This lasted through the day. At the end of the program, the trainees quickly made their way to the computer room. They completed some final online multiple choice tests. Everyone passed with flying colours.

On the second day of training, our technical specialists headed to the NORCAT Underground Centre. This training facility was formerly Fecunis, a production mine owned and operated by Falconbridge (Xstrada Nickel). It was established in the 1940s and NORCAT now uses it as an underground training centre for students. It is located about an hour northwest of Sudbury, past Chelmsford and towards Onaping, ON off of Highway 144.

The day was spent in an underground classroom watching safety videos and slides, as well as sharing pertinent anecdotes about how safety saves lives. There was also a brief tour and a sounding and scaling demonstration and our technicians had an opportunity to experience how dark it is underground when the lights go out.

It was an interesting exposure for Marty, Tom and Andrew, and a great team bonding experience for the Technical Specialists to get to know one another. Plus, the team is fully prepared for an underground experience should one arise.

WipWare would like to welcome Andrew Palangio to the team as one of our Technical Specialists. Andrew was born and raised in North Bay and  a supporter of the community. He graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Honours BA and has excellent experience in sound and lighting. Andrew has worked for the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, Electronic Language Communications Ltd, and North Bay’s own Capitol Centre. His experience brings a new perspective and knowledge to the team. He is looking forward to discovering new things at WipWare Inc. and exploring an international business network while living in hometown North Bay.

Welcome to WipWare and the Tech Team!!!

We look forward to working with you.