3D Laser Mapping Finds Gold in Dominican Republic

23 March 2010, 12:29pm

3D Laser Mapping has delivered an advanced laser scanning system to help monitor the construction of a new gold mine in the Dominican Republic. Selected by the Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation the laser scanner will be used to record construction in the process plant, calculate volumes of material displaced during land clearance and monitor civil structures for subsidence and deformation. Once the facility is operational, the laser scanner is also expected to be used for high precision monitoring of slopes and mining activity to optimise site safety.

Supplied by 3D Laser Mapping the VZ-400 laser scanner is part of the newly released Riegl V-Line range. Even under adverse weather conditions the VZ-400 can achieve accuracies of 5mm at ranges of up to 500 metres, measure up to 125,000 points per second all with a 360-degree field of view.

“With such a large investment in this project it is essential that the preparation and construction phase is exactingly documented and that all aspects are monitored to the highest possible levels and accuracies in the safest possible manner,” commented Sean Jefferys, Chief Surveyor. “I have worked with 3D Laser Mapping in the past and know that their laser scanning hardware and mine monitoring software solutions, such as SiteMonitor, offer unrivalled performance and I am therefore confident the solution we have purchased will meet our expectations.”

The VZ-400 supplied by 3D Laser Mapping will initially be used to collect as-built surveys to record the construction progress in the process plant and at other civil structures at the site in the Sanchez Ramirez province north east of the capital Santo Domingo. The scanner will also be used to verify the work undertaken by contractors clearing the site calculating in-situ volumes of earth moved and to monitor civil structures and dumps to provide early warning of subsidence or deformation.

Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation (PVDC) is a company jointly owned by Barrick Gold Corporation (60%) and Goldcorp Inc. (40%). Representing the largest foreign investment in the history of the Dominican Republic, Pueblo Viejo is a long life, advanced gold mining project in the Sanchez Ramirez province with a pre-production capital budget of approximately $2.7 billion with an additional investment of $300 million to complete a phased expansion to bring the processing plant to 24,000 tonnes per day (tpd) from the initial 18,000 tpd once Pueblo Viejo is in operation. The project remains on schedule to enter production in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Reader enquiries to Dr Graham Hunter, 3D Laser Mapping Ltd, graham@3dlasermapping.com
tel: +44 (0) 870 442 9400, www.3dlasermapping.com

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