VUMA3D-Network diagram of a gold mine ventilation system.

VUMA’s software enables analysis of underground mine ventilation, contaminant tracking, refrigeration and cooling networks. VUMA, a South African company, said its product allows heat engineering balance to be examined in detail, taking into account all factors contributing to heat load, including equipment, advance rates, heat from broken rock and mine design.

Vulcan software provides advanced underground mine design, planning and scheduling tools. Enabling detailed design, survey and operational data to be transferred to VUMA software is claimed to deliver valuable gains in accuracy, efficiency, and speed for analysis and planning around ventilation and refrigeration in underground mines. This also allows ventilation factors to be considered earlier in the mine planning process.

“VUMA is an impressive software suite. Integrating VUMA with Vulcan offers huge benefits to mine planning departments,” said Nick Venter, Maptek Africa’s general manager. “It will allow mine survey and design data to be used in ventilation and cooling analysis, without replication of data, and ensures accurate, current representations of the mine surface can be applied to ventilation planning.”