The Customer
Sandfire MATSA’s operations, located in the province of Huelva, Spain comprise three
underground mines in the municipalities of Almonaster la Real and Calañas.
These operations include mineral exploration, extraction, and processing at a
modern 4.7 Mt/y plant that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. As part of
the international Sandfire Group, Sandfire MATSA works responsibly and safely to
produce mineral concentrates, specifically copper, zinc, and lead.
The Opportunity
Sandfire MATSA identified an opportunity to enhance coordination and
communication across teams, aiming to streamline operations and support more
effective decision-making.
The company set out to create a “single source of truth” that could guide all business
functions in real time, enabling teams to adapt quickly to operational challenges and
align mine design, planning, and execution. With this in mind, Sandfire MATSA began
exploring solutions that would not only support current operations but also lay the
foundation for future growth.
The Solution
Deswik OPS is a collaborative planning and execution tool that connects mine
planning teams with operations through near real-time field data capture, enabling
shift-level decision-making and alignment with weekly and monthly goals. It offers the
following capabilities:
- Shift-level planning aligned with strategic objectives: Building realistic, achievable weekly plans that are directly connected to the monthly schedule.
- Short interval control (SIC) capabilities: Empowers mine control to track production and development in near real-time. If deviations from the plan occur, teams can quickly assess the situation and take corrective action to stay on track.
- Single source of truth: Captures all shift data in one centralized platform, which feeds directly into Power BI reporting for easy access and analysis by management.
- Near Real-time field connectivity: Deswik OPS and the Deswik Operator app connect planning teams with operator task progress from the field, creating a two-way feedback loop. This enables dynamic, data-driven decision making throughout each shift.
Deswik OPS’ support for SIC was key for Sandfire MATSA, as the company wanted the ability to monitor progress, respond to deviations, maintain schedule integrity across its operations, and quickly resolve operational bottlenecks. Following a successful pilot and the implementation of Deswik OPS at MATSA’s Aguas Teñidas mine, the software was also rolled out to the Magdalena mine. Some operators at Aguas Teñidas also have the benefit of the Deswik Operator app which makes technical information available to operators in real time.
Information captured by operators is also sent back to mine planners and mine operations control (MOC), giving both parties access to the latest information, and this solution will soon be introduced at the Magdalena mine too.
The Value
At Aguas Teñidas and Magdalena mine, the introduction of SIC has enabled teams to detect schedule deviations in real time, allowing for faster course correction and more consistent production. Deswik OPS and its Operator App have also strengthened communication between underground crews and MOC, reducing bottlenecks and improving both safety and asset utilization.
“As a result of using OPS, our operations have seen more consistent production, better utilization of
their assets. MOC has all the information it needs in real time to make decisions and better align planning and scheduling, and more efficient use of assets across different work faces.” – Martín Jiménez Moya,
Head of Technological Advancement and Digital Transformation in Mining Operations, Sandfire
MATSA.