BCTEC had the honor of participating in Geomin – Mineplanning 2025, one of the most influential conferences for the Latin-American mining industry. The event, held from 11 to 13 June at the Sheraton Hotel in Santiago, Chile, brought together leading professionals, researchers, and corporations in the sector.

During the congress, we presented the results of the study “Long-Term Planning Through Multilevel Simulation,” delivered by our Senior Consultant Lenin Arancibia and co-authored by Diego Pollard Valdés (Project Engineer) and José Ari Bacigalupo (IT Consultant).

FlowSim BC v6.4: Advancing Gravity-Flow Simulation

The presentation focused on FlowSim BC version 6.4, proprietary software developed by BCTEC that accurately simulates gravity flow in multi-level caving mines. The tool has become essential for optimizing long-range plans in Block and Panel Caving operations, providing trustworthy outputs for tonnage, grade, fragmentation, and recovery.

Key capabilities of FlowSim BC include:

• Objective evaluation and comparison of alternative mine designs
• Estimation of diluted grades and metal recovery factors
• Generation of dilution-adjusted block models ready for scheduling
• Optimization of draw strategies based on anticipated fragmentation profiles
• Simulation of mines with multiple extraction horizons
• Delivery of reliable results with reduced computational run-times
  

FlowSim BC’s development and application have been rigorously validated in a variety of mining operations, confirming its robustness and immediate applicability across diverse projects.

BCTEC’s involvement in Mineplanning 2025 reinforces our ongoing commitment to technological innovation, technical excellence, and the creation of solutions that foster more efficient and sustainable mining. We are grateful for the opportunity to share our experience and insights at this premier international conference and remain ready to continue collaborating with the global mining community.

BCTEC Engineering and Technology participated in the 9th International Conference on Operational Excellence in Mining, Minexcellence 2024, one of the most important mining events in Chile, which took place between November 11 and 13 at the Sheraton Hotel in Santiago, Chile. The event brought together industry professionals and academics to present the strategies and tools that will enable improvement and excellence in the mining business at a national and international level in the future.

For this important meeting, the team made the presentation:
“Integrated Multilevel Simulation in Underground Operations: Application to Level 2 of CODELCO Chuquicamata Underground”. Work carried out in collaboration with CODELCO VP and Chuquicamata Division, represented by Jaime Cubillos, CODELCO, Chile, Matías Olagnier, CODELCO, Chile, Juan C. Videla, CODELCO, Chile, Rodrigo Quiroz, CODELCO, Chile, Pablo Álvarez,, BCTEC, Chile, Carlos Valdés, BCTEC, Chile and Fernando Caballero, BCTEC consultant and presenter of the event, in which a simulation methodology was established based on events that integrate, in a structured and sequential way, the levels of Production, Transport and the Materials Handling System in the Chuquicamata Underground Mine.

In this type of projects, the importance of collaboration between academia, industry and key players such as CODELCO is highlighted, to face the challenges and achieve a more efficient, safe and sustainable future in mining. BCTEC’s successful participation in Minexcellence 2024 reaffirms its role as a leader in the implementation of innovative technologies, and its continuous effort to drive the transformation of mining towards new frontiers of excellence and professionalism.

With the aim of bringing together students and professionals to discuss the challenges of the present, and to learn about the new opportunities presented by mining 5.0, the Department of Mining Engineering, in collaboration with the AMTC (Advanced Mining Technology Center), held the third version of the UMining Congress at the Beauchef Campus of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, on November 20, 21 and 22, 2024, with the motto “Towards mining 5.0”.

With more than 60 participating authors, corresponding to academics, students, leading companies and great professionals of the mining industry, BCTEC attended this important event, presenting 2 important projects during the Mining Planning and Design session, which were carried out in collaboration with CODELCO Chile, Mina Chuquicamata Subterranea Division (MCHS).

The first presentation was entitled “Modeling and control of diffusion in the Chuquicamata Underground Mine”, a project in which FlowSim BC© and BCRisk© software were used to estimate the dilution input, and how to control its entry through long- and short-term planning. The article was developed by Juan Cristóbal Videla, CODELCO Chile, Rodrigo Quiroz, CODELCO, Chile, Yonathan Molina, CODELCO Chile, Labra, BCTEC Engineering and Technology, Chile and Lenin Arancibia, Specialist Engineer at BCTEC, who was in charge of presenting the work on the second day of the Congress.

On the second occasion, the work “Optimization of the design of the production level in the Chuquicamata Underground Mine” was presented. In this project, the gravitational flow tool FlowSim BC© was used as a pillar stability analysis, in order to establish an optimal extraction mesh for MCHS. This project was carried out by Juan Cristóbal Videla, Codelco, Chile, Rodrigo Quiroz, Codelco, Chile, Yonathan Molina, Codelco, Chile, Lenin Arancibia, BCTEC Ingeniería y Tecnología, Chile and Carlos Valdés, Project Engineer at BCTEC Ingeniería y Tecnología, and in charge of making the presentation.

In conclusion, BCTEC’s participation in the 3rd edition of the UMining 2024 Congress, with the presentation of two innovative projects in collaboration with CODELCO (MCHS), reaffirms its commitment to the technological and human development of mining 5.0, which reflect the progress in the optimization of mining processes and highlight the importance of cooperation to face the challenges of the future. The event was not only a platform for sharing knowledge, but also a space to strengthen alliances and encourage the exchange of ideas that will continue to drive the evolution of Chilean and global mining.

BCTEC Engineering and Technology was present at the 9th MassMin 2024 conference, the most relevant event for underground mining at a global level, held between October 15 and 19, 2024 in the city of Kiruna, Sweden. One of the most important congresses in the mining sector, it brought together more than 500 professionals, academics and researchers from around the world, who participated in conferences, panels and presentations of technological innovations applied to underground mining. The event highlighted the importance of emerging technologies, automation, and sustainability in the mining of the future.

During the day, BCTEC presented two key projects carried out in collaboration with CODELCO Chile, El Teniente Division. These projects, which incorporate innovative solutions and the use of state-of-the-art software

The first project presented was “Multi-level modeling in block/panel caving mining”. In which the gravitational flow of the El Teniente Mine is modeled, using the FlowSim BC v6.4 software. This considers multiple subsidence/gravity flow mechanisms and generates accurate long-term mine planning, comparing its modeling with reality, validated with mine data, including grades, drill holes and topography.

The second project, entitled “Impact of a water/mud risk model in the Diablo Regimiento sector at the El Teniente mine”, presents a risk model, developed and implemented in the BCRisk(c) machine learning software, which predicts the occurrence of these events with a high level of precision to improve the safety of the areas, allowing for real-time and efficient decision-making.

BCTEC’s participation in MassMin 2024 reaffirms its commitment to digital transformation and sustainability in mining, consolidating its position as a key player in the development of technological solutions for underground mining in Chile and the world.