Pointerra3D has been developed with the goal of creating a digital twin platform attuned to the demands of mining.
There is little debate about the massive potential of digital twin platforms. The concept has been around for a decade and adoption among Australian miners has been especially strong in the past couple of years. The original purpose of a digital twin was to provide a virtual representation of an object or system designed to reflect a physical object accurately. Today, it has come to mean so much more.
Now spanning the object’s lifecycle, a modern digital twin is updated from real-time data and uses simulation, machine learning and reasoning to help make decisions.
Often used in asset-intensive industries, when implemented well, digital twins offer benefits for enhanced performance and optimisation, cost reduction, improved decision-making, and collaboration.
In the resources sector, concerns remain about integration and efficacy on the ground. Compounding demands placed on mining operations – including environmental, social and governance (ESG) and native titles – have proved a challenge for the industry when searching for a digital twin platform attuned to their needs.
The task of navigating everyday challenges and fully integrating such platforms into complex legacy operations can end in a fragmented solution that, at best, fulfils some functions, but at worst, leaves operators with a new set of headaches.
While many aspects of the platforms are impressive, measurable gains in safety, compliance and productivity have been harder to come by. Return on investment (ROI) has also often proved elusive.
That’s where Pointerra solution can cement its value to the industry.
Founded in 2015, Australian-born company Pointerra was started by geospatial experts and software developers with hands-on experience in mining. From the outset, they recognised a major gap in the market: the need for faster, more accurate, and scalable digital twins.
It is these beginnings, Pointerra chief revenue officer David Lowe said, that offer the company’s point of difference.
“At the time, processing and sharing large-scale geospatial datasets was slow, expensive and fragmented,” Lowe told Mining. “It made it hard for operators to extract timely insights. We set out to change that, creating a cloud-deployed platform capable of delivering real-time, enterprise-wide access to high-fidelity digital twins at scale.”
Rather than creating a bolt-on platform for existing software stacks, Pointerra sought to utilise its industry experience and collaborate closely with clients to build ground-up solutions.
The result was Pointerra3D, a platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI)-driven algorithms and scalable cloud processing to rapidly convert massive 3D datasets into analytics and insights that provide definitive answers to questions of physical asset management.
“What sets Pointerra apart is our focus on mining’s hardest challenges,” Lowe said. “We’re helping operators detect risks earlier, simplify ESG reporting, and deliver trust to regulators and communities, all while reducing boots on the ground.”
Lowe said collaboration with Tier 1 miners over the past decade has led to the development of solutions for remote-first underground mining and more robust hazard management tools.
These developments have helped evolve the platform in ways that benefit the whole industry, including smaller operators.
“We’re helping smaller operators achieve operational excellence through practical, fit-for-purpose digital twins, optimising sustaining CAPEX [capital expenditure], improving safety and compliance, and enabling preventive maintenance,” Lowe said.
The collaboration process has yielded solid results in the development and ongoing refinement of the platform. One of the key lessons that has stuck with the team, and constantly informs its work, is that cookie-cutter solutions rarely cut it in mining.
The focus on creating workable solutions for real-world challenges has played a key part in Pointerra’s sector-first approach to design and implementation.
From early on, Lowe said, the cloud-based platform was conceptualised as more than just a visual modelling tool.
“It’s a living, evolving record of a mine’s assets, environment and operations over time,” he said. “It brings together multi-epoch 3D datasets, engineering designs and operational metrics in a single, accessible environment. This unified view allows mining teams to detect change, monitor conformance and predict issues before they become costly problems.”
With the uptake for digital twin platforms in full swing, Pointerra has staked its ground by focusing on creating a platform that is responsive to the needs of clients, from the heavy hitters in the industry right through to smaller, niche operators.
While the path to digital transformation has been something of a rocky one, Pointerra is hoping its platform can smooth the way to more value-rich insights to optimise performance across the entire mining lifecycle.
Pointerra will be exhibiting at booth E131 at the WA Mining Conference and Exhibition to be held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 8–9.
