Iron ore monolith, Rio Tinto has signed up to a 3-year software-as-a-service contract with ASX-listed tech player, K2fly. Rio will make use of K2fly’s Infoscope software platform to manage very sensitive heritage information across its iron ore mining operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. K2fly said the total contract value for the deal with Rio was set at A$719,000.
Rio’s public image suffered badly after the Juukan Gorge debacle that saw a revered aboriginal heritage site destroyed.
However Rio’s newly appointed Australian executive team, led by local CEO Kellie Parker and Aussie iron ore boss Simon Trott, has moved swiftly to ensure better corporate governance around its heritage obligations in the red dust of WA’s Mid West – hence the tie-up with K2fly.
With 16 integrated mines and associated infrastructure to look after, Rio’s Australian-based operations will store and manage its heritage database and indigenous information collected across numerous aboriginal sites over more than 30 years using Infoscope.
K2fly Chief Commercial Officer, Nic Pollock said: “We are delighted to be working with Rio Tinto on this important solution in cultural heritage management. K2fly brings unique experience in this field to offer our customers a repeatable software solution and working independently with other indigenous corporations.”
K2fly’s Infoscope provides a search solution and research capability for managing cultural heritage and it can be used in future surveys in partnership with traditional owners.
Interestingly, the timing may be more than a coincidence for K2fly after the mining governance software disruptor recently picked up the software business of SATEVA, which also caters for iron ore producers, including Rio and its neighbours, Fortescue Metals Group and Roy Hill.
SATEVA specialises in building IT applications in fields such as exploration, grade control, planning, ore tracking, inventory management, reconciliation and data management.
K2fly is also in the process of developing a new solution for block modelling that the company says will dramatically improve and simplify model management for miners running multiple operations. It will also provide a direct line of sight and governance from the block model to annual mineral inventory reports.
Block models of ore are aggregated to produce annual mineral resource and reserve reports, integrating directly with K2fly’s existing RCubed resource inventory reporting solution.
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