From it's humble beginnings as MSRAP back in the 2000's, the mXrap platform we know today has grown into a multi-disciplinary collection of geotechnical apps. It's continued expansion is driven by a number of ACG research projects and strong industry collaboration, growing it into a widely adopted industry platform used across the globe for managing a range of geotechnical risk.

As the platform continues to evolve and new apps emerge, it’s worth taking a fresh look at the capabilities now available to you, and how these apps link together.

Platform Overview

With the growing number of apps within the mXrap platform, there is also an inherent interconnectivity between many of the features and it can be difficult navigating what links to what, especially when you are new to the platform, or adding key new features into your set-up.

Use the interactive graphic below to navigate the app ecosystem. Hovering over any app will automatically highlight all connected apps. There's more information and key links for each of the apps in the sections below.

Different apps can be suited to different mining methods and site needs. The following sections provide high level overviews of the various apps and if you would like more information, a link to the full product page is provided for convenience.

Seismic Apps

The Mine Seismicity module provides tools for the analysis and interpretation of seismic data and management of seismic hazard. There are a number of key apps that integrate to form the Mine Seismicity module which include:

• General Analysis
• Large Event Analysis
• Grid-based Analysis
• Hazard Assessment
• Fault-based Analysis
• Short-term Response Analysis
• Omori Analysis
• Seismic Monitoring
• System Design
• Seismic Event Quality
• Plane Fitting

For more information, see the full product page.

Numerical Modelling Integration

This app helps users to create clean model geometry for input into numerical modelling packages along with visualisation of the results in combination with other monitoring data.

It utilises the Mine Geometry Models app and is able to input a range of survey file formats as input files. These surveys are then discretised to allow for a cleaning process to be run. Following this, the user can export the clean shapes into several different file formats including Map3D files, FLAC3D grid files and the conventional .dxf along with others.

For more information, see the full product page.

Inspections and Data Entry

This app is a general purpose data entry app designed for offline use with tablet devices which can be fully customised to fit each site's exact needs.

The app allows simple and fast input of multiple data types (selection, text, numerical inputs, orientation etc.) as well as attaching photos and sketches to reports. Inputs can be grouped into sections, or into different pages for easier use. Other useful features include:

• The ability to georeference inspections using mine plans
• View data from previous reports
• Customised the desktop view to suite your required analyses and reporting requirements

So far, uses from sites have included:

• General underground inspections
• QAQC inspections and checks
• Rock mass characterisation mapping
• Open pit inspections
• Pastefill UCS testing

With reports documented digitally, you remove the requirement to undertake data entry and support the site safety management system with verifiable inspections and record keeping.

For more information, see the full product page.

Instrumentation

Instrumentation currently includes extensometers and in situ stress monitoring as independent apps. See the Caving Suite for more information about cave-specific monitoring.

Extensometers

This app enables the user to import and evaluate various formats of extensometer. By enabling the user to select the time window of interest, data across the life of the instrument can be investigated both as cumulative values over the length of the instrument and also for each node. Overlaying the extensometer into the 3D view with mien survey data, seismicity and blasting provides additional context to the observed changes and supports the generation of images for inclusion in reports.

In Situ Stress Monitoring

Leveraging installed continuous stress monitoring devices like CSIRO stress cells or vibrating wire stress cells, this app enables visualisation of the recorded data over time. It also inverts the data to produce the in situ stress state, allowing for the analysis of changes in stress magnitude and orientation over time.

For more information on either of these instrumentation apps, see the full product page.

Rock Mass Data

The aim of this module is to allow users to seamlessly import, organise, visualise, and analyse geotechnical data related to the rock mass, intact rock, discontinuities and stress measurements - all in one centralised, powerful database built for modern mining operations.

A dedicated app also enables users to perform raisebore stability analysis.

This app is recommended for anyone looking to unlock deeper insights into their data from a geotechnical perspective. Key features include:

• automatic synchronisation with on-site databases, when available
• association of geological logs, borehole surveys and all associated geotechnical data including structural, rock mass and lab testing data
• fitting of Hoek-Brown curves to different segments of data detailed and rapid statistical comparisons between lithologies or domains
• stereonet functionality including set assessment and assignement
• integrated core and lab photos to validate statistical analyses
• perform raisebore stability assessments based on the McCracken and Stacey (1989) method

For more information and a demonstration, see the full product page.

Discrete Fracture Network

The DFN apps provide tools to generate a Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) from your structural data, calibrate it from your sampling data, and analyze the tetrahedral and complex blocks around underground excavations. You can also do static assessment of stability of blocks in a probabilistic manner.

For more information, see the full product page.

Utilities

These tools are intended to make the user's experience with the mXrap software more streamlined and can help improve the overall performance of the app. Tools include:

• Geotechnical Domain Builder
• Generic Point Plotter
• Mine Geometry Models
• Minode Generator
• Rescue your Data
• Survey Format Converter

For more information, see the full product page

Backfill

This module is a collection of tools to aid in the design of backfill in stoping operations. Users can simulate filling in their stope geometry from multiple fill locations and with different fill beaching angles. This allows for volume calculations of partially rock-filled stopes. Bund capacities can also be calculated by removing the fill barricades. There is also a tool to simulate the flow of paste along the input reticulation path. This can be used to ensure the gravitational flow will overcome the pipe friction and reach the stope successfully without blocking the line. Key features include:

• Calculate fill volumes and bund capacities from input geometry.
• Assess the stability of the fill mass using multiple analytical methods.
• Analyse UCS testing data and fit a strength prediction model.
• Assess the friction and pressure profile of input paste reticulation path.

For more information, see the full product page.

Stope Reconciliation and Prediction

The Stope Reconciliation module allows users to reconcile their mined surveys and design shapes quickly and easily. The reconciliation analysis is done on a fine resolution (less than 1 m) which allows for insights on a scale not previously considered in the industry. The app considers a range of factors which can contribute to stope performance, for example, quantification of various aspects of design geometry, blasthole data, and geotechnical data. The analysis application gives users the ability to visualise and discover trends in their data, identifying the critical factors leading to stope overbreak and underbreak at their mine.

For more information and a demonstration, see the full product page.

Ground Support Standard Designer

The Ground Support Standard Designer app provides tools for designing and visualising ground support systems for underground excavations. This application allows users to create standardised ground support designs that can be used in analysis and other mXrap apps. Within the interactive environment users are able to:

• Define tunnel drive profiles with customisable dimensions and curvature
• Design ground support patterns including rock bolts, shotcrete, mesh, and straps
• Calculate ground support energy capacity
• Visualise support elements in both profile and unwrapped views
• Create ground support standards for use across multiple apps

For more information, see the full product page.

Caving Suite

The Caving module is a set of applications that provide tools for the analysis and interpretation of cave monitoring data sources. Currently, four apps are included in the Caving module:

• Caving Sandbox
• Fragmentation
• Open Hole Dipping
• Caving Hydraulic Radius

Caving Sandbox

The Caving Sandbox brings together multiple forms of cave monitoring in order to give users the best possible picture of what is happening in their cave mine. The app also includes several other charts and tables to help quantify production versus seismicity and the height of the cave back over time. Monitoring methods currently built into the Sandbox include:

• Seismic monitoring
• Smart markers & networked smart markers
• Elexon cave tracker beacons
• TDR cables
• Extensometers
• Prouduction tracking data
• Borehole logging
• Active seismic tomography
• Fibre optic cable monitoring
• Blast data
• Surface subsidence from surface flyover data and prisms

As monitoring technologies continue to develop, new features are being developed in this Sandbox in collaboration with mining operations and suppliers.

Fragmentation

This app processes and visualises caving fragmentation data. It allows you to view particle size distributions for multiple drawpoints across different dates. Selected particle‑size percentile values can be displayed in 3D for each date, as well as in a column format to show how they change over time. You can also generate 3D pie charts for each drawpoint to illustrate the proportion of fragmentation size categories. Additionally, a 3D heatmap of fragmentation can be produced to highlight spatial patterns in the data.

Open Hole Dipping

Linked to the Rock Mass Data app to plot boreholes, the user is able to enter downhole depths that represent the cave back, muckpile, yield zone or any other user defined labels to assist in visualising cave position and growth over time. With the overlay of additional monitoring data sources, this feature assists site geotechncial engineers in understanding the cave profile and subsequently aid in on site risk management processes.

Caving Hydraulic Radius

Using the undercut blasting data, this module calculates the hydraulic radius (HR) of the undercut over time. The app also provides functions to correlate the seismic response with the hydraulic radius.

For more information on any of these features in the Caving module, see the full product page.

Inrush

The Inrush Management app allows users to visualise data from multiple sources for the purpose of quantifying and visualising inrush risk on a block cave footprint. Pulling data sources from the Caving module, and additional information from site observation of drawpoint conditions, bogging status and PCBC clay forecasting, information is categorised and ranked based on the site-specific risk framework. The app can also be configured to consider any range of data available on site, along with specific categories and risk rankings to produce plots overlain on the cave footprint, pertaining to inrush risk and associated factors.

For more information, see the full product page.

Surface Monitoring

The Prism Monitoring app provides the tools to import and evaluate prism data which is routinely used to monitor ground movements, for example, slopes in open pits, underground drives or subsidence zones associated with caving. Displacement and rate data are plotted in 3D as a vector and interpolated values are shown on triangulations, charted over time, and summarised in tables. Data from the period of interest can be selected for individual, multiple, or predefined zones of prisms. Additional analysis options include piecewise linear fitting to assess rates of deformation and persistent quality tags for excluding erroneous data.

For more information, see the full product page.

Have an idea or suggestion?

If you have suggestions or ideas for other tools or apps that might be of use, please reach out to the mXrap team.