32AVEVA World Magazine 2012|Issue 2Minera MILPO plays an important role in the expansion of the mineral industry in PeruEven to those familiar with it, the scale of the mining and minerals industry in Latin America is impressive, supplying the bulk of the world's demand for essential metals such as copper, silver and zinc. The explosion in demand, and the rich resources available here, have rapidly transformed mining from a low-technology, labour-intensive industry into a technically sophisticated and environmentally responsible one which makes a major contribution to the region's economic prosperity.Karla MoisesMarketing Communications, AVEVAAVEVA customers are among the industry's most productive businesses, so we were pleased to meet Minera MILPO in Peru to learn about its success with AVEVA PDMS. Minera MILPO, a leading mining and metallurgical company with more than 2,500 employees and headquartered in Lima in Peru, plays an important role in the expansion of the mineral industry in Peru. The company is currently engaged in several new large-scale projects, and in projects for the expansion of existing mining plants. First, we met Marco Zavala, Manager for Engineering and Projects at Minera MILPO. Mr Zavala explained that Minera MILPO specialises in the design, implementation and operation of medium-sized mines, producing copper, zinc, lead and silver.AVEVA Plant implemented to increase efficiency'Higher worldwide demand for metals has encouraged mining companies in Peru to invest in expanding and modernising their operations,' Mr Zavala explained. 'Here at MILPO we realised that, in order to handle larger projects, and to increase design efficiency and the quality of production information, we needed to move from our original 2D design system to a 3D solution that could support planning, design and construction.'The Cerro Lindo plant is located in a desert zone 1,850 metres above sea level. Photographs courtesy of Minera MILPO.

AVEVA World Magazine 2012|Issue 233AVEVA Plant was selected after a thorough evaluation of several systems, resulting in AVEVA PDMS being implemented in 2009. On-site support and training was provided by staff from AVEVA's offices in Peru and Colombia. Important factors in selecting PDMS were that the solution should enable concurrent working between different design disciplines, it should be capable of managing large quantities of data, and should be a well-respected system within the industry.'It was very important for MILPO to find a system that could easily handle a 3D model with a high level of detail,' continued Mr Zavala. 'Our earlier systems performed very poorly when handling large databases. With 2D technology we often found limitations in clash detection, and essential information for fabrication and construction was frequently missing. Together, these led to costly rework due to design modifications late in the design process,' he concluded.Training the trainerMILPO established a small pilot group of skilled engineers, who were trained by AVEVA. This group then trained other members of the 30-strong engineering department. The engineers found PDMS to be very intuitive and easy to learn, which made full implementation quick and efficient. Today, MILPO uses PDMS for all basic engineering, plant layout and detail engineering.'MILPO's engineering department offers services from feasibility studies to turnkey constructions,' explained Mr Zavala. 'For each project, we set up a dedicated project group incorporating design engineers from all the different disciplines. This group acts as an in-house engineering contractor, with full responsibility for the execution of the project from design to commissioning.'AVEVA PDMS in actionMinera MILPO's first project with PDMS was the expansion of Cerro Lindo, a polymetallic concentrate plant located in a desert zone 1,850 metres above sea level. This successful project doubled production at Cerro Lindo from 5,000 to 10,000 tons per day of zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver concentrate. It took 19 months to build, coming on stream in June 2008.'Cerro Lindo was a particularly challenging project,' explained Nicolás Mercado, Engineering Projects Leader at MILPO. 'There was scarcely enough water even for the surrounding population. For this reason we decided not to use water from the nearby river, but to set up a desalination plant that processes sea water, sending fresh water to the Cerro Lindo Mining Unit where it is used for all operational needs, both industrial and domestic.''The single most important advantage of PDMS is its ability to generate completely clash-free designs. Now we can be confident that everything will fit during construction of the plant. This saves us a lot of time and money...'www.aveva.com/45years