Idoba updates mining simulation with weekly planning

Idoba has released Version 2.0 of its idoba.sim underground mining simulation software, adding integrated modelling of development advance and load-and-haul in a single simulation run.

Aimed at short-term planning in underground hard rock mines, the new version is designed for operations where crews enter through a tunnel rather than a vertical shaft. It models development work such as drilling, blasting, bogging and ground support alongside development and production haulage, allowing planners to assess how those activities affect one another across a weekly 14-shift schedule.

This departs from earlier approaches that treated development advance and haulage as separate planning tasks. Planners previously had to estimate how truck movements, equipment access and tunnel traffic would affect development schedules and ore movement underground.

By combining those elements in one run, the software is intended to show where equipment conflicts, congestion and access pressure emerge in a working mine layout. It also simulates each vehicle and machine separately, so trucks, loaders and drills operate under their own constraints rather than as part of a broader aggregate model.

Planning Gap

The update comes as mine operators look for ways to tighten the link between planning teams and execution underground. In short-term planning, small changes to a heading, shift allocation or equipment deployment can affect haulage routes, waiting times and development progress across the rest of the week.

The software produces results as a range of outcomes rather than a single figure, including low, likely and high cases intended to reflect variability in mine operations. That gives planning teams a way to compare schedules under different operating assumptions.

Version 2.0 also introduces weekly scheduling tools that let teams test a two-shift-per-day, seven-day plan and compare alternative scenarios. It can model the effect of a heading going offline or equipment being reassigned, helping mines identify bottlenecks earlier in the planning process.

It also includes 3D playback and dashboard reporting covering truck and loader cycle times, utilisation, tonne-kilometres hauled and downtime across several equipment types, including loaders, trucks, jumbos and spraymecs.

Raj Ratneser, President of Mining Services, Perenti, outlined how the software has changed since the first release. "Version 1.0 gave underground operators a way to test load-and-haul decisions before crews and equipment were committed," Ratneser said.

"With idoba.sim 2.0, we have extended that capability into the area where planning teams feel the most pressure, which is development advance and the weekly schedule. This means mine planners and technical services managers can now build a schedule, stress-test it against real operating constraints and defend the call before anyone goes underground. That is a meaningful shift in how short-term planning gets done," he said.

Operational Focus

The software sits within Perenti's broader mining services portfolio and draws on input from mining specialists across the group, including Barminco. Industry experience shaped the latest release and informed how the software addresses the gap between plan and execution in underground settings.

Ratneser said the latest version reflects that operational background. "Version 2.0 reflects our experience and what we have heard directly from planning teams about where the plan-to-execution gap sits and how to close it," he said.

Stephen Simpson, Product Manager, idoba.sim, said development activity needed to be included if underground mines were to simulate short-term performance more realistically. "Development advance is critical to unlocking future production and is therefore an essential component of accurately simulating the full underground mining cycle," Simpson said.

"By modelling the full drill-blast-bog-support cycle alongside load-and-haul activities, planning teams can better understand operational constraints, equipment interactions and the likely impact on schedule performance before execution," he said.

Market Context

Idoba launched the first version of idoba.sim in July 2025. The earlier release focused on making load-and-haul simulation more accessible to operations teams without specialist modelling expertise, while the latest expands the product into development planning and full weekly schedule testing.

The update underlines a wider push in mining software towards more detailed operational models rather than high-level planning outputs alone. In underground hard rock mines, where access is constrained and multiple activities often compete for the same decline, headings and equipment, that level of detail can affect how reliably a weekly plan translates into work completed on the ground.

Version 2.0 is available globally and targets mine operators seeking to test short-term planning assumptions against equipment limits, traffic interactions and shift-by-shift operating conditions.