NFCA Intelligent Mining
Digital Twin & Process Control Platform

Smart mining represents a strategic direction for mining industry transformation — integrating IoT, big data, spatial computing, automatic control, and intelligent equipment to achieve full-factor sensing, analysis, decision-making, and control across the mine lifecycle, with the goals of safer operations, higher efficiency, and lower cost.

The NFCA Intelligent Mining Platform, developed by USTB in partnership with NFCA operations, delivers this vision through a Browser/Server (B/S) digital twin architecture. The platform spans 3D geological modeling, underground mine visualization, paste backfill control, mineral processing monitoring, safety surveillance, and integrated operations dashboards — all accessible from standard web browsers on the plant network.

At the production level, two core operational systems — Paste Backfill and Flotation — provide real-time control and decision support for underground filling and mineral separation respectively, unified under a shared MES infrastructure with MongoDB, MySQL, InfluxDB, and Grafana.

Platform Vision

The platform uses a proprietary web-based 2D/3D visualization engine together with low-code configuration tools to build digital twin solutions across the mine. Scenarios cover production control, equipment management, safety monitoring, environmental sensing, mineral processing, and 3D geological modeling — supporting underground mines, open-pit operations, and processing plants with intelligent coordination across multiple process stages.

• Real-time interconnection and comprehensive sensing
• Dynamic prediction and intelligent analysis
• Collaborative control and autonomous learning
• Multi-source heterogeneous data integration
• PC, large-screen, tablet, and mobile access
• Video fusion with 3D scene overlay

System Purpose

As a dedicated module within the NFCA smart mining platform, the paste backfill system provides end-to-end visibility and intelligent control for underground filling operations. It covers the complete workflow from slurry preparation and pipeline transport to stope placement and quality tracking — directly supporting cut-and-fill and similar mining methods that require continuous backfill of worked stopes.

The system integrates seamlessly with the platform's 3D mine visualization, geological models, and integrated operations dashboard, giving operators and managers a unified view of both surface preparation and underground placement.

The following screenshots were captured from the production deployment with the English language selected. They demonstrate how the platform's digital twin visualization, intelligent process control, AI safety monitoring, and instrument management modules work together in a real underground copper mine environment.

System Purpose

The flotation and mineral processing module continuously collects plant DCS data via OPC, stores time-series measurements in a central database, and applies online signal filtering and rule-based anomaly detection. Aligned with the platform's mineral processing digital twin vision, it covers the full beneficiation chain — from crushing and grinding through flotation and thickening — with real-time equipment status, process parameter tracking, and intelligent alerting.

Under the strategic goals of high-quality development and green transformation, the module supports optimized resource utilization, reduced energy consumption, and data-driven process improvement across the flotation plant.

The NFCA platform establishes a real-time interconnected, comprehensively sensed, dynamically predictive, and collaboratively controlled monitoring mode by integrating 2D configuration, 3D digital twin, GIS spatial data, and video fusion into a single web-accessible environment.

• Unified infrastructure — MongoDB, MySQL, InfluxDB, and Grafana on a shared MES server.
• Geology → Mining → Backfill → Processing — data flows from geological models through underground operations, paste filling, to flotation beneficiation.
• Digital twin + real-time control — 3D visualization layers sit atop live OPC/DCS data streams for both backfill and flotation.
• Cross-module AI — Computer vision (leakage, personnel), signal filtering, and intelligent set-point control shared across subsystems.
• Management cockpit — BI dashboards aggregate KPIs from mining, backfill ledger, and processing output for executive decision-making.
• Multi-terminal access — Operators use PC workstations; managers use large screens; field staff can access via tablet or mobile browser.