M ine sit e visit s ha ve long been held in high r e g a r d by pr ospect ors mining companies r e gulat o rs and in vest ors T her e is no doubt that ha ving a t echnical t eam a v ailable t o view an y as set and pr ovide observ ation and opinion is critical t o underst anding the as set Most pr of es sion als agr ee that the cleanlines s and h y giene of a sit e f acility oper ation and their r espective sub part s r e f lect the manag e ment pr oject oper ation and cultur e in g ener al Given the man y r estrictions on tr a v el under the curr ent cir cumst anc es and the pos sibility that at least some could r emain in plac e f or an ext ended time r emot e visit s wher e a pr of es sional or a t eam view and observe a sit e without being ph ysically pr esent demand special at t ention A sit e visit is normally used t o v alidat e inf ormation and dat a on a particular pr operty During an y sit e visit even a r emot e one a number of peripher al observ ations happen natur ally that can help f orm an opinion on the pr operty manag ement and oper ation A r emot e sit e visit can never complet ely r eplac e an actual sit e visit T he int ent of this guideline adapt ed fr om a lar g er guideline on mine sit e visit s is t o pr ovide as much inf ormation as pos si ble about r emot e sit e inspection t o r educ e the risk of a desk t o p only or dat ar oom r e view T he wor d virtual is not used her e because this guideline covers actual sit e visit s wher e both imag es and sounds ar e live not cr eat ed in comput er gr aphics Man y engineering pr ocur ement and construction manag ement companies pr oduc e virtual 3D models that ar e based on engi neering design but 3D models ar e g ener ally not asbuilt and in some cases a f ollow up ph ysical inspection is nec es sary f or c e r t ain disciplines A r emot e sit e visit can r educ e the risk of r elianc e on r eport s and dat a without personal ph ysical conf ir mation and if perf ormed pr operly the inf ormation and dat a v alidation will be suff icient t o r educ e the risk as sociat ed with a desk t o p only r e view Prior to a r emote site visit P rior t o the sit e visit the maximum pos sible dat a and inf or mation should be g a ther ed It is helpful t o ensur e that the dat a is ev aluat ed underst ood and as ses sed f or an y g aps that the sit e visit may need t o addr es s A par allel sit e t eam should be est ablished t o carry out the visit Each r emot e discipline lead RD r esponsible f or the visit should be as signed a local count erpart sit e inspect or SI who will collect and tr ansmit the r equir ed sit e sensory inf ormation Although pr ef er able it is not r equir ed that the SI be a specialist in the discipline of the RD Each SI should be pr ovided instruc tion r e g a r ding how t o pr operly use an y communication meas ur ement or document ation equipment T her e ar e two part s t o the t echnology r equir ed t o carry out a r emot e sit e visit T he f i rst is r eal time communication methods including compatible sof tw ar e f or tr ansmis sion and r e c eption T he second is the equipment and the sof tw ar e nec es sary t o g a ther and tr ansmit sensory inf ormation T his equipment can v a ry fr om a simple smartphone or t ablet t o surveying and measur ement t ools including helmet camer as ey e glas s cam er as micr ophones and dr ones F ull agr eement must be made on the t echnologies t o be used f or a r emot e sit e visit A trial run is r e commended t o ensur e the equipment and sof tw ar e works and t o ensur e the SI can suc c e s s fully use it It is r e commended that a two part meeting between RDs and SIs be held t o coor dinat e the sit e visit T he f i rst part of the meeting should include the entir e t eam t o highlight the scope and int ent of the visit T he second part is f or each RD t o coor dinat e with his or her r espective SI individually A number of activities need t o be perf ormed in pr epar ation f or part two including but not limit ed t o T he RD should pr ovide an ag enda and plan f or the locations and ar eas they would lik e the SI t o visit T he RD should send thr ough the main element s t o examine in each ar ea T his will be the map schedule f or the r emot e sit e visit T he RD and SI should discus s the merit s and weaknes ses of the plan and f inaliz e the actual t our r out e or r emot e map Mobile communication devic es need t o be t est ed in all r egions of the visit and f acility If live communication is not pos sible then the method f or st or ag e and tr ansmis sion of inf orma tion must be agr eed t o A r e cor ded method can be used f o r instruction and f or f eedback when live communication is not pos sible Ensur e all communications devic es ar e fully char g e d and ha ve back up sour c es of power T he pr ef err ed methods of communication should be W iFi or c ellular but if these ar e not a v ailable then the sit e t echnology would g o vern how communica tion can happen between the RD and SI A smartphone or helmet camer a with audio is best suit ed f or the SI Do a trial run T he SI should ensur e that he or she can view what the camer a lens captur es In the case of phones the fr ont camer a can be used and in the case of helmet camer as a r emot e or headsup display can be used Also mak e sur e that phot os can be t a k en dir ectly by the RD thr ough an application or by t aking scr een shot s T he SI may also t a k e and send phot os t o the RD U pon appr ov al and instruction the SI can also t a k e short videos as nec es sary During the actual inspection the RD will instruct the SI t o move the camer a slow and st eady f or optimal video or t o z oom in and out as nec es sary or t o move closer or f a rther aw ay or a diff er ent dir ection so ther e must be agr eement on the camer a movement t erms i e pan dir ectional movement s z oom in out and calibr ation F or saf ety it is critical t o emphasiz e t o the SI the import anc e of being aw ar e of surr ounding s and w a t ching wher e he or she is See WHY Purpose of the Review and V isit in Part 1 of Mine and Mining Sit e V isit Guidelines A Pr actical Appr oach How to perform a r emote site visit By A vakash Patel P Eng 28 CIM Magazine V ol 15 No 3