Demo

Implementation of PI System at Buenaventura Mining Company.

Lima, Peru

  • Company:

Compañía de Minas Buenaventura

  • Location:

Lima, Peru

In early 2018, Compañía de Minas Buenaventura assigned PIPER Solutions to analyze, design, and implement AVEVA PI System™ across its five main mining units in Peru: Uchucchacua, Tambomayo, Orcopampa, Coimolache, and the Río Seco plant. The project integrated more than a dozen control systems from different vendors (Siemens, Schneider, Wonderware, ABB, Rockwell) into a unified architecture, with 28 configured interfaces, hierarchical models aligned to SAP PM, and a corporate server in Lima to centralize the metallurgical balance — moving Buenaventura toward a fully digitalized, real-time monitored operation.

  • Challenges

Unifying Fragmented Data Across 5 Mining Units and Multiple Control Systems

The initial data-gathering effort revealed a fragmented ecosystem of data sources across the Mine, Plant, Maintenance, and Laboratory areas at each unit:

  • Diverse control systems: Siemens (WinCC, PCS7), Schneider (PME), Wonderware, ABB, Rockwell, PLCs, SQL databases, and Kepserver, operating without a common communication standard.
  • Isolated, non-historized signals, with equipment running for years without any digital record of its performance.
  • Visualization limited to the control room, with HMI interfaces restricted to a limited number of signals and no remote access.
  • Manual production calculations, such as equipment run-hour counters, logged on paper.
  • No standard linking plant and maintenance, with no relationship between operational signals and the asset structure defined in SAP PM.
  • Decentralized information across units, with no single point consolidating operational data from the five units or the lab assay data needed for the metallurgical balance.
  • Solution

A Unified PI System™ Architecture, Per Unit and Corporate-Wide

PIPER designed and deployed a PI System™ architecture tailored to each unit’s communication reality, with local installations and corporate centralization in Lima.

Architecture design

  • A PI System™ architecture designed around each unit’s specific communication requirements, integrating every identified data source based on the required PI interface type: Modbus for skip PLCs in the Mine area, OPC DA for SCADA systems in the Plant area, and RDBMS for relational databases in Laboratory and Energy.

PI System installation

  • Installation and configuration of PI Data Archive, PI AF, and PI Vision at each mining unit, optimizing response times and reducing information latency, with storage capacity sized for 5 years of data.
  • 28 interfaces (API Nodes) configured to collect data from all identified sources.
  • Hierarchical models in PI AF aligned to the structure defined in SAP PM, with calculations built in PI Analytics and automated notifications for critical signals via PI Notifications.

Mine

  • Development of production calculations for underground mines: ore and waste extraction by shaft, Skip counts per hour, shift, and month.
  • Monitoring of hoisting winches: bearing temperature, lubrication motors, reset status, and run-hour counters — equipment that had gone unrecorded for years.
  • PI Vision dashboards showing real-time Skip location, ore and waste production, energy, and run hours, accessible from multiple devices.
  • Operational reports in PI DataLink for ore extraction and Skips per hour.

Plant

  • Mapping of plant signals into the PI AF tree, aligned to the SAP PM standard.
  • Mapping of crushing, grinding, flotation, and tailings processes, with tonnage calculations by shift and daily totals.
  • Automated reports in PI DataLink, including Daily and Monthly Reports with tonnage and assay grades.
  • PI Vision displays for crushing, grinding, flotation, and tailings, plus monitoring of bearing temperature, lubrication motors, and run hours.
  • Integration of ION energy meters into PI System, incorporated into the PI AF hierarchical model.
  • A general Plant Operations dashboard, integrating mine production, lab assay grades, energy, and their trends.

Lima (Corporate)

  • PI to PI interfaces to centralize production information from all plants on a corporate server in Lima, and distribute lab assay grades back out to each unit.
  • An HTML interface on the corporate server connecting to metal price websites, enabling metallurgical balance calculations.
  • Correction of automated signals showing erroneous or unused data.
  • Training delivered at each mining unit, with PI DataLink and PI Vision courses to build user self-sufficiency.
  • Results

Measurable Impact on Buenaventura’s Digitalization

  • 5 mining units integrated (Uchucchacua, Tambomayo, Orcopampa, Coimolache, Río Seco) under a common PI System™ architecture.
  • 28 interfaces configured, spanning Modbus, OPC DA, and RDBMS to collect data from Mine, Plant, Laboratory, and Energy.
  • Hierarchical models in PI AF aligned to SAP PM, standardizing the relationship between operational signals and asset structure.
  • Equipment with no historical record for years (such as hoisting winches) monitored in real time for the first time.
  • Centralized metallurgical balance on a corporate server in Lima, integrating production, lab assay grades, and metal prices.
  • Correction of erroneous data signals, improving overall system data quality.
  • Staff trained in PI DataLink and PI Vision at each mining unit, achieving operational self-sufficiency.
  • Gallery
  • Key Benefits

Why It Matters

  • Operational visibility from anywhere: real-time monitoring of mine and plant production from multiple devices, eliminating dependence on the control room.
  • Elimination of manual paper records, with automated run-hour and production calculations.
  • Standardization between operations and maintenance, thanks to aligning the PI AF model with SAP PM.
  • An integrated view of the entire value chain: from ore extraction to lab assay grades and the metallurgical balance, in a single corporate dashboard.
  • Recovered value from previously invisible assets, by historizing equipment for the first time that had operated with no digital record at all.
  • Centralized decision-making, with data from all five units consolidated in Lima for corporate management.
  • Self-sufficient local teams, thanks to training in visualization and reporting tools.
  • A solid foundation for continued digitalization at Buenaventura, laying the groundwork for future advanced analytics and data-driven decision-making.

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