Mining and minerals
Commissioning software for plants that have to hit ore-first, not just mechanically complete.
A concentrator or processing plant is judged on one date: the day ore or first metal actually flows through it. Deskely holds the pre-commissioning, wet commissioning and ramp-up record for every process area — from the ROM pad through crushing, grinding, flotation and concentrate load-out — in one place, built for remote sites, FIFO rosters and a statutory inspectorate that will ask for the evidence.
Choose your project type
The problem
Remote, rostered and regulated — and the record still has to hold together.
Mine site commissioning runs across EPCM contractors, OEM vendor reps flying in for a fixed window, and a FIFO workforce that rotates mid-system. Add a statutory mine inspectorate that has to sign off before ore can be introduced, and a paper or spreadsheet trail becomes the biggest risk on the ramp-up schedule.
Process areas are commissioned out of sequence
Crushing, grinding, flotation and load-out are built, tested and started up by different contractors on different timelines, and nobody can see which areas are actually ready to accept ore.
OEM vendor reps sign off and leave
Mill, crusher and flotation cell vendors commission their package on a short site visit, and the loop checks, alignment records and performance curves they leave behind rarely make it into a single system record.
FIFO rosters break the continuity of the record
A commissioning crew rotates out mid-test, and the incoming crew has no reliable way to see what was already checked, what failed, and what is still outstanding on their own system.
Statutory inspectorate sign-off is a separate scramble
Mine safety inspectorate approval to introduce ore or energise high-risk equipment depends on evidence that is usually chased down from contractors at the last minute rather than held as part of the commissioning record.
TSF and water compliance sit outside the plant record
Tailings storage facility construction sign-off and water management compliance are tracked by a separate environmental team, disconnected from the plant readiness picture that ramp-up depends on.
Handover to operations happens after ramp-up, not before
Operations and maintenance teams inherit the plant at first metal with no structured as-commissioned record, and spend the early ramp-up weeks reverse-engineering what was actually tested.
What you get
Built for the sequence a concentrator is actually ramped up against.
Model the plant as process areas, systems and equipment that match the flowsheet, and gate ore introduction and first metal on the pre-commissioning, wet commissioning and inspectorate evidence beneath them.
Pre-commissioning and loop checks
Crushers, mills, flotation cells, pumps and conveyors checked and signed against the equipment register before wet commissioning begins, with OEM records attached to the asset.
Learn moreWet commissioning by process area
Water and dry-run commissioning tracked separately for crushing, grinding, flotation, thickening and load-out, so readiness is visible area by area rather than plant-wide.
Learn moreOEM vendor rep sign-off
Vendor commissioning windows tracked against their own scope, with alignment records, performance curves and punch items captured before the rep leaves site.
Learn moreStatutory inspectorate certificates
Ore-introduction and energisation approvals gated on the underlying records, exportable as the evidence package a mine inspectorate requires before sign-off.
Learn moreTSF and water compliance records
Tailings storage facility construction and water management sign-offs tracked alongside plant systems, so environmental compliance isn't a separate readiness question.
Learn moreRoster-proof handover
Shift and FIFO crew handover notes attached to the live record, so an incoming crew sees exactly what was tested, what failed and what remains — not a verbal handover.
Learn moreHow it runs
From ROM pad to concentrate, on the record.
- 01
Pre-commission by process area
Crushing, grinding and flotation equipment checked and signed against the flowsheet before any wet commissioning is attempted.
- 02
Wet commission and vendor sign-off
OEM vendor reps run performance testing per package, with results and punch captured before their site window closes.
- 03
Inspectorate and TSF sign-off
Statutory ore-introduction certificates and TSF/water compliance records cleared ahead of first ore.
- 04
Ramp-up and O&M handover
Ore-first and first-metal ramp-up tracked by process area, with the as-commissioned dossier handed to operations and maintenance from day one.
Side by side
Site folders and vendor reports versus one ramp-up record.
The question the inspectorate, the EPCM and the incoming operations team all ask at ore-first is the same: can you show every process area was tested, in sequence, by the crew that actually did it?
| Aspect | Site folders and vendor reports | Deskely |
|---|---|---|
| Process area readiness | Estimated in a weekly ramp-up meeting. | Reported live from signed pre-commissioning and wet commissioning records. |
| OEM vendor evidence | Left behind in reports after the rep departs. | Captured against the asset before the vendor window closes. |
| FIFO crew handover | A verbal handover at crew change. | A live record an incoming crew can pick up mid-system. |
| Inspectorate sign-off | Chased from contractors at the last minute. | Exported directly from the underlying commissioning record. |
| TSF and water compliance | Tracked separately from plant readiness. | Held alongside plant systems in the same readiness picture. |
| O&M handover | Reverse-engineered after first metal. | A structured dossier ready from the first day of ramp-up. |
What changes
Per area
readiness across crushing, grinding, flotation and load-out
Roster-proof
handover between rotating FIFO crews
Export-ready
evidence for statutory inspectorate sign-off
Day one
handover dossier for operations and maintenance
Before you shortlist
Estimate what your current process costs
Enter your tag count and record handling time to see the admin hours and cost in play — then book a demo against your own numbers.
FAQ
Questions about mining and minerals.
Keep reading
Project types
The same completions ladder, from a pit ramp to a hydroxide train.
What changes between mining scopes is the process area breakdown, which vendor rep witnesses the test and what the inspectorate wants to see before ore moves. The record types, the gates and the audit trail behind them do not.
Open pit mine fleet and fixed plant commissioning
An open pit build mixes civil earthworks, a primary crusher station, overland conveyors, dewatering pumps and a haul fleet that has to be commissioned truck by truck against OEM acceptance criteria. Deskely holds every fixed asset, mobile unit and test in one register with the ore-first gate and the statutory mine inspectorate sign-off built in.
See this scope in detailUnderground mine shaft and ventilation commissioning
An underground mine commissions life-critical systems that a surface operation never touches: shaft winders and their overspeed protection, ventilation-on-demand fans and regulators, refuge bays, mine-wide gas monitoring and underground communications. Deskely holds every shaft, level and system in one register with the statutory sign-off gates that have to close before crews go underground.
See this scope in detailOre processing plant and concentrator commissioning
A concentrator is a chain of circuits — crushing, SAG and ball milling, flotation, thickening and filtration — where a fault in one stage stalls every stage downstream of it. Commissioning has to prove each circuit individually and then prove the whole plant runs as a system under real ore, with metallurgical performance tracked against the process design criteria. Deskely holds every mill, cell and thickener in one register with the ramp-up curve and first-concentrate gate built in.
See this scope in detailTailings storage facility and mine water commissioning
A tailings storage facility carries consequence that few other mine assets do: an embankment instrumentation failure or a decant tower blockage is a dam-safety event, not a maintenance ticket. Commissioning has to prove piezometers, seepage monitoring, decant towers, spillways and the reclaim water pumping circuit before deposition starts, and keep proving them for the life of the facility. Deskely holds every instrument, structure and pump in one register with the independent engineer's sign-off built into the gate.
See this scope in detailSmelter and refinery commissioning
A smelter or refinery commissioning programme has a step that no other part of the value chain has to manage: an irreversible furnace heat-up and refractory curing curve that cannot be rushed, paused casually, or repeated without enormous cost. Downstream of it sit converting, matte or blister handling, and an electrowinning or electrorefining cellhouse with thousands of individually monitored cells. Deskely holds every furnace, converter and cell in one register with the first-metal gate built in.
See this scope in detailMaterials handling and conveyor commissioning
A mine's materials handling circuit is a chain of conveyors, transfer towers, stackers and reclaimers strung across kilometres of open country, each drive, idler and belt scale depending on the one before it. Deskely tags every conveyor segment, transfer point and stacker/reclaimer as its own asset, so pre-functional checks, cold and hot commissioning and dust suppression testing are tracked end to end instead of vanishing into a single 'conveyor system' line item.
See this scope in detailMine electrification and power commissioning
Mine electrification spans everything from the grid interconnection and main substation down to trolley assist overhead catenary, HV switchrooms feeding fixed plant, and the DC fast chargers keeping a battery-electric haul fleet moving. Deskely holds substations, switchrooms, feeders, trolley infrastructure and charging bays as linked electrical assets, so protection testing, energisation sequencing and statutory HV sign-off happen in the order the grid code actually demands.
See this scope in detailPort and rail load-out commissioning
The load-out chain — train load-out bins, rail loop infrastructure, ship loaders, wharf conveyors, weightometers and automated sampling stations — is where a mine's product finally becomes a shipped, invoiced tonne, and every custody-transfer measurement has to be proven before the first vessel or train is loaded. Deskely tags each load-out asset and measurement point individually, so calibration, functional testing and commercial sign-off are evidenced the way the offtake agreement actually requires.
See this scope in detailLithium and battery minerals plant commissioning
Battery minerals projects stack a spodumene concentrator's crushing, dense media separation and flotation circuits against a downstream lithium hydroxide or carbonate conversion train's roasting, leaching and crystallisation reactors, often on the same site and the same schedule. Deskely tags each circuit and reactor train separately, so mechanical completion, wet commissioning and ramp-up to nameplate recovery are tracked against the chemistry each stage actually depends on.
See this scope in detailGold processing plant commissioning
A gold processing plant runs comminution and leaching through to carbon-in-leach or carbon-in-pulp adsorption, elution, electrowinning and smelting, finishing in a gold room where security procedures matter as much as process performance. Deskely tags every tank, screen, elution column and gold room asset individually, so wet commissioning, cyanide safety verification and gold room security sign-off are each evidenced against the standard that actually governs them.
See this scope in detail