3D illustration for mining

In-Situ Recovery Mineral Processing Plant Illustration for Denison Mines

In-Situ Processing Plant diagram.jpg

One of our long time clients is preparing to advance to production and is working on environmental report. They asked us to create a process flow sheet to explain the In-Situ Recovery (ISR) process chosen for extraction.

Original flowchart supplied along with a floorplan of the proposed plant

Original flowchart supplied along with a floorplan of the proposed plant

Initially they supplied a flowchart, consisting of abbreviations in coloured text boxes, a floor plan of the plant and a link to a website explaining the process. From this information we created a simple pencil sketch keeping in mind previous illustration we have created for investor communication purposes. 

Sketch 1

Sketch 1

The team at Denison assigned a Project Engineer to work with us. We created a rough sketch to send him to confirm our understanding. This proved to be an invaluable step. He responded with a clearly written step by step description of the process and a complete list of the equipment to be used, including some photographs. We then created a new isometric sketch using the floor plan as a rough layout and incorporating more accurate images of the equipment.

After seeing the visual representation of the process in our sketch, the engineering team was able to discuss and fine-tune the details.  Meanwhile, some of the site maps we were working on for the report were using slightly different terminology so this was a good time to standardize all the text to be applied to the reports visuals.

Sketch 5

Sketch 5

After three or four versions of the sketch and all the elements agreed upon we created a clean digitized version, adding shading, colour and line weight to help illustrate the interrelationships of all the equipment. Once the digitized version was delivered, our engineer was keen to share it with management, which sparked a new round of discussion and debate, however only a few minor revisions were requested.

The final ISR process diagram clearly shows the equipment to be used and the mineral’s path from extraction, through the process to market.

Deposit development plan for Denison Mines

Final deposit development plan

Final deposit development plan

A very cool 3D illustration we completed this summer. In this type of graphic we remove the layers of geology so the viewer can peek into the earth in a completely unrealistic way. These are some of our favourite projects to work on – it's technical and artistic at the same time. 

The client needed to explain how both deposits will be mined as a single operation. One of the deposits is located above the unconformity, in the soft sandstone and will be mined with the help if the "freeze tent". The other deposit, below the unconformity, will be mined conventionally. We requested as much available info as possible and received various cross sections and models.

Various figures supplied by the client

Various figures supplied by the client

We then do a line drawing and go trough multiple rounds of revisions to arrive at the final drawing.

First we do a simple pencil sketch to confirm with the client that we are on the right track

First we do a simple pencil sketch to confirm with the client that we are on the right track

Vectorized 3D draft with colours, but without shading and textures is sent for approval before final shading is added.

Vectorized 3D draft with colours, but without shading and textures is sent for approval before final shading is added.

Final 3D model illustrated with shading and surface detail. Annotations are the last step left after that.

Final 3D model illustrated with shading and surface detail. Annotations are the last step left after that.