Investigate production discrepancies

When truck tonnes from the pit and belt-scale tonnes at the plant disagree, an agent checks timing, instruments and material. A named owner accepts any adjustment to the production record.

At a mine, trucks carry ore from the pit to the processing plant. The fleet system counts the truck tonnes. Belt scales at the plant weigh the ore again. When the two disagree by more than the agreed tolerance, someone must find out why. The official figure feeds royalties, tax and market reports, so the gap matters. Today a mine engineer or a metallurgist chases the cause by email and spreadsheet. In this design an agent checks timing, instruments and material, and prepares a reconciliation case. A named owner accepts any adjustment. The agent cannot write the accepted production record.

Four steps, left to right. Estimate: a camera above a conveyor makes a calibrated visual measurement. Compare: scales and production records. Investigate: timing, calibration and interruptions. Reconcile: an owner accepts the supported result. A banner says keep units, uncertainty and source measurements. — **Investigate production discrepancies**An unexplained gap stays open. It never becomes a precise-looking tonnage.Open image at full size ↗

Experience behind this example

The design builds on the author's own computer-vision work on iron ore production measurement.

The systems involved

The investigation touches seven of the fourteen layers. The full estate is on the energy and resources page.

Layer	Systems in this use case
Data platform (R02)	Historian with belt-scale totals and scale faults. Lab system, or LIMS (CCLAS, LabWare), for grade and moisture. Fleet management database. Block model
Integration fabric (R03)	The buffer network between plant and business networks, with a historian copy. A read-only copy of the fleet database. A read broker for agents
Systems of record (R04)	Metal accounting (ION Algosys, Caspeo), or a spreadsheet. Enterprise asset management (EAM) with calibration records. ERP inventory
Line of business and OT (R05)	Fleet management (Modular DISPATCH, Cat MineStar, Wenco). Belt scales and plant control. Camera volume system. Survey tools (Maptek). Mine planning (Deswik)
Agent platform (R07)	New: the agent and its case store
Governance, risk and sovereignty (R11)	Royalty returns to the state. Stock exchange reports. The annual reserve statement under the JORC Code
Operating model and supervision (R13)	Dispatcher, mine engineer, surveyor, metallurgist, instrument technician, production accountant, competent person

Layer: Data platform (R02)
Systems in this use case: Historian with belt-scale totals and scale faults. Lab system, or LIMS (CCLAS, LabWare), for grade and moisture. Fleet management database. Block model

Layer: Integration fabric (R03)
Systems in this use case: The buffer network between plant and business networks, with a historian copy. A read-only copy of the fleet database. A read broker for agents

Layer: Systems of record (R04)
Systems in this use case: Metal accounting (ION Algosys, Caspeo), or a spreadsheet. Enterprise asset management (EAM) with calibration records. ERP inventory

Layer: Line of business and OT (R05)
Systems in this use case: Fleet management (Modular DISPATCH, Cat MineStar, Wenco). Belt scales and plant control. Camera volume system. Survey tools (Maptek). Mine planning (Deswik)

Layer: Agent platform (R07)
Systems in this use case: New: the agent and its case store

Layer: Governance, risk and sovereignty (R11)
Systems in this use case: Royalty returns to the state. Stock exchange reports. The annual reserve statement under the JORC Code

Layer: Operating model and supervision (R13)
Systems in this use case: Dispatcher, mine engineer, surveyor, metallurgist, instrument technician, production accountant, competent person

How it runs today

The trigger is the daily production report, or the month-end reconciliation, showing a gap larger than the tolerance. The work then runs in eleven steps.

Step	Who	System	How the data moves
1. Count loads	Fleet system, dispatcher	Fleet management (Modular DISPATCH, Cat MineStar, Wenco)	Every truck load is logged: truck, shovel, material, destination, payload. The dispatcher fixes wrong tags by hand
2. Weigh at the plant	Plant control system	Belt scales to the historian	Tonnes per hour. Shift totals stored in the historian
3. Assay	Lab	LIMS	Grade and moisture from samples
4. Estimate by camera or survey	Vision system, surveyor	Camera volume model. Drone or laser survey	A volume estimate with its calibration. Monthly stockpile surveys arrive as files
5. Daily production report	Production clerk or mine engineer	Excel, fed by fleet and historian exports	Built each morning. Emailed to site leaders before the morning meeting
6. Spot the gap	Mine engineer, metallurgist	Excel, dashboard	Mine tonnes and plant tonnes differ by more than the tolerance
7. Chase the cause	Mine technical services, metallurgist, instrument technician	EAM calibration records. Historian scale faults. Fleet payload settings. LIMS moisture	Emails and phone calls. Each person checks their own system
8. Propose an adjustment	Metallurgist or production accountant	Metal accounting system, or Excel	An adjustment with a comment
9. Approve	Processing or mine manager	Same	Sign-off by email or in the system
10. Month end	Survey, geology, planning, metallurgy	Metal accounting. Mine planning	Stockpile survey. Mass balance. Mined tonnes and grade checked against the block model
11. Formal reports	Finance, corporate reporting, competent person	ERP inventory. Royalty return. Stock exchange report. Annual reserve statement	Signed by named people

Step: 1. Count loads
Who: Fleet system, dispatcher
System: Fleet management (Modular DISPATCH, Cat MineStar, Wenco)
How the data moves: Every truck load is logged: truck, shovel, material, destination, payload. The dispatcher fixes wrong tags by hand

Step: 2. Weigh at the plant
Who: Plant control system
System: Belt scales to the historian
How the data moves: Tonnes per hour. Shift totals stored in the historian

Step: 3. Assay
Who: Lab
System: LIMS
How the data moves: Grade and moisture from samples

Step: 4. Estimate by camera or survey
Who: Vision system, surveyor
System: Camera volume model. Drone or laser survey
How the data moves: A volume estimate with its calibration. Monthly stockpile surveys arrive as files

Step: 5. Daily production report
Who: Production clerk or mine engineer
System: Excel, fed by fleet and historian exports
How the data moves: Built each morning. Emailed to site leaders before the morning meeting

Step: 6. Spot the gap
Who: Mine engineer, metallurgist
System: Excel, dashboard
How the data moves: Mine tonnes and plant tonnes differ by more than the tolerance

Step: 7. Chase the cause
Who: Mine technical services, metallurgist, instrument technician
System: EAM calibration records. Historian scale faults. Fleet payload settings. LIMS moisture
How the data moves: Emails and phone calls. Each person checks their own system

Step: 8. Propose an adjustment
Who: Metallurgist or production accountant
System: Metal accounting system, or Excel
How the data moves: An adjustment with a comment

Step: 9. Approve
Who: Processing or mine manager
System: Same
How the data moves: Sign-off by email or in the system

Step: 10. Month end
Who: Survey, geology, planning, metallurgy
System: Metal accounting. Mine planning
How the data moves: Stockpile survey. Mass balance. Mined tonnes and grade checked against the block model

Step: 11. Formal reports
Who: Finance, corporate reporting, competent person
System: ERP inventory. Royalty return. Stock exchange report. Annual reserve statement
How the data moves: Signed by named people

A swimlane with six lanes: mine systems, plant and lab, mine technical, metallurgy, manager, and finance and reporting. Step 1: the fleet system logs every truck load. Step 2: belt scales record plant tonnes in the historian. Step 3: the lab assays grade and moisture. Step 4: cameras and surveyors estimate volumes. Step 5: the mine engineer builds the daily report in Excel. Step 6: the engineer spots a gap above the tolerance. Step 7: the metallurgist and instrument technician chase the cause by email and phone. Step 8: the metallurgist proposes an adjustment. Step 9: the manager approves it. This is an approval. Step 10: month end runs a survey and mass balance. Step 11: finance and the competent person sign the formal reports. This is an approval. — **Production measurement today: who does what**Today each person checks their own system, and the reason for an adjustment is often lost.Open image at full size ↗

The oil and gas twin

Oil and gas has the same problem in another form. Well tests, often monthly, estimate each well's flow rate (typical, unsourced). A production data system (Quorum Energy Components, SLB Avocet) builds the daily report. The production accountant then shares the fiscal export volume back to wells and partners. That is called allocation. API's measurement standard, MPMS Chapter 20, sets the method. When the allocation factor leaves its band, a production engineer and a metering technician chase the cause. They check flow computer logs, calibration records and well test validity, by email and spreadsheet. The same agent design applies. The agent reads the allocation system and the calibration records. The accountant re-runs the allocation and signs.

Handoffs

The case passes between dispatch, mine technical services, plant metallurgy and the lab. Maintenance comes in through the instrument technicians. Finance needs the figure for inventory value and royalties. Corporate reporting needs it for the market.

Where reporting comes in

The daily production report starts the work. Monthly reconciliation closes it. The figures then flow into quarterly stock exchange reports, royalty returns and the annual reserve statement. In oil and gas they flow into partner statements and regulator returns.

Cycle time and volumes

The daily report is built every morning (typical, unsourced).
The monthly reconciliation closes in the first one to two weeks of the month (typical, unsourced).
A large open pit logs thousands of truck loads a day (typical, unsourced).

Pain points

Sites rely heavily on spreadsheets with weak governance (AusIMM, 23 April 2026).
Many sites spread the error across the inputs but give the final product no error. The reconciliation then becomes a goal seek that can hide losses (AusIMM, 23 April 2026).
Belt scales drift. Calibration falls overdue.
Shift cut-off times differ between systems.
Moisture and density assumptions turn volume into the wrong tonnes.
No one owns the gap. Adjustments lose their reasons.

How agents run it

The agent runs the checks. It reads copies of the fleet database and the historian, never the live systems. It writes a reconciliation case and draft requests. It has no write path to the metal accounting system.

Step	Agent or person	Reads from, and how	Writes to	Who approves, and where
1. Detect	Agent	The daily report data, as an event when the report publishes. Fleet database copy. Historian belt-scale totals. Camera estimates with their uncertainty	Case store	No one
2. Check timing	Agent	Shift boundaries, record timestamps, train load-out times	Case store	No one
3. Check the instruments	Agent	Historian: scale faults, zero drift, downtime. EAM: calibration due and done. Camera health and calibration date	Case store	No one
4. Check the material	Agent	LIMS moisture. Block model density. Material tags in the fleet system	Case store	No one
5. Run the reconciliation	The metal accounting tool calculates	Statistical mass balance, in the style of the AMIRA P754 code	Case store	No one
6. Ask for a measurement	Agent drafts	Gaps in the case	A draft EAM notification, "measurement check", for a belt scale. A survey request for a stockpile	The instrument supervisor or surveyor accepts it
7. Prepare the case	Agent	All of the above	A reconciliation case: size, timing, ranked explanations, evidence, uncertainty. "Unresolved" when evidence is missing	No one. It is advice only
8. Accept an adjustment	Metallurgist or production accountant	The case	The metal accounting system, with the case ID	The named owner. A manager above a set size
9. Formal reports	Finance, competent person	The accepted figures	Royalty return, stock exchange report, reserve statement	Named signatories

Step: 1. Detect
Agent or person: Agent
Reads from, and how: The daily report data, as an event when the report publishes. Fleet database copy. Historian belt-scale totals. Camera estimates with their uncertainty
Writes to: Case store
Who approves, and where: No one

Step: 2. Check timing
Agent or person: Agent
Reads from, and how: Shift boundaries, record timestamps, train load-out times
Writes to: Case store
Who approves, and where: No one

Step: 3. Check the instruments
Agent or person: Agent
Reads from, and how: Historian: scale faults, zero drift, downtime. EAM: calibration due and done. Camera health and calibration date
Writes to: Case store
Who approves, and where: No one

Step: 4. Check the material
Agent or person: Agent
Reads from, and how: LIMS moisture. Block model density. Material tags in the fleet system
Writes to: Case store
Who approves, and where: No one

Step: 5. Run the reconciliation
Agent or person: The metal accounting tool calculates
Reads from, and how: Statistical mass balance, in the style of the AMIRA P754 code
Writes to: Case store
Who approves, and where: No one

Step: 6. Ask for a measurement
Agent or person: Agent drafts
Reads from, and how: Gaps in the case
Writes to: A draft EAM notification, "measurement check", for a belt scale. A survey request for a stockpile
Who approves, and where: The instrument supervisor or surveyor accepts it

Step: 7. Prepare the case
Agent or person: Agent
Reads from, and how: All of the above
Writes to: A reconciliation case: size, timing, ranked explanations, evidence, uncertainty. "Unresolved" when evidence is missing
Who approves, and where: No one. It is advice only

Step: 8. Accept an adjustment
Agent or person: Metallurgist or production accountant
Reads from, and how: The case
Writes to: The metal accounting system, with the case ID
Who approves, and where: The named owner. A manager above a set size

Step: 9. Formal reports
Agent or person: Finance, competent person
Reads from, and how: The accepted figures
Writes to: Royalty return, stock exchange report, reserve statement
Who approves, and where: Named signatories

A gap only during a camera outage needs a different check from a gap across every shift. The size and timing of the gap choose the next question. Volume becomes mass only with a stated density. If the evidence is missing or uncalibrated, the case stays unresolved.

A swimlane with six lanes: agent, accounting tool, field checks, owner, sign-off and case store. Step 1: the agent detects the gap when the daily report publishes. Steps 2 to 4: the agent checks timing, instruments and material. Step 5: the metal accounting tool runs a statistical mass balance. Step 6: the agent drafts a measurement check or a survey request. In the field checks lane, the instrument supervisor or surveyor accepts it. Step 7: the agent prepares a case with ranked explanations, or marks it unresolved. Step 8: the owner, a metallurgist or accountant, accepts any adjustment in the metal accounting system. This is an approval. Step 9: in the sign-off lane, finance and the competent person sign the formal reports. This is an approval. The case store keeps every source, the original image and the calibration. — **Production measurement with an agent: who does what**The agent explains the gap. A named owner changes the record.Open image at full size ↗

What stays with a person

Accepting the production figure. It feeds royalties, tax and market disclosure. That record sits in the formal records zone.
Every adjustment. It changes a record of value.
The calibration work itself. It needs a permit, and often an isolation.
Changing the tolerance. That is a policy choice.

Where the evidence is kept

The case holds every source reference. The adjustment in the metal accounting system carries the case ID and the approver. The camera estimate keeps its original image and calibration. The agent cannot change any of them. That is the observability and audit trail capability at work.

What changes in the systems

A new "reconciliation case" record.
A case ID field on adjustments in the metal accounting system.
An event when the daily report publishes.
Read access to a copy of the fleet database.
An EAM notification type, "measurement check".

What does not change

The calibration procedure stays. So do the fleet system and the metal accounting method. Fiscal metering in oil and gas does not change. The same people sign.

Who does this today

No named deployment of an agent in metal accounting or hydrocarbon allocation was found by 15 October 2026.

The baseline to beat. Statistical reconciliation under the AMIRA P754 code of practice. ION Algosys and Caspeo sell it [vendor]. A 2023 study tested it at Samarco in Brazil. It is not an agent.
Groundhog Apps sells a "Reconciliation Agent" that flags grade and volume variance [vendor]. The product page is undated.
TCS published an undated white paper on agents for hydrocarbon accounting [vendor].
FlowShare is a hackathon prototype with "auditor" and "accountant" agents for joint venture allocation. Its accuracy figure is self-reported.

AusIMM summarised expert views on 23 April 2026. AI depends on clean, governed data. Experts must check its outputs. Applying AI to control systems is risky.

Where this sits

The four questions place this agent as follows. Its role is assist. Its permissions are read only on the fleet database copy, historian totals, LIMS and EAM calibration records. It writes a reconciliation case and draft measurement requests. It cannot write the metal accounting system. It runs at delegated tasks (A2) on the autonomy contract, as designed and as permitted. The owner reviews every case. For the adjustment itself, the agent only assists (A1). A person makes the change. Its impact sits in the figure it informs. That figure is a formal record, and the agent stays outside it.

On the risk profile it is Tier 2 (enhanced). Production systems of record and confidential figures score Medium. It is Tier 3 (strict) if your classification treats scale and sensor feeds as control-system data. It starts at curated learning (L1). People choose the reference measurements it learns from.

Measure the result

Measure the error against an accepted reference and the share of gaps left unresolved. Measure investigation time and the cost of calibration and review. Compare against statistical reconciliation alone. Track the money effect only after the measurement proves reliable.

Start with a trial

Take three months of daily reports with gaps the metallurgist has already explained. Run the agent on them, with no live requests. Check its ranked explanations against what was found. Then go live at one plant, with drafts only. Register the agent through the agent lifecycle, with a named sponsor.

Evidence and limits

No named deployment of this agent exists. The as-is is typical practice. The cycle times and volumes are typical and unsourced.

AusIMM (23 April 2026) is the only dated source on current practice. It reports heavy use of spreadsheets and error spread that can hide losses. Statistical reconciliation is the proven method. This design adds the evidence gathering around it. That addition has not been tested.

The camera measurement comes from the author's own work. The agent extension is a proposal.

Next step

Score this agent on the risk profile. Then read the mining and resources blueprint for the miner's full estate.

Explore this topic

Sources were read on 15 October 2026 unless a line says otherwise. [vendor] marks a vendor's claim about its own product.

AusIMM, how AI is changing metal accounting, 23 April 2026.
ION Algosys [vendor]. ION says it goes beyond AMIRA P754.
Samarco reconciliation study, ABM Proceedings, 2023.
Groundhog Apps, AI agents for mining, undated [vendor].
TCS, agents for hydrocarbon accounting and allocation, undated white paper [vendor].
FlowShare prototype on Devpost. Hackathon project. Accuracy self-reported.
Roboflow Workflows documentation. Accessed 17 September 2026. An example of the tooling for camera measurement.
Standards named on this page, known from background and not re-checked: AMIRA P754 (metal accounting code of practice), API MPMS Chapter 20 (production allocation, edition not checked), and the JORC Code (public reporting of resources and reserves).