Reimagining Mining: Digital Transformation and Future Trends - Part 2

Welcome to the second part of our series on Digital Transformation and Future Trends in Mining.

In this part we will discuss how The digitalization and automation of mining are transforming the industry, bringing both opportunities and challenges. While new technologies can improve efficiency and safety, they also require mining companies to address workforce skills gaps, manage resistance to change, and adapt to evolving roles. Successfully navigating these challenges will be crucial for the industry to fully realize the benefits of Mining 4.0.

MAJOR CHALLENGES

The ongoing digitalization and automation of mining is presenting both exciting outcomes as well as challenges. One of the major challenges of incorporating digital technologies into mining operations is to make the workers understand how to use the technology and also that the technology works for them. According to statistics, 73% of companies identified skills gaps in the local labor market as the most important barrier to the adoption of modern technology.

The biggest challenge for any mining company is to manage the resistance to change. Thus, it is essential to make room for employees to experiment, learn, make mistakes and get comfortable with the transition and changes. Generally, younger operators are more tech savvy than their older counterparts. However, upskilling existing workers should be preferred rather than direct replacement.

Also, individuals need to be aware that digitization won’t necessarily result in job losses but instead create new roles. While this is very likely true, some job categories especially lower skill professions that rely on manual labor and repetitive, strenuous actions such as explosive charging will get automated and disappear.

In other words, Mining 4.0 will cause a reduced need for traditional labor. As innovative technology is being deployed, the mining labor pool will require different updated skill sets and expertise to achieve a satisfactory level of operational integration. Therefore, retraining the workforce will be a more favorable option.

Digitization does not happen overnight. Mining is mostly a batch process with discrete drill, blast and muck cycles that’s fragmented. In order to go fully autonomous, miners need to figure out how to go continuous first because then continuous mining will be more amenable to automate.

TIME TO WORK SMARTER

The time for change is now! It is well known that mines are highly dynamic and complex in nature with numerous things to deal with- from people, processes, costs, equipment and topography to weather and material type. Consequently, an autonomous mine site involves a lot more than autonomous machines.

• Digital transformations are very effective, fast-paced but at the same time require the right people and culture to make them successful.
• Bringing in robots and technology doesn’t necessarily mean eliminating human workers but simply removing them from hazardous environments or dangerous activities. In reality, encouraging robotic integration will allow diversification of workforce, opening up the field to a broader range of workers with different skill sets.
• In today’s world, digital technologies also make environmental indicators’ data monitoring simple. Such practice can help the company to remain committed to environmental stewardship since there is growing world-wide concern about issues like water and air quality.
• Fewer people underground make the mine safer. With the drone, miners can do their work from an office at surface. These advanced autonomous aerial robots can go to places in an underground mine where humans can’t go safely or should not go at all.
• Investments made in sensor and monitoring technologies will assist operations in ensuring maximum output with minimal losses. AI-based predictive algorithms warn the miners and maintenance crew of potential downtimes in critical equipment, and impacts on operations.

TECHNOLOGIES DRIVING THE FUTURE

• Drone or unmanned aerial vehicle survey in an open-pit mine: Used for mine exploration, stockpile management, mine monitoring and operation planning, on-site inspections, rapid and detailed analysis of mine slopes, progress reporting, hazard identification and mitigation, etc

• Drones and 3D laser scanners for underground mine mapping:Map all underground assets accurately in less time.

• Autonomous vehicles with LiDAR and image processing: Autonomous vehicle solutions enable a vehicle to perceive its environment, decide what route to take to its destination and drive it.

• Flexible networks/ omnipresent networks: Technology that would offer several potential advantages in mining. Flexible network deployments will be essential in providing broad coverage delivering fast performance.

Analytics:

It is the use of data and algorithms to improve decision making by generating insights. Analytics would spur the next wave of efficiency gains in ore extraction, analysis, transportation, and processing. It is also expected to drive better asset utilization, boost productivity, and address material flow delays.

• Artificial intelligence/ machine learning: Today, such is the importance of data that it can be considered identical to any other treasure which the company mines because data is used to plan, optimize and integrate activities across a mining value chain. Also, ML involves algorithms that improve over time through exposure to more data. Thus, AI enables mining companies to become insight- driven enterprises that utilize data to derive key benefits. This helps the industry to optimize processes and transforms it into a safer, more profitable and more environmentally friendly one. Use cases: Resource identification, scheduling to maximize NPV, predictive maintenance.
• Deep learning: Subset of Machine Learning that uses neural networks with massive amounts of data to learn, can be utilized in mining industry.

• Digital twin: Creation of accurate virtual representation (3D replica) of physical assets, structures, equipment, processes, systems or even entire mining sites, stored in a representative structure on a cloud data platform. It assists the operators in understanding what is going on in the mine through modern User Interfaces and advanced visualizations, and thus, makes products better and processes more efficient.
• Blockchain technology: Its role would be to promote trackability, transparency and security through open peer to peer and incorruptible data sharing.

BENEFITS OF NEW Technology

Some good examples are scanning mobile equipment with RFID readers for tracking purposes, notifications from mobile equipment when not operating as expected, GPS tracking used in Geofencing, laser scanning areas to validate engineering drawings, mineral exploration and mapping with AI/ML, safety and maintenance with IoT and sensors, driverless trucks, automated blast hole drilling, digital twinning to test out decisions before implementation, remote controlled systems, using drones to perform surveys, etc.

Ultimately, implementation of technology will not only enable mining companies to convert expensive and inefficient manual and mechanical processes into intelligent ones but also reduce injuries and offer improved safety, automate and improve processes, increase overall output, reduce cost per ton and much more. As a matter of fact, the benefits of automation go beyond the ones mentioned above.

In conclusion, to successfully transition to Mining 4.0, the industry must focus on continuous learning, upskilling, and embracing new technologies like AI, machine learning, and autonomous systems.

Success will depend on strategic implementation, employee engagement, and a willingness to innovate. By leveraging digital tools effectively, mining companies can enhance productivity, improve safety, and ensure more sustainable operations, paving the way for a prosperous future.

Stay tuned for the next part of our series, where we will dive deeper into the workforce of the future mine and also some digital solutions that GroundHog provides to the mining industry.

See you in the next edition!