Digitalisation helps improve margins

• Operators look to technology to reduce costs and boost productivity

According to the Axora Innovation Forecast 2022/23: Digital Transformation in Mining report, only 53% of mining organisations surveyed described their progress towards deploying a digital/ technology transformation strategy as “advanced”, which is 6% up on the 2021 figure.

However, the challenging global economic environment is sparking renewed impetus among mine operators to focus on margins, with many opting to invest in technological solutions to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and boost productivity and output.

“Investments need to pivot and miners must prepare to change how they think about generating value,” says Anton Fester, Director at Sedna Industrial IT Solutions.

“Those who are patient and play the long game will unlock extensive benefits if they find the right use cases to build value going forward.”

In this regard, mine operators are increasingly considering how they can integrate technical expertise, industry experience and cutting-edge digital technologies to transform mining processes across the value chain to enhance performance and create more profitable operations.

“In every scenario, cloudbased data is the foundational platform layer needed to build the solutions that can take mine operations from hindsight to insight and, eventually, to foresight through predictive intelligence,” explains Willie Ackerman, chief sales and marketing officer at 4Sight Holdings.

“By converging operational technology and information technology, miners can send all data to an extraction layer for visualisation across their full environment. A hosted application layer can then provide real-time analytics from systems and IoT-enabled machines and vehicles.”

Miners can then build predictive intelligence capabilities that deliver foresight through advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

At this stage in the digital transformation journey, mine operators start using data to pre-empt issues, reduce unplanned downtime, inform decision-making and realise faster times to value for a better return on investment.

According to Wilhelm Swart, chief operations technology officer at 4Sight, data-driven predictive and prescriptive maintenance can create more efficient operations and improve mine safety.

“Maintenance planning and task prioritisation support is vital to utilise allocate resources better and reduces reliance on people to monitor assets. This proactive maintenance response looks upstream and downstream to key assets for early detection to predict maintenance requirements with significant lead times and guide operators to the causes,” he says.

For example, a predictive data solution implemented by 4Sight at a customer site detected a potential failure on an HPRC fixed roller bearing using various operational data inputs.

Empowered with component and process information, the maintenance team had about 20 days to intervene. After an inspection confirmed the bearing issue, the team performed regular greasing and scheduled a replacement.

“And it is also at the foresight stage that mine operators can take strategic decisions to work faster and smarter,” adds Ackerman.

For example, a digital twin simulation conducted by 4Sight for a gold miner used a Demand Chain Management analysis to address transport bottlenecks and plan how to move material from the mine to the port more efficiently.

By analysing multiple factors, the solution determined that a combination of greater capacity with additional wagons for double-span trips, with longer shifts and an increase in travel speed of 5km/hour, would reduce transit times and help maximise profits.

Fester highlights additional technology-driven use cases in autonomous technology, connected worker solutions and private LTE networks within the mining sector.

“Investing in a private LTE network instead of Wi-Fi can give miners an extra two hours of drilling time a day due to the resultant efficiencies. For instance, an autonomous haulage system deployment with 50% of production sites on private LTE reduced communication errors per truck by about 85%.”

According to Fester, one site that undertook this deployment recorded a production increase of 255,013 tonnes annually. And an open-pit iron mine in Australia with more than 50 autonomous connected trucks reported a €10m saving from replacing about 150 Wi-Fi trailers with six radio cell LTE trailers on wheels.

“This resulted in a productivity increase of 75 hours a year per truck and 1.5million tonnes a year, resulting in top-line growth of more than €50m. Other benefits included lower operational costs thanks to fewer disruptions, lower fuel consumption and less downtime.”

In terms of automation and connected workers, Fester explains that these solutions can add value to mine operations by removing humans from dangerous environments while increasing productivity, enabling 24/7 operations and providing predictability.

“Investments into automation that focus on drilling and hauling and connected worker communication solutions to improve location services and biometric monitoring will drive bottomline value.”

However, miners should not expect to realise all the value in one chunk, cautions Fester.

“Start with use cases with a neutral value and then create a roadmap that builds value going forward. Do not fixate on huge returns on investment upfront.”

INVESTMENTS INTO AUTOMATION … WILL DRIVE BOTTOM-LINE VALUE