121 / 2023-06-11 11:25:24

The role of digital technologies when modernising the mining life cycle and its value chains for intelligent mining

digital technologies, mining

Digital technologies, as an important driver of mine modernization, are shaping the intelligent mine of the future along the entire mining life cycle and its value chains. The paper starts with a view on the future of mining and an introduction to the mining and its Mining Life Cycle (MLC).  It postulates that the need for dynamic supply chain management is at an all-time high at a time when mining companies and governments are vulnerable to long supply lines. As the global mining industry works towards the mine of the future, digital technologies are proving their worth to make mines safer, more efficient and sustainable. Digital twinning of MLC activities, value-add products and services assist with ensuring market access by bringing these ‘closer’ to the mining operation. This is because digital technologies allow for remote monitoring and interventions with fewer site visits. The international mining sector already has many smart systems on health, safety, machine and production monitoring. This article offers personal experiences, case studies, and observations of industry practices, common problems and lessons learnt when building digital mining systems. The case studies are limited to China and South Africa and based on the need to find solutions for common problems and how countries can learn from each other through joint research centres and other forms of collaboration.  China and South Africa have unique lessons to share and challenges to mining, which raises the need for more and deeper collaboration at country, mining industry, technology companies, academia and research levels.  For example, a major current challenge is the quest to develop digital twins, integrate data on a single platform or system and development of system standards so that such systems are more compatible and not siloed. To find solutions for problems like these require capacity building, collaboration and undertaking joint research. The China-South Africa BRI Joint Laboratory on the Sustainable Development and Utilization of Mineral Resources is an example of how countries can identify common challenges, and through the concept of a joint research centre, work towards sustainable solutions to these challenges.