Mining services of the future - embracing the shifting market

Elena Schamp, head of Digital and Technology, Thiess

As the world moves rapidly through the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the mining services sector can pioneer the technologies and innovations to improve safety, productivity and environmental sustainability performance required across the resources industry.

The sector’s consistent focus on safety remains - and this comes at a time when the mining industry is under more pressure than ever to meet society’s expectations around decarbonisation.

It also comes at a time when there is a need to increase efficiencies due to declining ore grades, more disparate and remote deposits which create greater challenges in securing new resources, and rising mining costs.

In Queensland, the sector has embraced early and proven aspects of technology, including autonomous haulage and remote operations centres. Trials of an extensive range of technological innovations are happening in different parts of the sector and, as new advancements are developed and commercialised, then rapidly consumed by companies large and small across the industry.

Mining services providers, in particular, are looking at the role of technology to support their clients to meet safety, production and decarbonisation targets, and as well as working to ensure their systems and processes support the introduction of new technologies. Fundamental to this approach is also ensuring that teams are engaged, supported and resourced to maximise these opportunities.

Across three broad areas of work – technology, systems and people, let’s consider what it will take if we are to truly embrace the opportunity, what can we achieve and how different will our sector look? Mining services providers and clients need to reimagine the entire mine value chain moving towards sustainable mining and digital enablement.

Technology

Thiess’ approach to future operations is based on our work to develop ‘the modern mine’, consisting of connected smart devices, advanced systems, and other technology supported by the latest analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). This connected technology acts autonomously and intelligently across most areas of the business with minimal human interaction.

If this is the future, what will take us there?

Collaboration is key. Mining services companies will need to maximise opportunities presented by technology partners and OEMs, and work together to deliver optimal fleet and mining solutions, with consideration of interoperability with both site and off-site systems. This will deliver a high degree of flexibility for whole-of-mine service delivery.

Collaborate to innovate: autonomous drills case study

Thiess has been collaborating with Caterpillar and Westrac to safely and successfully operate autonomous drill units from an off-site remote operating centre.

Thiess Site Manager Production, John Hamson, said autonomous operations improved safety by removing people from a high exposure, active mining environment, and providing greater fatigue management opportunities. Productivity benefits were also significant.

“It’s delivered a material improvement in drill utilisation, by reducing unscheduled stoppages due to weather and allowing drilling closer to blasts,” he said.

“We’ve also seen a 20% improvement in drilling performance, with daily utilisation of more than 20 hours per drill and improved accuracy with zero redrilled holes.”

The mining industry’s decarbonisation and net-zero challenges require a whole-of-operation approach, and mining services providers can leverage technical partnerships with subcontractors and local innovators to help their clients address these risks.

Thiess is investing in partnerships, including the introduction of dual-fuel technology to mining fleets, with the use of locally sourced gas displacing diesel in large mining trucks; and a venture replacing traditional diesel engines with a system powered by fuel cells that run on green hydrogen and batteries.

Across industry, other decarbonisation initiatives include retrofitting electrification to existing plant and the use of EV support vehicles, and the use of biodiesel and/or renewable diesel for operational assets and light vehicles.

Mining services companies also have a role to play in applying technology solutions to all aspects of the mining value chain, including rehabilitation. Combining traditional technical and operational expertise, whole-of-mine-life knowledge and the latest in innovation will deliver superior rehabilitation outcomes. This, in turn, leads to reduced risk, improved visible social value, and timing and cost efficiencies.

Equally, reporting on ESG and decarbonisation initiatives is crucially important. This reporting requires sophisticated systems and experienced personnel to execute.

Systems

In addition to embracing the latest in robotics and automation, our sector needs to invest in technology that will drive sustainable improvement across our operations through the right systems, tools and process.

Supporting a digital way of working can deliver streamlined efficiencies for mining services providers and clients. Digitising daily operations will foster innovation, collaboration and problem-solving, looking for optimised solutions to deliver cost and productivity efficiencies.

On the ground, this allows site and office-based staff to access and share business information, use data for decision making and complete day-today tasks using reliable, interconnected systems. Removing traditional paperbased systems and double-handling will reduce duplication and improve accuracy. But that is just the beginning.

To be successful, the industry will need to leverage the rich performance and operating history of decades of mining services providers’ experience. This data will be essential to support the safe, predictable and reliable delivery of services of the future.

Applying layers of business intelligence and related actionable insights will influence the future design and development of on-site work and supporting systems. Coupled with future AI, the historical data and learning gathered over many decades can be leveraged to address the everyday challenges of modern mining operations.

Thiess Lakehouse: enabling data-driven improvements in business performance

The future ‘Thiess Lakehouse’ data platform will support our strategy to become a leading data and AI-enabled organisation. The technology will:

• draw data from different mines, assets and equipment, corporate systems and different support providers, providing a unified centralised reporting system

• enable AI and machine learning initiatives such as continuous monitoring, predictive maintenance and optimisation

• be architected to enable high velocity, near-real-time data and analysis.

This will support future initiatives around centralised, near-real-time analysis of Thiess global mine sites for the business, our people, our clients and external stakeholders. The Lakehouse will also enable Thiess to understand business performance in new ways and drive significant value.

This project exemplifies the critical importance of leveraging the rich data gleaned through decades of continuous operation to understand and assess daily operations for actionable insights and future predictions.

People

The impact of the latest tools and systems is limited if there isn’t significant investment in the industry’s most important asset – our people. It’s well known that an enabled workforce can improve operational outcomes by facilitating safer work environments and faster decision-making. This will be supported by continually improving the end user experience through systems such as digital gamification in the pit.

It’s also well documented that the adoption of technology, once tested, has the potential to play a critical role in addressing the industry’s labour shortages, providing:

• a more attractive offer for new talent with opportunities to upskill and work with the latest technologies

• opportunity for operators to remotely oversee multiple pieces of autonomous machinery operating simultaneously

• more time focused on the work as systems are more streamlined

• a reduction in people required on site, increasing safety and limiting disruptions

However, it is important to recognise that the increased and rapid adoption of technology can be confronting for some. It is, therefore, critical to align the introduction and adoption of technology with planned training and workforce reskilling. Workforce engagement, partnering with technical specialists and subcontractors, and celebrating successes is also vitally important.

At Thiess, we’ve upskilled many of our operators to work across the autonomous equipment deployed across our Australian operations, with plans to further develop our people as our autonomy footprint grows. It will be vital to continue to look at ways to train, coach, mentor and develop existing workforces to make sure they’re ready for the exciting opportunities of the industry — today and into the future.

To summarise, the future of mining services will require the following key attributes:

• establishment of core competencies and capabilities to deliver future commodities and services

• collaborative relationships and a client-focused attitude, combined with disciplined operational performance to grow

• innovative thinking and connected systems capable of delivering a digital and sustainable advantage

• a diverse and engaged workforce with future-focused skills.