A new mining paradigm from Vedanta
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Aiming for zero waste and maximum metal recovery
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H I N D U S TA N Z I N C
How Hindustan Zinc, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, is aiming to make its flagship Sindesar Khurd and Rampura Agucha operations the most advanced digital mines in the world
H
industan Zinc is India’s only zinc producer and among the world’s top three zinc producers today. A subsidiary of Vedanta
Resources, the company’s flagship operation, Rampura Agucha (Agucha) in Rajasthan, is the 04
world’s largest mine for industrial metal. Allied to this, and strategic to the company’s growth, is the Sindesar Khurd (SK) mine offering a rich source of silver along with zinc and lead. Hindustan Zinc also runs three large smelting operations at Chanderiya, Dariba and Debari in north west India and 10 milling facilities across the country. “How do we drive efficiency to support future growth across our operations?” asks Barun Gorain, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Hindustan Zinc, Vedanta Resources. “The whole point of our digital transformation is to build a foundation to prepare ourselves for the next phase of growth to support key outcomes of enhanced safety, improved productivity and reduced costs with true technology innovation.”
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H I N D U S TA N Z I N C
“The whole point of our digital transformation is to build a foundation to prepare ourselves for the next phase of growth to support key outcomes of enhanced safety, improved productivity and reduced costs with true technology innovation”
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— Barun Gorain, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer, Vedanta Resources
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘CORPORATE FILM HINDUSTAN ZINC DIRECTED BY MANEESH JOSHI’ 09 Gorain points out that few mining
business operation models for each
companies work in this way: “We
and every part of a unit operation so
take a very holistic view of this digital
that we can go beyond data analysis
innovation with a portfolio focused on
with a system based approach and
three areas to build that foundation.
official automation.
Critically, the first step is to integrate
“This leads us into the third area.
all of our operating data into one
Digital alone is not going to help us so
platform so it can enable the digital
we must support our subject matter
enterprise with all of the financial,
expertise. Many companies across the
commercial and HR systems.
globe go digital but without strength-
“Secondly, with all the data on a sin-
ening their core know-how, which for
gle platform, we have begun a deeper
us is mining, milling and smelting. The
analytics drive where we’re looking
idea is to leverage digital, which is just
not just at predictive and prescrip-
the enabler to help us in optimising all
tive controls, but also at developing
of our individual operations. Now this w w w.hz l i nd ia . com
Cisco enables digitization of India’s largest underground mine, Hindustan Zinc Limited As the digital transformation technology partner of Hindustan Zinc, Cisco deployed a scalable and secure underground mine network to improve the efficiency of the mine’s operations, extend the life of its assets, and control costs while supporting its present and future demands. In association with Cisco, Hindustan Zinc aims to develop a fully connected, efficient, safe and collaborative mining system.
CLICK TO WATCH: HZL’s mining 4.0 journey powered by Cisco
Welcome to the future of connected mining!
“Digitization is the future and our partnership with Cisco is going to help us move in that direction.” - Barun Gorain Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Hindustan Zinc
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approach is actually quite deep, com-
asset tracking, people tracking, asset
pared to most companies, and this is
management, short interval controls,
where we see the benefits.”
automated scheduling & task manage-
In embracing Mining 4.0 Gorain’s
ment management,” he says. “We are
team is using the OSI-PI system to
doing this at a scale not seen before in
bring all operating data – mining, mill-
any underground mining scenario, it’s
ing, smelting and power plant – into
a game changer.”
one platform which will eventually be
To change the game, Vedanta has
integrated with SAP. “We are looking
recently inaugurated their Hindustan
to digitally integrate 1,500 people, over
Zinc Collaboration Centre based at
200 pieces of equipment and several
the company’s head office in part-
different outsourced business part-
nership with OSIsoft and ABB to
ners at our flagship SK and Agucha
improve efficiency, safety and sustain-
mines. It allows us to do real-time
ability while enhancing value across w w w.hz l i nd ia . com
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both empower people by increased transparency, increase productivity by less traffic congestions and a safer work environment”, says Hans Wahlquist, VP Business Development and Strategic Product Management at Mobilaris.” When every second counts
In the case of a stressful situation like a fire or a collapse that requires evacuation of the mine, time is of essence. Rescue personnel and evacuation leaders need to have the best tools available to ensure that the evacuation is done as quickly as possible and according to defined procedures. With Mobilaris Emergency Support, rescue personnel have access to real-time information on “We help mining companies to become aware where in the mine people are located – knowing who is safe and who is not. Studies show that with these of what is going on in the mine, right tools in hand, the time to evacuate people in danger here and now. Every day, all the time. is dramatically reduced. This information makes it possible to take control over the operations and the resources. With our digital In partnership with Hindustan Zinc Ltd solutions people can act upon what Hindustan Zinc Ltd has partnered up with Mobilaris is happening in real-time and make Mining & Civil Engineering to digitalize the Rampura the right decision faster. We offer Agucha mine, their flagship of mining operations. tools for new, more efficient, ways of working”, says Mikael “We feel honored that Hindustan Zinc has chosen us Nyström, CEO Mobilaris Mining as a partner for modernizing their mine operation & Civil Engineering. even further. We will provide solutions for smooth and seamless operations that defines new, more efficient, ways of working“, Says Mikael Nyström, Mobilaris Onboard ™ CEO Mobilaris Mining & Civil Engineering.
A disruptive innovation
The latest product from the Swedish company is Mobilaris Onboard, a unique product that runs on a standard tablet mounted in a vehicle. Just like with a GPS car navigator, Mobilaris Onboard™ makes it easy for anyone underground to navigate to a location or to a moving asset without any specific knowledge about the mine. Without any dedicated infrastructure for positioning needed. “We are confident that Mobilaris Onboard™ will cause a paradigm shift in the underground mining industry. It makes every miner aware of the whole real-time situation in the mine and enables a set of unique tools that will
The partnership includes solutions for situational awareness designed to visualize and support the mining operations in all its complexity, in real-time. By implementing superior real-time 3D visualization with information from various systems and sensors, Hindustan Zinc will have the tools for superior control and planning of their mining operations. Hindustan Zinc Ltd will also be among the first customers worldwide to implement the new disruptive product Mobilaris Onboard™, for navigation underground and a smoother traffic flow.
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H I N D U S TA N Z I N C
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Hindustan Zinc’s operations. “The
operations. ABB, as one of the world’s
unique thing here is that we’re con-
top experts in control innovation, is sup-
necting all our operating people with
porting us on this quest.”
OEMs, subject matter expertise and
Looking long-term, the company
our data scientists,” explains Gorain.
vision is moving towards converting all
“OSIsoft and ABB are helping us to con-
of its underground mining operations
nect our operating data across all of our
from batch to continuous with the
mines, mills, smelters and power plants.
support of next generation technolo-
It’s a crucial initiative because, along
gies, including underground hydraulic
with insights, we’ll be able to predict
ored pumping solutions to enable
things in real-time and collaborate in
mining with minimal or no tailings or
a way that allows us to maximise the
waste. “From an extraction or recov-
benefit that digital solutions from SMEs
ery point of view, we’re looking at
can have in helping us to optimise our
completely digitised equipment to aid
the recovery of minor, major and pre-
improvement from 81% up to 92%,” he
cious metals,” adds Gorain. “In parallel,
adds. “Silver recovery is forecasted
greater efficiency will come from fine
to rise from 57% to 70% leading to an
tuning via digital means.”
additional 70,000 tons of lead-zinc
Gorain’s team is targeting benefits
metals.” Gorain stresses that enhanc-
on the mining side to improve effi-
ing safety is a key aspect and one
ciency by 15% which translates to
of the major reasons why SK mine is
74,000 tons of extra metal by 2021
considered one of the most digitally
– a huge gain. “Meanwhile, on the
advanced mines in the world. “With
milling side we’re looking at recovery
safety as a top priority, continuous
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Barun Gorain Barun Gorain has more than 25 years of experience in metallurgical plant operations, plant optimisation, capital (growth) projects, technology development, metallurgical consulting and also in technical advisory and board roles. Focused on operational excellence, technology innovation, as well as technology transfer with demonstrated benefits and breakthroughs for projects and operations, before returning to Hindustan Zinc he worked for Barrick Gold and Teck Resources. “I’m a metallurgist by background and combined with my experience with digital innovation I’m in a unique position to be able to understand both worlds so we can take Hindustan Zinc to the next level,” pledges Gorain. “When we look at our business needs for future growth it’s vital to bring these two strands together to make our mining, milling and smelting more efficient to meet our long-term goals and vision.”
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“We are looking to digitally integrate 1,500 people, over 200 pieces of equipment and several different outsourced business partners at each of our flagship mines. It allows us to do real-time asset tracking, people tracking, peak management, internal controls, automated schedule link up management, you name it” — Barun Gorain, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer, Vedanta Resources mining, automation, digitisation, less
have to lay out the cables and the
man-machine interaction, remote
network on a daily basis. As we go
monitoring and real-time visualisation
deeper underground, the challenges
of people will be a tremendous leap
keep evolving, so these partners make
forward which will also lower the cost
sure we have the best of the best with
of production.”
mobile networking and LTE to access
Underground wireless communications are vital to be able to integrate
all of our data in real time.” Sandvik has been instrumental
new solutions. “It is the foundation,
at the SK mine, where it provides
along with the sensor technology, on
Hindustan Zinc with around 90% of
which everything else is built,” con-
its equipment. “The first phase of this
firms Gorain. “To achieve this, we’ve
digitisation through our collaboration
partnered with Cisco at the SK mine
with Sandvik has now been com-
and with Israeli company Eurotech
pleted focusing on driving efficiency,”
at the Agucha mine. The whole idea
confirms Gorain. Meanwhile, at the
is that networking is something that
Agucha mine, the company is also
doesn’t really finish anytime soon, we
partnering with Mobilaris who are w w w.hz l i nd ia . com
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H I N D U S TA N Z I N C
A New Mining Paradigm
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“The existing mining paradigm is not sustainable in the long-term,” argues Barun Gorain, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Vedanta. “Much of the material generated from mining is waste. For example, with base metals typically 90% is waste. This increases our footprint, heightens risk and can trigger environmental hazards within our communities. We need to ask ourselves why we generate waste in the first place. It’s why we’re pushing towards a new mining paradigm through automation, electrification and digital solutions to help us deliver the extraction of metals with minimum waste. Governments, NGOs and communities are asking the same question: ‘Why can’t we develop a better way of mining?’ We’re committed to delivering the innovation to achieve that goal.”
Barun Gorain, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer, Hindustan Zinc, Vedanta Resources
Inside Hindustan Zinc “We are leveraging digital solutions to improve our availability, utilization and productivity at the Sindesar Khurd (SK) Mine,” says Sunil Duggal, CEO at Hindustan Zinc Limited. “With OptiMine® we will be able to plan, schedule and monitor overall operations in real time. This will add major value and increase our productivity, eliminating bottlenecks, and allowing us to measure and monitor our key performance indicators in real time, proactively addressing problems before they occur.”
Sunil Duggal, CEO at Hindustan Zinc Limited
“SK Mine has embarked on a major digital transformation journey in partnership with Sandvik and Cisco. We are now considered the most digitally advanced mine in India, but we aspire to be the world’s most advanced digital mine by 2022,” pledges Rajeev Bora, SBU Head SK Mines. “We have our unique set of complexities but the ongoing digital program will allow us a step change in safety and productivity.”
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Rajeev Bora, SBU Head SK Mines “Digitalisation is becoming the new way of working at Rampura Agucha,” agrees Sujal Shah, Director Agucha SBU. “Let us all become the agents for change in t ransforming our mines to become Sujal Shah, digitally advanced Director Agucha operations.”
SBU
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H I N D U S TA N Z I N C
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Advert
10.5%
Average zinc-lead grade
Zinc
Reserve base of 105.7mn MT
78%
Share in India’s primary zinc industry
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providing connections for visualisa-
he concedes. “We want to make peo-
tion and equipment tracking. “They’re
ple think more about how we plan for
helping us to leverage digital to com-
the future across such a large work-
municate in a way that keeps all of our
force. Change management is always
teams aligned,” he adds. “We’re reduc-
an issue, so we are educating employ-
ing the time of the track operations,
ees about how digital is not going to
improving the asset optimisation, and
take jobs away but create new ones
it’s helping us better predict our main-
in safer areas of the business with
tenance needs.”
less physical labour requirements in
Continuous alignment is a challenge that Gorain believes must be met to ensure all teams are looking at one
different roles where technology can support them.” The benefits of new technologies
truth with minimal manual intervention.
are evident with Gorain’s team’s
“There’s always resistance to change,”
recent initiatives on advanced w w w.hz l i nd ia . com
H I N D U S TA N Z I N C
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“With safety as a top priority, continuous mining, automation, digitisation, less manmachine interaction, remote monitoring and real-time visualisation of people will be a tremendous leap forward which will also lower the cost of production” — Barun Gorain, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer, Vedanta Resources
for one shared truth. Second, we deploy the right analytics solutions to enhance the working environment of everybody across the company. Third, we have to integrate the subject matter teams into the digital way of doing things. These three areas combine to help us identify the right technologies for the right purpose so that our guiding principles - in terms of enhancing safety, productivity, and reduced costs - are in alignment with our vision.” Vedanta and Hindustan Zinc’s vision is to make the SK and Agucha operations one of the most advanced digital mines in the world. “Our goal is to achieve the highest benchmark process controls. “We’ve had great
of recovery and metal extraction in
success at Zawar,” he says. “We
the zinc industry,” says Gorain. “Not
have experienced a 10% increase in
just lead-zinc major metals, but also
crusher throughput, and around a
the minor and precious metals such
3 - 5% increase in recovery, which is
as germanium, cobalt, and silver.” The
really quite remarkable.”
vision for mining in India and a move
Gorain notes that with so many technologies to choose from the problem
towards zero waste looks set to welcome a new mining paradigm.
can be selecting the right one. “To meet this challenge, our three-stage approach has been very useful,” he explains. “First, we must make sure to integrate all the data into one platform w w w.hz l i nd ia . com
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Yashad Bhawan Udaipur Rajasthan India T +91 294 6604000 02 www.hzlindia.com