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FOREWORD
W
elcome to the August edition
company has introduced - including
of Mining Global!
artificial intelligence and machine
In this issue we step inside Oren,
learning - to keep Eramet ahead as the
designed by Shell and IBM as the
digital era transforms the mining industry.
world’s first B2B marketplace platform
As the world’s largest gold mine steadies
for the mining industry. In a wide-
itself after the impact of new ownership,
ranging interview, Shell’s Global
our latest ‘Top 10’ feature gives a profile
Marketing Vice President Carol Chen
of the world’s biggest mines.
talks about Oren’s vision, and the
I hope you enjoy reading! To suggest
power of data integration.
a feature for an upcoming edition of
We also speak with Thorsten Scholz,
Mining Global, feel free to get in touch
CTO of Forwood Safety, about
with me before our next issue.
how his company is harnessing
Would you like to be featured in the
new technologies to transform the mining industry’s safety culture, and eradicate workplace fatalities. Elsewhere in the magazine, Ludovic Donati, CDO of Eramet, introduces
magazine? Get in touch at jonathan.campion@bizclikmedia.com Enjoy the issue!
Jonathan Campion
the innovative technologies that his
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03
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PUBLISHED BY
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Jonathan Campion EDITORAL DIRECTOR
Matt High CREATIVE TEAM
Oscar Hathaway Erin Hancox Sophie-Ann Pinnell Sophia Forte
PRODUCTION DIRECTORS
DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE
Georgia Allen Daniela Kianickovรก
Daniel Weatherley
PRODUCTION MANAGER
James White
Owen Martin DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS
Kieran Waite Sam Kemp
MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR
DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR
Jason Westgate CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
Stacy Norman
DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER
Shirin Sadr
PRESIDENT & CEO
Glen White
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
Leigh Manning
www.miningglobal.com
10 NOZOMI NETWORKS: ACHIEVING CYBERSECURITY IN DIGITAL MINING
RÖSSING URANIUM: HELPING POWER NAMIBIA’S FUTURE
22
HOW SATELLITEENABLED IOT IS DISRUPTING MINING
36
52
WOMEN IN MINING
84 Shell & IBM introduce the Oren marketplace
68
BIGGEST MINES IN THE WORLD
102 Eramet Group
114 Forwood Safety
128 MST Global
138 New Century Resources
156 CRC ORE
178 IBM Industry Academy
D I G I TA L M I N I N G
10
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
NOZOMI NETWORKS: ACHIEVING CYBERSECURITY IN DIGITAL MINING WRITTEN BY
ANDREA CARCANO
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
11
D I G I TA L M I N I N G
Andrea Carcano, Co-Founder & CPO of Nozomi Networks, discusses the growing cyber threats facing the mining industry as it is digitally transformed Digitalisation, automation and IoT devices are fuelling operational efficiencies in the mining industry. However, increased connectivity within operational technology environments has exponentially expanded the threat surface. Cyber threats against mining operations are real and 12
those tasked with protecting against these attacks are faced with an arduous task. Traditionally, legacy industrial control systems (ICS) were air gapped from broader IT systems, which protected these systems from IT security threats. However, growing pressure to improve profitability and operational efficiencies has resulted in an explosion of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies. This has led to the convergence of IT and OT systems, eliminating the protections provided by air gapping. These once isolated operational systems are now connected to a mine’s entire enterprise network and, as a result, are exposed to numerous new cyber threats. Furthermore, the integration of IT and OT has revealed the visibility challenges associated with operational technology (OT). S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
13
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
D I G I TA L M I N I N G
Nozomi Networks and Enel: Securing a Global Power Generation Network CLICK TO WATCH
|
3:32
14 Attackers are taking advantage
The cyber attack against Norsk
of these newly exposed weaknesses
Hydro, one of the largest aluminium
and by exploiting a vulnerability in a
producers in the world, crippled its
mine operator’s IT system, they can
computer networks and forced the
often take down both the IT and OT
company to isolate plants and return
network. A recent EY Global Infor-
to manual operations. It cost the com-
mation Security Survey revealed that
pany up to $70mn.
54% of mining and metal companies
Furthermore, in 2016 a hacker target-
suffered a significant cybersecurity
ed Canadian mining company Goldcorp
incident in the last year. A cyber at-
Inc and remained undetected in its sys-
tack can have devastating impacts
tems for months whilst stealing 15GB of
on revenue, market value and repu-
personal and customer data, which was
tation: a successful attack can put
subsequently posted online. These two
mining operations, equipment, data
attacks highlight the devastating impact
and people at risk.
a cyber attack can have on a business.
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“ Increased connectivity within operational technology environments has exponentially expanded the threat surface of the mining industry” — Andrea Carcano, Co-Founder & CPO, Nozomi Networks
gold mine of information, such as, details on location and value of natural deposits, the extraction and processing technology used and business strategy. All this information could be leveraged in M&A negotiations or be used to gain competitive advantage. For example, Global mining company BHP Billiton became a victim of a cyber espionage campaign in 2011, with attackers
It’s fair to say that attackers show no sign of slowing down, and with
targeting the company to gain access to market pricing for key commodities. 15
such high stakes, mine operators need to take the necessary precau-
PHISHING ATTACKS
tions to protect their business.
Phishing attacks are becoming an increasingly common infection vector
CYBER THREATS: UNDERSTANDING WHAT’S AT STAKE
in the mining industry. According to
The first step for mining operators
Report, more than 38% of email users
looking to protect themselves from
in the sector were hit with such an
these new cyber threats is to develop
attack in the last year. These types
the 2019 Internet Security Threat
an understanding of where these threats come from. The top three threats observed in the mining industry include:
CYBER ESPIONAGE For nation-state sponsored threat actors, mining organisations are a mi ni nggl o b a l. com
D I G I TA L M I N I N G
DETECTING CYBER RISKS AND THREATS
16
Nozomi Networks takes a multi-pronged approach to identifying suspicious activity – whether it’s accidental or intentional. Through behaviorbased anomaly detection and multiple types of signature and rules-based detection, the solution identifies unauthorised activity such as: remote access, downloads, log file deletions, controller logic changes, configuration changes, edits to PLC projects and more. All threat detection results are correlated with operational context for detailed insight. For example, the solution checks baselines for network peculiarities such as VPN access and IP ranges assigned to known asset
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
vendors. If activity occurs outside those ranges, an alert is triggered. When suspiciousactivity is identified, the solution sends high-priority alerts to mine security and operations staff, who can then execute the incident response plan to contain or eradicate the threat. Nozomi Networks’ Guardian is deployed by four of the top ten global mining companies. Guardian offers industrial strength OT and IoT security and visibility, delivering advanced threat detection capabilities that help proactively identify unauthorised access to OT networks while reducing forensic efforts and response time.
TESTIMONIALS “Teaming up with Nozomi Networks, our customers immediately gain OT network monitoring and threat detection technology that is fully integrated with key IBM security services and platforms such as QRadar.”
“Working with Nozomi Networks allows us to take advantage of their artificial intelligence-powered software to map, monitor and identify threats in some of the largest industrial installations around the world.”
– CHRIS MCCURDY, VP WORLDWIDE, IBM SECURITY
– JEROME SANDRINI, HEAD OF BIG DATA AND SECURITY, ATOS NORTH AMERICA
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17
D I G I TA L M I N I N G
“ A recent EY Global Information Security Survey revealed that 54% of mining and metal companies suffered a significant cybersecurity incident in the last year” — Andrea Carcano, Co-Founder & CPO, Nozomi Networks
PROTECTING THE MINING INDUSTRY Mine operators need to detect and evade cyber attacks before they disrupt production, result in potential danger to life, damage equipment or cause a loss of Intellectual property (IP). However, the convergence of IT and OT systems has eliminated the security blanket of a fully air-gapped system. As a result, operators need to
of campaigns are designed to trick
take a massive step up to implement
users into downloading malware or
defences that will detect and manage
divulging confidential information.
cyber threats.
18
OT network segmentation can be
THIRD-PARTY ACCESS
used to mitigate risk and prevent in-
Third-party vendors often provide
tentional or accidental OT cyber
support services for mining
incidents from spreading. However,
companies, such as equipment
effective segmentation requires full
assembly or maintenance. However,
visibility into the network and insight
unless properly managed and audited,
into where vulnerabilities are.
third parties can pose a significant threat to operations. For example, a third party could provide an entry point for malicious software or create system vulnerabilities through weak credentials. Therefore, organisations need to vet their third-party vendors and ensure they follow standard cybersecurity practices before allowing access to internal systems. S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
Therefore, to reduce risk and build operational resilience, mines must
19 implement real-time visibility into
These solutions can determine be-
their IT and OT networks. An accu-
havioural baselines, detect anomalies
rate inventory of all network assets is
and alert operators to deviations,
a critical aspect of practicing good
which mine operators can utilise to
cyber hygiene, and these assets
mitigate or eradicate the threat be-
should be monitored in real time to
fore damage is done.
detect anomalous behaviour. The threat of cyber espionage
People are often the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain. There-
means that keeping private corporate
fore, staff should be taught to spot
information and intellectual property
cyber threats, such as malicious
(PI) confidential is critical for mining
emails, and report them to the ap-
companies. To achieve this, they
propriate security team. Simply
should implement behaviour-based
raising employee awareness of the
anomaly detection and multiple types
cyber threats an organisation faces
of signature and rules-based detec-
can contribute massively to enhanc-
tion to identify unauthorised activity.
ing its security. mi ni nggl o b a l. com
D I G I TA L M I N I N G
20
NOZO M I N E T WO R KS
• 3.4mn+ OT, IT and IoT devices monitored • 2,300+ installations worldwide • Six continents with deployments • 400+ global partner ecosystem • 500% growth year on year • 100% customer retention
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“ Mine operators need to detect and evade cyber-attacks before they disrupt production, result in potential danger to life, damage equipment or cause a loss of Intellectual property (IP)” — Andrea Carcano, Co-Founder & CPO, Nozomi Networks As mining operators continue to integrate IT and OT networks to enhance efficiencies, the threat of cyber attacks will only continue to grow. Fortunately, the gravity of the cyber threats facing them is dawning on the industry and operators are beginning to take the necessary steps to build IT-like resiliency and defend their systems.
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
21
S U P P LY C H A I N & O P E R AT I O N S
22
RÖSSING URANIUM: HELPING POWER NAMIBIA’S FUTURE WRITTEN BY
DAN BRIGHT MORE
AUGUST 2020
23
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
S U P P LY C H A I N & O P E R AT I O N S
How Rössing Uranium’s vertical integration with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is set to transform the Namibian mining giant
U
ranium was first discovered in the Namib Desert in 1928, but it was only following intensive exploration in the late 1950s
that the mining industry’s interest was piqued. Rio Tinto originally secured the rights to the low-grade Rössing deposit in 1966. A decade later in 1976, Rössing Uranium, Namibia’s first commercial 24
uranium mine, started production. Today, Namibia has two significant uranium mines (Rössing Uranium and Swakop Uranium) which together provide 11% of the world’s uranium oxide output in 2019; in 2019 Rössing Uranium produced 3.9% of that total. The mine has a capacity of 4,500 tonnes of uranium oxide per year and, by the end of 2019, had supplied a total of 137,537 tonnes of uranium oxide to the world. The mine is located 12km from the town of Arandis, which lies 70 km inland from the coastal town of Swakopmund in Namibia’s Erongo Region. Walvis Bay, Namibia’s only deep-water harbour, is located 30km south of Swakopmund. The mine site encompasses a mining licence and accessory works areas of about 129.79 km2, of which 25 km2 is used for mining, waste disposal and processing.
AUGUST 2020
25
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
S U P P LY C H A I N & O P E R AT I O N S
“ We have a 44-year-old plant, so we’re looking at new technologies to address leaching efficiency and improve extraction and recovery processes. We’re thrilled about the appetite for a new life of mine extension” — Liezl Davies, General Manager, Operations, Rössing Uranium
2019. Liezl Davies, General Manager: Operations, explains that the move by CNUC represented a new lease of life
Mining is done by blasting, loading and
for the mine which was facing the threat
hauling from the open pit before the
of early closure. “Since CNUC took over
uranium-bearing rock is processed to
as the majority shareholder, we are now
produce uranium oxide.
part of a vertically integrated nuclear
26
business because its parent company,
A NUCLEAR OPTION
CNNC (China National Nuclear Corpora-
A depressed global uranium market
tion), is a major supplier of nuclear power
might have been a challenge for Rio
in China. Now we need to consider plant
Tinto but it presented a golden opportu-
readiness for possible mine life exten-
nity for China’s CNUC (China National
sion. The past two years there was a lack
Uranium Corporation) taking over
of capital investment in the operation
in Namibia as the 68.62% majority
and since we now have a new lease of
shareholder at Rössing Uranium in July
life, we need to catch up on this backlog and get ourselves set up for the future to survive this depressed uranium market.”
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT After two years of uncertainty during the build-up to CNNC’s takeover, Davies and her team are now busy planning a way forward at Rössing to innovate AUGUST 2020
27 and build a path for optimisation. “We
including precipitation optimisation
have a 44-year-old plant, so we’re
of the existing filtration equipment.
looking at new technologies to address
“We are working very closely with
leaching efficiency and improve
them and are excited to move
extraction and recovery processes,”
forward with feasibility studies on
she says. “We’re thrilled about the
getting newer technology into the
appetite for a new life of mine extension
plant,” confirms Davies. “We’ll be
as the business case for this becomes
leveraging our new connections
more viable.”
in the Chinese market to improve
The team at Rössing is working with
efficiency across our operations.”
the CNNC owned Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Engineering and
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Metallurgy, investigating opportunities
“Our workforce was relieved when
for various improvements in the plant
CNNC came on board, because it
in terms of uranium production,
ended a long period of uncertainty,” mi ni nggl o b a l. com
S U P P LY C H A I N & O P E R AT I O N S
T H E R Ö SSI N G FO U N DAT I O N
The Rössing Foundation was established in 1978 through a Deed of Trust as a vehicle to oversee and implement many of Rössing Uranium’s corporate social responsibility activities in Namibia. The Foundation implements programmes and projects under the following mandates:
28
• T o further the education of all Namibians in order to achieve greater national productivity and enhance lifelong learning. • To encourage the creation and/or to create opportunities for people to use their education. • T o promote the advancement of the living standards of all the people in Namibia. • T o carry out any act or accomplish anything, which in the opinion of the Trustees, shall benefit Namibia or any or all of its inhabitants. To align programmes and projects, the Rössing Foundation focuses mainly on the following identified targets:
AUGUST 2020
• t he improvement of primary and secondary education through the implementation of various teachers’ and learners’ support programmes; • t he diversification and strengthening of the local economy through support to small- and medium-scale enterprises; and •w orking hand-in-hand with local authorities to strengthen their capacity and facilitate the development and implementation of their strategic plans. The Rössing Foundation has been working in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture on an education development programme since Namibia’s independence in 1990. The partnership aims to strengthen the capacity of teachers and learners, develop leadership and management programmes and promote resource sharing. Teachers’ support programmes are conducted either at a centre or through the mobile unit on
29
school visits to rural areas as part of the Foundation’s national outreach programme. Learners’ support programmes are provided at the Foundation’s English, Mathematics and Science centres in the towns of Arandis and Swakopmund in the Erongo Region, and in Ondangwa in the Oshana Region. During 2019,
the mobile laboratory assisted the Kahenge Combined Secondary School in English, Mathematics and Science. This programme supported 992 learners and 23 teachers throughout the year. The Rössing Foundation also offers library services as part of its community outreach.
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
S U P P LY C H A I N & O P E R AT I O N S
30
says Davies. “We now have more opportunities for the future. One of the first things CNNC did was to bring their senior leadership to the site and to carry out sessions with all of our employees and contractors across the group, allowing everyone’s questions to be heard. It was very well received and left
1976
Year founded
22.4mn
Tonnes of rock were mined during 2019
our team keen to build for the future.” Davies is cognisant of the fact that, in the context of Namibia, Rössing is a relatively mature operation with the legacy of generations that have worked at the mine. “We need to utilise AUGUST 2020
1,000+ Number of employees
“ We have a new lease of life and a reason to be excited for the future as we keep our people working for Namibia’s people” — Liezl Davies, General Manager, Operations, Rössing Uranium 31
their experience and integrate that
THE RÖSSING FOUNDATION
with the expectations of our new
“We’re very pleased CNNC has commit-
majority shareholder and their vision
ted to continue to support our Rössing
for the company,” she says. “We
Foundation, which was established for
have a strong performance culture at
our community outreach work already
Rössing and a committed and dedicat-
in 1978,” reveals Davies. “Because of the
ed workforce, so we’re aiming to keep
synergies within CNNC and their plans
them on board with the future plans
for continued operation, we can
for the company. I always joke that
continue to be a strong contributor to
nothing is new at Rössing, everything
the economy of Namibia for longer
has been tried before, if you just ask
than would have been possible before
the right person. We need to go build
the takeover.”
on that, and leverage the wealth of
Davies explains that the company’s
experience we have in our workforce.”
foundation is one of the oldest commumi ni nggl o b a l. com
S U P P LY C H A I N & O P E R AT I O N S
32 DI D YO U KN OW?
• 8.6 million tonnes of rock were uranium-bearing • 13.3 million tonnes of rock were waste, compared with 11.5 million in 2018 • 2,449 tonnes of uranium oxide were drummed in 2019, compared 2,479 in 2018 • 137,537 tonnes of uranium oxide supplied to the world since 1976 • 3.9% of the world’s uranium oxide output provided by Rössing Uranium in 2019 AUGUST 2020
nity outreach programmes of all the mines in Namibia. “Along with the Namibia Diamond Mining Company, we have the most active programmes running,” she highlights. “Rössing’s focus is mostly on education. We feel it’s a very strong lever that we should pull in supporting future generations. We’re also proud to have broken the mould. Normally across Namibia these types of programmes, even legislatively, are only in the area of a company’s operations but the Rössing Foundation operates programmes nationally, which has now become the standard.”
PARTNERING FOR A SUCCESSFUL FUTURE IN NAMIBIA
founding member. “We’ve always
Rössing Uranium has strong ties with
aimed to make a positive impact on the
Namibia’s government and is also
nation as a whole,” says Davies who
working closely with the Chamber of
has continued in her role as General
Mines of Namibia, of which it is a
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
Liezl Davies Title: General Manager, Operations Industry: Mining
Company: Rössing Uranium
Location: Namibia
“I’ve had a very uncommon career progression in mining,” says Liezl Davies, Rössing Uranium’s General Manager, Operations. “With my human resources background (Davies spent seven years working in HR at De Beers in Namibia) going into the operations arena without the typical engineering or geology degree is unusual.” While she concedes she may not bring the technical skills, Davies is a champion team builder and having worked at Rössing Uranium for almost a decade, including eight years in a variety of management roles for previous majority shareholder Rio Tinto, she understands how to promote positive performance and translate this back into individual contributions that lead a team to success. “I always say we need to operate with each other in mind,” she adds. “It doesn’t help if the mine runs full blast and the plant is standing still. It’s a beautiful synergy and everyone needs to work together and have that drumbeat of that smooth running of the plant machine, and the drums being produced, guiding what they do. My focus has been on keeping up the energy and motivation of our workforce during a challenging two-year transition period to where we are now with the support of CNNC. My industrial psychology background has been hugely helpful here. Team spirit is vital as we work together to build a greater Rössing.”
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
33
S U P P LY C H A I N & O P E R AT I O N S
“ Since CNUC took over as the majority shareholder, we are now a vertically integrated nuclear business, because its parent company, CNNC (China National Nuclear Corporation), is a major supplier of nuclear power in China” 34
— Liezl Davies, General Manager, Operations, Rössing Uranium
Manager, Operations following eight
and nationally. We need these alliances
years working for Rössing’s previous
to be strong to achieve our goals for
majority shareholder Rio Tinto. “We’re
the future.”
working with CNNC to ensure we
Davies is excited about the potential
continue to contribute towards taking
for the introduction of new technolo-
our country forward. Just as important
gies to improve the company’s bottom
as these board level partnerships are
line and support opportunities for life
those we forge with our employees
of mine extension. “We need to get
and the wider community, both locally
our business more cost efficient so
AUGUST 2020
es for thinking as well as physical work. We’ll also be looking at ways we take certain risks out of the business and make it an even safer place for our people to work at. Our focus will turn to the online monitoring of equipment and operations, using real time data for more reliable information, which in turn will help take our employees out of more risky environments. We’re proud of our safety record at Rössing; in 2017 our safety performance was the best in the mine’s 44-year history, while last year we were again among the safest mining operations in Namibia, winning the Chamber of Mines’ Safety Award for the second year running.” The goal now for Davies and her team is to ride the current fluctuations of the uranium market and, with CNNC’s help, reposition Rössing we can fast track these plans,” she
Uranium for growth in the years to
adds. “If we can bring in our product
come. “We have a new lease of life
at a lower price there will be a bigger
going forward and a reason to be
appetite for future investment from
excited for the future as we keep our
CNNC. We must leverage the techno-
people working for Namibia’s people.”
logical advancement that’s happening in the world, and use it to our benefit. We’ll be looking at ways to mine more efficiently and use our human resourcmi ni nggl o b a l. com
35
TECHNOLOGY
36
HOW SATELLITEENABLED IOT IS DISRUPTING MINING WRITTEN BY
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
DAN BRIGHT MORE
37
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
TECHNOLOGY
Inmarsat’s Director of Mining Innovation, Joe Carr discusses satellite-enabled IoT solutions, developing automated mining and drilling as a service
I
nmarsat was established in 1979 by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a United Nations body, to provide a satellite communications network that
would protect the lives of mariners anywhere at sea. It was the first satellite operator to meet the stringent requirements of the
38
Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for global safety communications. Today its satellite communication services save lives, empower people and communities, enable business and trade, and support humanitarian work in the most remote and challenging locations across a range of industries from aviation to mining. “Much like the maritime industry, mining battles the elements in remote locations where there’s no communication,” says Inmarsat’s Director of Mining Innovation Joe Carr. “There’s a synergy here and that ability to provide remote communications anywhere on the planet is the founding requirement of Inmarsat across all the industries we serve.” S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
39
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
Carr highlights that Inmarsat has been working with the mining industry since its inception in the 70s. “We continue to be its leading provider of global mobile satellite connectivity. So, it doesn't matter where you go, you can take a phone and the internet with you and you have access to those comms, whether you're in Africa, South America, the CIS region or a remote part of Australia. This really is the core founding principle of how Inmarsat started.” facilities. My role as Director of Mining
TAILINGS DAM MONITORING
Innovation is to identify ideas like this
Carr’s role is to build on Inmarsat’s
and then find other digital systems and
expertise with communications and
solutions that companies need. We
develop new offerings such as the
work with both OEMs and mining com-
company’s award-winning tailings
panies to develop new technologies
dam monitoring solution. “That grew
and solutions inside the industry.”
out of a conversation with our engi-
Following the tragic events in
neers when we asked, ‘How can we
Brumadinho in Brazil last year, Carr
do this better?’” he recalls.
believes it’s more important than ever
“It links back to Inmarsat's heritage
to address the issue of monitoring
in terms of safety. We looked at it as
tailings dams across the world in real
a problem we could solve and with our
time. “Taking readings manually is not
safety mandate it was a project close
efficient,” he notes. “If we want to know
to our hearts. We wanted to build an
what's happening on the dam, it's
innovative solution that allowed com-
easier to get on a plane and fly there
panies to better monitor their tailings
than it is to try and get the information mi ni nggl o b a l. com
41
TECHNOLOGY
A B O U T I N MARSAT
42
Inmarsat is the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications. It owns and operates the world’s best global portfolio of satellite networks, specifically designed for customer mobility, and holds a multi-layered, global spectrum portfolio, covering L-band, Ka-band and S-band, enabling unparalleled breadth and diversity in the solutions it provides. Inmarsat’s global distribution network includes not only the world’s leading channel partners but also its own strong direct retail capabilities, enabling end to end customer service assurance. The company has an unrivalled track record of operating the world’s most reliable global mobile
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
satellite networks, sustaining business and mission critical safety & operational applications for over 40 years. It is also a major driving force behind technological innovation in mobile satellite communications, sustaining its leadership through a substantial investment and a powerful network of technology and manufacturing partners. Inmarsat operates across a diversified portfolio of sectors with the financial resources to fund its business strategy and holds leading positions in the Maritime, Government and Aviation satcoms markets, operating consistently as a trusted, responsive and highquality partner to its customers across the globe.
40 years of innovation CLICK TO WATCH
|
3:29
43 on site. We live in the 21st century, it's
Though lamenting that the mining
crazy! Mine tailings audits are typically
industry can be slow to implement
carried out at infrequent intervals, with
change, Carr emphasises that there
employees and third-party consultants
has been great work done with min-
making long distance trips to collect
ing’s commitment to zero harm. “The
data and audit the status of the dams.
accident frequency rate across the
Our tailings dam monitoring solution
industry is falling. How we better monitor
makes data available between site vis-
tailings facilities, tackle the problem
its to any accredited users, anywhere
and take forward new standards and
in the world. In this way, we support
principles in terms of IoT, better gov-
the mining industry’s commitment to
ernance tools and real time monitoring
zero-harm, while enabling our custom-
is going to be the direction that the
ers to minimise environmental risk
industry is driven. All of our social
and achieve high levels of safety and
license to operate is driven from that.
operational success.”
If people will allow us to mine, build mi ni nggl o b a l. com
TECHNOLOGY
tailings and other facilities, then we
semi-annual or annual site visits with
can mine the basic resources needed
recommendations based on these
to tackle issues like climate change.”
visits,” explains Richard Elmer, Regional Manager for Knight Piésold UK.
44
COLLABORATION
“Instrumentation data is often collected
Partnerships are vital for Inmarsat as
on-site and mining companies are largely
it seeks to exploit synergies across
reliant on human activity for the collec-
the industries it serves. Integral to the
tion, storage and analysis of the data.
development of its tailings dam moni-
Our collaboration with Inmarsat provides
toring solution has been an alliance,
our clients access to the latest and best
dating back to 2017, with innovation
available technology for real time data
partners Knight Piésold UK (KP),
collection and analysis. We see this as
a member of the international geo-
a game changing improvement in how
technical, tailings management and
companies monitor their current tailings
engineering consulting group.
storage facilities.”
“The current tailings auditing and management business consists of
“ New standards and principles in terms of IoT, better governance tools and real time monitoring is going to be the direction that the industry is driven” — Joe Carr, Director of Mining Innovation, Inmarsat
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
45
“Working with the likes of KP adds
Inmarsat is also an active leader-
a whole other level of capability,” con-
ship member of the Global Mining
firms Carr. “They're able to instruct
Guidelines Group (GMG) - a network
on the best instruments to use and the
of representatives from mining com-
most flexible approach to analysis. It
panies, OEMs, OTMs, research organi-
helps us provide a very rounded capa-
sations, consultants and regulators
bility for the end customer. We look at
around the world who collaborate to
partnerships like these across spec-
tackle challenges facing the industry.
trum; from small suppliers of LiDAR
“Our membership allows us to sit at the
digital sensors for survey mapping,
table with major mining organisations,
to agritech companies with expertise
including Barrick, Anglo American and
in water monitoring and crop yields.
BHP,” says Carr. “We help agree the
In relationships like these we see
standards and frameworks for strate-
Inmarsat technology as an enabler.”
gies that will protect the safety of the mi ni nggl o b a l. com
TECHNOLOGY
“ Automation could be quite disruptive for the mining industry and potentially allow it to utilise drillingas-a-service” — Joe Carr, Director of Mining Innovation, Inmarsat
46
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
workforce, combat climate change and
our head of solutions, architecture and
ensure interoperability. It allows us
enterprise, who was working with IoT
to take our knowledge and capability
technology on a water dam in Australia
and give back to the industry to tackle
to measure things like water levels and
some of its biggest challenges.”
piezometric pressure. That was the genesis of our approach and shows
INNOVATION
what you can achieve with our syner-
“Inmarsat is a company where you can
gies across the military and aviation
run into rocket scientists; I’m just the guy
sectors and their use of drones and
that’s used to drilling holes,” jokes Carr.
autonomous systems.”
“The tailings dam monitoring solution
Carr reveals Inmarsat is currently
came about from a conversation with
looking at how drills could be run via 47
D I D YO U K N OW?
How real-time tailings dam monitoring works In collaboration with Knight Piésold UK, Inmarsat is delivering remote tailings dam monitoring with real-time analysis. Inmarsat’s satellite-enabled IoT (Internet of Things) solution collects data from a range of industry standard sensors via edge connectivity such as LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network), before it is transferred across Inmarsat’s L-band satellite network to a single cloud dashboard.
This enables mining companies and national regulators to gain a comprehensive view of the status of their dams with granular metrics such as pond elevation, piezometric pressures, inclinometer readings and weather conditions displayed in one place, no matter where the mine is located. The solution also features sensor-agnostic capabilities, so it can work with both existing sensors and new devices.
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
TECHNOLOGY
satellite. “If you were to remove the
industry,” says Carr. “That's why
need for any onsite network on a
when we're working, we try to do
mine and could run that drill autono-
things that aren't just focused on
mously via a satellite network you
the cost; we want to make sure
could put the drill anywhere on the
that ultimately we're providing real
planet without flying people around
value. We face the same challenges
the world to set up a new system.
as any innovator. When you've got
This could be quite disruptive for the
a new idea, you're always going to
mining industry and potentially allow
face the response: ‘This is the way
it to utilise drilling-as-a-service.”
we've always done things’. We’re used to that because we work in the
48
CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO
military and aviation where anything
“The commodity cycle is always
new takes years to get passed by
going to be a big macro focus for the
regulators.
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“However, a lot of the challenges
SETTING THE TREND
within the mining industry come from
Carr notes a sea change in the way that
how we embrace the adoption of new
the mining industry, through organi-
technologies. Autonomous drilling is
sations like the GMG, PRI (Principles
a great example. It's very compelling,
for Responsible Investment), ICMM
yet when you talk to a lot of mining
(International Council on Mining
industry companies, they are always
and Metals) and the UNEP (United
going to be hesitant because they’ll
Nations Environment Programme),
want to know how we ensure success.
is looking at CSR through global,
It's why they like proven technology
not just regional, standards. “It’s
which has been around for 10 years or
the first time the industry has been
more. But it doesn't necessarily mean
pushed on a global issue so it will
that it's the most innovative, cutting
be interesting to see how these
edge technology available.”
standards progress.”
49
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TECHNOLOGY
“ Our tailings dam monitoring solution makes data available between site visits to any accredited users, anywhere in the world” — Joe Carr, Director of Mining Innovation, Inmarsat
50
Automation is another key trend
Globally, we still have a lot of sites
Inmarsat is watching closely. “I think
that do not benefit from automation.
the trick will be to expand automation
They either don't have the technology
beyond the majors,” says Carr. “We
and skills, or the cost is prohibitive.
all know they’re doing great work in
We need to look at how we produce
the Pilbara with automated trucks.
more connectivity for less. How can
The next level is going to be how we
we be more efficient and trickle
take those systems and make them
down the automation lessons learned
cost effective for mid-tiers and oth-
over the past decade to the rest of
ers across the industry as a whole.
the industry?”
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“Much of the industry is holding fire as to what they want to do. There’s likely to be a big acceleration of work when it is published.” (Publication was due in Q2 2020 but has been delayed due to the impact of COVID19). “The next big challenge is to really help the mining industry understand satellite, the way it does LTE,” says Carr. “We want to bring it more into the mainstream and bust some of those myths around what ‘satellite’ is. We want to ensure we can do things like automation projects and drive industry uptake and capability. It’s our big mission throughout 2020 and beyond to expand the industry’s skill set and scope providing capabilities to the regions and companies that need to level up to make mining ready to
2020 VISION
resource the future.”
The big goal for Inmarsat this year will be setting the direction for its tailings dam work with the agreement of a framework from the UNEP, ICMM and PRI for an international tailings standard. “We’ve been communicating with the various stakeholders and believe the outcome of that standard will be extremely positive,” says Carr. mi ni nggl o b a l. com
51
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
WOMEN IN MINING WRITTEN BY
52
DAN BRIGHT MORE
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
53
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S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
Mining Global speaks with a quartet of leading women from across the mining industry to discuss challenges and future opportunities for women LIEZL DAVIES, GENERAL MANAGER, OPERATIONS, RÖSSING URANIUM Liezl credits her background in industrial psychology, and time working in HR for De Beers, as vital to her role dealing with change management during a decade working at Rössing in Namibia, first for Rio Tinto and now for new majority shareholder CNUC 54
(China National Uranium Corporation) a part of CNNC (China National Nuclear Corporation).
WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED AS A WOMAN IN THE MINING INDUSTRY? Liezl Davies: “The typical ones of not being the technical expert, so not necessarily having the experience or expertise in a technical area, so why would any team be led by you if they know things better? That’s the challenge I faced. The way I approached it was to say, ‘well, yes, you may know better than me in one area, but I have experience in a different area that can compliment what you do and help us bring Rössing to success’. “I think it is being open and honest, and straightforward, and not trying to pretend that I know something I don’t, being authentic about it. S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
55
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S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
It’s also important to call out when
trucks are running on, employees
I’m faced with obstacles and say, you
who can design the pit lay out, and
need to get on board, you need to
the cycle the trucks need to hang on.
be a team player, everyone needs
It just opens a completely different
to get into the game and pull together
world where everyone can be there
to pull Rössing up through the
and from all walks of life and physical
depressed uranium market and
ability. The underground mining
into the future.”
environment is now a place where all our workers can contribute.”
56
WHAT IS NEEDED FROM AN INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY STANDPOINT TO ATTRACT MORE WOMEN INTO THE INDUSTRY?
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHER WOMEN CONSIDERING A CAREER IN MINING?
Liezl Davies: “When we get to a phase
Liezl Davies: “We are seeing a growing
now in our technological develop-
number of women being interested in
ment where we have autonomous
the mining disciplines that weren’t
vehicles you don’t necessarily need a
there previously. I think we’re doing
haulage truck operator, but you need
quite a bit to encourage them at
a more intelligent approach. We need
Rössing so they are motivated to
workers who can operate the
actually study more in the mining
controls, or design the operating
disciplines that they see other women
system, the control room or the
succeeding in; it gives them hope. You must not be fooled, it is a tough environment, but all jobs are stressful, so you need to find your happy place, your place in the sun, and this is the type of environment that spoke to me, and that I feel I could actually thrive in, as long as you are a team player, and you can get the job done.”
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
A conversation with Florence Drummond – AusIMM Bulletin October 2019 CLICK TO WATCH
|
2:41
57
WHAT DO YOU THINK, AND HOPE, THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR WOMEN WORKING IN THE SECTOR?
FLORENCE DRUMMOND, FOUNDER, INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN MINING AND RESOURCES AUSTRALIA (IWIMRA)
Liezl Davies: “We have now moved
Florence began her career in
to a stage where we have women in
mining as a machine operator at
a host of very important roles - at
Rio Tinto’s Weipa operation in
almost all of our levels there are
Queensland, Australia; she currently
women in operational areas. I tell our
works at BHP in Perth as Project
women they have a responsibility not
Supervisor – Indigenous Engage-
only to themselves but towards the
ment Strategy. Florence founded
girls who will be the women of the
IWIMRA in 2017 to provide a plat-
future to create a mining environment
form for the voices of Indigenous
filled with opportunities. They can be
women in mining and resources
the ground-breakers for the next
across Australia to be heard.
generation to come.” mi ni nggl o b a l. com
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
“ We have now moved to a stage where we have women operators, and we’ve got women foremen, women fitters and turners, geologists, metallurgists, engineers, managers and now a general manager” — Liezl Davies, General Manager, Operations, Rössing Uranium
that are impactful for women who are currently participating in the industry. Traditionally, as a time-poor demographic, how can we as women integrate time on-the-job, to advance in the value we hold as a team member and contribute towards a richer workforce?”
WHAT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE FROM AN INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY STANDPOINT TO ATTRACT MORE WOMEN INTO THE INDUSTRY? Florence Drummond: “As an Indig-
58
WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED AS A WOMAN IN THE MINING INDUSTRY?
age practices to be integrated into
Florence Drummond: “There is a lack
operations to allow for a culturally safe
of women of colour in leadership roles.
workplace. This not only enables a
It’s important for women to have role
celebration of culture, but a deeper
models to learn their stories and give
respect and understanding of the
us the opportunity to evolve and to
significance of land, history, tradition,
continue to refine our narrative.
collaboration and rehabilitation.”
enous woman, I would like to encour-
I strongly believe in ‘you can be what
pools for in-demand professions.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHER WOMEN CONSIDERING A CAREER IN MINING?
A self-sustaining cycle of mentorship
Florence Drummond: “For women
and learning can really positively nourish
considering a career in this industry,
quality participation and retention.
or any traditionally male dominated
you can see’ so, it is excellent to see many more initiatives to create talent
“There needs to be accessibility to professional development opportunities S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
industry, it’s important to be proud of who you are, keep yourself and your
team safe, and always remember your
strongly to which many are working
own reasons why you want to progress
tirelessly towards. I would also like to
to sustain you. There are long days,
ensure that we as an industry are
uneven rosters, unfamiliar situations,
also celebrating our male champions
physical challenges, industry culture and
who walk alongside us towards
bugs to deal with! Yes, it is changing, but
gender parity.”
it takes time. Enjoy the experience, remain curious to learn more and travel widely within your global operations.”
LIEZL VAN WYK, DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS EXCELLENCE, SSR MINING Liezl has over two decades of
WHAT DO YOU THINK, AND HOPE, THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR WOMEN WORKING IN THE SECTOR?
likes of Rio Tinto and Diavik Diamond
Florence Drummond: “The future of
Mines before taking up her current
women in the industry is developing
position with SSR in 2017.
experience in mining across various management roles working for the
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
59
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
60
WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED AS A WOMAN IN THE MINING INDUSTRY?
else. I did encounter that one had to
Liezl Van Wyk: “I’ve worked in the
safety and conduct, which are good life
power, construction, shipping and
skills. There is a lot more awareness
mining sectors; there are many
around women and their place in the
similarities between these capital-in-
mining workplace. Alignment of
tensive outdoor industries featuring
company values and greater diversity
large scale equipment and still with a
of the workforce have reduced the
primarily male workforce. My upbring-
challenges of earlier days.
ing and interests, combined with my
pay a lot more attention to personal
“I experienced that males in these
technical acumen, made entering
industries can feel uncomfortable with
these industries natural for me. From
women in their workplaces, taking on
my perspective it was more an
non-conventional roles. My approach
intellectual challenge than anything
has always been that if people are
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“It’s important for women to have role models to learn their stories and give us the opportunity to evolve and to continue to refine our narrative. I strongly believe in ‘you can be what you can see’” — Florence Drummond, Founder, Indigenous Women in Mining and Resources Australia (IWIMRA)
61
you do that. Earlier in my career I did
WHAT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE FROM AN INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY STANDPOINT TO ATTRACT MORE WOMEN INTO THE MINING INDUSTRY?
find I had to work quite a bit harder and
“Opportunity draws people. Saying you
be more assertive to get my point
are welcome here and we are open for
across. These traits of persistence
business will attract more women.
develop good skills, so meeting a
Communicating clearly what the areas
challenge developed a strength. You
for growth and value add are means
learn how to read the environment a lot
people, can understand and internalise
better with a multi-faceted response
the opportunity, and determine if the
needed for leadership. As they say,
barriers to entry are low enough for them
challenges are often the seeding
to participate. To my mind it’s no different
ground for opportunities.”
to Porter’s Five Forces Model for getting
unsure how to deal with you, then show them how. You take the lead. People tend to quickly get comfortable when
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
Michelle Ash on innovation in mining CLICK TO WATCH
|
6:03
62 more women into the mining industry. We
are influenced by what they see, what
have rival industries, threat of substitutes,
they hear, what they read. If we want to
barriers to entry, and supplier/buyer
attract more women into our industry
(workforce/employers) tensions. Mining
we need to communicate exactly that.
is such a broad and diverse spectrum
The underlying bias that mining is not a
industry and a fantastic business to grow
welcoming place for women compared
in; it’s compatible with several adjacent
to other industries needs to be broken
industries, which makes it quite fluid for
by sharing inspiring success stories to
people to move into (and out of).
empower women.”
“My career did not start in mining but
women. It comes down to companies
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHER WOMEN CONSIDERING A CAREER IN MINING?
and managers to make those connec-
“I would always advocate for women
tions and plug the women in. People
to join the industry. Some sectors are
my skill set was totally transferable and I believe this is the case for many other
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“ The underlying bias that mining is not a welcoming ed but mining is in the process of structural, not just incremental change. place for women compared to other industries needs That brings new approaches and the to be broken by sharing need to widen the demographics, inspiring success stories providing opportunities for women to empower women” already very mature and quite congest-
across the whole mining value chain. “Women need to be professional, connect with other women in the industry they respect and the male
— Liezl Van Wyk, Director, Operations Excellence, SSR Mining
managers championing women in mining. Sit at the table, use your brains and your craft to bring your transfer-
mining hierarchy. No more dry joints
able skills and insights from other
and open circuits – there’s full connec-
industries – they are needed and will
tivity and opportunity to contribute
add value. Network and seek both
wherever your skills and career
guidance and mentorship. Be focused
roadmap fit. The greater inclusivity of
on the positive challenge of problem
women will correlate with greater
solving and improving the business.
deployment of technology and
Move around if you can, it’s a big plus in
innovation, environmental and commu-
the resources industries.”
nity stewardship, changes in risk management and governance,
WHAT DO YOU THINK, AND HOPE, THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR WOMEN WORKING IN THE SECTOR?
stakeholder relationships, energy and
“The mining employment mix has
Obviously, these changes are not
already started to change; a demo-
uniquely tied to women, but the
graphically more representative future
inclusion of women is having a very
is upon us. I see women now in all
positive impact on these elements and
disciplines and sectors across the
it can only keep growing from here.”
climate change responses, and the push towards more circular economies.
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63
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
MICHELLE ASH, CEO, GEOVIA (DASSAULT SYSTÈMES)
family. I was a general manager
Michelle is the former Chief Innovation
wanted to spend quality time at home.
Officer at Barrick and the outgoing Chair
Nowadays it’s good to see men taking
of the Global Mining Guidelines Group
a bigger role in family life but unfortu-
(GMG). A skilled technology transforma-
nately, they also face that trade off with
tion leader, she took up her role as CEO
the pressures of work.
at mining engineering software leader GEOVIA in October 2019.
spending a lot of time on site but I also
“I’ve had comments in the past from colleagues, and even team leaders, asking how I can abandon my family for
64
WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED AS A WOMAN IN THE MINING INDUSTRY?
that a woman would make that choice.
“For me, as a woman in the industry, it
Emotionally it’s difficult to accept such
was important to keep that work/life
judgemental behaviour and the
balance, especially as I got older and
implication that for a woman to succeed
my son was born. I was lucky to be able
she must have sacrificed something.
to progress with my career thanks to
my career and saying it’s ‘interesting’
“One of the big advantages I had was
help from family and a carer, but a lot of
that I was able to meet and maintain the
women don’t always find the support
confidence of a series of male leaders
structure they need. It’s difficult for
who wanted to ‘take a chance’ on
women because we end up torn
putting me in my next role. Whether that
between career progression and
was in my first job in mining as a blasting engineer, later on as the superintendent of a truck shop without a maintenance background, or when I was appointed as the general manager of a petrochemical business because of my culture change experience. A big challenge for many women is being able to clearly present your skills as transfer-
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
able, showing your ability to learn from
I’d been the COO of Acacia and the GM
one role to the next. This is a male
of a petrochemical business. I believe
dominated industry so you do some-
there’s still this unconscious bias that
times need good sponsors prepared to
women face. Are we going to be tough
show faith in you to progress. Part of
enough? Will we be experienced
that problem is that when you look at
enough? Will investors accept us? Years
how many women are in CEO positions
ago, I was knocked back for a customer-
across the industry, just six worldwide, it
facing GM position and the rationale was
highlights the lack of role models for
that their customers weren’t ready to see
women who can sponsor the next wave
a woman running the business.”
of women into leadership roles.
to me that I had great financial and
WHAT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE FROM AN INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY STANDPOINT TO ATTRACT MORE WOMEN INTO THE INDUSTRY?
business improvement experience but
“The tide is turning. We’re seeing a lot
was light in operations. Yet this was after
more women at GM level which is
“I’ve experienced why there is a lack of women at the top because a few years ago I went for a CEO role and they said
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65
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
“ The mining industry has changed so much in the 30 years I’ve been part of it. When I started out there were barely any women’s toilets let alone a variety of opportunities. Now, there is a real desire to develop a more diverse workforce” — Michelle Ash, CEO, GEOVIA (Dassault Systèmes)
66 fantastic and vital if we’re to attract
However, again it requires a number
more women into the industry. Tradi-
of sponsors, men in the industry on
tionally, on executive teams, we’re
boards and in chairman roles, even in
seeing women in HR and finance roles
recruitment, who are prepared to
but how many do we see in operations
actively seek out good candidates and
and exploration? Companies might be
get more women into senior roles. It’s
well meaning but there needs to be an
that visibility that will show women the
examination of the underlying bias that
mining industry is open to them.”
still exists. We can all have them for
on boards. It’s 28% now which helps
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHER WOMEN CONSIDERING A CAREER IN MINING?
because more women are becoming
“For young women, it’s about taking a
involved in the executive and the
chance on yourself and being pre-
recruitment process for CEOs.
pared to put yourself into a role you
different reasons. “We’re certainly seeing more women
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
that it offers a bit of everything; we do construction and literally help build communities while implementing the latest technologies.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK, AND HOPE, THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR WOMEN WORKING IN THE SECTOR? “Hopefully as more women reach higher levels across the mining sector it will become even more apparent that there is a clear pathway for women to find rewarding careers. The mining industry has changed so much in the 30 years I’ve been part of it. When I started out may not be 100% for, but are a good fit
there were barely any women’s toilets
for in terms of knowing the gaps you
let alone a variety of opportunities.
can work on. This is where the role of
Now, there is a real desire to develop a
sponsors can be really important.
more diverse workforce. There are still
“The industry has a variety of roles
challenges to overcome because by
available and the great thing now is
definition bringing in diversity means
that you can take a less traditional path
you’ll have people with different
and find something that you’re
opinions to your own which can be
passionate about and interested in. In
quite confronting and makes you
my career I’ve not only had the
examine your own thinking.”
opportunity to work on site but also in strategic roles, with communities and governments while contributing to safety and risk management projects. What I love about the mining industry is mi ni nggl o b a l. com
67
T O P 10
68
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
BIGGEST MINES IN THE WORLD Mining Global examines 10 of the world’s largest mines around the world, in no particular order WRITTEN BY
MARCUS LAWRENCE
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
69
T O P 10
Copper BHP Operator
1,135 Annual yield (kilotonnes)
70
By NASAThe original uploader was Seth Ilys at English Wikipedia.
Main ore
10Escondida, Chile Found in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, the Escondida mine’s ownership is split between BHP (57.5%), Rio Tinto (30%), and a Mitsubishi-led joint venture (12.5% combined). In 2016, the mine accounted for 5% of the world’s copper production, although in recent years its yield has begun to diminish. BHP said in its FY2019 report on the mine’s efficacy that Escondida’s copper production had dropped by 6% over the previous financial year to 1,135kt, although this was an expected decline given the firm’s prediction of a 12% slip in copper grades. In 2018, BHP opened the Escondida Water Supply desalination plant which, at the time, was the largest in Latin America. The plant has been gradually scaling up operations, with desalinated water making up 40% of water used at the site at the end of FY2019, and an expansion of the desalination plant was due to begin delivery during the first half of 2020. S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
09Mir, Russia Formerly the Soviet Union’s largest diamond mine, the Siberian Mir mine is one of the biggest excavation pits on the planet and is credited as having been the keystone of the Soviet diamond industry. The open-pit mine was operational from 1957 to 2001, closing officially in 2004, before reopening in 2009 with operations shifted below ground. It is estimated to have produced US$17bn’s worth of rough diamonds by its 2001 closure. Now operated by Alrosa, Russia’s largest diamond company accounting for 95% of the nation’s diamond output, the mine is capable of yielding 2,000kg of diamonds per year. Having reopened in 2009, the mine is predicted to remain operational until around 2059. The mine is certifiably enormous, cited as one of the largest excavated holes on Earth, with the open pit reaching a depth of 525m with a diameter of 1.2km.
Diamond By Staselnik – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Main ore
Alrosa Operator
2,000 Annual yield (kilograms) mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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T O P 10
08Boddington, Australia The Boddington Gold Mine is the largest open cut gold mine in Australia, surpassing the famed Super Pit (Fimiston Open Pit) after reopening production in 2009. Located on Australia’s west coast, around 120km away from Perth, the mine was initially opened in 1987 before closing in 2001. Following a three-way joint venture between Newmont, AngloGold Ashanti, and Newcrest, Newmont bought out AngloGold’s share in 2009 to become the sole owner and operator. The mine also produces copper sulphate, and reached its first million ounces of gold produced in March 2011 after just two years. Newmont launched its forestry carbon offset project at Boddington in 2009, and has planted 800,000 mallee tree seedlings across New South Wales and Western Australia. The firm expects the trees to capture around 300,000 tonnes of carbon over a 30 to 50 year period, alongside boosting soil salinity and local biodiversity, and supporting Australia’s Clean Energy Act and Carbon Farming Initiative.
Gold Main ore
Newmont Operator
703 Annual yield (kilograms) S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
By Calistemon – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Iron Main ore
LKAB Operator
26.9mn Annual yield (tonnes)
07Kiruna, Sweden
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Located in a hotspot for viewing the Northern Lights, the Lapland-based Kiruna mine is the largest iron mine in the world. Having first opened in 1898, the mine is now operated by state-owned LuossavaaraKiirunavaara Aktiebolag (LKAB), a Swedish mining firm with an additional operation at Malmberget. The size of the Kiruna mine led to the decision in 2004 to relocate the town centre as it was at risk of subsidence. The move began in 2014, with the town centre set for re-establishment by 2022. In May 2020, a 4.9 magnitude earthquake in the mine’s footwall was triggered by mining activity. The quake’s epicentre was at a depth of around 1.1km, as measured by the mine’s seismic monitoring system. As the quake resulted from human activity, the system’s sophistication does not enable it to predict such events.
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Red Dog Mine – 25 Years CLICK TO WATCH
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06Red Dog, US Found in an Arctic region of Alaska, the Red Dog mine is the largest zinc-producing mine in the world. Operated by Teck Resources, the mine also produces lead and silver. The mine, which contains the biggest zinc deposits on Earth, produces around 10% of the world’s zinc and is expected to operate until 2031. The mine has been criticised for its environmental impacts, with a report from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stating that the facility releases more toxic materials into the environment than any other US facility. While the release of treated wastewater into river networks is permitted by law in Alaska, Teck faced legal action in 2016 for alleged pollution in the Wulik river. The EPA has nonetheless permitted the State of Alaska to remove the nearby Red Dog Creek and Ikalukrok Creek from its list of most-polluted waterways. S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
05 Carajás, Brazil Carajás is the world’s largest iron ore producer, and it is estimated to contain iron reserves of around 7.2bn metric tonnes. The mine’s power is sourced from the nearby Tucuruí hydroelectric dam, one of Brazil’s most prolific power generators and the first hydroelectric project completed in the Amazon Rainforest. Its operator, Brazilian metals and mining specialist Vale, is the largest producer of iron ore and nickel in the world, and operates nine hydroelectric facilities. Tucuruí is not under Vale’s remit, however. Carajás is the jewel in Vale’s crown, with its rocks containing 67% iron and thus offering the highest quality ore available. The facility covers 3% of the National Forest, and Vale is committed to protecting the remaining 97% through a strategic partnership with ICMBio and Ibama. Among other sustainability projects, Vale has developed an ore reuse system that has enabled the firm to reprocess 5.2mn metric tonnes of ultrafine ore that had been deposited
By NASA Earth Observatory – Public Domain
in tailings ponds.
Iron Main ore
Vale Operator
104.88mn Annual yield (metric tonnes) mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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T O P 10
Main ore
PT Freeport Indonesia Operator
33,000 Annual yield (kilograms)
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04 Grasberg, Indonesia Known as the largest gold mine in the world, the Grasberg mine’s reserves had been deemed as near-insignificant in the mid-1980s before an exploration in 1988 by PT Freeport Indonesia discovered the incredible reserves that are still mined to this day. Its reserves are estimated to hold a value of around US$40bn, and it is majority-owned by Freeport-McMoRan in partnership with Rio Tinto, one of the world’s foremost mining giants. PT Freeport Indonesia operates the mine, with Freeport owning 48.74% of the company and the majority of the remaining stake being owned by the Indonesian government through Indonesia Asahan Aluminium and PT Indonesia Papua Metal & Mineral. Part open-pit and part underground, around 75% of production came from the former as of 2016. In 2022, Freeport-McMoRan aims to finish installing a new smelter at the facility.
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
By Richard Jones – grasberg pano, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Gold
03Debmarine, Namibia Not your typical mine, Debmarine Namibia is a series of offshore mining operations driven by the Debmarine Namibia company, a 50/50 joint venture between the De Beer Group and the Namibian Government. The operations take place off the south coast of Namibia, with the company deploying a five ship fleet for diamond recovery. In May 2019, it was announced that the JV will develop and launch the world’s first custom diamond recovery vessel, with the ship due to begin operations in 2022 at a cost of US$468mn. Debmarine Namibia claims that this is the most valuable single investment ever made in the marine diamond industry. The mining operation is conducted through two key technologies: an airliftdrill and crawler mining tech. Each vessel in the fleet is capable of tracking, positioning and surveying the ocean floor, leveraging
Debmarine Namibia Š
state-of-the-art drill technology to maximise yield.
Diamonds Main ore
Debmarine Namibia Operator
1.4mn Annual yield (carats) mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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orenmarketplace.com
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By TJBlackwell – Own work. Original copy is available in its full resolution at this address., CC BY 3.0
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02 Morenci, US
Located in Arizona, Morenci is one of the world’s largest copper ore producers with an estimated reserve of 3.2bn tonnes of ore containing 0.16% copper. The mine is majority-owned by Freeport-McMoRan, with Sumitomo owning 28% across various business units. Since 1939, the mine has undergone continuous operation with the open-pit operations producing around 102mn kilos of copper ore per year. The mine was initially underground, with a transition to open-pit operations beginning in 1937. Morenci was a pivotal component of the US’s wartime operations, with its production almost doubling during the Second World War. Its two historial smelters have been discontinued and reclaimed, and the second smelter ceased operations in 1984. A mill expansion project was completed in 2015, boosting mill capacity to around 115,000 metric tonnes each day. The mine is expected to run until 2044.
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Freeport McMoRan Industrial Railroad Morenci, AZ CLICK TO WATCH
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Copper Main ore
FreeportMcMoRan Operator
102mn Annual yield (kilograms) mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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01
Mponeng, South Africa Located around 65km west of Johannesburg and extending almost 4km beneath the surface of Gauteng province, the South African Mponeng gold mine is the deepest in the world from ground level. With temperatures in the mine’s rockface reaching around 66, ice slurry is pumped underground to reduce air temperature to below 30. In May 2020, a COVID-19 outbreak closed the mine after it had resumed operations following a national lockdown in March of the same year. The mine leverages electronic tracking technologies to maximise miner safety, and this tech was instrumental in quickly and effectively notifying close contacts of those who tested positive for the coronavirus. AngloGold Ashanti owns and operates the mine, but it agreed to sell the facility to Harmony Gold in February 2020. As of June 2020, Harmony Gold has raised over US$200mn to fund the acquisition of AngloGold’s Mponeng assets.
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
Gold Main ore
By JMK – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Harmony Gold Operator
350,000 Annual yield (ounces)
Searching for gold in South Africa’s abandoned mines | Unreported World CLICK TO WATCH
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Shell & IBM introduce the Oren marketplace WRITTEN BY
DAN BRIGHTMORE
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OREN
Shell and IBM have joined forces to create Oren, the first B2B digital solutions marketplace platform for the mining and industrial sectors
S
hell is a leader in energy and lubricants products and services with a strong heritage and longstanding relationship
with players across the mining and industrial ecosystems. It has more than 100 years’ experience in energy operations and a global integrated 86
value chain. IBM is a pioneer in cloud, AI, data and analytics solutions. Offering proven mining and industrial digital services, the company has been on a quest for new technologies and global innovation throughout its 100+ year history. It’s no surprise when the two combined their considerable strengths to create Oren, a B2B digital marketplace for the mining sector, that the result would be a groundbreaking approach to supporting the acceleration of digital and sustainability transformation across the industry.
DIGITAL PIONEERS Shell’s Global Marketing Vice President Carol Chen tells Mining Global that the company’s “digital backbone” is vital for such a huge operation, with a diverse range of global businesses that need S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
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OREN
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
Carol Chen
a data-driven approach to ensure customers can access digital tools to track their orders. “Digitilisation can
Title: Global Marketing Vice President
truly transform the way we do business,”
Company: Shell
she says. “We can make it more efficient, effective, and fit for purpose.
Carol Chen established her skills across many different markets in the B2C domain while working in a series of diverse roles across two decades for Procter & Gamble. “My experience has given me the ability to understand a client’s frictions and 88 then progress to delighting the customer. It’s something that’s been integrated in Oren. We’ve done around 350 interviews to truly understand our customers’ pain points and target what it is they’re actually looking for.” Chen believes that being on a continuous journey with your customers is a major form of collaboration.
“We employ a range of digital professionals from developers and robotics engineers, through to experts in 3D printing and augmented reality,” adds Chen. “We have 180 data scientists across our businesses who build sophisticated machine learning algorithms and the systems needed to run them. We also team up with the entrepreneurs of high-tech startups and build strategic collaborations with innovative technology companies to deploy the latest market standard technologies. This lets us focus on generating value today and developing technologies that create a competitive advantage for tomorrow.” The Oren marketplace represents Shell’s response to the opportunities possible with new digital business models, where business is expanding from products to solutions, and from physical to digital. This all leads towards what Chen identifies as a
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
Shell LubeExpert CLICK TO WATCH
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multichannel experience. “Oren fits
on traditional ways of selling. “We’re
really nicely in terms of how a platform
seeing the way we interact with our
provides a whole range of solutions
B2B customers – through webinars,
to a customer,” she adds. “Customers
live streams and virtual services –
and sellers no longer need to rely on
really taking off. The more we embrace
traditional ways of driving business
that, the more we can make our busi-
and can access a multichannel,
nesses resilient.”
multi-solution, multi-revenue-stream approach that we believe will help
OREN’S EVOLUTION
businesses become more resilient for
Shell and IBM surveyed more than 350
the challenges ahead.”
mining customers to gain a deeper
Chen notes that the COVID-19
understanding of the pain points
global pandemic has accelerated B2B
experienced with a view to introducing
digital trends due to the restriction
digital innovations to help solve frictions minin g gl o b a l . c o m
OREN
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SHELL & IBM A COLL ABORATION DRIVING TRANSFORMATION
Shell and IBM have the domain expertise to offer mining customers products and services that bridge technology transitions and industry pivots, assisting their customers to address both challenges and new opportunities. “It’s an obvious synergy for a leading energy company, and the leading technology and business services company, to come together for this mining marketplace initiative with Oren,” says Shell’s Global Marketing Vice President Carol Chen. Oren is planning to offer 100+ solutions on the platform, addressing customers’ needs in operations, sustainability, safety and production. “We have chosen the mining industry as a starting point because it has a similar value chain model as the energy industry and shares many of the same challenges, including how to manage operations in remote locations,” adds Chen. “That said, we feel that the energy industry is further ahead in its digital transformation journey, and the solutions we have available can help accelerate innovation in mining.”
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“ Sustainability has to be the key focus for the solutions we bring. Safety, along with cost savings and operational efficiency, are the other big needs. COVID-19 has made all of this so much more important.” — Carol Chen, Global Marketing Vice President, Shell encountered across value chains -
mining is a sector that finds it difficult
everything from operations and safety
to convert intention into action.
to sustainability and supply chain.
Depleting ore reserves and declining
Research found those customers
ore grades in existing operations
reported 80% of the same pain points:
mean that companies have to mine
including difficulty to aggregate data
deeper to reach new deposits, which
to make actionable insights; siloed
in turn increases costs – problematic
organisations; managing the energy
when Industry 4.0 often requires high
transition; and how to deploy autono-
up-front investment. “This is where
mous technology in a way that doesn’t
we believe that Oren can help mining
impact the safety of employees.
companies not only understand what
Chen notes that while there is
their underlying pain points are, but
optimism around the uptake of In-
also identify solutions to address this
dustry 4.0 and its long-term benefits,
pain quickly,” pledges Chen. minin g gl o b a l . c o m
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OREN
“ Our vision is for Oren to serve as the ‘go-to’ mining and industrials innovation platform for digital transformation at scale” — Carol Chen, Global Marketing Vice President, Shell
Bringing together Shell and IBM’s expertise, Oren not only offers field-proven solutions but also pilot opportunities for pioneering technologies. Tailored to specific mining use cases meeting the latest industry challenges, expert support is available to help users build a roadmap of solutions that will enable a full digital journey at their own pace following a logical strategy. “Our vision is for Oren to serve as the ‘go-to’ mining and industrials innovation platform for digital
92
transformation at scale,” explains
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
Photo: MachineMax Sensor
OREN: A SAFE AND SECURE PL ATFORM FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Buyers and sellers on a B2B platform need to trust that their data and transactions are safe and secure, and treated in accordance with Global Data Protection Regulations. Oren is based on open software standards and development environments to maximise secure sharing of data. From the very beginning, the platform has been designed with the principle that ownership and permissions of usage of data will remain with clients at all times. All data management is compliant with GDPR. The Oren platform on IBM Cloud™ leverages market-leading data protection capabilities and offers continuous security with built-in isolation, access management and integrated security posture. 93
Chen. “It offers choice and ease of
THE POWER OF DATA INTEGRATION
access to software, services, and
Oren has focused on providing
digital solutions from the globe’s
solutions that enable efficient mine
most innovative companies, a true
planning and remote control of data
digital solutions marketplace. Mining
and analytics. Chen explains this is
customers can find, learn, procure,
in direct response to the challenges
use and integrate solutions relevant
shared by mining companies facing
to their industry in one place.
up to everything from integrating
Oren delivers solutions for essential
huge amounts of data from disparate
automation and cloud-enabled
sources, to having a single source of
services to drive deep digital
‘truth’ and aiming for real-time data
transformation, modernisation, cost-
insights to make calculated business
efficiency, sustainability, and safety.”
decisions. “As the platform expands, customers will be able to extract minin g gl o b a l . c o m
OREN
insights related to technology trends being applied across the industry,” she says. Shell and IBM’s vision for Oren is to constantly curate new solutions from third party companies as well as to develop an ecosystem amongst buyers and sellers to co-create intelligent tools and integrated workflows for the mining lifecycle through interaction and engagement with customers. “The issue with IoT technology is that currently it is very siloed,” warns Chen. “Only when integration happens 94
and solutions are smartly connected in a coherent workflow can they really bring insights and add value to areas of operations, and increase productivity, safety and sustainability. With business processes that are better informed by data and AI, people can make better decisions and change the way they work.” Chen is excited by the possibilities: “Imagine if you could link a predictive maintenance tool, such as Shell’s RemoteSense, together with a fleet efficiency solution, like Shell spin-off MachineMax, and a parts stock management program like IBM’s MRO. Suddenly you have three solutions developed S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
by different companies and for different use cases delivering a more holistic and automated approach to your maintenance program and your procurement process at the touch of a button.”
RESPONDING TO A POST-COVID WORLD “These are challenging times for everyone and this COVID-19 pandemic could have a lasting impact on how individuals will procure, pilot and engage with technology,” notes Chen. “We could see fewer large industrial events and traditional in-person meetings with technology solution providers. As one customer expressed to us: ‘Oren will allow me to digitalise and streamline the procurement process and enable my team to assess and benchmark technology in one place’.” Chen explains that the pandemic has increased the need for compliance with investors now demanding certain environmental credentials for companies to secure long-term funding. “We’ve identified that sustainability has to be the key focus for the solutions we bring,” adds Chen. minin g gl o b a l . c o m
95
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“Safety, along with cost savings and
ability to meet the core goal of more
operational efficiency, are the other
efficient delivery of metals, minerals,
big needs. COVID-19 has made all of
energy, and other natural resources
this so much more important.”
across the globe,” confirms Chen.
Following the increased adoption
“When employees become better
of digital capabilities, new roles in
equipped they can identify needs and
the industrial workforce will emerge.
take prompt actions that increase
Chen believes these roles can evolve
safety, efficiency and productivity.”
and workers will be able to add value
At the operational level Chen sees
by focusing on quicker access and
a trend for more work to be done
actionability from data and analytics.
from control rooms rather than in the
“Empowering them with real time sta-
mine itself. Oren accelerates that
tus detail and alerts will enhance their
push towards automation and remote
96
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
operation. “The ability to procure
interactive and immersive experience.
solutions from a B2B platform will
With this solution SME’s and non-
mean that mining companies can
technical stakeholders can visit a
try new solutions in their daily work
digital version of their project site any
and integrate them to their current
time; past, present or future.”
systems,” says Chen. “With this in mind we are looking to bring the full
NET-ZERO AMBITION
experience of a site visit to any home
Shell’s ambitions for Oren align with
office. BGC Engineering, another
the company’s overarching goal of
solution partner on Oren, has
meeting a net-zero emissions target
developed the Ada platform, which
for the manufacture of its products
allows the holographic visualisation
by 2050. Supporting its customers
of a mine site through a realistic 3D
quest to achieve similar targets is key to 97
“ It’s our ambition and our passion to support decarbonisation through services and solutions that will make a hugely positive impact on communities and society as a whole” — Carol Chen, Global Marketing Vice President, Shell minin g gl o b a l . c o m
OREN
How Oren can improve the way mining works •T he positive impact of AI and situational awareness technologies, like IBM’s Health & Safety Insight, offers improved monitoring of health, safety, and environment.
98
• M achineMax can support reduced carbon footprint and emissions with more efficient f leet operations, supporting mining team members to better serve their communities. • IoT remote sensing (like Shell RemoteSense) and new wearable technologies can reduce incidents and maintenance issues. • Remote expert and AR technologies enable the workforce to offer safer and quicker problem resolution and faster time to repair.
the further development of Oren. “Oren is the starting point for how we help our mining customers to decarbonise,” affirms Chen. “It’s our ambition and our passion to support decarbonisation through services, solutions, and products that will make a hugely positive impact on communities and society as a whole. Collaborating with customers, our partners and with the startups in a very joined up way offers the opportunity to make the world a better place.”
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99
A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
didn’t know where to begin its digital
Revealing that the response to Oren
transformation. On the back of that
from the mining industry has been
engagement Oren has developed
overwhelmingly positive, Chen
a new digital audit service – Oren
stresses this offering from Shell and
RM – to help identify gaps in mining
IBM has tremendous value that can
companies’ digital transformation
be trusted as Oren is committed to do
strategies and provide a roadmap
due diligence with credible solutions
of solutions based on their priorities,
that deliver on their promise before
budget and timing constraints.”
adding them to the platform. “We’ve
Chen admits meeting Shell’s goals
been able to listen to the pain points
will not be easy. The key will be col-
from the industry. For example,
laboration through services, solutions
a mining company in South Africa
and targeted products. “We need minin g gl o b a l . c o m
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“ We’re able to demonstrate a clear progress path year on year to help with cost savings, decarbonisation and digital transformation. We’re here to play our role and support that shared goal” — Carol Chen, Global Marketing Vice President, Shell
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
to bring win-win value,” she affirms. “We know our customers need to meet their financial aspirations while targeting greater efficiency and sustainability for the long term. We’re able to demonstrate a clear progress path year on year to help with cost savings, decarbonisation and digital transformation. We’re here to play our role and support that shared goal.”
To find out more about the Oren marketplace visit: www.orenmarketplace.com Oren in association with Mining Global is running a unique webinars series this year. You can register here.
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103
A UNIQUE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WRITTEN BY
HARRY MENEAR PRODUCED BY
RICHARD DEANE
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
ERAMET GROUP
Ludovic Donati, CDO at Eramet, discusses the French mining giant’s use of drones, AI, ML and other cutting-edge technologies in order to overcome unique challenges and thrive in a new digital age
A
global digital transformation is underway. New digital solutions, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML),
the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data analytics and augmented reality (AR) are driving a digital revolu104
tion. Across every industry, companies are facing new challenges and exploring new opportunities. But digital transformation is more than the simple adoption of cutting-edge technology; those companies that wish to reap the largest rewards are the ones that look to transform more than their software solutions. “We’re not guided by new technology, but by the new applications of that technology and the new ways of thinking and operating that it enables,” says Ludovic Donati, Chief Digital Officer at French mining and metals giant Eramet Group. Operating since 1880, Eramet is a leading global player in the extraction of metals like nickel and manganese, as well as the processing and manufacture of high-value alloys such as high-speed steels, high-performance steels, superalloys, and S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
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ERAMET GROUP
“ We’re not guided by new technology, but by the new applications of that technology and the new ways of thinking and operating that it enables” — Ludovic Donati, CDO, Eramet
US$4bn in 2018. The company’s main operations include mines and process-
aluminum and titanium alloys. “We
ing plants in Europe, Africa, Oceania,
also produce special alloys for differ-
Asia and North and South America.
ent sectors like aerospace, nuclear,
106
After obtaining a PhD in chemistry,
defense, and so on. For instance, when
Donati joined Eramet in 2011 and spent
you travel in a plane made by Boeing or
three years in the company’s R&D
Airbus, you are traveling with Eramet,
department as a research engineer.
because we produce a lot of very
In 2014, he moved over to the corpo-
important parts for those companies,”
rate strategy department and, in 2017,
Donati explains. “Eramet is an interest-
was asked by senior leadership to
ing organisation because it’s both a
conduct a study of what exactly the
metallurgical and mining company;
digital transformation of a mining and
we are present all the way up the
metallurgical company like Eramet
value chain.” Eramet employs around
would look like.
13,000 people across 20 countries and reported revenues of more than
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
As the global business landscape is reshaped by the digital revolution,
Eramet, exploring our world CLICK TO WATCH
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2:58
107 a shifting political zeitgeist and a
demand for lithium in things like elec-
worsening climate crisis, Eramet is
tric vehicle batteries, smartphones,
undergoing a unique digital trans-
etc. and, to produce it in quantities
formation in order to employ new
that meet our customers’ needs, we’re
mindsets and technologies to over-
going to use digital to drive efficiency
come new and evolving challenges.
wherever we can.”
“We started by making some proof of
In order to effectively transform
concepts that showed good results.
Eramet’s operations using technology
Then, we decided it was necessary
ranging from IoT and drones to digital
to create a new digital transformation
twins and advanced data analytics,
department,” recalls Donati. “Today,
Donati and his team need to overcome
the crux of Eramet’s strategy is to use
several challenges that are unique to
digital to support being a leading pro-
a company like Eramet. “So the first
ducer of nickel, manganese and also
problem is: how do you digitalise a
of lithium. We’re predicting exponential
mine when it’s in the middle of mi ni nggl o b a l. com
ERAMET GROUP
“ It’s very important for our operations to be connected, in real time, to our experts” — Ludovic Donati, CDO, Eramet
108
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
a rainforest? Or the middle of the pacific ocean? That’s a challenge,” he reflects. The second challenge is that mining is a relatively old industry, and the skills required by Eramet are set to shift dramatically. “If you’re a miner or a geologist today, tomorrow you’re also going to need to be a data scientist and a drone pilot,” Donati says. “In order to align ourselves, we held a workshop with people from our operations in New-Calédonia, Gabon, Senegal, Norway, Paris — you name it. We sat down with everyone and worked together to define our vision for Eramet 4.0 using three axes.”
SAFETY In locations with environmental threats, Eramet is using IoT and drones to check equipment and monitor operations with mi ni nggl o b a l. com
109
ERAMET GROUP
110
1880
Year founded
more accuracy and speed. “In New Caledonia, cyclones are quite common, and you need to run regular checks to make sure equipment hasn’t been
€3.825mn
damaged,” says Donati. “Previously, we’d send a car with two people in it to
Revenue in euros
check and hear back in three to four
12,705
to three hours.” The company has also
Number of employees
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
days if everything was ok. Now, with a drone, we can reduce that down to two begun implementing AI-powered collision avoidance technology in its truck fleet, as well as overseer software to prevent fatigue-based accidents.
OPTIMISATION
says Donati. “With all this data, we’re
In addition to reducing fuel consump-
actually building a digital twin of the mine
tion across its entire operation, Eramet
in New Caledonia, so we will soon have
is using AI-powered data analytics to
the possibility to run different scenarios
manage its fleet and process topo-
based on, for example, fluctuations
graphical modeling data gathered by
in the price of nickel.”
drone surveyors. “We’re using drones to do these topographical measure-
REMOTE EXPERTISE
ments and, in 2019, we mapped more
As a way of solving the problem
than 300,000 acres, which is about 100
of changing skill needs, Eramet is
times more than the previous year,”
investing heavily in an operational
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
111
Ludovic Donati Title: Chief Digital Officer
Company: Eramet Group
Industry: Mining and Metallurgical
Location: Paris
Since 2018, Ludovic has been the Digital Correspondent of the French Mining and Mellurgy Sector and a board member of the Afnet association. A normalien with a PhD in chemistry, Ludovic joined the Eramet group in 2011, where he held various positions in R&D, investor relations and strategy (CEO’s office). Ludovic was appointed Group Chief Digital Officer at Eramet in 2017 in order to provide the company with a strong, coherent and sustainable vision for digital transformation and to launch concrete achievements from proof of concept to industrialisation in the fields of Mine 4.0 and Plant 4.0. He was nominated for the Next Leader Awards of Les Echos French newspaper in 2018 and won the “Grand Prix de l’Acélération Digitale BFM Business” for Eramet in 2019.
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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Empowering safer, more sustainable mining As energy costs fluctuate, high-grade ores become scarcer, and profit margins tighten, productive mines recognize that technology is essential to their success. Companies must be smarter, safer, and quicker to respond to change. Their future depends on it. Hexagon recognizes that the competitive edge of its customers depends on empowering an autonomous future by integrating, automating, and optimizing critical workflows. This means smart mines that are efficient to operate, maximize safety and minimally impact the environment.
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“ If you’re a miner or a geologist today, tomorrow you’re also going to need to be data scientist and drone pilot” — Ludovic Donati, CDO, Eramet
70 people, 50 of whom are focused on data science and engineering and now we’re working on AI, data sci-
transformation of the way it delivers
ence and ML projects. Our algorithms
expertise to remote locations. “We’re
implemented in our ferronickel or sili-
using remote expertise powered
comanganese furnaces are learning
by AR,” explains Donati. “It’s very
and, every day, they’re becoming more
important for our operations to be
and more accurate.” At the end of a
connected, in real time, to our experts.
successful year of small-scale imple-
We’re collecting all the data from our
mentations and proof of concept tests,
mines and plants and in 2020 we will
Eramet is at a tipping point. Looking
implement remote operations centres
to the future, Donati acknowledges
across our operations.” This, Donati
that the coming year will be one of
explains, allows the company powerful
monumental change for Eramet. “We
insight into the processes of its facili-
did a great job in 2018, running proof
ties, helping to drive efficiency on
of concepts and tests. This year, we
a global scale and enabling Eramet to be
industrialised and deployed a lot of pro-
more reactive to changes in the market.
prietary solutions,” he says. “Next year, in 2020, we will be aiming for full scale
THE FUTURE
deployment.”
This transformation has been defined by its speed and scale. “A year and a half ago, we had no competencies in data science, cloud, analytics etc.,” recalls Donati. “Since then, we’ve built a digital transformation team of about mi ni nggl o b a l. com
113
114
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
Eradicating workplace fatalities through technology WRITTEN BY
WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY
KRISTOFER PALMER
minin g gl o b a l . c o m
115
FORWOOD SAFET Y
Thorsten Scholz, CTO, explains how tech innovation, solid partnerships and a focused approach can transform safety culture in industry
W
hilst an element of risk may always be inherent to some specific workplaces or roles, there is no reason why this should remain
cause for severe injury or loss of life. Tackling this issue with the steadfast attitude that all work-related deaths can be prevented, Forwood Safety has been on a mission to change the standard of safety within 116
mining and oil and gas through applied technology since 1995. Growing from a small enterprise to a genuine leader, the company continues to focus on solving some of the most significant and enduring challenges facing the modern industrial sector: delivering best-in-class performance that doesn’t compromise safety standards and relegating workplace fatalities to the archives of history. Taking on the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in late 2015, Thorsten Scholz came across Forwood Safety whilst working as a consultant within the mining industry. Whilst listening to a presentation on the verification method used by Forwood to improve performance of critical controls, he experienced an epiphany that he could help make an even greater impact on the safety of frontline workers
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
117
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FORWOOD SAFET Y
“ I actually walked up to Steve Wood (CEO of Forwood) after the meeting and said, ‘I need to get involved in this” — Thorsten Scholz, CTO, Forwood Safety
118
which empowers employees within non-hierarchical structures across the company, always centred on the idea of delivering success to clients. For Scholz, his approach to IT can be summed up in one word: Quality. “We’ve implemented Agile first in the product team and then
by joining the endeavour, which he did
across the rest of the business. Now,
shortly afterwards. “I actually walked
we can really scale and standardise our
up to Steve Wood (CEO of Forwood)
products, from content development
after the meeting and said, ‘I need to
to marketing while never losing focus
get involved in this’,” he says. With previ-
on the business value of the outcome for
ous IT roles at large mining operations
our clients” he explains. From a techno-
in Australia and project experience
logical standpoint, he credits the advent
in high risk industries globally, Scholz
of cloud-computing as totally revolution-
understands the challenges of risk
ising the ERP computing which prevailed
management and safety well – an under-
at the beginning of his career. “When
standing which has valuably contributed
I look at the IT sector, I can say with
to his approach at being a CTO.
certainty that the cloud’s introduction
The drive and determination to excel
was a catalyst for digital transforma-
at pace stems from Forwood Safety’s
tion. We could never deliver large scale
emphasis on a corporate culture
enterprise safety and risk management solutions at such great value without the cloud and without a partner like Amazon Web Services (AWS).”
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
PART N ER
A truly critical partner for Forwood Safety, Amazon’s importance to the company’s daily operations cannot be overstated. Scholz has this to say on their relationship: “We regularly collaborate with Amazon on strategic initiatives, most recently with one of our key clients to further progress the SaaS use cases of the Amazon QuickSight offering, a very powerful business intelligence (BI) tool. We’ve been involved with AWS for a number of years now, we continue to provide feedback on behalf of our large enterprise clients directly to
product management, which goes into their product roadmap. QuickSight allows you to run data analysis on any type of device, including browsers and phones at a data volume and scale which is unprecedented. As a safety and risk management firm, we don’t want to invest in building reporting platforms, that makes no sense. Instead, we want to build data models and get insights into the data using an established, managed service like Amazon QuickSight. This approach helps us to focus on what we’re good at: providing deep insights into fatality prevention.”
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119
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27,000 Tons delivered in 17 months
Furthermore, the utility of working
arise, Forwood Safety was able to
with AWS and using its products con-
integrate new protocols for COVID-
tributes another factor to Forwood
19 risk management in record time.
Safety’s agility, namely mitigating
“Within weeks, we had specific
the need to ‘reinvent the wheel’ for
COVID-19 content deployed globally.
every tech need that might arise.
In that time, we developed compre-
Using Amazon as a one-stop provider
hensive critical control checklists
of vital compute solutions, Scholz
for COVID-19, and deployed these
says that the company can instead
to over 250 sites and in seven
focus on their true mission: applying
languages, including Icelandic,
technology in creative ways to save
Mongolian, Spanish and French,”
lives. Able to adapt to new threats
he explains. “Without the cloud that
and working conditions as they
would have not been possible.” 121
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
Thorsten Scholz Title: Chief Technology Officer Company: Forwood Safety Industry: Fatality prevention
Location: Australia
Thorsten Scholz is an agile leader with more than 25 years’ experience designing innovative technology solutions in the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) sector. Having worked with clients around the globe, he understands the complexities of real-world operations. Highly skilled in delivering game-changing technologies, Thorsten is well positioned for his current role as Chief Technology Officer at Forwood Safety. As a vital member of Forwood’s Executive Team, Thorsten is pivotal in ensuring this dynamic company’s success by leveraging technology innovations to find new ways of preventing fatalities around the world.
minin g gl o b a l . c o m
FORWOOD SAFET Y
122
Currently offering three primary
view of critical risks in the workplace
products – Critical Risk Management
this helps to quickly identify areas
(CRM), SafetyApps and Enterprise
where workers could get harmed
Risk Assurance (ERA) – agility
and creates actionable insights to
often combines with innovation at
prevent this.” This is again indica-
Forwood Safety, with collections of
tive of Forwood Safety’s distinct
core proprietary technology (drones,
approach to risk management and
satellites, etc) utilised for special-
safety: collaboration between par-
ised tasks. “We have a geospatial
ties is essential and the company
platform integrated into our prod-
strives to combine its tech platform
ucts which allows clients to upload
with methods and relevant content
custom maps in a self-service
in order to produce a transformative
manner. If you give the people in
solution for clients. “It’s about work-
control of operations a bird’s eye
ing together to achieve an outcome;
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“ When I look at the IT sector, I can say with certainty that the cloud’s introduction was a catalyst for digital transformation. We could never deliver without the cloud and without a partner like Amazon Web Services (AWS)” been a crucial partner in achieving this, but one other company Scholz identi-
— Thorsten Scholz, CTO, Forwood Safety
fies for special praise is Base2Services.
building a good safety culture must
developed a reputation in Australia as
be a partnership,” Scholz emphasises.
being one of the most respected cloud
Working closely with its channel
Founded in 2005, this company has
development/operations companies
partners and clients, Forwood Safety’s
in the market. Having itself partnered
critical risk management platform
with AWS for more than a decade,
analyses failures before they can turn
Base2Services is an expert in operat-
into fatalities and provides capabilities
ing superlative cloud environments.
to predict hotspots and blackspots.
“Base2Services focuses on DevOps,
It follows the pattern that establishing
DevOps automation, cyber risk,
a strong tech infrastructure is imperative
cybersecurity and helps us to make
for implementing sustainable technolog-
sure that all the ‘nuts and bolts’ are
ical change with great value for clients.
in place and any warning signs are
Amazon, as already mentioned, has
monitored, reviewed and addressed straight away. They provide us with 24/7 infrastructure support across the globe in a ‘follow the sun’ model. In terms of scalability, flexibility and value delivered, this has really helped us to focus on what is important to us: helping to save lives.” minin g gl o b a l . c o m
123
FORWOOD SAFET Y
Digital automation through artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most exciting trends across several industries right now and Scholz declares that Forwood Safety is firmly at the forefront in its sector. Not satisfied with using a preexisting solution in this regard, the company instead developed its own by hiring a team of data scientists to analyse the most effective way for AI to enhance safety. The breakthrough came via the revelation that using 124
binary safety-related questions with choices of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ provided very fertile ground for algorithmic optimi-
1995
Year founded
1,200+
Using our global benchmark critical control verification process
50
Number of employees
sation. “90% of the time the answers are very straightforward. If you
out practical applications which will
have a good set of questions, which
benefit workers in the field. Both
can be answered consistently and
will require thought and attention,
always with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, it helps
as well as close collaboration with
your machine learning (ML) model
partners and clients to pilot new
gather data and form predictions
approaches directly in the work-
based on patterns.” Considering the
place. “From my perspective, ML
topic of AI-based automation more
and its applications for analysing
generally, Scholz states there are
both still photos and video are going
two aspects of importance to its
to be critical in the future of safety
development with regards to safety:
technology,” he adds.
1) support via improved decisionmaking capabilities; and 2) working S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
With a five-year strategic roadmap in place and solutions for
125
minin g gl o b a l . c o m
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The Cloud Services People
“ We believe all workplace fatalities can be eradicated”
127
— Thorsten Scholz, CTO, Forwood Safety health-related crises like COVID-19
the years to come,” he concludes.
already natively established in the
“Forwood Safety has the partner-
company’s products and services,
ships and the cultural alignment to
Scholz is confident that Forwood
execute that vision. Ultimately, we
Safety will continue to thrive and
believe all workplace fatalities can
establish the next generation of
be eradicated.”
safety principles which will endure and become industry standards. “We want to leverage technology, as well as our expertise, to make a big difference in fatality prevention in minin g gl o b a l . c o m
128
TRANSFORMING SAFETY AND EFFICIENCY IN MINING WRITTEN WRITTENBY BY
WILLIAM WILLIAM SMITH SMITH PRODUCED PRODUCEDBY BY
RICHARD RICHARD DEANE DEANE
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
129
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
MST GLOBAL
Haydn Roberts, CEO of mining technology company MST Global, reveals the integrated, platform approach futureproofing mines worldwide
M
ining technology firm MST Global can trace its origins back some 30 years to an urgent need for improved commu-
nications in a mining setting. Inspired by a tragic mining disaster at Moura colliery, the company was involved in pioneering a form of through-the-earth 130
communication known as PED. “It provided the ability to communicate through the rock and send a one way message to trapped miners,” says CEO Haydn Roberts. “From there the company started out of Sydney and grew into offering other types of technologies and solutions, all focused around underground coal and hard rock mining linked to voice or data communications and the tracking of people. We’ve really built a whole digital ecosystem around that initial offering.” When he joined four years ago, Roberts brought years of experience in the mining industry, as well as a passion for technology. “When I was very young, around 1980, I got my first computer – a Sinclair ZX80. I had a passion for computing and technology from a very early age, and right when the worldwide web was taking off I moved S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
Below: Corey Nesbit Systems Engineer and Nick Miller Senior Solutions Architect, Underground in a mine
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MST GLOBAL
“ Technology is going to change over time, and whatever we put into the underground space has to be upgradeable” 132
— Haydn Roberts, CEO, MST Global
to the US and worked for a surface mining company in California. I got quite involved in the technology side of mining at this particular open-pit surface mine with things like fleet dispatch, GPS and mine planning.” Roberts’ career has seen him involved in a number of technological advances in the mining industry, including the introduction of autonomous trucks back in the mid-90s. Digital transformation has perhaps an even more critical aspect in an industry such as mining, with lives potentially on the line in the harsh environment of an underground mine. “Communication’s very difficult, you can’t see each other that easily, you’re working in different parts of the mine and so forth,” emphasises Roberts. “So by definition you’re a very distributed workforce in a very risky environment.” Gone are the days, however, when miners had to rely on canaries for safety. “Digitalisation lets you build a digital ecosystem where everything is connected. You have the ability
1989 Denis Kent with MST founder Gary Zamel and Voest Alpine founder Chris McGuinn Newstan Coal Mine S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
to track people and equipment, you have the ability to put in sensors that can detect methane and different
MST GLOBAL: AXON Product Launch Video CLICK TO WATCH
|
1:00
133 poisonous gases, you have the ability
time, and whatever we put into the
to detect movement of the rock. All of
underground space has to be upgrade-
this can be converted into data in real
able. That’s a key differentiator versus
time and acted upon.”
other vendors out there.” The company
This sense of integration character-
is able to combine solutions thanks
ises MST’s approach to its offerings.
in part to its vertically integrated
“We’re technology agnostic in terms
model. “We do our own manufacturing,
of wireless technologies and tracking,”
design, development of software and
Roberts emphasises. “We don’t just
hardware, and then direct selling and
bat for LTE or wifi. We realise that, in
support. That’s a very important part
an underground situation, you’re going
of it all, the service that goes around
to be using Bluetooth, you’re going
deploying it and supporting it. We’re
to use LoRa, you’re going to use wifi
very much focused on that.”
for certain things and LTE for others. Technology is going to change over
Another differentiator is the company’s AXON platform. “We’ve just launched mi ni nggl o b a l. com
MST GLOBAL
our latest smart infrastructure or smart network platform,” says Roberts. “We realised that our older platform, Impact, wasn’t as easy to upgrade when new technologies came along. With AXON, we knew we had to take a different view on that. We designed it so that it could be in a mine for 10, 15, or 20 years, but have the ability to be upgradeable as different technologies come along.” With an eye on upgrades comes an openness to integrating emerging technologies into the 134
platform. “We work with Microsoft quite closely and we designed AXON to use elements of Microsoft Azure. Within Azure there’s things like voice
also need the ability to be tracked,
and video recognition. For instance,
just like people. Using wearables you
we plan to pick up certain phrases that
can track where people are in a mine,
the Azure module will allow us then
and then, for instance, if they go into a
to act on and turn on a fan or send a
certain area, secondary fans will turn
request for a piece of equipment to
on to make sure that those areas are
go down to a certain end.”
ventilated. The automation of fixed
Automation has a part to play across
assets underground is something that
the full spectrum of technologies
excites us – it’s a more sustainable
deployed in mines. “Automated vehicles
and safer way of mining.”
need real-time communications, so
Considering his experience in the
they need a platform like AXON that
mining industry, Roberts views the
can connect high bandwidth wirelessly
community as a family, a stance
to those vehicles,” says Roberts. “They
MST extends to the work it does with
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
partners. “With all of our customers, we take a long-term partnership view,” he says. “There’s probably 30 mining companies in the world that mine 80% of the minerals. The truth is that it’s a very small industry when you compare it to something like automotive. We do business with about 300 mines. Every one of those needs to be a special relationship and a partnership.” MST Global’s work with gold-mining firm OceanaGold is one such example. “From the very get-go we sat down and worked out how we could share
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
Haydn Roberts Title: CEO
Company: MST Global
Haydn is the CEO of MST Global. Haydn commenced his career in underground gold mines in South Africa before joining Rio Tinto, with roles in manufacturing, smelting and mining in the UK and USA. He has held senior leadership roles with Groundprobe and Komatsu Modular Mining Systems based in the US and Australia. Prior to MST Global, Haydn was the CEO of Leica Mining and COO of Hexagon Mining. He has extensive experience in executive management, mining technology and best practice. Haydn has a Mining Engineering degree from Cardiff University, Wales and a Master’s Degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. mi ni nggl o b a l. com
135
MST GLOBAL
136
“ It’s incumbent upon all of us to accept the reality of global warming and to do something about it” — Haydn Roberts, CEO, MST Global S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
A tunnel project to access a gold ore body at a new gold mine in Australia
our roadmap with theirs and identify the common alignment. We had workshops where they listened to what we felt about the strategic vision for the technology in this space, and then we started to deploy solutions at their various mines. They’ve been a great partner.” As for the future, Roberts is clear that one challenge facing MST and the wider industry above all others is sustainability. “It’s incumbent upon all of us to accept the reality of global warming and to do something about it. What I seek for MST is to ask: ‘how do we address sustainability?’ How do we bring youth into the discussion and get their feedback on how we can improve the business? To me, that’s probably the most important external factor that we have to address in a meaningful way.” While there’s a long way to go, MST is on the path and encourages fellow industry members to do the same. “It’s a journey of a thousand steps, but you’ve got to make that first one.”
mi ni nggl o b a l. com
137
A VISION FOR SUSTAINABLE MINING THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS WRITTEN BY
DAN BRIGHTMORE PRODUCED BY
RICHARD DEANE
138
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
139
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NEW CENTURY RESOURCES
How New Century has delivered economic mine site rehabilitation to the Century deposit and maintained the social license to operate while building for future growth
T
he first mining lease in the region of Australia’s North West Queensland was issued way back in 1890. However, it was
not until 100 years later when Rio Tinto’s exploration arm completed the discovery of “big zinc” that 140
large scale mining become possible, hence they named it the Century deposit. This was sold on to Pasminco, which took the open cut zinc, lead and silver mine into production in 1997. While the pipeline and port facility could handle a million tonnes per annum of concentrates, a slow floating ore body meant that Pasminco was faced with metallurgical challenges to optimise production and maximise returns from the operation. The choices available were to increase available residence time through building additional floatation capacity or increase throughput at the sacrifice of recoveries. The latter was chosen due to the lower capital requirements and the large resource available. This ultimately led to the substantial mineral resource in the tailings dam, and the opportunity for New Century. S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
141
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NEW CENTURY RESOURCES
“We were able to convert the tailings dam at Century into what was at the time, and still is, the 14th largest known mined zinc reserve in the world — 77mn tonnes of tailings, containing 3% recoverable zinc with homogenous grade distribution” — Barry Harris, Chief Operating Officer, New Century Resources During initial operations, Century 142
was one of the world’s largest base metal mines, churning out an average 475,000tpa of zinc and 50,000tpa of lead in concentrate products over its history. Pasminco went into voluntary administration in 2001 due to numerous corporate issues and the Century asset transferred into a new entity Zinifex. Zinifex did extremely well when the zinc price skyrocketed in 2006 before being part of a merger that created OZ Minerals which, in turn, was acquired by MMG. The latter went on to run the Century mine site through until the exhaustion of the main ore body in 2016. Explaining Century’s chequered past, New Century Resources’ Chief S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
New Century Zinc | New Century Resources (ASX:NCZ) CLICK TO WATCH
|
8:20
143 Operating Officer Barry Harris says the
together we could maintain our collec-
company was drawn to the asset when
tive social license to operate.”
it came into care and maintenance.
By March 2017 New Century had
“Prior to this, our Managing Director
taken on the previous care and mainte-
Pat Walta had engaged with MMG over
nance allowances, and proceeded to
a number of years discussing a novel
get the project developed and opera-
approach, that being an economic
tions started through the remining
mine site rehabilitation strategy,” he
and subsequent reprocessing of the
says. “Partnering with New Century
tailings ore body, these activities are all
Resources (formerly Century Bull) was
part of the overall rehabilitation works
the best option for MMG to fulfil all of
and provide revenues to complete
their obligations with the rehabilita-
works required on the mine lease, while
tion of the mine, returning it to a state
generating returns for shareholders.
where it could be handed back to
With AUS$70mn already spent by on
the community, and making sure that
waste dump rehabilitation, MMG had mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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145
NEW CENTURY RESOURCES
146
developed a best in class waste dump
had gone into the tailings since first
cover system for semi-arid environ-
ore. However, “The first step for New
ments that New Century can apply
Century when we took over was to
to the remaining dumps.
convert the tailings dam into an ore
MMG also carried out substantial
body,” recalls Harris. “We needed to
proof of concept test work prior to the
do that in order to achieve a JORC —
transaction, determining that a sale-
compliant ore reserve.”
able zinc product could be produced
“We drilled out the tailings, using a
from the tailings, proving the viability
quarter of the core for assaying to get
of the project.
a clear picture of what the whole ore
New Century was fortunate to have
body looked like, and what the grade
tailings sample results for the whole life
profile was throughout the entire lay-
of mine, and so were able to determine
ered deposition in the dam,” reveals
to a certain level of confidence what
Harris. “The other three quarters of
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
that core were sent off and used to
the world — 77mn tonnes of tailings,
complete a large pilot program; a test
containing 3% recoverable zinc with a
work plant was ran to see how we
homogenous grade distribution.”
could further optimise the actual
Harris explains that, though hydro
operations of the plant to extract as
mining is well established globally,
much zinc as possible. Between those
it’s a method rarely used in Australia.
two approaches, we were able to con-
“We’re innovating with rehabilitation
vert the tailings dam at Century into
of the mined land through the use of
what was at the time, and still is, the
economic rehabilitation,” he explains.
14th largest known zinc deposit in
“By making rehabilitation a profitable
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
Barry Harris Title: Chief Operating Officer
147 Company: New Century Resources
Barry Harris is a resource industry professional qualified in mining engineering, mineral economics and corporate compliance with experience in operational mine management, compliance, and the technical and financial aspects of the resources industry. Graduating from the University of Queensland with an honors degree in Mining Engineering, Barry has gone on to complete post graduate studies including a Master of Science (Mineral Economics), and the AICD’s and MIoD Company Directors courses. Barry’s experience within the mining industry includes varied roles in both coal and metalliferous mining, during which he gained First Class Mine Managers certification for all four of the Australian jurisdictions he worked in. He is applying all this experience to his current role as the COO of New Century Resources assets, focused on leading the company in all facets of the restarting of operations; again establishing Century as a significant world zinc producer. mi ni nggl o b a l. com
NEW CENTURY RESOURCES
enterprise through what we’re doing, we’re carving out a niche in the industry, we see this as the future for improved environmental outcomes in the mining industry. We’re utilising the best methodology to leveraging the sunk capital and time spent on world class infrastructure, approvals and permitting as well as the very ore body itself to monetise the value left behind in the tailings dam. After remining we’re reprocessing it, and then using sub148
aqueous (below water) deposition to put it beneath the lake in the original pit shell. “Historically, aging mine sites have presented a long-term challenge in Australia and overseas jurisdictions. Our approach shows that mine sites no longer meeting the investment brief of top tier mining companies can still provide opportunity for more focused agile mining companies to come in and extend the economic life, while extracting a lot more value through the process of rehabilitation.” The recommencement of economic activity at Century has involved significant engagement with and S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
2017
Year founded
$300mn Revenue in australian dollars
350
Number of employees cooperation from the local community surrounding Century’s operations. “The traditional owners will continue to receive benefits associated with the Native Title agreement that would have otherwise ceased with the closure of Century by its previous owner,” explains Harris. “More widely the local governments will continue to receive premium benefit through rates, and other industries will gain through Century engaging with local businesses buying services and products from them.” Meanwhile, through its port operations mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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NEW CENTURY RESOURCES
Normanton and Mornington Island, which is assisting with sustainable community development goals identified by the community representatives themselves. “We took a different approach to how this was done previously,” explains Harris. “Previous owners used to spend a lot of that money training up people to be truck drivers, grader operators and other mining specific skill sets on the actual mine lease.What we have done differently is engaged with the 150
local communities, and asked them what they actually want, which will mean more sustained benefit to the local communities, rather than just creating employees for the mining to support the mine’s infrastructure
operation itself”. This scheme is being
New Century is dredging up the chan-
spearheaded by Shane Goodwin,
nel at its Karumba facility, opening up
our Head Of Stakeholder Relations
economic opportunities to the sports
and Community Engagement, which
and fishing industries, which otherwise
has been recognized through the
would have been compromised by the
Aboriginal Enterprises in Mining,
silting up of the river.
Energy, and Exploration (AEMEE)
Currently employing 350 people, New Century is also rolling out a AUS$1.8M per annum training
Awards, and more recently the Prospect Mining Awards.” The main focus for 2020 remains
and development program for the
ramping up operations to 12mn tonnes
local communities in Doomadgee,
per annum of tailings throughput
AUGUST 2020
through the existing infrastructure. To
up to 2026 and gives us a platform to
support this goal, New Century have
then further define and bring into the
embarked on a programme of infra-
life of mine the known in-situ resources.
structure refurbishment to upgrade the
Everything that we do, be it open pit
hydro mine and processing plant. What
mining or underground, the final clo-
are the plans for realising the future
sure and/or rehabilitation of the land
potential of zinc and lead resources at
post any mining activities will be at the
Silver King, South Block, and the East
forefront of all the mine design and
Fault Block? “Future mineral resources
planning decisions made up front.”
across the mine leases will be the sub-
Forging strong alliances has been
ject of an executable feasibility study
key to the progress made so far at
during 2020,” reveals Harris. “The
Century. “We partnered with National
potential to restart traditional mining
Pump & Energy and Paragon Tailings,
operations at Century will be investi-
who assisted in the development of
gated further for economic viability, it’s
our hydro mining operation, getting
then a matter of optimising when these
those off the ground and training
resources fit best into the life of mine
up the workforce in how to actually
ore feed. Our current mine life extends
carry out hydro mining operations,”
“Zinc prices will rise and Century will be well-placed to meet the demand for mine supply thanks to the investment we’ve made in expanding our facilities” — Barry Harris, Chief Operating Officer, New Century Resources w w w.mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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NEW CENTURY RESOURCES
152
Meeting the demands of the zinc market Zinc is a commodity very much driven by industrial demand which has remained strong, however with the current global trade disputes, sentiment around that demand has been muted. New Century Resources’ Chief Operating Officer Barry Harris expects to see this sentiment turn once these are resolved. “The zinc market globally is about 14n tonnes of refined metal per annum, with mine supply and the mining capacity fairly well matched in recent history,” he S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
notes. “What happened is that China went from focusing on quantity of tonnes, to quality of tonnes. Over the last few years they’ve been tightening up on their environmental compliance, and with that about 1.3mn tonnes per annum of refining capacity was actually turned off, because those smelters had to put in additional environmental compliance works to get up to a standard that the Chinese government are happy with. That’s why the refined metal stocks dropped
off to a point where right now there’s only about 50-60,000 tons of refined metal on the LME stockpiles.” Alongside this demand thematic, more mine supply than smelting capacity has led to the current record high treatment charges. “It’s an interesting conf luence of events,” observes Harris. “With the smelting capacity in China now turning back on, those charges will start to drop. Those record high treatment charges have meant, combined with a relatively low zinc price, that mining companies take home has been squeezed dramatically from historic average. What you then see happen is quite a lot of marginal supply from mining concentrate suppliers has been turning off. We believe we’re about to see a major turnaround in this balance, as smelters work their way through the build up in concentrate supply, and all the additional smelting capacity comes back on. You can see it in the numbers, the month on month Chinese refined metal outputs are growing substantially, as those smelters are coming back online.
This restarting of capacity will result in a drawdown on the current concentrate build up, which will then require a supply response, however we are seeing that there’s not actually the additional mine supply available to feed into this drawdown. The other key factor you need to see to drive a step change in the zinc price, is for global sentiment around the trade disputes to settle. If one or both of these occur, we anticipate a substantial increase in the zinc macro environment” Harris believes that when the US and China come to an agreement, demand will take off again for industrial metal. “We’ll see a huge demand for copper and associated base metals do to expected increased economic activity,” he says. “Zinc prices will rise and Century will be well-placed to meet the demand for supply, thanks to the investment we’ve made in expanding our facilities which will increase our output while lowering our operational costs to make our business more resilient through any price cycle and ready to take advantage of higher pricing.” mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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NEW CENTURY RESOURCES
154
says Harris. “We also partnered with
time. Allied to this, we’re working with
Sedgman, which gave us a strong
Murray Engineering, which supplies
partner for the refurbishment, and
and maintains our mobile fleet, while
with the operations and maintenance
P&O operates our 5,000 tonne trans-
of our processing facilities both at
shipment vessel, the Wunma, out of
Lawn Hill and Karumba. Sedgman is
Karumba.”
a well-known processing plant infra-
Operating for just over 14 months,
structure company here in Australia,
Century is now among the top 15 zinc
bringing a wealth of experience to the
producing mines in the world and
full refurbishment and helping us to get
pushing for the top 10. “We’ve man-
the project up and running in record
aged to attract a great team of people
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“The traditional owners will continue to receive benefits associated with the native title agreement that would have otherwise ceased with the closure of Century by its previous owner” — Barry Harris, Chief Operating Officer, New Century Resources
155
and have been working hard to foster a
opportunity to see mining through a
culture where our people enjoy coming
different lens, not only here in Australia,
to work and share the values driving
but throughout the world.”
our success,” affirms Harris. “As we stabilise operations at Century, and look at ways to extend the mine life, we want to be an example to other mining companies of the great things that can be achieved through economic rehabilitation and hope to see the process repeated elsewhere. It’s a huge mi ni nggl o b a l. com
156
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
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CRC ORE: PROMOTING COLLABORATION ACROSS THE MINING INDUSTRY WRITTEN BY
DAN BRIGHTMORE PRODUCED BY
RICHARD DEANE
minin g gl o b a l . c o m
CRC ORE
How the Cooperative Research Centre for Optimising Resource Extraction (CRC ORE) is improving the productivity, energy and water signatures of mining operations
T
he Cooperative Research Centre for Optimising Resource Extraction (CRC ORE) is part of the Australian
Government’s Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Program. It is co-funded by seven mining majors - Anglo American, AngloGold Ashanti, BHP, Glencore, Newcrest, Teck and Sumitomo. It also 158
includes the support of ten research institutions and seven major METS - Metso, Orica, Hatch, Imdex, Sodern, JKTech and METS Ignited. Originally established in 2010, CRC ORE is a not for profit co-creation partnership, which received its second phase of funding in 2015 (A$34 million from the Australian Government and the remainder from its partners, mostly the miners). It is focused on “improving the productivity, energy and water signatures of mining operations”. Chief Executive Officer Dr Ben Adair notes: “To meet our Commonwealth funding requirements, we had to raise some A$114 million over our sixyear term. With 18 months left and we will have raised in excess of A$160 million — a consequence of the traction and support we’ve gained, from our mining company sponsors in particular.” S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
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minin g gl o b a l . c o m
CRC ORE
“ We must find better ways of extracting value that requires less water and energy. We need to generate lower volumes of much coarser waste by-products, which we can dry stack and recover all the water from. Ultimately, these will be cheaper processes, which will actually produce more metal” — Dr. Ben Adair, CEO, CRC ORE
“We are seen as independent, trusted
advisors by the Mining companies, to the point that we are now often used to manage their site-based gangue rejection strategies on their behalf.”
160
OPTIMISING RESOURCE EXTRACTION Dr Adair explains that CRC ORE’s commitment to optimising resource extraction (ORE) is underpinned by two suites of technologies: Grade Engineering® and the Integrated Extraction Simulator (IES). The former focuses on extracting metal more efficiently by separating ore from waste before it enters comminution. The latter is a cloud-based simulation and optimisation platform across the mine to mill value chain. Grade Engineering therefore involves the implementation of practical gangue rejection technologies at production scale on sites. S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
CRC ORE - Impact to Date - 2019 CLICK TO WATCH
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161 IES provides the opportunity to optimise
this material is in itself less than 10%
downstream processing performance
energy efficient in breaking rocks
from this newly engineered feedstock.
and collectively consumes 3% of the
Dr Adair urges that, to reduce the
worlds’ electricity — enough to keep
mining industry’s energy and water foot-
the lights on in Germany each year!”
prints, it’s important to take a “helicopter view” of where the sector is today. “We get delusional about the current
Dr Adair adds: “We also over-grind the material to extract the target minerals, way beyond what is necessary
status quo,” he says. “The fact is that
to efficiently separate and recover the
for base and precious metal opera-
metal. Consequently, we generate
tions, we still mine huge volumes of
enormous volumes of ultra-fine waste.
rock and send it into a process plant
Current process plants are also water
where 99% or more of this mate
intensive and these waste streams are
rial has no value whatsoever. Further,
too fine to self-drain. As a result, we
the comminution process used on
store waste in wet tailings dams and minin g gl o b a l . c o m
accept the challenge of continuously improving to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency in our work
CRC ORE
164
struggle to recycle the water effi-
design and operation of new energy
ciently. This brings another set of
and water efficient process equipment
challenges — poor levels of water
and circuits. This will require the reali-
recycling and wet tailings dams
sation of co-creation partnerships
that are a safety hazard across
between selected miners and suppli-
the Industry”.
ers to implement these solutions
Dr Adair’s conclusion, and where he
quickly. Nothing less than a complete
believes CRC ORE can have an impact
step change in energy reduction and
with its research and solutions, is that
close to full recycling of water will suf-
effective pre-concentration in the mine
fice”. Ironically, he also states that this
is required to dramatically reduce the
will actually increase metal production
volume of treated material that has
at sites, with cheaper capital and operat-
no value. “We then need to apply the
ing expenditures proclaiming that
principles of gangue rejection into the
“sustainability really isn’t a cost!”
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
SUCCESS WITH SUMITOMO
approaches in optimising process per-
Sumitomo is a major producer globally
formance, combined with world class
of Zinc, Lead and Silver from their
water and energy conservation.”
Minera San Cristóbal (MSC) operation
Located in the south-western
in Bolivia. “It’s a fascinating place,”
Bolivian province of Nor Lípez, and
explains Dr Adair. “It operates with
operating since 2007, the mine pro-
a head grade of around 1.7% Zn where
duces around 1,500 metric tons of
traditionally Zinc/Lead/Silver opera-
Zinc-Silver and Lead-Silver concen-
tions would be looking at an equivalent
trates each day. To achieve this result,
of >7% Zn or more. In spite of this,
MSC needs to move a daily average
the operation is one of the world’s
of 150,000 tons of rock, 52,000 tons
most profitable thanks to remarkable
of which goes to the process plant 165
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
Ben Adair Title: CEO
Company: CRC Ore
Dr Ben Adair has three decades’ experience in the mining industry. Splitting his time between roles in applied R&D, and working for majors such as Rio Tinto, he joined CRC ORE in 2015. Prior to this he worked at the University of Queensland, both as Director of the JKMRC and then running an industry funded Ore Sorting Centre. “I’ve been able to bring a skillset to CRC ORE which has been honed on the practical challenges facing the industry,” says Dr Adair. “The experiences I’ve had at processing plants, auditing mining sites and at innovation labs in R&D, have given me the ability to see whether a particular approach can be practically implemented or not. There are many wonderful ideas out there, but can they stand up to the industrial process? That’s why the work we do at CRC ORE is so important.” minin g gl o b a l . c o m
CRC ORE
C O M PA NY FACT S 166
• Comminution processes consume 3% of the world’s energy • 99% of the material processed in base and precious metal operations has no value • Existing technologies properly applied can reduce plant power consumption by 25% • Runtime can be increased to 97% • You can recycle 90% of the water used in processing using today’s technology
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
for treatment. “To become more productive and lower costs, this operation deploys highly sophisticated mill sensors and integrated control systems which defy conventional thinking in the comminution process. Acoustic sensors linked to infra-red imaging are used to control both the SAG and Ball Mill circuits.” reveals Dr Adair. “As a consequence, over the past five years the site has reduced absolute power consumption within their SAG (Semi-Autogenous Grinding) mill circuit by 26%, while increasing throughput of material through the comminution circuit by over 35%! In the process, they’ve also decreased consumables (liners and grinding media consumption) by 40%. Best in class effective run time in mineral processing circuits globally is around 95%. At MSC it is 97%. In short, they have achieved substantial reductions in energy with increased metal production using conventional off the shelf technology. Why can this not be repeated elsewhere in the Industry?” Furthermore, the site is located in an arid region of Bolivia, where access minin g gl o b a l . c o m
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CRC ORE
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S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
EXTR A FACTS
The Innovation Hub The Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mining Innovation Hub is a CRC ORE initiative, jointly developed with our research participants Curtin University and MRIWA. It is operating as a node of CRC ORE. It focuses on nurturing innovations which will add significant value to the burgeoning minerals industry in West Australia. The Hub’s purpose is to: • P romote collaboration between all industry groups (Research, METS, Miners, Community, Government) in the region, to solve common problems within the mining sector that ultimately improve the economic viability of the industry • Demonstrate new technology and innovations in a non-commercial independent environment
• P rovide customised professional development to all levels in industry • P rovide a pipeline of technologies and methodologies to deliver direct value to operations, suppliers and the community • Facilitate other technology developments other than those initiated by CRC ORE • A ssist with promoting and streamlining access to alternative government funding sources (e.g. MRIWA, METS Ignited, City of Kalgoorlie Boulder etc.) “The hub is an extremely useful way for us to interface with smaller, or more nimble miners, and expose CRC ORE to a varied range of commodities,” says President Dr Ben Adair
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CRC ORE
“ One of the exciting things about Grade Engineering is that when people hear about it, they think that it’s what we can do with the mine that we have. But we’re also thinking outside the box by applying the techniques to very low-grade material to offset mine closure costs in advance with ‘Waste Engineering’. It gives you much more opportunity to think about other applications to Grade Engineering besides what it was originally intended for” — Dave King, Operations Director, Sumitomo
GRADE ENGINEERING The Australian-born ingenuity of CRC ORE has been put to the test by
170
to water is at a premium. Dr Adair
Sumitomo during a successful full-
highlights that Sumitomo has cou-
scale production trial of Grade
pled its energy efforts with a
Engineering techniques at MSC.
substantial reduction in water con-
“Sumitomo asked us a fundamental
sumption from external sources
question,” notes Adair. “Is there any
— from 30% five years ago, down
way to reduce the amount of barren
to just 19% today. “They’re now
material that you send into a process
pushing towards a 90% plus level
plant in the first place?”
in water recycling” he says, “all
CRC ORE’s Grade Engineering
of it done by integrating existing
solutions deploys a range of waste
technology, albeit in a novel and
rejection technologies that integrate
sophisticated way. Surely there
with a suite of separation technologies
is a message here for what can
relevant to ore specific characteristics.
be achieved for the sector — the
This leads to a deeper understanding
outcome of which is a more sustaina-
of the orebody, supporting the ability
ble operation that actually makes
to exploit inherent ore deposit hetero-
more money!”
geneity and variability. Describing
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
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the application of this approach at MSC as a ‘co-creation partnership’, Dr Adair underlines the need to work intimately with mining companies and their suppliers to form a genuine alliance: “Ultimately, you need supply companies of scale and mining companies with vision. In this case CRC ORE worked with the MSC site and another of our participants, Metso, to engage in a full-scale production trial of Grade Engineering.” The outcome of this trial was the ability to reject 75% of barren components minin g gl o b a l . c o m
CRC ORE
in material that was originally designated as mineralised waste (not even ore feed). A 450 tons per hour Metso Loko-Track mobile screening plant was deployed on site to assist in the production scale testing. The trial focused on upgrading this and other waste targets from the pit to determine if a metal-rich stream could be generated that could be economically combined with Run of Mine (ROM) feed to the concentrator. “So far, results show that by applying 172
Grade Engineering to areas previously designated as ‘mineralised waste’, 25% of the material has a feed grade to the mill some 2.5 times higher than ROM ore,” says Dr Adair. “There is now the potential to convert this waste material into high grade ore-feed, with associated opportunity to increase metal production and reduce process power and water intensities. We’re now in the process of operationalising the process for the site going forward.” MSC Operations Director Dave King believes the opportunity for the mine is huge. “One of the exciting things about Grade Engineering is that when people hear about it, they think that it’s ‘what S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
173
EXTR A FACTS
Grade Engineering Explained Grade Engineering is being developed and implemented by a consortium of over 20 mining companies, equipment suppliers and research organisations. Emerging results from collaborative site activities demonstrate potential for generating significant value which can reverse the trend of decreasing production due to declining feed grades. Opportunity for Grade
Engineering is based on five rock based ‘levers’ linked to combinations of screening, sensor-based sorting and heavy media separation. These involve: •P referential grade deportment by size •D ifferential blasting for grade by size • Sensor based bulk sorting • Sensor based stream sorting • Coarse gravity
minin g gl o b a l . c o m
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174
we can do with the mine that we have’. But we’re also thinking outside the box by applying the techniques to very low-grade material to offset mine closure costs in advance with ‘Waste Engineering’. It gives you much more opportunity to think about other applications to Grade Engineering besides what it was originally intended for.” Dr Adair points out that Sumitomo’s culture and approach to innovation S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
2010
Year founded
$147mn+ Cash contributions in Aus dollars
175
has been the key to success. “The
modular scenario, they can quickly
site adopts a modular and flexible
test new opportunities without
approach to rapidly test and deploy
impacting production. A technology
new innovations. It’s very much a plug
can be quickly implemented or
and play philosophy, more analogous
rejected if it’s not working. It’s a ‘lean
with what Japanese industry in other
pivoting’ approach.”
sectors does like Toyota, for example. (MSC) have in their operation is bris-
RISING TO THE COLLABORATION CHALLENGE
tling with sensors. They measure
Dr Adair points out that historically
what they do and because of the
there’s been something of a standoff
Every piece of equipment that they
minin g gl o b a l . c o m
CRC ORE
between mining companies and their suppliers. “The landscape is changing,” he says. “It’s a lot more collaborative and we’re seeing more joint strategic thinking that will benefit the industry as a whole. It needs to be a win-win situation with the mining company/supplier relationship. Suppliers need to be able to sell their services and products out of co-creation partnerships. Equally, however, the mining companies are entitled to some form of competitive advantage as co-creators. Traditionally, 176
it takes around 15 years in the sector to implement an innovation from ideation to industrial deployment. Co-creation can cut this to less than five years.”
FUTURE PROJECTS CRC ORE deploys a variety of levers for different approaches to gangue rejection. “We’re doing a lot of work with fusing sensor technology,” confirms Dr Adair. “This goes way beyond the promotion of point solutions by individual companies, so common in the industry today. Our experience has shown we need more integrated solutions. There is no silver bullet with S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“ Our experience has shown we need more integrated solutions. There is no silver bullet with any one approach; it’s important to integrate with the best of the best” — Dr. Ben Adair, CEO, CRC ORE
177
any one approach in gangue rejection;
pre-concentration and taking advan-
it’s important to integrate the best
tage of heterogeneity are common
of the best.”
to all. Our goal at CRC ORE is there-
CRC ORE is working towards this
fore to make a significant contribution
goal on a multinational basis in a series
towards a genuinely more sustainable
of initiatives with mining majors in
industry going forward.
Australia, Chile, Brazil, South Africa and other parts of South America. “We’re working across different commodities and a multitude of diverse ores and waste types. It is interesting that many of the principles of minin g gl o b a l . c o m
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CHANGING THE GAME FOR ENERGY AND RESOURCES WRITTEN BY
DAN BRIGHTMORE PRODUCED BY
RICHARD DEANE
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
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mi ni nggl o b a l. com
IBM INDUSTRY ACADEMY
IBM is helping mining companies solve problems from connectivity through to autonomous solutions, as well as harnessing data to drive the industry towards the digital mines of the future
“
echnology, in its various stages of evolution, is our business at IBM,” reflects Manish Chawla, Global Managing Director for Energy & Natural Resources. “We’ve been involved in mining for decades, and just like in any other industry
180
we’ve re-invented our offerings to add services, software, data handling, cloud and AI capabilities. Our focus has progressed from IT and core functions to meet the needs of business transformation projects such as SAP implementations or process outsourcing, to support the mining industry in managing data as a strategic asset; helping the industry to capture, monetise and secure it.” IBM’s portfolio features a set of offerings targeting enterprise & operations transformation, outsourcing, SAP implementations, and helping clients use their data to their specific strategic advantage. “Look at technologies such as blockchain for traceability in the supply chain,” Chawla adds. “Today, we are a full-service partner focused on the employee experience, while using technology for transforming various functions across a mining organisation.” S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
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IBM INDUSTRY ACADEMY
Chawla notes a recognition from the mining industry that technology can now solve specific problems from
182
make the industry attractive to a new generation? Technology holds the key.” A recent study by the World
connectivity through to autonomous
Economic Forum forecast that over
solutions. “Now we’re able to har-
the next decade the mining industry
ness the data, the C-suite can see the
will create further value of $190bn
importance of digitisation and how it
from additional transformational
will drive the business in the future,” he
measures. “When these strategies are
says. “A technology-savvy and enabled
executed in a more integrated fashion,
mining enterprise is critical for attract-
inside-out and outside-in transforma-
ing and supporting the workforce of
tion, we believe businesses will be at
the future. How do you get people
a great advantage from humans and
out of the unsafe conditions of under-
machines working together,” explains
ground mines in remote areas and
Maxelino Nelson, Senior Executive for
“ A technologysavvy and enabled mining enterprise is critical for attracting and supporting the workforce of the future” — Manish Chawla Global Managing Director for Energy & Natural Resources, IBM S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
Sandvik: putting IoT to work for the manufacturing industry CLICK TO WATCH
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Industry Innovation, Global Solutions, & Business Strategy at IBM. “This will outperform humans or machines working on their own. It’s a great opportunity for us and our mining clients to solve some of the societal challenges relating to sustainability while developing the mining sector’s ecosystem to partner with IBM to truly transform the business in a more holistic way.” Nelson notes that over the past 5-10 years the digital transformation journeys IBM’s clients have taken have been characterised by AI and mi ni nggl o b a l. com
IBM INDUSTRY ACADEMY
184
experimentation with customer-facing
With the initial trends of the first
apps; activities that have been driving
chapter maturing, Nelson maintains
the cloud during chapter one of a digi-
we’re on the cusp of the next big shift
tal reinvention.
in the business architecture. It will
What will chapter two hold? “We
be driven by the pervasive applica-
believe industrial businesses are ready
tion of AI and cognitive technologies,
to move towards business reinvention:
combined with data, to the core pro-
scaling digital and AI and embedding it
cesses and workflows across mining
in the business. It’s about hybrid cloud,
organisations alongside important
moving mission critical applications
functional areas such as finance,
from experimentation to true end-to-
procurement, talent and supply
end transformation. The key to winning
chain. The results of this revolution-
is centred around what we at IBM call
ary change will be defined as the
the ‘Cognitive Enterprise’.”
Cognitive Enterprise.
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“Companies that get this journey right are on the way to being a Cognitive Enterprise,” affirms Nelson. “In our
not necessarily replaced, through technology.” How is IBM helping companies
experience, critical areas for natural
embrace Mining 4.0 and support the
resources industries to get right on this
move towards the digital mine of the
journey are openness and collabora-
future? “We’ve developed a data-driven
tion, integration, intelligent workflows
productivity platform with Sandvik, a
and cultural skills. In a time of continued
leading supplier of underground min-
volatility and disruption, open innova-
ing equipment. This partnership has
tion and co-creation are vital to be able
seen us connect their assets, their
to partner across ecosystems and
equipment, to our cloud to be able to
learn from other industries to achieve
pull data off. The value proposition to a
fundamental transformation as 90%
mining company is not only to get data
of the jobs in mining are changed,
from the Sandvik equipment, but also
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
Manish Chawla Title: Global Managing Director for Energy & Natural Resources Company: IBM An ecosystem thinker, Chawla is an experienced Global Manager with a demonstrated history of leading and scaling technologydriven businesses in the energy & resources, industrial and construction, sectors. His passion is helping companies leverage exponential technologies (AI, IoT, Blockchain, Industry 4.0, AR/ VR, 5G etc) to fundamentally re-imagine their enterprises in the platform economy to survive (and thrive) in the face of the three climate changes - environment, globalisation and technology mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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from other vendor feeds,” explains
an AI centre of competence,” Chawla
Chawla. “Interoperability as well as
reveals. “We’re doing an extensive set
the open data standard is critical for
of use cases with them, including route
a mine operator. They get visibility
optimisation for trucks, testing safety use
to production information, help with
cases and optimisation of smelters.” IBM
equipment, maintenance analytics and
is also working with Newmont Goldcorp
improved uptime.”
to help them better understand their
Built on IBM technologies, Sandvik
ore body, allowing them to reduce the
offers a platform for underground mine
time spent by geologists in analysis |and
optimisation, both for production and
data collection to determine where to
data/maintenance related aspects.
guide the next drilling campaign. “We’ve
“We’re also the primary data analytics
reduced inaccuracy by 95% with the
platform and AI software services
geology data platform that we call ‘cogni-
partner for Vale for where they have
tive ore body discovery’,” says Chawla.
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
Maxelino Nelson Title: Senior Executive for Industry Innovation, Global Solutions & Business Strategy, Company: IBM “As a global industrial leader for mining I’m part of IBM’s leadership committee that oversees the strategy and development of worldwide mining industry practice and other natural resources industries.” An entrepreneurial business leader with two decades’ multinational experience, including the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, China, India, Russia, and Australia, Nelson is a leader in the global industry for manufacturing and resources and leverages industry ecosystem partnerships to help clients take solutions from idea to reality. mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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IBM INDUSTRY ACADEMY
IBM is committed to supporting the sustainability efforts of mining operations across the globe. “By using intelligent workflows on the blockchain to address social sustainability in the context of the entire supply chain, miners can demonstrate social responsibility and also begin to build a culture of innovation,” believes Chawla. “The work we are doing on the Responsible Sourcing Blockchain Network (RSBN) with RCS Global allows businesses to track cobalt from industrial and min188
ing companies to ensure that they are working responsibly, whether it’s in the Congo or other parts of the world, across the supply chain from mine to smelter to battery manufacturers and to automotive OEMs.” IBM are seeing many automotive OEMs joining the platform along with key industrial scale miners operating cobalt mines in Congo who wish to augment their use of OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) responsible supply chain guidelines. The company is looking to extend the network to other metals such as tin, tantalum, and gold, which are S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
all important to the new economy emerging for minerals associated with electronics and EVs. Chawla notes the demand, driven by the rise of EVs and electronic brands, for an active, working and open democratic network to ascertain responsible sourcing and support artisanal miners to be able to operate safely in a fairtrade manner. IBM is also working with Minehub – a mining and metals trading platform – helping it streamline operations with various business partners across the mining ecosystem. “The MineHub platform is not a market-maker; it allows buyers and sellers to agree on trade. It comes to play once the trade has been set and the terms have been agreed,” explains Chawla. “This helps to improve the operational efficiencies, logistics and financing, while concentrating the supply chain from the mine to the buyer.” MineHub has been working in collaboration with IBM and other industry participants across a value chain that includes the likes of ING Bank, leading precious metals firm Ocean Partners and Capstone Mining. Minehub also features clearing houses, refiners, w w w.mi ni nggl o b a l. com
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IBM INDUSTRY ACADEMY
FACTS
IBM on mining trends
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“Sustainability has become a crucially important vector,” asserts Manish Chawla, Global Managing Director for Energy & Natural Resources at IBM. “This is allied to a bigger focus on mixing the recovery of the minerals and metals that will support the technology of the mines of the future. Meanwhile, operating them in a remote and autonomous manner will force mining companies to develop network connectivity with the ability to manage assets and equipment to move the needle, leveraging AI and data analytics in a much more profound and highly integrated way.” Chawla adds that similar efforts must be made to support the culture change required to drive the benefits of innovation. IBM are keen for mining companies to learn from the construction sector and implement digital twins. “It allows you to investigate how a mine asset is performing and functioning at any given moment,” explains Chawla. “Monitoring via a digital twin ref lects not only the way the mine was designed with autonomous equipment
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
but also how it’s being operated. Technology starts to guide action, and can intervene so that safe and reliable operations can continue. The expectation is that data and connectivity become ever-present and omnipresent, guiding autonomous agents to perform functions rather than humans.” Maxelino Nelson, Senior Executive for Industry Innovation, Global Solutions, & Business Strategy at IBM, sees an increased urgency from mining companies to establish an integrated road map as an important step in bringing strategy operations and IT together. “They use a road map to understand business drivers with technology requirements, all incorporated, so the entire enterprise will be moving forward in an integrated manner. It’s more common now to see business and IT coming together in collaboration, trying to determine which projects can deliver the most value and can easily be scaled from the pilot site.”
IBM — Cognitive Mining Solutions Geological Intelligence
Equipment Intelligence
Improve Orebody discovery and geological activities to ultimately recover more ore, deliver accurate ore budgets and support rapid mine planning to optimise drill, block and blast activities for consistent fragmentation and recovery.
Improve maintenance planning, efficiency, and effectiveness to reduce time, effort, and cost of both scheduled and unscheduled work (e.g. implement to advanced predictive condition-based maintenance models). HSSE & Worker Safety Intelligence
Supply Chain Intelligence Mine-to-Port supply chain delivery and rapid mine planning improved plant operations can better connect the demands of the market to your suppl.y Optimise supply chain and resupply operations by predicting and consolidating requirements across multiple locations and driving down facility operation and sustainment costs. Production Intelligence To improve production via managed and optimised mobile f leet operations; optimise control processes; predict and avoid process interruptions, slowdowns, stopwpages and under or overruns; and accelerate operator issue-resolution to sustain higher uptime levels of normal operations.
Analyse historical incident data, workforce data (qualifications, experience, performance, etc), environmental data, and work conditions to identify changes in risk profile or potential issues before they become incidents. Optimise emergency response to mitigate risk, enhance outcomes, and accelerate return to normal operations Enterprise Intelligence Risk mitigation and resource allocation in capital projects, aimed at minimising impacts to production plan commitments. Push greater efficiencies in legal and procurement functions and sure compliance to core polices, commercial practices, and legal & regulatory obligations.
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IBM INDUSTRY ACADEMY
smelters, financiers and other providers like Kimura joining along with royalty holders and streamers such as Lincoln. A tier one miner is also set to trial the platform. Chawla notes they are all benefiting from the efficiencies of the platform, all providing key pieces of information to these transactions. When it comes to digital innovation across the mining panorama, Chawla says it’s still a challenge to ensure all parties are aligned so that everyone benefits. “It’s important to get centre192
led IT and overall C-suite leadership both working towards the improvement of operating assets,” he says.
“ We believe industrial businesses are ready to move towards business reinvention: scaling digital and AI and embedding it in the business” — Maxelino Nelson Senior Executive for Industry Innovation, Global Solutions & Business Strategy, IBM S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
“With much of the work we do, we also think hard about the experience of frontline employees and incorporate this into the design of the solutions to ease adoption. We’ve taken this approach with Sandvik where we’ve done design sessions at the mine site with shift supervisors, truck drivers and mine managers.” A key obstacle to overcome in order to successfully integrate digital innovation is access from a network perspective and being able to capture
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the data. “Many companies are
ourselves can leverage in partnership?
upgrading their networks and 5G is
This complex ecosystem becomes a
exploding,” notes Chawla. Allied to this
challenge. If it’s approached in col-
he believes measured interoperability
laboration with interoperability in mind,
is vital. “Mining companies operate
then you can accelerate. But that is a
differing fleets from a range of vendors
continued two steps forward, three
with equipment right across the value
steps back kind of situation.”
chain. Each vendor is pitching their
IBM is pushing forward in 2020 to
own solutions. Do they go with one of
meet its goals around driving innova-
the vendors? Or do they go with devel-
tive solutions for the energy and natural
oping their own platform? And then,
resources industries. “We want to
will the vendors open up and share
infuse more data and AI capabilities
the data that the mine operators and
into their operations to take them live,” mi ni nggl o b a l. com
IBM INDUSTRY ACADEMY
1911
Year founded
$79.59bn+ Revenue in US dollars
350,000 194
Number of employees
S U M M E R /A U T U M N 2 0 2 0
pledges Chawla. “We will be continuing our work on three specific new platforms to further enhance the idea of ecosystems coming together to drive tangible outcomes for our clients in all the vectors of mining.” Chawla’s team also plan to nurture and scale IBM’s cybersecurity offering to secure operating technology and systems. “As more plants, more mines, and more equipment get connected, the cyber threat increases, so we’re pleased with the tremendous progress we’re already making to secure operations as they grow.” Nelson confirms IBM is currently working with a large oil and gas supermajor for potential partnership to co-create a digital mining services integrated platform. “This platform is tendered around developing a different model for how mining companies consume digital solutions and services, and how mining providers and solutions developers can make them available to the industry. It is a game changer and it shows how upbeat and interesting the mining industry has become to wider industries.”
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