Mining Magazine - May 2021

May 2021 | miningglobal.com

Electric Mine Consortium: Decarbonising the mining industry READ NOW

Predictions for the Future of Mining

FLSmidth: Sustainable Mining Productivity

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“The Global Smart Mining Industry is Projected to Reach

US$24bn by 2027” EXCLUSIVE INSIGHTS: Matthew Margetts, Director of Smarter Technologies READ MORE

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The Mining Team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DAN BRIGHTMORE EDITORAL DIRECTOR

SCOTT BIRCH

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS

GEORGIA ALLEN DANIELA KIANICKOVÁ PRODUCTION MANAGERS

OWEN MARTIN PHILLINE VICENTE JENNIFER SMITH PRODUCTION EDITOR

JANET BRICE

CREATIVE TEAM

OSCAR HATHAWAY SOPHIA FORTE SOPHIE-ANN PINNELL HECTOR PENROSE SAM HUBBARD MIMI GUNN JUSTIN SMITH REBEKAH BIRLESON VIDEO PRODUCTION MANAGER

KIERAN WAITE

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS

SAM KEMP EVELYN HUANG TYLER LIVINGSTONE

DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE

KAYLEIGH SHOOTER GRETA ANDREJEVAITE PROJECT DIRECTORS

GLEN WHITE LEWIS VAUGHAN MICHAEL BANYARD STUART IRVING KRIS PALMER MIKE SADR MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR

MARK CAWSTON

SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTOR

JASON WESTGATE

MANAGING DIRECTOR

LEWIS VAUGHAN

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

STACY NORMAN PRESIDENT & CEO

GLEN WHITE

EDITOR'S LETTER

MISSION ZERO FOR MINING The mining industry is making a collective effort to forge a path towards zero emissions processes by 2030. It’s time for a paradigm shift in collaboration, innovation and the adoption of new technologies.

“Mining Global will always spotlight and welcome the spirit of innovation driving positive change”

MINING GLOBAL MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY

If there’s one thing the companies and organisations featured in this month’s issue of Mining Global have in common, it’s the quest to innovate to eradicate carbon emissions. Developing sustainable approaches to resourcing the minerals and metals we need to be capable of creating a greener future fuelled by wind turbines, solar power and battery technologies is more important than ever.

Aiming to combat climate change and make sure Mission Zero becomes ‘Mission Possible’ is no mean feat. That desire to innovate is in the DNA of companies like FLSmidth, dedicated to technical specialisation since 1882. Indeed, a route towards achieving these sustainability goals exists through digital transformation.

Axora is developing its digital B2B marketplace to address the pain points of heavy industries like mining that require solutions to drive the efficiencies that will contribute towards the lowering of Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

Partnering to achieve these goals is vital, so it’s great to see the spirit of collaboration developing further through organisations like the Electric Mine Consortium.

De-carbonisation via electrification and digitalization can have an immediate and positive impact on the communities the mining industry operates in, and society as a whole. We can’t allow these efforts to be dismissed as ‘greenwashing’. Mining Global will always spotlight and welcome the spirit of innovation driving positive change.

DANIEL BRIGHTMORE

daniel.brightmore@bizclikmedia.com

© 2021 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

miningglobal.com

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CONTENTS

Our Regular Upfront Section: 8

Big Picture

10 The Brief 12 Global News 14 People Moves 16 Timeline:

Fortescue Metals Group 18 Legend:

Robert Friedland 20 Five Mins With:

Ragnar Udd

24

Edzcom, a Cellnex Company Solutions driven by edge connectivity

40

Electric Mine Consortium

Decarbonising the mining industry

70

Oren/Shell

Shell & IBM introduce the Oren marketplace

50

Newmont

Making technology the future of mining

84

Axora

Driving Safety, Sustainability and Efficiency

60

94

Smarter Technologies: Transforming the sector

A Unique Digital Transformation Supply Chain & Operations

Industry X.0

Eramet

sustain peak performance.

Benchmark your actual process and asset performance data against your expected performance with Honeywell Forge for Industrial, for better decisions that impact reliability, safety and profitability.

For more information, please visit: www.honeywellprocess.com/iiot

106

FLSmidth

Sustainable Mining Productivity

116 Top 10

Predictions for the Future of Mining

BIG PICTURE

8

May 2021

Top Hammer XL

Stockholm, Sweden

The latest innovation from Sandvik expands the limit for penetration…

Top Hammer XL is a new, fully optimised drilling system consisting of a Pantera DP1600i drill rig, RD1840C rock drill and LT90 rock tools. It pushes the

limits for top hammer drilling, enabling drill blast holes from 140 to 178mm.

It achieves faster, more fuel-efficient and cost-effective penetration offering considerable savings in time, money and CO2 emissions. Learn more about a world of solutions enabling more sustainable approaches to mining that can support net zero goals.

Sandvik miningglobal.com

9

THE BRIEF “With MissionZero, we accelerate the use of technology and knowledge to enable our customers to produce and process minerals with zero environmental impact” Thomas Schulz

BY THE NUMBERS Copper price before and after the advent of the global Covid-19 pandemic

$5,859

$9,351

a tonne

a tonne

CEO, FLSmidth  READ MORE

“We’re focused on offering solutions to support mining companies with the three biggest challenges they face: safety, sustainability and efficiency” Ritz Steytler CEO, Axora 

READ MORE

“The electrification of the mining industry will require innovation through collaboration to support decarbonisation efforts and reduce costs” Justin Bain CEO, 3ME 

READ MORE

10

May 2021

Ups and Downs for BHP output year-on-year

+4% Iron Ore

-6% +19% Copper

Nickel

READ MORE

Did you know? A UK tin-copper mine with over 400 years of production history is on the verge of re-opening following a 23-year hiatus. Cornish Metals hopes to revive South Crofty in Cornwall.

 CODELCO The world’s biggest copper producer has managed to increase its first quarter output of the red metal, despite a surge in Covid infections across Chile.

Chilean mines account for more than a quarter of global supply.

Producing lithium from mining waste Rio Tinto has taken the next step in scaling up a breakthrough lithium production process developed at its Boron mine site in California.

What they said: Rio Tinto Minerals chief executive Sinead Kaufman commented: “This is a valuable next step in scaling up our production of lithium at the Boron site, all from using waste material without the need for further mining. It shows the innovative thinking we are applying across our business to find new ways to meet the demand for emerging commodities like lithium, which are part of the transition to a low-carbon future.”

Drilling down the numbers: The demonstration plant has a design capacity of 10 tonnes per year of battery grade lithium. It will be run throughout 2021 to optimise the process and inform Rio Tinto’s feasibility assessment for progressing to a production scale plant with an initial capacity of at least 5,000 tonnes per year, or enough to make batteries for approximately 70,000 electric vehicles.

 IVANHOE MINES Ivanhoe Mines achieved a production record in February at the KamoaKakula Copper Project in the DRC. The 339,000 tonnes mined and stockpiled in February had an average ore grading of 5.5%. Founder Robert Friedland said expansion plans could see it rank as the world’s second largest copper producer.  VALE The Ilha de Guaiba iron ore terminal in Mangaratiba in the state of Rio de Janeiro has been shut down by Brazilian authorities due to environmental concerns.

It exports nearly 40 million tonnes of iron ore a year.  COAL INDIA Coal India’s shipments sank to a four-year low in the 12 months to March, as the global pandemic continued crushing demand. The staterun miner reported sales of 573.8 million tonnes, down 1.3% year-on-year.

W A Y U P MAY21

W A Y D O W N

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GLOBAL NEWS 2

CANADA

DeepGreen hits back at WWF led critics of seafloor mining The WWF, BMW and Google are among those calling for a moratorium on seabed mining until its environmental risks are “comprehensively understood”.

Canada’s DeepGreen Metals has outlined its mission to provide battery metals sourced from deep-ocean polymetallic nodules that generate zero solid waste, no toxic tailings, and a fraction of the carbon emissions compared to land-based sources.

READ MORE

1

CALIFORNIA, US

Rio Tinto achieves battery grade lithium production at Boron Rio Tinto has taken the next step in scaling up a breakthrough lithium production process developed at Boron. Battery grade lithium has been produced at a demonstration plant set up to recover the critical mineral and extract additional value out of waste piles from over 90 years of mining at the operation.

READ MORE

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May 2021

3

UK

Government stalls coal mine plan The British government has put plans for a new coal mine in Cumbria on hold following recommendations by The Climate Change Committee. A public inquiry is likely to follow with the discovery that the mine would increase global emissions and have an appreciable impact on the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets.

READ MORE

4

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Barrick Gold agrees new partnership for Porgera The Porgera gold mine will resume operations after the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government and Barrick Niugini Limited (BNL) agreed on a partnership for its future ownership and operation following successful negotiations.

Porgera has been on care and maintenance since April 2020 when the government declined to renew its special mining lease.

READ MORE

5

PERU

Anglo American to run South America operations on 100% renewables Having secured renewable energy to meet power requirements for its iron ore and nickel operations in Brazil from 2022, and its copper operations in Chile from 2021, Anglo American has signed an agreement with Engie Energía Perú to provide 100 per cent renewable energy for the Quellaveco copper project that is expected to begin production in 2022.

READ MORE

miningglobal.com

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PEOPLE MOVES GARY NAGLE FROM: GLENCORE TO: GLENCORE WAS: GLOBAL HEAD OF COAL NOW: CEO Glencore’s Chairman, Tony Hayward, commented: “Gary Nagle has held senior roles in coal and ferroalloys in Colombia, South Africa and Australia. He has been on the Board’s radar for more than several years and was selected following a succession process overseen by the Board.

We are confident that he has the right skill set and qualities to lead the Glencore of tomorrow.”

“I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the Board and honoured to be appointed CEO at such an exciting time for Glencore.

We will continue to deliver value to our shareholders, while operating safely and responsibly” 14

May 2021

ROHITESH DHAWAN FROM: EURASIA GROUP TO: INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON MINING AND METALS (ICMM) WAS: MANAGING DIRECTOR NOW: PRESIDENT & CEO

ELISABETH BRINTON

Rohitesh is a sustainability specialist with significant experience in the resources sector. As Managing Director and Head of the EMEA region at Eurasia Group, a geopolitical research and analysis firm, he led the climate change and sustainability practice. Prior to this, Rohitesh’s roles included Global Head of Sustainability for the Mining Sector and Global Strategy Director at KPMG International. He currently serves on the expert panel on climate change for the UK government’s Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions Programme (PACT).

FROM: SHELL TO: ANGLO AMERICAN WAS: EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT NOW: NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Elisabeth spent three years supporting the development of global renewables and energy solutions at Shell. Previously, she led Australian energy company AGL Energy's new commercial business, building what, at the time, was the country’s largest portfolio of renewables in partnership with the AU$3bn Powering Australia Renewables Fund.

Before 2016, she spent 14 years in senior roles in the US leading the development of cloud-based customer solutions and digital transformations across the energy industry. miningglobal.com

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TIMELINE

FORTESCUE METALS GROUP Fortescue reaches iron ore production milestone of 1.5 billion tonnes across its Chichester and Solomon mining hubs in the Pilbara, Western Australia

16

May 2021

2003

2008

Fortescue establishes iron ore operations in Pilbara, Western Australia.

First shipment of iron ore departed Port Hedland in 2008 for Shanghai Baosteel’s Majishan Port.

2018

2021

2030

Billionth tonne of iron ore shipped from Herb Elliott Port in Port Hedland after 30,600 trains complete dumping with over 5,000 ships destined for global markets.

Fortescue reaches epic milestone of 1.5 billion tonnes of iron shipped after 46,680 trains unload at Port Hedland and 8,110 ships leave Herb Elliott Port.

Fortescue is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality across its Pilbara operations, positioning the company as a global leader in addressing the climate change challenge.

miningglobal.com

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LEGEND

Robert Friedland Founder & Chairman, Ivanhoe Capital

A

self-confessed “ex-hippy”, Robert Friedland has a proven track record as an entrepreneurial explorer, technology innovator and company builder.

Inducted into the prestigious Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2016, Friedland was honoured as “a dynamic, transformative force in the Canadian and international mining industries” and “one of the most recognised mining personalities and achievers in the world”.

Referred to as “the undisputed king of junior development”, Friedland sowed the seeds for his current venture, Ivanhoe Mines, in 1993. The company is developing three worldscale mining projects (resourcing platinum, palladium, nickel, copper and gold) in South Africa and the DRC following strategic investment in excess of $1bn.

Friedland’s original Ivanhoe Mines (acquired by Rio Tinto in 2012 and renamed Turquoise Hill Resources) was responsible for the discovery and development of the epic copper and gold deposits in the South Gobi region, resulting in the construction of the Oyu Tolgoi mining complex.

Friedland, among other roles, is also Chair and co-founder of disruptive controlled-energy tech company 18

May 2021

Born August

18th 1950 Friedland’s ventures have raised more than

$25bn since

1993 Personal net worth:

$1.05bn

I-Pulse, CEO of its subsidiary High Power Exploration, holds a controlling interest in VRB Energy and his film production company Ivanhoe Pictures was behind the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the past decade, Crazy Rich Asians. Is there anything he can’t do?

Mining Global caught up with the charismatic billionaire at Mines and Money London back in 2019. Shooting from the hip during a fascinating keynote speech - holding forth on everything from the China-US trade war to global warming - the serial entrepreneur predicted the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) would be a huge opportunity for the mining industry and investors: “Copper demand is going to be psychedelic!”

Heralding the “revenge of the miners” Friedland’s no-nonsense appraisal of the industry today highlights the huge opportunity for it to make a positive contribution to the fight against air pollution and the quest for net-zero emissions with the growth of solar and wind turbine energy solutions.

“Human beings wanting everything, all of the time, and moving to cities will drive that growth in demand,” says Friedland. “Copper is rare and hard to find, but without it we don’t have a modern world. Lithium-ion batteries are made out of copper. So, when we start moving fully to electric vehicles we’re going to need a telescope to actually see the copper price! The big giga factories are coming. The industrial revolution starts in 2023 and it’s set to build for the rest of the decade.” You heard it here…

“A dynamic, transformative force in the international mining industries” miningglobal.com

19

FIVE MINS WITH...

RAGNAR UDD Ragnar Udd, President Minerals Americas, BHP, outlines why, despite the uncertainties triggered by a global pandemic, the future looks bright for the resources sector

Q. TELL US WHY YOU’RE FEELING SO POSITIVE ABOUT THE FUTURE FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY?

» “I have never been quite as

excited and optimistic about the opportunities and challenges of a role as I am today leading two of BHP’s future facing commodities: in copper and our potash development.

It may sound odd coming at a time when most of the world is still dealing with the effects of the pandemic. Later stage urbanisation and industrialisation in China, earlystage urbanisation in India and the significant impact of China’s Belt and Road initiative are all expected to provide additional demand for our products over the long term.”

Q. WHAT ELSE DO YOU SEE DRIVING DEMAND?

» “In the 2020s, we expect the

global population to expand to 8.5 billion from the current level of 7.7 billion, of which 5.2 billion will live in urban centres.

As a consequence, we expect corresponding increases in global GDP as well as capital expenditure.

In addition to creating demand for raw materials, population growth will also fuel demand for Potash, which will be vital for more efficient agricultural practices to feed this growing population. Another factor is the strong push across the world to decarbonise. This effort will require substantial investment in infrastructure and the technologies that will leverage them.”

20

May 2021

Q. HOW IS THE ELECTRIFICATION OF MOBILITY PLAYING A PART?

» “Policy signposts for rapid electric

vehicle (EV) adoption were distinctly favourable over the last twelve months and we have revised our internal EV penetration forecasts upwards. These vehicles use four times as much copper as petrolbased cars, and they will also need more infrastructure to connect charging stations to the grid.”

Q. HOW IMPORTANT IS THE ROLE RESOURCES WILL PLAY IN THE TRANSITION TO RENEWABLE ENERGIES?

» “In a Paris-aligned, 1.5°C scenario, we

expect that investment in areas such as copper-intensive solar generation, nickel-intensive batteries, and steelintensive wind turbines will contribute to a more than doubling of the amount of primary copper and a quadrupling of the amount of primary nickel demand over the next 30 years relative to that produced over the last 30 years.”

“ We are producing the materials that build global infrastructure and support efforts to solve climate change” Q. HOW DO YOU SEE BHP’S ROLE IN REALISING THIS POSITIVE FUTURE?

» “We are producing the materials 2020

population could expand to

8.5bn from

7.7bn of which

5.2bn

will live in urban centres

that build global infrastructure and support efforts to solve climate change... all the while providing skilled jobs for our people and support for our communities. The case is clear: our industry has a huge opportunity to feed the demand for resources. We also have to address the fact that society quite rightly demands more from us - in terms of societal contribution, safety and sustainability, and of course operational excellence.” miningglobal.com

21

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EDZCOM

Solutions driven by edge connectivity WRITTEN BY: JANET BRICE PRODUCED BY: STUART IRVING

24

May 2021

EDZCOM

miningglobal.com

25

EDZCOM

Mikko Uusitalo, CEO, EDZCOM

26

May 2021

EDZCOM

Seamless connectivity is the cornerstone to driving digitalisation and building smart industries of the future, says Mikko Uusitalo CEO of Edzcom

E

dzcom is a pioneer in edge connectivity, offering solutions for the enterprise sector and is now entering an exciting new era following its acquisition by Cellnex Telecom.

Seven years after Edzcom was founded

by CEO Mikko Uusitalo, the European-based company, which designs, builds and operates private 4G and 5G networks for local coverage, looks set to accelerate its expansion.

According to Uusitalo edge connectivity is forecast to be a multi-billion dollar market which Edzcom can now leverage with Cellnex on board and their decision to only work with the best-in-breed technology partners which include Intel, Athonet, Nokia, Streamwide and Signify.

“We have the experience and real references, which is very important for customers in this emerging multi-billion

“ We help enterprises do things in a smarter way and provide technology solutions to drive innovation” MIKKO UUSITALO CEO, EDZCOM

dollar market,” said Uusitalo speaking from his office in Barcelona. “Seamless connectivity is the cornerstone to driving digitalisation and building smart industries of the future.”

Uusitalo pointed out this is the ideal moment to accelerate towards Industry 4.0 as telcoms are again in the ‘S-curve’ which is forcing mobile operators to address change particularly in the areas of safety, improved efficiency and enable new revenue streams.

“We have the competitive edge in this market as we have picked the best partners to be part of our ecosystem and we are now part of Cellnex which is considered a sustainable, viable partner in the global telecoms business and will be here for the long term,” he said.

“We currently employ around 30-40 people at the moment but this is growing very rapidly because we are investing for growth in 13 different countries in Europe – mostly in France, UK, Spain, Netherlands and Northern Europe where we built the business.

“We are building the sales capabilities across the different countries where Cellnex is present as we are now part of this leading telecom infrastructure company in Europe with a market cap of more than €30 billion,” said Uusitalo who pointed out being part of Cellnex allows him to focus on growing the business through flexible and as a service business models. miningglobal.com

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EDZCOM

Providing edge connectivity solutions to enterprise and public sector | Mikko Uuzitalo | Edzcom

Solutions from edge connectivity Since its launch in 2014 Edzcom’s Edge Connectivity solutions offer highperformance wireless connectivity for enterprise resource planning, automation, robotics and real-time remote monitoring.

Edzcom brings a single point of contact to designing, building and operating a tailored private network, deploying best practices and technologies to become the long-term partner of each enterprise and help them achieve their digitalisation goals.​ According to Uusitalo, edge connectivity helps industries from manufacturing to mining, utilities and logistics and energy generation to unlock productivity and growth, by offering continuity and security for business-critical operations. Network performance is monitored by the customer via Edzcom dashboard, ensuring 100 per cent customer control.

Some of their high profile customers are Konecranes and KymiRing.

28

May 2021

It was announced in April that Edzcom will deploy a 5G SA private wireless network to support Konecranes’ advanced R&D work.

The 5G network will enable Konecranes to research and develop digitalised factory and port solutions that leverage 5G’s high bandwidth and low latency for increased productivity, improved efficiency, and enhanced safety.

“ We have the experience and real references, which is very important for customers in this emerging multi-billion dollar market” MIKKO UUSITALO CEO, EDZCOM

EDZCOM

MIKKO UUSITALO

For Kymiring motorsports and events venue, private wireless network will enable motorsport audiences around the world to get to enjoy an entirely new kind of spectator experience with KymiRing’s first-class network services. The capacity and speed of the network will enable unprecedented televising techniques for motorsport.

TITLE: CEO INDUSTRY: TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOCATION: BARCELONA Mikko Uusitalo, CEO of Edzcom, is a highly progressive, dynamic, and results oriented leader with strong track record of increasing revenues, profits and market share through generating customer focused solutions, marketing, turnarounds and increased organisational performance.

Excellent networking and crossorganizational collaboration skills.

Capable of resolving multiple and complex (leadership, management, strategy, sales and business development, marketing, operational, financial, and legal) challenges, and motivating teams to achieve peak performance through collaboration.

Edzcom is focused on building solutions for enterprises which include: • Logistics (ports and airports) Enabling higher productivity, improved situational awareness and safety while creating new revenue streams.

• Manufacturing Connecting an unprecedented volume of machines, IoT sensors and data to drive cost-efficiency and improve quality.

• Mining Connecting assets in open-pit and underground mines to enable automation and accelerate productivity.

2014 Year founded

40

Number of employees

EXECUTIVE BIO

• Utilities and Energy Providing connectivity to boost situational awareness and predictive maintenance for safer and efficient operations.

miningglobal.com

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EDZCOM

Athonet Private 5G Wi-Fi-like Simplicity. Wire-like Reliability.

Is your Private 5G technology vendor trusted by the world’s major governments, utilities, ports and airports?

With over 10 years of experience and over 500K private SIMs deployed, Athonet is the established market leader in Private LTE &5G Core Network technology.

For Private 5G as simple as Wi-Fi Open5G@athonet.com

30

May 2021

EDZCOM

“ Not technology first, but business and customers first” MIKKO UUSITALO

He gives an example that if connectivity goes down at a mine for more than 20 minutes work has to stop – costing the enterprise millions of dollars per day. “We can avoid this by designing, building and operating the network to provide as much uptime as customer requires.

CEO, EDZCOM

Uusitalo points out there are three advantages to an enterprise investing in a private network closer to the site, including: • Improving safety Ensuring 24/7 communications and enabling automatisation of hazardous operations • Accelerating efficiency Securing 24/7/365 continuity of business critical operations and increasing productivity

WHAT IS EDGE CONNECTIVITY? Edge connectivity is a private network solution, connecting assets, equipment and people in the field that is designed, built and operated at the edge – meaning the local coverage site.​ Network design ensures full autonomy and reliability for business-critical operations by ensuring all network components are at the edge:

“We help enterprises do things in a smarter way and provide technology solutions to drive innovation. We do that by providing a high-performance next generation wireless connectivity environment for enterprise customers to work smarter which drives growth and revenue streams,” he said.

Commenting on the benefits of a tailored private network compared to Wifi, Uusitalo said: “What we bring on board is the 4G and 5G radio components that ensure highperformance connectivity with very low latency and high uptime which is always available and designed for the customer use cases.”

DID YOU KNOW...

• New revenue streams Enabling micro-operator opportunities and enabling new revenue streams through innovative product development

• Private, geo-redundant network architecture • Dedicated spectrum • Interconnection to the existing architecture • Data stays on site • Network performance dashboard and control • Connection for all assets with seamless handover

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EDZCOM

“ What we bring on board is the 4G and 5G radio components that ensure highperformance connectivity with very low latency and high uptime which is always available and designed for the customer use cases” MIKKO UUSITALO CEO, EDZCOM

We do this by duplicating the components, adding battery and backup generators which will make the network always available.”

Competitive edge Edzcom may be known for its edge connectivity but when it comes to their competitive edge, Uusitalo cites the following factors: • Provide leading network experience with superior connectivity and communications solutions • Unbeatable experience from 32 network deployments • World-class team to deploy your network “We are the market leader and have the most references in Europe for these kinds of solutions. We now have 32 live networks that we've designed, built and operate,” he said.

Customer solutions over technology “Our key message is it's not just about the technology but about how we can help the customer solve the challenges they have and how we can help them to make their calls. Not technology first, but business and customers first.

32

May 2021

EDZCOM

32

private 4G/5G networks deployed

13

covered countries in Europe and expanding

7

years of experience and market leaders in Edge Connectivity

15

years of experience in mission critical communications

100%

owned by Cellnex Telecom

miningglobal.com

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EDZCOM

34

May 2021

EDZCOM

QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS...

What top 3 benefits will 5G bring your clients?

“The implementation of 5G will bring incredible benefits for our clients as it will enable a new set of use cases as you can operate in a different way when you have a connectivity that's always on, that's mobile and is low latency. That should improve your bottom line by saving and being more efficient or by actually constantly innovating. Another bonus is the increased safety of employees.”

What future technology trend are you most excited about?

“I'm very excited about the trend of everything moving towards edge – meaning that edge connectivity and computing are at the

customer side – at the edge. In the past years we've mainly focused on cloud, which is of course also a very important trend, but now the trend is moving back to the edge.

What message would you give an enterprise hesitant about moving to edge connectivity with Edzcom?

“My message to prospective customers is to look at our track record and talk to us as we can share use cases from other, or similar, industries which will inspire you to move to edge connectivity. Talk to us and we can figure out the best result. I can guarantee the outcome will be positive, I think our proposition should get any business person excited. We are able to do some very cool things with edge.”

miningglobal.com

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EDZCOM

ADVERT SILVER

ADVERT SILVER

“ We believe the solutions we offer are valuable to our customers as edge connectivity close to a site is vital for a successful future” MIKKO UUSITALO CEO, EDZCOM

36

May 2021

EDZCOM

CELLNEX TELECOM

DID YOU KNOW...

Cellnex Telecom is Europe’s leading Title of the video operator of wireless telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructures with a portfolio of more than 128,000 sites.

The Company operates in Spain, Italy, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Poland.

“Cellnex is a very interesting growth story because they have transformed from a local Spanish company in a PanEuropean player in just six years mainly to M&A and long term as a service based business model,” commented CEO of Edzcom Mikko Uusitalo.

“From starting in Spain they are now present in 13 countries and they provide their main business to provide the telecom infrastructure which powers the mobile operators.

They have now diversified into the enterprise sector which Edzcom is now part of.”

Cellnex provides the infrastructure for voice and data in broadcasting serving more than 200 million people in Europe.

miningglobal.com

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EDZCOM

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

DID YOU KNOW...

Associations: At a corporate level Cellnex is a member of the EWIA (www.ewia.org) association. Tobias Martinez (Cellnex CEO) is currently the Chairman of the Association.

38

Events: The most significant international event we participate in is the Mobile World Congress. There is also the Meetup Europe organised by TowerXchange.

In terms of Private Networks, we participate at several industry events like Private networks in a 5G world

by Informa, UPTIME by Athonet and the Critical Communications World by TCCA.

May 2021

“The world is constantly changing and in order to continue to be viable and sustainable one, has to look at the new base of doing things and new technologies. We believe the solutions we offer are valuable to our customers as edge connectivity close to a site is vital for a successful future.”

Best-of-breed technology partners Uusitalo highlights the importance of their best-of-breed technology partnerships with Intel, Athonet and Nokia to drive forward their growth.

“No-one can do this alone. If you want to be really valued by the customer – who are investing capital in you – then bring the best you can. Our philosophy and strategy is to work with the best companies in the industry where we don’t have the competence to do it ourselves.

“We work with leaders in the market like Athonet that provides critical components in

EDZCOM

Meet EDZCOM

the mobile cellular network which is kind of the brain of the network called core network. This is an Italian company which we believe is the market leader and innovator in this space. They deployed one of the the world’s first private LTE core networks over a decade ago and are a very affordable but reliable partner for the most critical component – the core network.”

Uusitalo also points out the importance of Edzom’s partnership with Intel which he describes as having “tremendous innovation capabilities”.

Focusing on Intel he said they work to ensure the hardware partners use that technology and more importantly are investing in innovation.

“For example, in the new use cases it means they just don’t have the connectivity part, but also the computing power on site close to the customer. This brings a lot of insight, innovation and technical competence for us to make sure we design our solutions that are innovative and state-of-the-art.”

Focus on the future Looking ahead, Uusitalo says the aim for the coming year will be to grow which means acquiring more customers. “It is a challenging environment, but what we have to do is find the customers who need the solutions offered by edge connectivity.

We are investing in marketing to become more well known and try to deploy our solutions to customers in areas where there might be a lockdown or restrictions in their country.

“But when we are able to travel and meet customers it's very rewarding to help them with new ideas and innovation that will help them to be more efficient or provide a safer environment in the future,” he said.

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Electric Mine Consortium:

DECARBONISING THE MINING INDUSTRY A group of 14 key OEMs and mining companies is on a mission to drive zero emissions technology and accelerate mine electrification WRITTEN BY: DANIEL BRIGHTMORE

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ourteen mining firms and industry services companies, including State of Play, Sandvik, Epiroc, OZ Minerals, South32, Gold Fields, Safescape, Dassault Systèmes, Energy Vault, Hahn, Horizon Power, 3ME, IGO and Barminco have joined together to form the Electric Mine Consortium aimed at decarbonising the mining industry.

Electrification The genesis for the Consortium was the 2020 report State of Play – Electrification.

The State of Play platform was initiated

by VCI in partnership with The University of Western Australia in 2011 and is now the world’s largest mining research platform for strategy and innovation. It was sponsored by The Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre, METS Ignited and Project 412. The report covered extensive research aimed to understand the drivers and barriers of mine electrification, identify the key enabling technologies and enable collaboration to accelerate its adoption.

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DIGITAL MINING

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Change is hard. The truth is that many mining companies are still very hesitant about furthering their digital mining transformations in fear of cost of implementation, risk and uncertainty.

However, digital solutions from AVEVA can help mining companies reduce complexity and optimize business and operational performance. aveva.com @avevagroup linkedin.com/company/aveva

For more information, read our free E-Book on Digital Mining Transformation.

DIGITAL MINING

According to the State of Play Electrification report:

57%

of industry executives surveyed believe energy transition is the global trend that will have the biggest impact on the industry over the next 15 years.

89%

expect mine sites to become electrified within the next 20 years.

61%

think that the next generation of mines will be all-electric.

State of Play’s co-founder, Graeme Stanway, highlights that while the industry as a whole understands the benefits of mine electrification, there are still challenges to overcome on the journey towards adoption, namely cost.

“Our data shows renewables, all electric systems and batteries will help fuel the change towards a healthier, economically viable future of mining,” he says. “But uncertainty remains when it comes to which area to invest in first, and how. Here in Australia, we have an abundance of renewables that the industry is tapping into, particularly in our most remote operations.

Local mine sites have the opportunity to install solar, wind and battery energy storage systems to power their operations at a much cheaper cost than many global players.”

“ OUR DATA SHOWS RENEWABLES, ALL ELECTRIC SYSTEMS AND BATTERIES WILL HELP FUEL THE CHANGE TOWARDS A HEALTHIER, ECONOMICALLY VIABLE FUTURE OF MINING” GRAEME STANWAY,

CO-FOUNDER, STATE OF PLAY miningglobal.com

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DIGITAL MINING

3ME Technology Light Utility BEV Integration

“ WE’VE GOT A TOOLKIT OF PROVEN COMPONENTS AND CAN PROVIDE THAT LAST 20% LEVEL OF CUSTOMISATION TO PROVIDE THE RIGHT SOLUTION; EITHER IN A RETROFIT FASHION, OR NEW DEVELOPMENT FASHION. WE'RE READY TO ROLL OUT” JUSTIN BAIN, CEO, 3ME

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Energy Vault Energy Vault’s Co-Founder & CEO Robert Piconi maintains that minimising C02 and diesel particulates through innovative technology choices, like energy storage, is key to how the Consortium can pursue the goal of fully electric mines. “We’re pleased to become a founding member of the organisation. Our unique, long duration storage technology is especially well suited for use in mines given that it provides the opportunity for the beneficial re-use of waste tailing materials as well as other localised materials, avoiding cost disposal and environmental hazard. Importantly, Energy Vault’s solution also economically deals with severe weather environments, in particular high ambient temperature climates, with an unprecedented, low operating cost sustainably.”

DIGITAL MINING

3ME 3ME, so-called because of its three target markets (mining, military and marine) for electro mobility, is a tech company member specialising in resilient battery systems, software and power electronics.

It works collaboratively with vehicle and platform manufacturers and endusers (static energy storage systems) to electrify their offerings. Chief Growth Officer Steve Lawn explains that 3ME has 15 years experience developing reliable battery technologies and has been working on solutions for underground mining since 2015: “We worked on a lightutility vehicle with partner Safescape and designed a 20-tonne loader with Batt Mobile Equipment.” The company can supply packages for OEMs to electrify and

Why Electrification?

Reducing cost, carbon emissions and improving health outcomes…

Electrification creates enormous opportunities for operational cost savings, innovative mine designs and resilience against uncertainty. It will reduce the exposure to carcinogenic diesel particulates and reduce scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 100%. The value upside of this not only increases productivity in existing assets, but also improves a company’s ability to unlock deeper and more remote ore bodies.

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DIGITAL MINING

Mission ‘Possible’ “We share the objective to accelerate industry progress towards electric, zero emissions and zero particulates mines,” outlines a joint statement by the mining and mining contractor company member CEOs making up the Consortium. “Electrification of mine sites, powered by clean energy, offers our industry the option to operate our mines in line with our individual commitments to decarbonise our operations. It also provides the ability to improve the working environment for our employees by eliminating the use of diesel in underground mines. Electrification of mine sites is a key technical foundation for the automation of our equipment which will provide a large step forward in productivity and safety. Electrification offers the potential to drive improved economics with simplified, interoperable, electric-drive equipment

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resulting in lower mining and energy costs. We have chosen to join with over a dozen other mining and service companies in the ‘Electric Mine Consortium’ to achieve these goals. The consortium will allow us to collaboratively: • Resolve key technology choices • Shape the supplier ecosystem • Influence policy • Communicate the business case By working together, we plan to accelerate progress using our joint scale and influence.”

Andrew Cole, MD & CEO, OZ Minerals Graham Kerr, CEO, South32 Paul Muller, CEO, Barminco Peter Bradford, MD & CEO, IGO Stuart Mathews, VP Operations, Gold Fields Australasia

DIGITAL MINING

“ TO FULLY REALISE THE OPPORTUNITY OF ZERO EMISSIONS MINES WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY TEST AND IMPLEMENT NEW TECHNOLOGIES; TO MODEL AND SIMULATE THEM IN THE VIRTUAL WORLD SO WE CAN THEN DE-RISK IN THE REAL WORLD” MICHELLE ASH,

CEO, GEOVIA (DASSAULT SYSTÈMES)

retrofit existing fleet with electric power sources after removing all diesel internal combustion engine components, except the transmission and drivetrain.

Open to the potential for innovation through collaboration offered by the Consortium, 3ME were previously involved in Project EVmine developed with the help of METS Ignited. “It’s a natural progression for us,” adds CEO Justin Bain. “We’re keen to help scale and accelerate the uptake of battery electric vehicle equipment for heavy industries like mining. We can offer a solution now. We’re in a position where we've got a toolkit of proven components and we can provide that last 20% level of customisation to provide the right solution.

Right now, in a retrofit fashion, or right now in a new development fashion. We're ready to roll out.”

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DIGITAL MINING

Dassault Systèmes Consortium founding member Dassault Systèmes specialises in 3D design and engineering software. Geovia CEO Michelle Ash comments: “To fully realise the opportunity of zero emissions mines we also need to be able to effectively test and implement new technologies. To do this rapidly we need to be able to model and simulate them in the virtual world so we can then de-risk in the real world. We need to modernise our regulatory framework and consider what skills our sector will need across the entire workforce, from trades, technicians and university graduates, through to our scientists and PhDs.” Working Group Goals Executives at some of the Consortium’s other member companies have outlined a set of key goals. “Currently there is a lack of understanding on the supporting infrastructure requirements for all electric equipment and vehicles. This working group aims to establish OEM agnostic charging standards by prototyping a potential open charging system,” explains Rob Derries, Manager: Innovation & Technology at Gold Fields.

South32’s Director of Technology Development Michelle Keegan adds: “Whilst they are available, the economic and operating assumptions for light BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) on site are unclear. This working group will progressively convert a light vehicle fleet to battery electric across multiple consortium mine sites.”

Brett Triffett, a Transformational Technologist at OZ Minerals says that traditional asset design does not enable the realisation of the full benefits of mine electrification. “This working group is simulating a range of mines and mining 48

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“ LONG DURATION STORAGE TECHNOLOGY PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE BENEFICIAL RE-USE OF WASTE TAILING MATERIALS AS WELL AS OTHER LOCALISED MATERIALS, AVOIDING COST DISPOSAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD” ROBERT PICONI,

CO-FOUNDER & CEO, ENERGY VAULT

DIGITAL MINING

methods to establish electrification performance benchmarks, a business case and future mine designs.”

“Heavy BEVs are not yet commercially available at the larger end of the scale or technically viable underground. We’re aiming to establish a greenfield electric mine, convert a full ancillary fleet to allelectric and test selected brownfield heavy EV applications,” pledges Barminco’s Plant General Manager, Peter Campain.

To realise the potential for energy storage technologies currently not operational or proven at scale in mining, IGO’s Technical Projects Lead Michael Hegarty says the Consortium aims to “test mine scale remote energy storage through installation of multiple technologies across 5+ sites.”

Global Ecosystem “The way we generate, store and harness energy around the globe is undergoing a period of major change,” say the founding members of the Electric Mine Consortium.

“A global ecosystem has begun to emerge to underpin the innovation and scaling of electrification technologies. A rare trifecta, electrification will provide economic, health and environmental value for the mining industry.”

Envisaging a brighter future for mining and the communities it operates in the Consortium concludes: “Electrification creates enormous opportunities for operational cost savings, innovative mine designs and resilience against uncertainty. miningglobal.com

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Luis Canepari CIO, Newmont

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NEWMONT

Newmont:

MAKING TECHNOLOGY

THE FUTURE OF MINING

How the world’s leading gold miner is digitally transforming to rethink the mining life cycle, unlock productivity, improve safety, reduce costs and support sustainability

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WRITTEN BY: DAN BRIGHTMORE

ewmont’s considered implementation of technology is a key part of the digital journey towards operational efficiency and sustainability across its global operations. Chief Information Officer, Luis Canepari, is championing the company’s digital transformation efforts as it seeks to embrace automation and electrification.

Automation “The era of manual processes in mining is over,” states Canepari. “Blasting, drilling, hauling, the processes at mills – all will become increasingly automated over the next 20 years. Whether we like it or not as an industry, that's where we're going to have to go if we want to remain competitive.”

PRODUCED BY: GLEN WHITE The process of automation is well underway at Newmont’s Boddington Mine in Australia, which will be the first open pit gold mine in the world with an autonomous haul truck fleet (AHS). Boddington’s autonomous haulage trucks feature rigorous safety controls to reduce employee exposure to potential vehicle interactions. Newmont is also executing a robust people strategy at Boddington, providing opportunities for reskilling and redeployment of haul truck drivers to other roles supporting the AHS. Artificial Intelligence “Artificial intelligence and predictive analytics go hand-in-hand with automation,” adds Canepari. “Access to data is key for our miningglobal.com

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Luis Canepari: Newmonts biggest challenges

operations. Correlating our drill data with the block modelling allows us to make faster decisions based on real insights. If you look at the success ratio for exploration in mining, it's pretty low; if we can improve that by a couple of percentage points, it will have a significant impact on our reserves. With data being generated across our organization, the ability to use artificial intelligence to tell us where our next drill site should be is a game-changer.”

Digital Transformation Compared to other industries, mining has been slow to adapt to new technologies. Canepari pledges Newmont is aiming to rethink the mining lifecycle. “We’ve had a huge success with our first electrified mine at Borden, and we’re taking all the lessons learned from projects like these, and making them part of our Newmont mining model. Every new mine we're building, we're trying to re-create that digital transformation experience from our other mines.”

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Rapid Discovery with IBM Digital transformation has been a major undertaking for the IT department at Newmont. “The partnership with vendors like IBM, supports our work to consolidate our systems and further realize the synergies we have across the business since the acquisition of Goldcorp in 2019.”

IBM was brought in through a rigorous RFP process. “We demonstrated to Newmont that we would bring top talent, and keep them there, to effect the changes needed successfully and bring these two companies’ systems together across finance, master data and supply chain management,” recalls Gene Allen, a Partner at IBM Global Business Services.

“We had to learn how to dance together. We are both 100-year-old companies, but we used Rapid Discovery, an Enhance Program Launch and Agile methodology to help us deliver successfully together smoothly and efficiently.”

IBM implemented Rapid Discovery to support this delivery. “We were looking at

NEWMONT

the five-year roadmap for Newmont to plan how everything should be sequenced and budgeted to accelerate this digital journey together,” explains Allen. Because change is rapid in the mining industry, it was important to identify the different constituencies in Newmont and how the move to a digital core should be sequenced to modernize, eliminate redundancies and sequence their systems changes in years to come.”

Canepari highlights that Newmont piggybacked on IBM’s M&A experience to place all systems into one single landscape.

“Rapid Discovery was about bringing our key stakeholders together across every business function for the most optimal outcome.”

LUIS CANEPARI TITLE: CIO INDUSTRY: MINING LOCATION: USA

“ With the migration of all our systems to the cloud, we’ve managed to shut down five data centers already.”

LUIS CANEPARI CIO, NEWMONT

EXECUTIVE BIO

Operational & Technological Alignment Canepari’s team are focused on catering to all stakeholders, from the mining sites to the back office. “We build trust and reliability. For us to enable automation, AI and push forward with this digital transformation our system needs to be reliable, even during a global pandemic, and our networks need to remain operational at all sites, no matter how remote their locations,” he says.

Luis Canepari joined Newmont in April 2019 as Vice President and Chief Information Officer; having most recently served as Goldcorp’s Vice President, Technology since 2012.

As CIO, Luis leads Newmont’s information technology organization and is responsible for driving and overseeing enterprise-wide plans to further realize value from Newmont’s strategic business and technology investments.

Luis has a history of leading major transformation and innovation initiatives.

He was honored with a 2017 CIO 100 Award for business and technology innovation, and the 2014 Business in Vancouver Forty Under 40 Award.

Before joining Goldcorp, Luis was Director of Engineering and Construction at AES Corporation, responsible for leading major capital projects in Latin America and recognized for his significant community contributions. Prior to that, he held various IT leadership roles at AES and ExxonMobil Corporation. Luis holds an MBA from Georgetown University. He also holds a Bachelor in Science in Systems Engineering from Universidad Metropolitana. He is also a Certified Information Security Manager and a Certified Information Security Auditor.

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The pressure of the global pandemic has allowed Canepari’s IT team to test out new ideas. “With so many of us working remotely it's been the biggest experiment for remote operations that we’ve ever had as a company,” he notes.

“We have thousands of employees working from home. It has completely shifted the mindset from the idea that we all needed to be sitting at the mine site. This past challenging year has given us the opportunity to learn how to make our operations more efficient.

Everything we’ve invested in, is beginning to pay off. We have resilient networks and a reliable infrastructure backbone that allows us to work remotely. And now that we have tested them to the fullest, we can factor these into our operations.

Working remotely is also enabling Newmont’s IT organization to attract a more diverse workforce and overcome the challenge of what Canepari identifies as the misconceptions around the risks of a job in the mining industry. “By widening the net for outsourcing we’ll be able to attract even more talent to our IT organization.”

SUSTAINABILITY

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DID YOU KNOW...

Technology will continue to support Newmont’s sustainability efforts as the business looks to develop onsite renewable power generation and energy efficiencies. It’s all part of a new ethos for the business spearheaded

by CEO Tom Palmer. The work from home/work from anywhere paradigm prompted by the global pandemic has seen Newmont, like many other businesses, embrace proven methods of business interaction offering the flexibility that connects the boots on the ground to the boardroom. How the business is powered, both by people and fuel, is under constant review.

“Both new and existing mines are going to significantly reduce our emissions in the future. We have committed to a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, with an aspiration of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050,” says Canepari.

“It’s one of our biggest priorities and will be supported by the continued electrification of our mines.”

Strategic Partnerships Consolidating the approach to partnerships since the merger with Goldcorp has been vital for Canepari and his team. “At the end of the day, more than half of my IT organization is outsourced,” he says. “Therefore, it’s really important to work with the right partners to create lasting collaborations that can support ERP and our business transformation. Our partners are helping us drive the outcomes we’re expecting in the short term. They allow us to scale and de-scale, depending on our needs. Just as important is how they culturally fit with our organization. We aim to work with companies who can easily adapt to our style and understand our requirements for a higher

NEWMONT

Luis Canepari: Newmonts Digital transformation

level of detail. It is that higher level of detail that keeps our employees safe.”

To leverage automation and artificial intelligence, a robust and stable network is key. Newmont is working with Starlink and other private LTE providers to enable connectivity across all areas of its mines and at remote exploration sites across the globe.

“Starlink doesn’t rely on traditional ground infrastructure,” says Canepari. “This type of satellite connectivity can deliver highspeed broadband internet ensuring the low latency that can support our efforts in remote locations.”

Innovation in the cloud “The migration to SAP S/4HANA and bringing our infrastructure to the hybrid cloud - has given us more agility; we can deliver projects faster and move more rapidly,” reveals Canepari. “It also gives us the opportunity to experiment with proven tools from other industries. We’re getting out of the

“ Blasting, drilling, hauling, the processes at mills – all aspect of mining will become increasingly automated over the next 20 years.”

LUIS CANEPARI CIO, NEWMONT

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NEWMONT

Luis Canepari: Newmonts Latest Achievements

“ Borden’s electric underground fleet eliminate diesel particulate matter from the underground environment and lower greenhouse gas emissions.”

TOM PALMER CEO, NEWMONT

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NEWMONT

infrastructure business and re-training our team to move away from supporting servers to focus on finding opportunities to make our operations more efficient.”

Canepari adds that cloud adoption is driving value by allowing him to deploy his team on more meaningful projects. “With the migration of all our systems to the cloud, we’ve managed to shut down five data centers already.

We're starting to explore the possibilities of Edge Computing and what that means for our mines.”

BORDEN – ‘MINE OF THE FUTURE’

DID YOU KNOW...

Technology is the future of mining Mining companies are becoming technology companies and Canepari is excited by the chance to both boost production levels as well as ensure the safety of employees across the globe. “With more and more sensors and

In 2019 Newmont inaugurated its Borden Gold Project, Ontario’s mine of the future, featuring state-of-the-art health and safety controls, digital mining technologies and processes, and low-carbon energy vehicles.

Anchored in a mutually beneficial partnership with local communities, Borden achieved commercial production on schedule within budget.

At 1,000 square kilometres, Borden’s land package represents additional exploration upside, as the deposit remains open at depth in a favourable mining jurisdiction.

“Borden opened a new gold mining district in Ontario and profitably extended operations at the Porcupine complex near Timmins,” explains Newmont CEO Tom Palmer. “In addition, Borden’s electric underground fleet eliminate diesel particulate matter from the underground environment and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

This will help reduce energy costs, protect employee health and minimize impacts to the environment.”

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CYBERSECURITY

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DID YOU KNOW...

Cybersecurity has taken on greater significance for Newmont in the age of autonomous trucks and drills.

Canepari points out that, unlike securing SAP or payroll data, safety is at stake.

“As CIO, I’m focused on how we ensure the right controls in place to secure this new technology, when just ten years ago it wasn’t even on the agenda. We need to provide true segmentation across the network with innovation and compartmentalization so we don't have the entire company exposed at any given time. A production system in Africa needn’t be exposed to a risk that we may have in Australia and so forth. We’re trying to contain risk to smaller components and manage it better.”

Canepari measures success more in his team’s ability to respond rather than their ability to prevent. “It’s not just about firewalls,” he says. “We must develop the ability to quickly identify the risk, any breaches, and respond rapidly to them.

That’s the biggest change in culture that I see from a cybersecurity perspective.

It’s about really focusing on the response time, and the recovery is paramount.”

NEWMONT

“We had to learn how to dance together.

We are both 100-year-old companies, but we used Rapid Discovery, an Enhance Program Launch and Agile methodology to help us deliver successfully together smoothly and efficiently.”

GENE ALLEN

PARTNER, IBM GLOBAL BUSINESS SERVICES

devices connected to our operations we can analyze the data via the cloud in real time to improve efficiencies and safety at every level.

The role of a CIO has changed significantly; from providing systems to providing the value that delivers safer working conditions.”

Canepari also sees it as his team’s responsibility to enable the company to meet its emissions reduction targets and allow operations to become more environmentally friendly. “As CIO, system abilities are part of my DNA and I believe as a company, we need to leverage technology to develop our systems to better harness energy management, emissions controls and water management as they will be significant drivers in terms of the success of a mining company over the next 20 years.”

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INDUSTRY X.0

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INDUSTRY X.0

SMARTER TECHNOLOGIES: TRANSFORMING THE SECTOR Mining smart with the latest tech isn’t just for the majors.

Smart Mining Technology can unlock the future for more connected and productive operations.

WRITTEN BY: DANIEL BRIGHTMORE

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Matthew Margetts, Director, Smarter Technologies

igital technology has become a key enabler of margin improvement and an enhancer of competitiveness in the mining sector. Although the majority of the top mining businesses have already started their digital journey in some capacity, many of the smaller players are lagging behind when it comes to digital transformation.

Recent analysis by Allied Market Research, which estimates that the global smart mining industry is projected to reach $24bn by 2027, relays fears that those that don't join the big players in the digital uptake of solutions like IoT, will be left behind.

“As a traditionally risk-averse industry, many mining sector stakeholders struggle to invest in new technologies without a guaranteed return on investment (ROI),” explains Matthew Margetts, Director of Sales & Marketing at Smarter Technologies – suppliers of IoT solutions to the UK’s Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force.

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INDUSTRY X.0

“ The global smart mining industry is projected to reach $24bn by 2027” MATTHEW MARGETTS

DIRECTOR, SMARTER TECHNOLOGIES

“Innovative miners at all levels are using new technologies to make mining operations safer, more productive, and more cost-efficient,” explains Margetts. Here's how: Keeping your workforce safe Mines are often dangerous places to work, and worker health and safety are top priorities for mining operations. Smart Mining Technology keeps track of your assets and has the potential to improve mine safety in several ways: locate people, recover machinery and reduce the risk of serious injury.

Automation Autonomous mining vehicles have been around for nearly two decades. During this time, these vehicles have revolutionised mining by allowing humans to communicate with and control machinery remotely.

In this day and age, the focus has shifted from the original autonomous mining vehicles to autonomous mining systems, which can carry out a series of integrated tasks automatically. Removing the need for humans to be on-site increases workforce safety.

The benefits of autonomous mining functions include: • Improved safety • Decreased incidents Miningglobal.com

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“ A series of smart IoT sensors can measure virtually anything - from pressure to humidity, temperature, air quality, gas levels, sound and more.”

MATTHEW MARGETTS

DIRECTOR, SMARTER TECHNOLOGIES

• The ability to work in areas that would be too dangerous for humans • Increased productivity • Reduced labour costs Predictive analysis and insights When mining assets are connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) and a central management system, this enables operational intelligence. By analysing operational data, mining operators are better equipped to foresee and prevent any dangerous incidents from occurring. The 64

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ability to conduct predictive maintenance also means a lower risk of mechanical breakdown and failure.

Personnel tracking Wearable technologies have become more advanced and non-invasive, making it easier to track the mining workforce, even deep underground and in remote locations. With real-time visibility of all staff, key workers can be located instantly. In the event of an emergency, response times and recovery rates are significantly improved. Along with

INDUSTRY X.0

About Smarter Technologies

improved safety, workforce tracking data can also be used to monitor staff attendance and identify where productivity can be increased.

Condition monitoring A series of smart IoT sensors can measure virtually anything - from pressure to humidity, temperature, air quality, gas levels, sound and more. If the conditions in a specific area change in any predefined way, instant notifications can alert teams of safety risks and potentially prevent incidents before they occur.

Smarter Technologies tracks, monitors and recovers assets across the globe in real time, providing asset tracking systems to the open market and fulfilling the world’s most complex asset tracking requirements.

Its services cover a vast array of business sectors, products and equipment from container or pallet tracking to military-grade devices; and can be used across a broad spectrum of industries including mining.

As a leading IoT company, it also provides smart building solutions for modern businesses, offering wire-free, battery-powered and low-cost IoT smart sensor technology. Its solutions can help put an end to scheduled maintenance and support businesses in utilising their building’s efficiency, benefitting from real-time alerts and facilities management tools fit for the 21st century.

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INDUSTRY X.0

Increase efficiency and reduced operational costs Making mines “smart” has the effect of lowering operational costs. In a smart mine, key assets are digitized by embedding smart sensors that report data to a central system via a wireless network. Many of the same use cases of smart mining technology mentioned above not only improve mine safety, but also help to reduce operational costs.

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• Reduced reliance on paying human resources • Reduced reliance on vehicles and petrol costs for data and asset collection • No need for expensive cabling and system maintenance operations • Maintaining critical assets more effectively increases return on investment Asset visibility Having real-time visibility of mining assets allows you to track the location of your mining equipment when you need to use it. This is especially useful as self-driving machinery becomes more widely adopted

“ Innovative miners at all levels are using new technologies to make mining operations safer, more productive, and more cost efficient.”

MATTHEW MARGETTS

DIRECTOR, SMARTER TECHNOLOGIES

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INDUSTRY X.0

Smarter Mining Asset Management Solutions Smarter Technologies’ mining asset management software and environmental sensor solutions can make a mine more efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly, while also ensuring safer working conditions for personnel.

Smarter Technologies provides low-power, flexible, secure, sim-free, battery-powered and cost-effective tools for the mining industry.

Comprising IoT sensors and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and gateways, Smarter Technologies’ end-to-end mining asset management software and safety solutions enable a variety of applications across the sector: • Optimise mine layout • Automate and standardise mining industry asset management processes • Improve internal mining operations • Track, monitor and recover mining assets, equipment and personnel • Prolong asset lifecycles • Monitor environmental changes to reduce risk and ensure worker safety • Move from preventive to predictive

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maintenance schedules • Discover the optimal routes for vehicles and moveable machinery • Reduce carbon footprint Here’s how it works: Smarter Technologies’ IoT-connected sensors, RFID technology and GPS, non-GPS and switch tags communicate with its proprietary, and secure, Orion Data Network gateways to provide a 360-degree view of the locations and status of mining assets, 24/7. Real-time data and analytics are presented via a customisable, user-friendly dashboard, offering valuable insights into a mine’s operational inefficacy, supply chain bottlenecks, fuel wastage and cost inefficiencies. In the event of emergencies or changes within any chosen pre-defined data sets, Smarter Technologies’ solutions send instant alerts to registered devices so immediate action can be taken. It’s a smart and connected approach already bearing fruit for the likes of Anglo American leveraging FutureSmart Mining and Newmont’s ‘mine of the future’ in Ontario.

in the industry. Instead of wasting time searching for various assets, you’ll be able to optimise productivity and profitability by streamlining your operations from your central management dashboard.

Data collection Automating the data gathering processes using smart technology reduces the need for time-consuming and potentially dangerous data collection. Access to real-time data is critical to optimising efficiencies and reducing costs. In contrast, by the time a worker has collected information and returned to the office, the data they have gathered is already outdated.

Maintenance and management With real-time data connectivity and data

analytics, you can optimise your mine’s maintenance schedules and production rates dynamically. With predictive analytics enabled by smart tracking and condition monitoring, you’ll be able to quickly identify required changes to predefined maintenance schedules to keep your equipment running efficiently and safely.

This too avoids potential incidents that can disrupt or halt operations for weeks or months, in turn keeping the mine running and generating profits.

Although there are barriers to mines adopting new technologies, these must be overcome in order for mines to remain competitive and successful in an increasingly digital age. From improving safety to enhancing productivity and efficiency, smart mines are the future of the industry.

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OREN

Shell & IBM Introduce the Oren Marketplace

WRITTEN BY: DAN BRIGHTMORE

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OREN

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Shell and IBM have joined forces to create Oren, the first B2B digital solutions marketplace platform for the mining and industrial sectors

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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 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 a data-driven approach to ensure customers can access digital tools to track their orders. “Digitilisation can truly transform the way we do business,” she says.

“We can make it more efficient, effective, and fit for purpose.

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OREN

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CAROL CHEN TITLE: G LOBAL MARKETING VICE PRESIDENT COMPANY: SHELL LOCATION: UNITED KINGDOM

EXECUTIVE BIO

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 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.

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“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 multichannel experience. “Oren fits really nicely in terms of how a platform provides a whole range of solutions to a customer,” she adds. “Customers and sellers no longer need to rely on traditional ways of driving business and can access a multichannel, multisolution, multi-revenue-stream approach that we believe will help businesses become more resilient for the challenges ahead.”

Chen notes that the COVID-19 global pandemic has accelerated B2B digital trends due to the restriction on traditional ways of selling. “We’re seeing the way we interact with our B2B customers – through webinars, live streams and virtual services – really taking off. The more we embrace that, the more we can make our businesses resilient.”

Oren’s evolution Shell and IBM surveyed more than 350 mining customers to gain a deeper understanding of the pain points experienced with a view to

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Shell LubeExpert

introducing digital innovations to help solve frictions encountered across value chains - everything from operations and safety to sustainability and supply chain. Research found those customers reported 80% of the same pain points: including difficulty to aggregate data to make actionable insights; siloed organisations; managing the energy transition; and how to deploy autonomous technology in a way that doesn’t impact the safety of employees.

Chen notes that while there is optimism around the uptake of Industry 4.0 and its long-term benefits, mining is a sector that finds it difficult to convert intention into action. Depleting ore reserves and declining ore grades in existing operations mean that companies have to mine deeper to reach new deposits, which in turn increases costs – problematic when Industry 4.0 often requires high up-front investment. “This is where we believe that Oren can help mining companies not only understand what their underlying pain

points are, but also identify solutions to address this pain quickly,” pledges Chen.

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,

“ 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 miningglobal.com

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DID YOU KNOW...

SHELL & IBMA COLLABORATION DRIVING TRANSFORMATION

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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.

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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.”

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“ 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

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 transformation at scale,” explains Chen.

“It offers choice and ease of access to software, services, and digital solutions from the globe’s most innovative companies, a true digital solutions marketplace. Mining customers can find, learn, procure, use and integrate solutions relevant to their industry in one place. Oren delivers solutions for essential automation and cloud-enabled services to drive deep digital transformation, modernisation, cost-efficiency, sustainability, and safety.”

The power of data integration Oren has focused on providing solutions that enable efficient mine planning and remote control of data and analytics. Chen explains this is in direct response to the challenges shared by mining companies facing up to everything from integrating huge amounts of data from disparate sources, to having a single source of ‘truth’ and aiming for real-time data insights to make calculated business decisions. “As the platform expands, customers will be able to extract 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 miningglobal.com

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“ 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

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 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 by different

Photo: MachineMax Sensor

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DID YOU KNOW...

OREN: A SAFE AND SECURE PLATFORM 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.

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“ 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

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 80

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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. “Safety, along with cost savings and operational efficiency, are the other big needs. COVID-19 has made all of this so much more important.”

Following the increased adoption of digital capabilities, new roles in the industrial workforce will emerge. Chen believes these roles can evolve and workers will be able to add value by focusing on quicker access and actionability from data and analytics.

“Empowering them with real time status detail and alerts will enhance their ability to meet the core goal of more efficient delivery of metals, minerals, energy, and other natural resources across the globe,” confirms Chen. “When employees become

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better equipped they can identify needs and take prompt actions that increase safety, efficiency and productivity.”

At the operational level Chen sees a trend for more work to be done from control rooms rather than in the mine itself. Oren accelerates that push towards automation and remote operation. “The ability to procure solutions from a B2B platform will mean that mining companies can try new solutions in their daily work and integrate them to their current systems,” says Chen.

“With this in mind we are looking to bring the full experience of a site visit to any home office. BGC Engineering, another solution partner on Oren, has developed the Ada platform, which allows the holographic visualisation of a mine site through a realistic 3D interactive and immersive experience.

With this solution SME’s and non-technical stakeholders can visit a digital version of their project site any time; past, present or future.”

Net-zero ambition Shell’s ambitions for Oren align with the company’s overarching goal of meeting a netzero emissions target for the manufacture of its products by 2050. Supporting its customers quest to achieve similar targets is key to 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

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HOW OREN CAN IMPROVE THE WAY MINING WORKS

DID YOU KNOW...

How Oren can improve the way mining works

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• The positive impact of AI and situational awareness technologies, like IBM’s Health & Safety Insight, offers improved monitoring of health, safety, and environment • MachineMax can support reduced carbon footprint and emissions with more efficient

May 2021

fleet 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

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joined up way offers the opportunity to make the world a better place.”

A sustainable future Revealing that the response to Oren from the mining industry has been overwhelmingly positive, Chen stresses this offering from Shell and IBM has tremendous value that can be trusted as Oren is committed to do due diligence with credible solutions that deliver on their promise before adding them to the platform. “We’ve been able to listen to the pain points from the industry.

For example, a mining company in South Africa didn’t know where to begin its digital transformation. On the back of that engagement Oren has developed a new digital audit service – Oren RM – to help identify gaps in mining companies’ digital transformation strategies and provide a roadmap of solutions based on their priorities, budget and timing constraints.”

Chen admits meeting Shell’s goals will not be easy. The key will be collaboration through services, solutions and targeted products. “We need 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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Axora:

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DATA & ANALYTICS

Meet the B2B digital solutions marketplace offering tailored support for mining companies seeking to innovate their operations WRITTEN BY: DANIEL BRIGHTMORE

A

xora was conceived to bring collaboration and industrial digital innovation to the next level,” pledges CEO Ritz Steytler. “We spoke with the heads of innovation and the operations leaders of oil & gas and metals & mining organisations.

We understand the intense pressure they face to modernise their operations. We’re focused on offering solutions to support mining companies with the three biggest challenges they face: safety, sustainability and efficiency. We can help with everything from discovering the right solutions to solve specific problems, to evaluating physical innovation and then supporting the end to end process for actually getting that technology to deliver business value.

That’s realised through our support of the procurement cycle and helping companies with the deployment and maintenance of their chosen solutions to ensure they continue to deliver value where it’s needed most.”

Axora hosts over 150 innovative solutions from sector leaders to start-ups, universities, and consultancies. Examples include machine vision technology that identifies mineral ore contaminants three times Miningglobal.com

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“ If it comes down to buying another truck or buying a data server, what's going to get more tonnes out of the ground? But with the right data we can see what will actually benefit operations in the long term…”

JOE CARR

MINNING INNOVATION DIRECTOR, AXORA

faster than the human eye, and predictive modelling for oil rigs which uses built-in sensors and AI to maximise production.

Axora's proven digital solutions help to reduce wasted investment, avoid duplication and accelerate business growth.

Digitalization The World Economic Forum estimates digitalization can create value to the tune of $400bn across the coming decade.

However, the emergence of ‘digital mines’ isn’t just about the numbers. Digitalization can transform mining into a far more sustainable enterprise by mitigating some of the big risks the industry faces. A digital mine can optimise operations, unleashing the power of data to understand and implement changes in the business.

With the right solutions it’s possible to effect radical changes in a process that is understood better. Solutions that have been road-tested across the oil and gas industry can deliver real benefits for mining companies, including early adopters like Glencore, explains Axora’s Mining Innovation Miningglobal.com

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2CENSOR Overview/Installation

Director Joe Carr: “Opex Group is using Machine Learning with an AI algorithm to pull in all the available sensor data to monitor a processing plant. Its solutions analyse output and look across all the pumps and motors to offer exact data on where to tweak them down. It’s cloud-based and can monitor, reduce and control operational emissions, optimise energy use and minimise environmental impact. It’s currently being used in the oil and gas industry and it's been shown to save up to 10% of power, but the driver of it was actually Co2.

“If you're running an oil platform, your power is essentially free because you're pumping it out of the ground. But in a mine the biggest power user, outside of the trucks and shovels, is the process plant. It uses around 21 kilowatt hours per tonne of processing power to run, right? Obviously, that's dependent on the plant, but it's a power-hungry situation. Diesel is not cheap, especially in remote locations. Being able to 88

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save five to 10% of your power usage for no issue in terms of production could be a big win for mining.”

Net Zero Carr highlights there is also the real opportunity to significantly reduce Scope 1, Scope 2 and even into Scope 3 emissions where Opex Group’s solutions could be used in a smelter to go for the “low hanging fruit” and cut Co2 emissions. “It's a win-win all around, and yet it's a technology which the mining industry doesn't use today, but it exists in a parallel industry.”

To further reduce emissions, Axora is offering solutions which are involved in the scheduling and optimisation of haul truck fleets. “If your fleet is idling for even 10 minutes a cycle, that is wasted fuel,” notes Carr. “It just goes into the atmosphere. And very rarely do the drivers turn the trucks off because they don't want to be stopping and starting those big engines. The mine may be

DATA & ANALYTICS

“ We’re focused on offering solutions to support mining companies with the three biggest challenges they face: safety, sustainability and efficiency” RITZ STEYTLER CEO, AXORA

in an extreme climate so even something as basic as saving idling can contribute towards a company’s net zero targets.” The Axora platform also features a system to manage shipping and logistics. “Are you moving your material in the most effective way in terms of routing for fuel usage and speed?” asks Carr.

“Being able to program those variables in terms of Co2 tonnage produced offers new capabilities. We’re able to help our customers understand what they want to achieve. Scope 1 emissions might be the easiest to impact with the haul fleet. Scope 2 focuses on the processing plant and the downstream movement. Understanding what a mining company’s customers are using its materials for makes Scope 3 more difficult to impact – for iron ore it would be a steel melt…”

To that end, Axora offers a predictive maintenance system for aluminum smelting which Carr notes can reduce downtime by up to 20%. “Aluminum smelting tends to come from hydro which can be very clean – it’s energy intensive,” he explains. “But the same system could easily be applied to steel or copper processes where you don't want

Partnering for Progress “Strategic partnerships are a very important part of our business,” maintains Steytler who explains that EPAM Systems, a leading global provider of digital platform engineering and software development services, is helping provide the technical integration assistance to grow Axora’s portfolio of the latest cross-industry tech and expertise. “We’re also working with cybersecurity experts BT Block and Strategic Growth Services (SGS) - which is about getting boots on the ground and providing industry and regional support,” says Steytler. “We have a long-standing relationship with Digital Works Group who are experts at digital transformation consultancy, especially digitalization.”

Axora’s default deployment platform is Microsoft Azure – chosen as it's one of the few cloud solutions to support both cloud and hybrid delivery. Meanwhile, Steytler underlines the importance of the alliance with Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

“Axora was incubated by BCG but they’re more than just a shareholder – they’re a vital strategic ally whose clients are also deploying our solutions.”

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“ What we’ve seen during the pandemic is that miners have realised they need to embrace the digitisation journey” JOE CARR

MINNING INNOVATION DIRECTOR, AXORA

Case Study: Coal Mine Tailings Line 2Censor – IIoT Solutions 2Censor offers remote monitoring and predictive maintenance for plant assets to guard against erosion and provide wear abrasion testing.

Business Challenge: • Coal mine product reject pipeline • 2 x 5km x280mm • PN25 HDPE in 20 m spools • Pipe spools lasting 6 months • High risk of environment incident and unplanned plant shutdown Goals: • Reduce supply spend • Reduce environmental risk • Reduce safety risk/inspection cost • Reduce unplanned outage

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Solution: • Probes installed in each pipe quadrant – at known wear areas 300mm back from flange • Software aligned with 3x rotation alerts – 4th to notify replacement with 8 weeks lead time Investment: • $186,000/year Returns: • Pipe life extended via intelligent rotation from 6 months to 2 years = $1.5mn saving on supplies • Unplanned outage reduced to zero.

• Cost saving compared to previous year = $1.2m • Cost saving associated with increased safety and zero environmental incidents not quantified ROI > 1400% Payback < 4 weeks

DATA & ANALYTICS

to be turning them on and off. You don't want to be running your autoclave in a gold mine with a varying sulfide input because the heat goes up and down and it messes with your recovery and you're using a lot more power to heat and cool your autoclave.”

The Axora Platform “Challenge us and we will find it for you,” asserts Steytler when explaining how he envisages the Axora platform developing.

“We aim to match a technology provider to a particular business buyer, somebody that has a real problem that needs to get solved. They can then collaborate to deploy that technology successfully.” Steytler is positioning Axora beyond the sales and procurement process. “There’s no such thing as on time and on budget with a digital transformation effort, right? It’s a difficult thing to achieve, we’re not talking about shrink-wrapped software. That’s why

partnerships are extremely important and we can help facilitate those to deliver the value required.”

Reacting to Trends Against the backdrop of record years for many mining companies – with copper and gold production and prices on the rise – what trends are the team at Axora seeing across the industry that will necessitate a response from its multi-solution platform?

“Despite the uncertainties of the global pandemic, mining companies have taken a practical approach,” notes Carr. “What we’ve seen during the pandemic is that miners have realised they need to embrace the digitization journey. The past year has proved to be a gateway with younger guys coming through the system ready for change.”

Carr highlights that with Covid, engineers couldn’t simply fly to West Africa or Chile so the door to digitzation opened. Where Miningglobal.com

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“ Investment in digital transformation is expected to reach $6.8trn between 2020 and 2023 as the world economy digitises - there’s never been a better time to realise the benefits” RITZ STEYTLER CEO, AXORA

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Investment in digital transformation is expected to reach

$6.8trn between 2020 and 2023

has he seen the biggest push? “How do we get the data we want and then what do we do with it?” he counters. “Miners have so much data that it's in Excel sheets, and it's got macros, and it's historically stored on a server somewhere that nobody's looked at for five years since it was sent out. Our clients' demands today are more around how do we do something with that data?

Because we know the benefits are there. The sensor data around predictive maintenance and all these things exist, but they're having such a struggle to deal with it and deliver meaningful insights.”

However, Carr concedes it's a cyclical business. “If it comes down to buying another truck or buying a data server, what's going to get more tonnes out of the ground?

But with the right data we can see what will actually benefit operations in the long term…

That push towards digital has seen what we thought would take the next five years actually happen in one year because remote capabilities and enhancement to operations centres have advanced to meet demand.

At Axora, we’re seeing mining companies assess solutions to improve health and safety on their sites by reducing members of the workforce exposed to risk and in harm’s way and keen to discover how they can drive efficiencies to make more tonnes for less. Ultimately, it’s part of our job to make it simple in terms of a value calculation.”

Accelerating Transformation “Axora is here to accelerate digital transformation in the mining industry,” asserts Steytler. “We can simplify that process. And with investment in that transformation expected to reach $6.8trn between 2020 and 2023 as the world economy digitizes, there’s never been a better time to realise the benefits.”

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ERAMET

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A Unique Digital Transformation WRITTEN BY: HARRY MENEAR PRODUCED BY: RICHARD DEANE miningglobal.com

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Ludovic Donati, CDO at Eramet, discusses the French mining giant’s use of drones, AI, ML and other cuttingedge technologies in order to overcome unique challenges and thrive in a new digital age

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lobal 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 revolution.

Across every industry, companies are facing new challenges and exploring new opportunities. But digital transformation is more than the simple adoption of cuttingedge 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 highvalue alloys such as high-speed steels, high-performance steels, superalloys, and aluminum and titanium alloys. “We also produce special alloys for different sectors like aerospace, nuclear, defense, and so on. For instance, when you travel in a plane made by Boeing or Airbus, you are traveling with Eramet, because we produce a lot of

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very important parts for those companies,” Donati explains. “Eramet is an interesting organisation because it’s both a metallurgical and mining company; we are present all the way up the value chain.” Eramet employs around 13,000 people across 20 countries and reported revenues of more than US$4bn in 2018. The company’s main operations include mines and processing plants in Europe, Africa, Oceania, Asia and North and South America.

After obtaining a PhD in chemistry, Donati joined Eramet in 2011 and spent three years in the company’s R&D department as a 98

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research engineer. In 2014, he moved over to the corporate strategy department and, in 2017, was asked by senior leadership to conduct a study of what exactly the digital transformation of a mining and metallurgical company like Eramet would look like.

As the global business landscape is reshaped by the digital revolution, a shifting political zeitgeist and a worsening climate crisis, Eramet is undergoing a unique digital transformation in order to employ new mindsets and technologies to overcome new and evolving challenges. “We started by making some proof of concepts that

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LUDOVIC DONATI

showed good results. Then, we decided it was necessary to create a new digital transformation department,” recalls Donati.

“Today, the crux of Eramet’s strategy is to use digital to support being a leading producer of nickel, manganese and also of lithium. We’re predicting exponential demand for lithium in things like electric vehicle batteries, smartphones, etc. and, to produce it in quantities that meet our customers’ needs, we’re going to use digital to drive efficiency wherever we can.”

In order to effectively transform Eramet’s operations using technology ranging from

EXECUTIVE BIO

TITLE: CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER Ludovic Donati has been the Chief Digital Officer of the Eramet Group since its beginning in 2017. Eramet is a global mining and metallurgical group employing about 13,000 collaborators with a presence in 20 countries. 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.

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IoT and drones to digital twins and advanced data analytics, Donati and his team need to overcome several challenges that are unique to a company like Eramet. “So the first problem is: how do you digitalise a mine when it’s in the middle of 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.”

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“ 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

ERAMET

Eramet, exploring our world

1880

Year founded

€3.825mn Revenue in euros

12,705 Number of employees

Safety In locations with environmental threats, Eramet is using IoT and drones to check equipment and monitor operations with 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 damaged,” says Donati. “Previously, we’d send a car with two people in it to check and hear back in three to four days if everything was ok. Now, with a drone, we can reduce that down to two to three hours.” The company has also begun implementing AI-powered collision avoidance technology in its truck fleet, as well as overseer software to prevent fatiguebased accidents.

Optimisation In addition to reducing fuel consumption across its entire operation, Eramet is using AI-powered data analytics to manage its fleet and process topographical modeling miningglobal.com

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“ It’s very important for our operations to be connected, in real time, to our experts” LUDOVIC DONATI, CDO, ERAMET

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data gathered by drone surveyors. “We’re using drones to do these topographical measurements and, in 2019, we mapped more than 300,000 acres, which is about 100 times more than the previous year,” says Donati. “With all this data, we’re actually building a digital twin of the mine in New Caledonia, so we will soon have the possibility to run different scenarios based on, for example, fluctuations in the price of nickel.”

Remote expertise As a way of solving the problem of changing skill needs, Eramet is investing heavily in an operational transformation of the way it delivers expertise to remote locations.

“We’re using remote expertise powered by AR,” explains Donati. “It’s very important for our operations to be connected, in real time, to our experts. We’re collecting all the data from our mines and plants and in 2020 we will implement remote operations centres across our operations.” This, Donati explains, allows the company powerful insight into the processes of its facilities, helping to drive efficiency on a global scale and enabling Eramet to be more reactive to changes in the market. miningglobal.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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hexagonmining.com

ERAMET

“ 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

The future 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 70 people, 50 of whom are focused on data science and engineering and now we’re working on AI, data science and ML projects. Our algorithms implemented in our ferronickel or silicomanganese furnaces are learning and, every day, they’re becoming more and more accurate.” At the end of a successful year of small-scale implementations and proof of concept tests, Eramet is at a tipping point. Looking to the future, Donati acknowledges that the coming year will be one of monumental change for Eramet. “We did a great job in 2018, running proof of concepts and tests.

This year, we industrialised and deployed a lot of proprietary solutions,” he says. “Next year, in 2020, we will be aiming for full scale deployment.”

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FLSmidth: Sustainable Mining Productivity How one company is leveraging digitalisation to transform mining operations and make them safer, more efficient and sustainable WRITTEN BY: DANIEL BRIGHTMORE 106

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SUSTAINABILITY

F

LSmidth is a leading provider of innovative and high-quality engineering, equipment and service solutions to the global mining and cement industries. Focused on helping its customers to improve performance, drive down costs and reduce their environmental impact, FLSmidth was founded back in 1882.

Frederik Læssøe Smidth originally set up a one-person engineering consultancy in Copenhagen. Since then, it has grown into a multinational organisation with over 10,500 employees based in over 60 countries.

Sustainable Productivity “What we do is to meet the changing demands and complexities that our customers face in the modern mining industry. This means we must deliver sustainable productivity, through innovative products, smart solutions and expertise,” pledges Wayne Douglas, Head of Digital - Mining at FLSmidth. “From in-pit crushing and conveying through to tailings management, customers can access the full flowsheet of productivity-enhancing mineral Miningglobal.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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SUSTAINABILITY

MissionZero - towards zero emissions in Cement and Mining by 2030

“ With MissionZero, we accelerate the use of technology and knowledge to enable our customers to produce cement and process minerals with zero environmental impact” THOMAS SCHULZ CEO, FLSMIDTH

processing and material handling technology and equipment through one provider.”

Why does this matter? Douglas notes that mining’s challenges include increasing production and output, while lowering

operating costs and environmental impact.

“So we built our unique combination of engineering, products and services to help customers achieve just that,” he adds. “A main part of this is enabling customers to reduce their emissions and water waste by 2030 through our MissionZero programme.”

FLSmidth is mostly active in material handling, comminution, materials testing and separation. It offers a complete array of products, systems and services, ranging from single engineered or standardised equipment, such as crushers, ball mills, pumps, gravity concentrators, thickeners and flotation cells to bundled equipment, full production plants, wear parts, aftermarket service and maintenance solutions.

“This wide coverage means we can increase customer productivity by integrating upstream mining with downstream processing,” explains Douglas.

“It also means easier implementation of smart, digital solutions across the flowsheet.”

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SUSTAINABILITY

“ The pandemic has accelerated the green energy transition and industrial decarbonisation” WAYNE DOUGLAS

HEAD OF DIGITAL - MINING, FLSMIDTH

Mission Zero MissionZero is not just a transient campaign but a key ambition that informs the majority of FLSmidth’s strategy – an initiative to enable the mining industry to move towards zero energy waste, zero water waste and zero emissions by 2030. “When we launched MissionZero in 2019 we made a firm commitment to place it at the heart of our business for the coming decade and beyond,” confirms Douglas.

Douglas stresses that MissionZero is not a “silver bullet” or a ready-to-go suite of solutions, but an ambitious, game-changing programme that requires a paradigm shift from the mining industry. “From our side, it will involve a re-prioritised offering towards our customers, supported by current and future R&D and digital developments. And from the industry, it means co-creating new possibilities, ensuring adoption of current environmentally sound solutions and a commitment to digital- and data-driven resource efficiency.”

Research & Development Innovation at FLSmidth is viewed through the lens of MissionZero and digitalization.

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and service line management and our clients to examine the challenges facing the industry to develop product and service solutions that increase reliability, decrease environmental footprint, while maximising production,” says Douglas.

To feed the long-term innovation pipeline, the company actively collaborates with universities and institutions worldwide looking for early-stage disruptive technology development that can provide novel solutions to complex problems.

Douglas notes that some of the most important technological breakthroughs in mining of recent years - HPGRs, minerals processing simulation tools and the REFLUX Classifier - have come from R&D in academia; making research partnerships increasingly important.

SUSTAINABILITY

Increased demand for cement and minerals:

247%

more wind generated power needed in 2030 Global water stress: The number of people living in water stressed areas is expected to increase substantially by 2030 from

33% to 50% Climate crisis: CO₂ emissions will rise by

21% by 2030 Progress in the Pandemic The pandemic restricted some areas of FLSmidth’s business, but it also presented a number of opportunities. The demand for minerals increased significantly resulting in increasing commodity prices.

Copper and gold, which are traditional FLSmidth strongholds, are enjoying favourable market conditions.

“The post-Covid mining world will look remarkably more digitized,” notes Wayne Douglas, Head of Digital - Mining at FLSmidth. “Rather than slow down the pace of digital adoption, Covid-19 has shone a spotlight on just how important digital solutions and data analytics are for mining. When logistics are severely challenged, when it becomes difficult or even impossible to be on site, suddenly all the value of digitalization becomes crystal clear.”

Douglas sees areas such as remote monitoring and diagnosis, predictive maintenance and process optimisation centre stage and the benefits – from increased uptime and improved throughput to safety, cost and envi-

ronmental gains – are already evident.

The pandemic has driven increased global awareness of health, safety and the environment. “Some of the world’s largest, most densely populated and most polluted cities have experienced weeks or months with closed factories, car-free streets and, for the first time in years, fresh air and clear blue skies,” observes Douglas. “This has sparked fresh momentum in the battle against climate change. The pandemic has accelerated the green energy transition and industrial decarbonisation, both of which favour FLSmidth as a premium supplier to the mining and cement industries with huge potential to reduce their environmental footprint.”

The pandemic has also underscored the importance of having an agile supply chain reckons Douglas. “It has played to the strengths of our regional business structure that was implemented in 2018. Today, we have a higher share of local sales and service staff close to our customers which has served us well through the lockdowns.”

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SUSTAINABILITY

“We are constantly looking for opportunities on the next evolution of existing product technologies that can take incremental steps in realising efficiency gains,” he adds. “With the rapid pace of digital technological development in our world today, it is especially important to have collaboration with technology providers both outside and inside the mining industry.”

Innovation FLSmidth is identifying opportunities to significantly lower customers’ environmental impact across the entire mining flowsheet, including crushing, grinding, flotation, thickener upgrades and filtration, as well as the potential of pumps and cyclones.

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The company’s innovation efforts are focused on the entire flowsheet, but with a particular emphasis on areas where there is potential in terms of reducing water use, energy consumption, emissions and waste.

“Tailings will be central but there will be a focus on pumps, flotation and arsenic removal processes such as ROL. New REFLUX™ flotation technologies will be introduced that substantially reduces the flotation footprint and comminution requirements while improving grade and recovery. This in turn will lower dewatering costs further lowering the barrier to adoption of filtered tailings,” says Douglas who notes the company is also investigating game changers for mining, such as dry-stack/ filtered tailings, ROL and IPCC.

SUSTAINABILITY

Several ideas in this category are already being explored and/or developed, including alternate comminution technologies for mining such as the FLSmidth OK™ Mill.

“The OK Mill could be the centrepiece of the next generation of comminution flowsheets aimed towards optimizing plant layout, reducing power requirements, and eliminating the need/consumption of grinding media,” notes Douglas.

WAYNE DOUGLAS TITLE: HEAD OF DIGITAL - MINING COMPANY: FLSMIDTH

EXECUTIVE BIO

Digitalization Digital solutions are playing a key role in the sustainability drive to reducing mining’s footprint. “We are always aiming to create products that use automation and digital technologies to increase efficiency, reduce energy consumption, increase the benefit

Wayne is Head of Digital Mining at FLSmidth – a group that encompasses the global research and development efforts the company is making for the mining industry. “We cover product and service offering development from research through product development and product launch,” he confirms. In previous roles at the company, Wayne was the Director of the Minerals Testing & Research Centre (MTRC) in Utah where FLSmidth works with both internal stakeholders and external mining clients worldwide to optimize existing operations, and its VP for R&D in Mining.

The depth of his mining industry knowledge was developed across a six-year association with Barrick Gold where Wayne progressed to become its Chief Metallurgist. He believes collaboration is key if the mining industry is to achieve its sustainability goals: “As the industry matures, innovations rely on more sophisticated and complex technologies, meaning research partnerships are more important than ever. However, universities rely on mining and METS companies like FLSmidth to commercialise that technology and realise its impact.”

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SUSTAINABILITY

from each unit of raw materials and extend the lifetime of equipment across mining operations,” assures Douglas.

Beyond using less resources such as energy and water, another direct benefit from digitalization can be in reducing emissions.

“Take for instance the pyro process often used in nickel, alumina, chrome, and lime industries where digital solutions can have direct impact on the pyro processing efficiency,” offers Douglas. “Advanced sensor technologies measuring both the kiln shell temperature and analysing gases such as CO, NO, SO₂, CO₂, HCl and O₂ are providing valuable parameters for an advanced process optimisation solution, contributing to a more stable operation, reduced fuel consumption and thereby reduced emissions.”

Advanced and intelligent controls have emerged as the digital technologies driving performance improvements, and are now generally accepted as an advantage in most modern high capacity concentrators. For instance, Douglas highlights: “Monitoring systems for SAG mills can allow it to be constantly adjusted to ensure the ideal amount of energy is being used for ore reduction. By operating your mill more efficiently, energy usage can be cut considerably. Digital solutions like this also mean production also increases, while process and quality variability is cut.”

Future-Proofing Mining Douglas expects a push for more sustainable mining solutions to expand in 2021, as miners continue to announce ambitious targets in this area; such as 30-40% reductions in GHG emissions over the next decade or strategies for future net-zero carbon ambitions.

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“ Digital solutions, data optimised processes and AI-based decision making will support our customers’ goals in reducing their environmental footprint” WAYNE DOUGLAS

HEAD OF DIGITAL - MINING, FLSMIDTH

SUSTAINABILITY

advanced digital process control solutions that improve key metallurgical throughput, grade, and recovery while optimising energy usage,” says Douglas. “Basically, producing more with less – less resources and less impact. Digital solutions, data optimised processes and AI-based decision making will support our customers’ goals in reducing their environmental footprint – and they are a central manifestation of our MissionZero ambition to enable the mining industry to move towards zero emissions, water waste and energy waste by 2030.”

FLSmidth will ramp activity at its stateof-the-art Minerals Testing and Research Centre (MTRC) in Salt Lake City, Utah over the next 12 months to focus on exploring alternate technologies, such as HGPR, VRM, flotation technologies and tailings

solutions. “Governing bodies will continue to pressure producers and suppliers to meet increasingly stringent standards in water usage and emissions,” predicts Douglas. “As momentum grows, public funding support will be provided for certain initiatives. This was in evidence in 2020 when our R&D received two large grants – the 2020 Horizon grant and the EIT RawMaterials grant – to further develop and commercialise energyefficient flotation technologies over the next three years.”

The last word on FLSmidth’s sustainability push goes to its passionate CEO Thomas Schulz: “With MissionZero, we accelerate the use of technology and knowledge to enable our customers to produce cement and process minerals with zero environmental impact.”

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TOP TEN

PREDICTIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF MINING

WRITTEN BY: DANIEL BRIGHTMORE

Sandpit Innovation and Wikistrat have combined insights from 90 experts in innovation and disruptive technologies to predict the future of mining in 2030 116

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y 2030, the world will have progressed in ways that will not only profoundly affect all of our lives, but the way the mining industry operates. From shifting geopolitical landscapes, technological innovations, and ecological changes, to the continued rise of social awareness among consumers - drivers of change will continue to evolve. Consulting firm Sandpit Innovation and global crowdsourcing platform Wikistrat recently partnered to run a collaborative online simulation to explore scenarios for the mining industry in 2030.

Bringing together 90 experts in the fields of innovation and disruptive technologies (including contributors from BHP, Rio Tinto, South32 and Vale) they explored 70 scenarios to discover how ESG and digital factors will combine and shape the mining industry over the next decade. Here are their top ten key findings.

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TOP TEN

10 The public is the new king None of the four Master Narratives (Glasnost, Wired, Disruption and Under Duress) described in the future of mining report from Sandpit Innovation and Wikistrat, which were based on the simulation scenarios, view the role of governments as the main driver forcing the mining industry to change or impacting the market landscape in which it operates.

The new normal when it comes to ESG norms will be directed and driven by the public, making it faster, less expected, and harsher.

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Industry leaders are about to change, but not be replaced Although disruption was perceived by most of the crowd as inevitable, it wasn’t seen as fatal. It seems that the crowd doesn’t predict a Kodak-type disruption in which an external actor with superior technology will take over the industry, but more of an Airbnbtype one, in which mining firms will learn how to live with the new competition, losing some market share, but adapting to the new reality over time. Technology is disrupting the sector with data now referred to as the ‘new oil’.

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The Future of Work in the mining industry is outsourcing Participants in the simulation highlighted that the trend of outsourcing mining-related operations is likely to intensify in the years to come. As a result, mining firms will seek to decentralise their organisational models, allowing higher flexibility to outsource services.

Consulting firms like Accenture provide mining companies with outsourced support services in a variety of commercial and IT areas.

07 Artificial Intelligence as a commodity Several scenarios explored the possibility of advanced digital technologies such as AI becoming a platform to raise capital and achieve higher valuations from investors. As a result, these capabilities will become a highend commodity evaluated not only by its operational benefit but also the financial one. AI solutions, like those from Minerva Intelligence available on the Oren Marketplace launched by Shell and IBM, are already bringing new levels of capability to the geological processes across the industry. miningglobal.com

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TOP TEN

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Local communities are the new partners

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Transparency is already the New Normal The complex dynamics of the four Master Narratives (Glasnost, Wired, Disruption and Under Duress) described in the future of mining report from Sandpit Innovation and Wikistrat highlight the urgent need for mining executives to adopt new norms in which transparency and information sharing with the public are not avoided but promoted to gain public support which will be in decline in the years to come.

All the scenarios have clearly shown that in the upcoming decade, local communities are going to be at the centre of the strategic planning of new and existing mines. As a result, mining firms will be required – by their employees, investors, and the public – to include these communities in the decisionmaking process and to share profits with them. A recent example of this approach is AngloGold Ashanti’s life after mine planning at the Quebradona copper-gold project in Colombia.

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Digital Experimentation equals wide adoption The crowd provided various examples of how the mining industry is already experimenting with digital technologies to achieve better ESG ratings. Rio Tinto is using Palantir to improve its decision making process, Anglo American and De Beers are using blockchain to track high-value diamonds from miner to retailer and BHP is using IoT technologies to increase mine safety. The industry giants are already investing in applying and experimenting with digital technologies, yet these are still specific cases and not yet a wider adoption.

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Leveraging Transparency The ability of some mining firms to provide information on the mining process will open new markets and a wider price range to sell their commodities. Various scenarios in the simulation explored the use and application of blockchain technology for this purpose, and to improve the trading process between buyers and sellers. Mining giant BHP is exploring the use of blockchain for its iron ore sales.

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Remote work is only a means to an end

During the simulation, the various scenarios explored how disruptive technologies will promote remote working in mines. Yet it was clear that promoting remote work is a step to a greater goal, complete automatization of mining operations which in return lead to processes that are shaped and managed by data collected and easier to customise. The quest for operational excellence through digital transformation is already a focus for mining majors like Newmont seeking to improve safety, reduce costs and support sustainability.

“ Blasting, drilling, hauling, the processes at mills – all aspects of mining will become increasingly automated over the next 10 years.”

LUIS CANEPARI, CIO, NEWMONT

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“ We’re seeing companies like Tesla reach back down the supply chain to set up offtake agreements with mining companies directly.”

DR ALAN BYE,

FOUNDER, IMVELO

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TOP TEN

Electric Vehicles are changing the game Mobility’s shift away from fossil fuels will put consumers in a place where they shape and dictate the relations between manufacturers and the suppliers of raw materials.

As a result, the pressure on the mining industry to change the way minerals are extracted will be a new normal that executives in the mining industry must adjust to and adopt as early as possible.

The spike in electric vehicle sales is already ramping the prices of the metals vital to their creation – copper, cobalt, nickel and more.

The origin of these resources, and the environmental impact that building each car has, will be a trend that will also impact the price of resources.

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