the editor
Online shopping for miners
Editor
The
Martin Ashcroft
T
he spread of the virus Covid-19 has been a shock to the system in every corner of the world. In the mining world, most countries declared mining to be an essential activity, some sooner than others, but travel and other restrictions still forced some mines to cease operations for a while. The others have managed to find ways to carry on mining, demonstrating the ingenuity and determination of humankind in the face of a challenge. New technology has been employed to provide inventive solutions, enabling people in critical roles to work remotely or even at home to protect employees and local communities. Everybody expects that social distancing measures will continue for some time, so mines with fly-in, fly-out and drive-in, drive-out operations have reduced the number of workers travelling to sites. BHP’s Rail Operations team even relocated some of its non-resident train drivers into Western Australia to avoid multiple journeys between states. I think we can expect to see more autonomous haulage fleets, and more remote-controlled equipment in the future, but the virus has travelled deeper than the mines themselves, penetrating the venues that cater for the launch of new technology and the spread of information – conferences and
exhibitions. These have either been cancelled, postponed or have gone online. MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2020, held every four years and scheduled for 28-30 September this year in Las Vegas, has been postponed until 13-15 September 2021. I like to think of this as mining’s Olympic event, but just like the Olympics, participants and spectators must wait another year for it. The Australian equivalent, IMARC 2020, has been postponed to 26-28 October 2021. To help the industry stay connected safely this year, the organisers have launched IMARC Online, which will run from 24-27 November 2020. Latin America’s largest mining fair, EXPOMIN 2020, has been postponed to April 2021, with a virtual version replacing it in November this year. One of the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown in the general population has been a huge increase in online shopping. Personally, I prefer to see what I’m buying, pick it up, smell it, feel it in my hands. Traditionally, millions of dollars’ worth of deals are concluded at exhibitions, so I wonder if the virtual version will catch on in the mining community, or whether miners will revert to climbing over the machinery and shaking hands on a deal, when the crisis is over. World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com
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