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Digital transformation is revolutionising the mining sector, with investments in innovative technologies reaching unprecedented levels. From autonomous vehicles to AI-powered analytics, mining companies are leveraging cutting-edge solutions to enhance safety, boost productivity, and drive operational efficiency.
At the heart of this transformation lies intelligent fleet management, a critical component for mining operations where every minute of downtime can cost thousands. Modern mine managers face the complex challenge of monitoring high-value assets and ensuring worker safety across vast, often hazardous terrains. Through advanced telematics and smart technologies, they can now optimise vehicle utilisation, streamline maintenance schedules, and significantly reduce operational risks.
With so much scope and scale to leverage new technologies, innovation is fast-paced within the industry. Mining managers are focused on keeping assets and personnel safe, ensuring constant access to their full fleet by regularly scheduling maintenance, achieving their green goals by lowering their carbon footprint, lowering their operational costs, and improving their bottom line.
With these KPIs in mind, Powerfleet has identified key technology trends within the industry that will advance mining capabilities within the next decade.
Futureproofing The Mining Industry
10 emerging technology trends
1. Drones
Mining is a dangerous profession. Mines are often located in remote areas, and sites can be vulnerable to theft. Mistakes can be costly, and serious accidents can happen quickly.
Mining companies spend millions of dollars every year, undertaking safety precautions and checks to safeguard their valuable assets, mined materials, and personnel. Compliance is also critical to the safe operation of heavy-duty mining equipment, and these necessary measures can be labour-intensive.
Mining managers need a full and detailed view of daily operations. This allows them to monitor their workforce and ensure that everyone is operating within stipulated parameters, track their most valuable assets, better manage their fleet, and monitor their KPI targets both historically and in real time.
Having an "eye in the sky" is incredibly useful for enhancing safety, security, and productivity. A drone can safely access and assess more dangerous areas of the mine and quarry, giving managers comprehensive details of operations in progress and any needed interventions.
Mined materials can also be better secured by having a bird's eye view of stockpiles. This advanced surveillance footage can be accessed by any number of employees, on-site or remotely. Effective use of drones on mining sites can have the following benefits:
- Safety management
- Structural cohesion maintenance
- Surveying and mapping
- Monitoring and inspection
- Stockpile management
2. 3D-printing
Mining companies require managers to monitor safety concerns, efficiency challenges, and asset health. This last duty is especially important because it affects everything else.
When an asset, vehicle, or piece of equipment breaks down and requires downtime for repairs, money is lost every hour it is out of commission. The ability to print any necessary parts on-site could save a significant amount of time, provide a convenient solution, and ultimately improve a mining company's bottom line.
3. Automation
Autonomous technologies have certain benefits that cannot be overlooked. Mining companies that implement automation technologies will quickly realise a significant increase in productivity and a decrease in expenditure. Some companies have seen productivity rise as much as 15-20% as they adopt new technologies. The industry will also benefit from considerable increases in safety.
Mining companies can reduce the number of miners they send underground while extracting a higher output with low risk to their employees by using automated equipment that can be manoeuvred into unsafe areas and difficult locations. For example, since implementing autonomous technologies in several of its African mines, Randgold Resources has seen a 29% quarter-on-quarter improvement in its injury rate.
With such significant gains to be made, it's no wonder that mining companies worldwide are rapidly adopting the latest automation technology to modernise their operations. For example, in four of Rio Tinto's iron ore mines in Australia, the company uses 73 driverless trucks to haul iron ore 24 hours a day.
Mine employees oversee the vehicles' operation from 1,200 kilometres away at Rio Tinto's centralised control centre in Perth. 13,700 kilometres to the west, Swedish mine operator Boliden has partnered with cell phone company Ericsson to build an autonomous gold mine.
The 5G network Ericsson installed at the site allows the mine's ventilation system to save 18 megawatts of energy per year, a 54% efficiency gain. In the United States, Barrick Gold Corporation has partnered with Cisco Systems to integrate Wi-Fi sensors in its mines near Elko, Nevada, to track the output of every miner.
Barrisk is using this and other automated technologies to lower its production cost to US$700 per ounce of gold. In Africa, Randgold Resources and AngloGold Ashanti use robotic loaders 800m below the surface in their joint venture, Kibali Mine, to drive output and improve worker safety.
This rapidly shifting landscape is expected to provide substantial value to the mining sector and its stakeholders. One report suggests that the combination of increased productivity and safety, along with decreased expenses, may cause the mining automation market to grow by almost 50% in the next six years after reaching US$3.29 billion in 2023.
4. GPS Fleet Tracking
GPS tracking and telematics solutions allow mining companies to connect their business through a single, integrated platform that monitors equipment, assets, and fleet vehicles. From extraction to distribution, GPS tracking can manage every aspect of a company's assets, including lighting towers and generators, as well as heavy vehicles like trucks, buses, and state-of-the-art machinery in mines. Improving asset utilization and fleet management increases efficiency and productivity while reducing operating expenses.
Live monitoring, real-time alerts, improved equipment performance, better scheduling, reduced fuel costs, advanced reporting, and enhanced safety measures can help mine managers stay better informed about all site processes and personnel, ultimately improving a company's bottom line.
5. Renewable Energy
Mining companies are always looking to reduce their electricity bill and improve their carbon footprint for the purpose of longevity within the industry. Futureproofing a mining operation means slashing as many operational costs as possible and demonstrating a commitment to corporate responsibility to stakeholders, shareholders, and customers. Renewable energy can help keep them turning over consistent profits for many years to come.
6. The "Big 3"
The three technology areas that mining companies are investing in the most are data analytics, digital connectivity, and integrated automation. This is not a surprise when you consider the huge push over the last few years towards getting remote mine sites digitally connected to the network as the starting point to allow for other applications and programmes to be built and run.
Robust digital architecture is extremely important for automation and data analytics, especially the latter, as mine sites generate and capture a significant amount of data.
7. Cloud
Mine managers need an easy-to-use SaaS platform to safely collect, analyse, and manage all their data in one place. If all assets, vehicles, and equipment can be integrated, managers can drill down into rich data sets to access actionable insights that can streamline site processes, saving time and money. Investment in areas like cloud infrastructure, AI, and IoT will hugely benefit mining companies focused on data security and all the benefits of automation.
8. Matching Talent to Technology
Finding the right people with the right skills and retaining them as assets to your company are some of the biggest challenges for industry leaders. Mining employees are increasingly required to work with cutting-edge technologies that require a more advanced, modern skillset. For example, miners working with automated drilling rigs that are operated remotely using detailed telemetry and multi-camera vision must be able to read and analyse the data and images generated to make quick and critical real-time decisions.
9. Digitalisation
The recent global pandemic highlighted the need to digitalise as many mining operations as possible. A highly infectious virus makes it nearly impossible to protect a workforce working in close and cramped quarters. When COVID was at its height, mining companies had to adapt to new health and safety regulations.
Social distancing required fewer workers to work a shift together, and certain areas of sites were adapted for better sanitation and ventilation. This cost the industry millions of dollars in COVID precautions, safety measures, and lost productivity. The need for rapid investment in digitalisation became clear, and we expect to see it extend to many more areas of mining in the coming couple of years.
10. Using Technology to Boost Safety and Compliance
Safety and compliance have been key concerns in mining for decades, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only raised more health and safety issues. Fortunately, technological advancements are helping to drive safety and compliance in mines worldwide. The transition to more automated and technology-enabled mine sites has helped reduce or eliminate some of the traditional risks of mining, protecting the health and well-being of employees and increasing productivity and efficiency.
Organisations can reduce the impact of issues such as double handling and inaccuracies by eliminating human input and establishing a single source of truth for data. The next most common applications of technology to safety and compliance are lift safety, collision avoidance, real-time fleet and asset scheduling, employee training, and accident tracking and reporting.
Digitally enabled solutions, such as sensors, drones, and technology-based procedures, have helped make it easier and less dangerous for mine workers to operate plant equipment. For instance, vehicles used in haulage often have built-in alarms and auxiliary safety functions, which help reduce the likelihood of accidents and, therefore, injuries and deaths.
Eventually, technology could diminish the need for humans to be on-site, decreasing the possibility of human error. Industry experts expect that the mines of the future will be at least partially digital, with fewer, if any, humans at the coalface.
Mining companies are dependent on telematics because many of our platforms give them critical insights into on-site operations, allow them to analyze big data in depth, and help prevent terrible accidents and loss of life. Fleet management and telematics solutions are key drivers for the innovative technological trends we see emerging, as described above.
Telematics benefits to the mining industry include:
- Optimised on-site communication
- Full visibility of vehicles and assets
- GPS Tracking of vehicles and assets
- Task and journey management
- Driver behaviour and performance monitoring
- Improved driver and employee safety
- Improved site, vehicle, and asset safety
- Achieve sustainable targets
- Ongoing customer service to maximise mining operations
