Asian miners transition towards digital mining – survey

19th March 2015

By: Henry Lazenby

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: North America

  

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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Online data, analysis and advisory services provider Timetric’s Mining Intelligence Centre (MIC) says Asian mines are transitioning towards digital mining, as demonstrated by continuing investment in design software and mine surveying.

The UK-based firm this week revealed that a recent survey of 115 buyers and decision-makers currently working at 100 Asian mines in seven Asian countries, including India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Vietnam, Mongolia and Thailand, had found that respondents cited four categories of technology as their top priorities for investment.

These four technologies supported a movement towards digital mining and comprised mine survey equipment, mine design software, mine management (scheduling/optimisation) software and equipment diagnostics.

These four areas were the most likely to see new or continued investment over the next two years out of a total of 12 different technologies examined in the survey. The 12 areas included a range of other mine management and vehicle-related technologies used at an operational level, such as environmental monitoring and emissions management, communication products and systems, fleet management and vehicle monitoring and collision avoidance technologies.

The higher propensity to invest in the top four categories pointed to a focus on using technology to improve data and design accuracy, as well as productivity, and optimising equipment use. It also enabled an organisation to provide a safer working environment.

In contrast to these four technologies, Timetric found that investment intentions in other areas were more limited. For example, about three-quarters of Asian mines were not expecting to invest in autonomous vehicles within the next ten years. Remote control or machine automation had the lowest rate of implementation across Asian mining operations.

The capital investments required, coupled with an inexpensive labour force, meant that few incentives existed for Asia-based companies to make the switch to autonomous fleets.

“The push towards advanced technologies on site is evident from the results in the survey. The focus is on improving planning and productivity and follows a sequence starting with investing in mine surveying to improve the accuracy of the data flowing into mine design software.

“Accurate mine designs then help improve the management and scheduling of mining operations, while equipment diagnostics help to improve utilisation and support mine scheduling by minimising downtime,” MIC senior mining analyst Nez Guevara said in statement.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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