The mining industry is under growing pressure to improve efficiency as ore grades decline, reserves become more dispersed, and costs rise. Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and IoT are just some of the innovative technologies that can help increase on-site efficiency, productivity, and safety. Examples include automated drilling, self-driving trucks, and preventative maintenance. By leveraging advanced technology and connectivity solutions, such as 5G devices, sensors, and software installed on vehicles and hardware, mining companies can achieve real-time monitoring and better control of the mining process.
Additionally, connected devices, such as wearable technology and proximity detectors, can augment health and safety measures in mining operations while also providing data on equipment status, potential safety hazards, and current environmental factors. Additionally, IoT technologies are enabling mining companies to automate workflows and improve efficiency, cutting costs.
IoT technology also contributes to more sustainable mining practices, by monitoring equipment and managing environmental conditions at mine sites, including air pollutants, equipment operating efficiency and wastewater emissions, as well as worker safety. By using data from mining equipment to improve efficiency, mining companies can reduce their emissions and improve their ESG credentials.
This trend towards more connectivity is likely to continue as AI and computing technologies progress. However, while IoT brings many benefits to the mining industry, it also poses challenges and adoption of IoT in mining is not yet fully developed. Moreover, increased connectivity of mining operations requires robust cybersecurity measures that companies must invest in to protect new tech operations.
Current market and emerging technologies
Mining has experienced significant changes in recent years, and the industry has become more globalised but, at the same time, susceptible to market volatility. Recently, the mining sector has felt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, exacerbating supply chain disruptions and labour shortages. Further, increasing resource depletion means extraction of lower-grade deposits and investing in more advanced and expensive exploration and extraction techniques.
Alongside these changes, technologies such as IoT have emerged and been integrated into the industry, influencing productivity, remote monitoring, automation, predictive maintenance, operational efficiency, sustainability, and workforce safety.
GlobalData’s Tech Sentiment Polls Q2 2023 found that IoT is a prominent theme across all sectors, with 48% of respondents saying that IoT was already disrupting their industry. IoT technology is deployed across the whole mining value chain, from prospecting to reclamation. Its spread has been encouraged by reduced latency, increased computing power, and the falling price of sensors, which have led to a faster ROI.
Additionally, AI has increased relevance across all IoT layers, and a growing number of products and services are now incorporating this technology into their capabilities, especially for predictive maintenance and digital twin modelling.
GlobalData’s Global Mine-Site Technology Adoption Survey (2023) reveals that over half of the mines surveyed had already made considerable investments into or fully implemented mine planning and management software and mine communication systems. However, only 19% of respondents have fully implemented predictive maintenance for mobile equipment, and only 23% had fully implemented predictive maintenance for plants.
