MINING EPCM
This twin was used to manage and share information among Hatch ’ s engineering offices in Canada , South Africa , India , Australia , and the DRC , and help compress project timelines that , Hatch says , would otherwise not have been possible using traditional drawing-based piping isometric quality processes .
Worley ’ s Bell says it is a two-way relationship , with mining EPCM providers playing an integral role in commercialising new technologies from the start-up and established manufacturing communities .
“ Our role is to help the OEM ( or other researchers , technology start-ups and even in-house innovation teams ) who has developed a solution to a product stage to leverage our technology development and transfer experience ,” he said . “ This assists our customers to bridge the gap and deliver the benefits of the products or innovations to their operations .”
This risk management step – from prototype to commercialisation – that mining EPCM firms take on is recognised by many in the industry .
“ We are invited to be the technology adoption provider , or the validator of how a technology should be applied ,” Bell said . “ We look at the risks , costs and benefits that are likely to be encountered and achieved . We also take on the role of technology development partner to help scale and industrialise a concept that addresses a customer ’ s immediate issues .”
He added : “ Our increasing relationship with OEMs , researchers , tech start-ups and customer technical teams has been a significant reflection of the market ’ s need to adopt new innovations and technology . This is helping provide the technology-agnostic validations and developments required to translate benefits from a promise on paper to the financial results in operations .”
Cross pollination
This holistic and technology-agnostic approach has also seen leaders in the mining EPCM field take learnings from other industries and adapt them for
“ On the applied digital technology side , we have to be able to adapt technology from other industries because mining is not a large enough target market for the Silicon Valley crowd ,” Stantec ’ s Steve Rusk says
mining , particularly when it comes to digital developments .
Rusk said : “ On the applied digital technology side , we have to be able to adapt technology from other industries because mining is not a large enough target market for the Silicon Valley crowd . It ’ s really important for us to be able to look laterally across many industries and identify digital technologies we can take advantage of and implement .”
AFRY has been leveraging its experience in both the automotive and pulp and paper industries for its process industry and mining and metals EPCM customers , according to Tikka .
“ AFRY has a long history within the automotive industry , one of the few industries where Industry 4.0 has been applied in operational plants ,” he said . “ AFRY is utilising , for example , these learnings in process industry EPCM implementation projects .
“ We also have a long history in the pulp and paper industry , and the vertical and horizontal data integration from this sector is also used today in mining and metals .”
Wood is cross pollinating across industries to ensure its mining clients receive new , innovative and fit-for-purpose solutions , according to Lawson .
“ One key differentiator is our ability to develop solutions in-house to help solve tough challenges ,” he said . “ For example , our asset optimisation team has leveraged its digital capability and maintenance knowledge to deliver new solutions to mining clients .”
This has seen the company apply “ artificial intelligence tools ” to identify noise sources and help focus a mine ’ s operation on mine-created noise ( and not noise from other sources ), as one example . And , when it comes to integrating automation elements – a process Wood is renowned for , Lawson says – the company is only just getting started in the mining space .
“ We bring deep domain knowledge and rich experience , as well as proprietary technologies and platforms , while remaining system and vendoragnostic in identifying , or developing and deploying , the right solution for our client ’ s assets , wherever it may come from ,” he said .
Worley ’ s oil and gas project delivery expertise is likely to bear fruit at the Koodaideri iron ore project , in the Pilbara of Western Australia , an asset that will consolidate technology already in use at other Rio Tinto operations , such as autonomous trucks , trains and drills , across the mining value chain for the first time . Worley was awarded the EPCM contract for the Phase 1 project in 2019 , with a brief to use datacentric engineering processes to also produce a digital asset for the miner .
Bell said : “ We do see an increased appetite to bring learnings from other sectors into mining , particularly in the digital and energy transition space .”
Wood has helped design the control room for overseeing automation at IAMGOLD Corp ’ s Côté project ( photo : IAMGOLD Corp )
A race
The inevitable problem with making a pledge to adopt new technology is the pace of innovation a company must keep up with .
Over a two-year mine build , the available technology selected during the contract tendering stage is expected to have changed , most likely for the better .
This has mining EPCM providers racing to stay ahead of the innovation curve , particularly when it comes to digital solutions .
Lawson said : “ Digitalisation is becoming increasingly more important in both the way projects are delivered and how plants will be operated as miners want to realise the advantages digitalisation brings . Remote operations are becoming more common in our industry , and this has trickled down to mid-tier operations .
76 International Mining | NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020