MINING SOFTWARE
Enhancing efficiency and ESG performance
In demand and in transition , the mining software community continues to help mining companies optimise their way of working and adapt to today ’ s ‘ new normal ’, Dan Gleeson reports
GEOVIA ’ s Mauro DelleMonache is confident the company ’ s 3DEXPERIENCE platform will become even more sought after with mining companies seeking to quantify and potentially improve on their Scope 1 , 2 and 3 emissions in line with climate goals
The past 18-24 months has seen a constant string of corporate activity in the mining software space as sellers look to cash in on relatively high premiums and buyers from various sectors look to gain a foothold in a market growing in importance .
Just a few of the big recent transactions to have been announced or completed include AspenTech ’ s planned purchase of Micromine , ‘ Datamine ’ s acquisitions of iRing , Scenario and LandTrack Systems , Sandvik ’ s incorporation of Deswik , and Epiroc ’ bringing MineRP into its offering .
The numbers associated with these deals have been positively affected by a wider tech drive across the financial sector , yet they also reflect the growing need for productivity-enhancing solutions that make a dent in mining companies ’ ambitious environmental , social and governance ( ESG ) goals .
IM spoke to some of the movers and shakers in the space to find out more .
Automating for optimisation
Maptek Chairman , Peter Johnson , says some of the same trends influencing M & A activity are also behind the mining sector ’ s re-evaluation of its relationship with technology .
As the mining sector contends with the shortage of skilled personnel available , it is also facing the dual challenges of depleting ore grades in some metals and increasing investor expectations for strong financial and safety performance , aligned with its ESG performance .
“ This is driving the value of mining technology higher as mining companies recognise the latent value and benefits from leveraging technology in areas and ways they may not have fully taken advantage of before ,” he told IM .
The other major trend driving corporate activity in the mining software space of late is a “ dwindling ” set of options for investors to find and invest in “ sound , profitable recurring revenue streams ” from sustainable long-term business , he said .
This is a category many mining software vendors fit into , according to Johnson .
“ In reality , the valuations now being applied to mining technology companies are only catching up to other tech companies , and the maturity of the market we work in means that many well-run , successful companies can be found by those seeking to grow in this space ,” he said .
“ All of this occurs against a backdrop of the long-term demand for metals and global electrification gathering pace , alongside forecasts of dramatically increased demand for the commodities and metals produced by our customers .
“ This long-term growth will cause the first two aspects to intensify in the future , and so there is a rush to get a foothold as early as possible .” Maptek is a party to this M & A stampede , having in the last year invested in K2fly to
become the biggest shareholder of the company , a provider of resource governance solutions for net positive impact in ESG compliance , disclosure and technical assurance .
In line with this transaction , the two companies have also been working on integrating the K2fly Resource Reporting solution – which provides a way to capture raw data , track data ownership and accurately adhere to all reporting requirements to meet global stock exchange reporting rules – and Maptek Vulcan – the geological modelling and mine planning software .
Johnson , who recently joined the K2fly board as a Non-Executive Director , said the integration of these two platforms would further improve data transparency .
“ Mining companies leverage resource and reserve reporting across applications such as tailings management , heritage obligations , landform remediation and closure liability planning , which is why it makes sense for integration with Maptek Vulcan geological modelling and mine planning software ,” he said . “ When mineral resource and reserve estimates generated from Vulcan block models are ported directly to the K2fly database , publicly reported information can then be traced back to the source block model and parameters used to generate estimates can be queried .”
This type of integration into third-party solutions is endorsed by Maptek , with the
28 International Mining | FEBRUARY 2023