FLEET AUTOMATION
Supporting the transformation
IM spoke to Ralph Smith, GEOVIA Sales Expert- Management Director at Dassault Systèmes about how its solutions fit into greater automation of fleets and processes in mining
Q Dassault Systèmes’ s GEOVIA has been a leader for many years in mine scheduling and tactical mine planning software- with mines becoming more digital, and greater use of autonomy and remote control- how are you adapting your solutions and offering to these trends?
As the mining industry advances toward greater digitalisation, autonomy, and remote operations, GEOVIA is continuously enhancing its solutions to support this transformation. By leveraging the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, we integrate mine planning and scheduling with real-time operational data, creating dynamic virtual twins that connect strategic intent with on-theground execution. This enables faster, data-driven decisionmaking, supports high-frequency re-planning, and improves responsiveness to changing conditions. The foundation of automation and AI-driven workflows is a Unified Intelligent Data Environment, from which we build and apply AI and automation. With cloud-based collaboration, remote teams can securely access and contribute to a unified planning environment, ensuring more efficient, connected, and sustainable mining operations.
Q Cloud computing is also a part of this- what role does the cloud play in enabling more digitalised mines in terms of real time data and modelling access?
Cloud computing plays a critical role in enabling more digitalised mines by providing scalable, secure, and real-time access to data and models across the entire mining value chain. It allows stakeholders, whether on-site or remote, to collaborate seamlessly within a single, centralised environment, ensuring that planning, scheduling, and operational decisions are always based on the most current data. With cloud-based deployment, you can instantly share updates to geological models, production schedules, and equipment performance, and act upon them, supporting continuous improvement, faster reactivity to change, and better alignment between planning and execution. This connectivity is essential for enabling autonomous systems, integrated workflows, and data-driven decision-making at scale. By moving to the cloud, GEOVIA clients benefit from scalable computing power, enhanced security, and continuous access to advanced modelling, simulation, and analytics tools.
Q Is part of your offering to more autonomous mines the ability to make real time adjustments to plans and schedules based on the live situation as reflected by sensors and analytics? How does this work in practice?
Yes, a key part of GEOVIA’ s offering to more autonomous and digitally enabled mines is the ability to make real-time adjustments to plans and schedules based on live operational data. Our solutions for example in ore control leverage sensor inputs, fleet management systems, and other data sources to reflect the current state of the operation to enhance the modelling of the quality and quantities of materials. This real time data assists in the construction of future models, predictions of movement and schedules. This allows for high-frequency, data-driven re-planning, adjusting for equipment availability, environmental conditions, and production deviations to optimize performance in near real time. This responsiveness is essential for maximizing the value of autonomous systems and ensuring that planning and execution stay continuously aligned. The application of advanced blast movement prediction models can leverage bucket sensors to adjust the location of high-value materials, improve the prediction models, and also make real-time decisions on the destinations of trucks based on the data collected, improving the mine performance.
Q Many mines are being held back in introducing more autonomous and more efficient operations by being left with a lot of legacy software systems- how does 3DS help mines find solutions to this problem?
We help mines overcome the limitations of legacy software systems by providing an integrated, future-ready platform that connects people, data, and processes across the mining value chain. Through the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, GEOVIA enables mines to consolidate fragmented tools and data silos into a unified digital environment, eliminating the inefficiencies, incompatibilities, and manual workarounds familiar with legacy systems. Our platform is designed to be interoperable, allowing for smooth data migration and integration with existing systems where needed, while enabling a gradual transition to more advanced, automated, and collaborative workflows. This empowers mining companies to transform at their own pace, while laying the foundation for autonomy, real-time decision-making, and continuous operational improvement.
Q AI is being introduced more and more into mining systems, particularly the use of algorithms in areas like edge computing based on-board decision making for autonomous equipment and predictive / prescriptive maintenance decisions. Is Dassault Systèmes involving AI in its solutions and can you give some examples?
Yes, Dassault Systèmes is actively integrating AI into its mining solutions to support more intelligent, more autonomous, and more efficient operations. Within the GEOVIA and broader 3DEXPERIENCE ecosystem, AI plays a growing role in areas such as predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, geospatial modelling, and decision support. For example, AI-powered analytics are developing to identify patterns in data to anticipate structures or failure zones to better inform geological models or planning changes. In mine planning, machine learning algorithms enhance geological modelling by reducing the uncertainty of orebody interpretations based on historical and real-time data. AI also supports prescriptive decision-making by analysing multiple operational scenarios and recommending optimal planning or scheduling adjustments. As mines increasingly adopt edge computing and autonomous systems, our platform provides a foundation for connecting these AI capabilities with live operational data, enabling faster, more informed decisions both on-board and centrally. that power our everyday lives. As mining companies accelerate electrification to scale their operations, the focus continues to shift from process automation to fleetlevel automation, in which established equipment such as haul trucks operate with considerable autonomy. A key enabler in this transition is stationary high-power charging, made significantly more efficient by Automated Connection Devices( ACDs).”
She adds:“ ABB’ s technology demonstrator eMine Robot ACD is a power charging solution designed to deliver fast, safe, hands-free charging for electric mining trucks. This eliminates the need for human intervention, while reducing downtime, increasing safety, and ensuring reliability, even in harsh environments like Boliden’ s Aitik copper mine, which is 100 km north of the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden. Following successful lab trials, ABB’ s eMine Robot ACD has been undergoing real-world field testing at Aitik since Q4 2024. With extreme cold temperatures, the site presents
46 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2025