Industry intelligence
One of the largest greenfield projects
currently underway in South Africa has
incorporated the latest digital technology
at their mine in the Northern Cape.
Vedanta Zinc International (VZI) installed
the Smart Ore Movement system at
its flagship project, Gamsberg, close to
the mining town of Aggeneys, between
Pofadder and Springbok.
The implementation of the technology,
which is being undertaken in collaboration
with GE South Africa, happened in
the development phase of the project, as
opposed to waiting for Gamsberg to come
online and then attempting to retrofit the
systems.
According to Deshnee Naidoo, CEO of
VZI, the company places great emphasis
on the concept of ‘adapt and thrive’ across
all areas of the business. “Working smarter
through technology and digitalisation is
one of our seven core pillars in Vedanta.
We are acquiring best-in-class technology
for our assets, and focusing on creating our
own. Last year, the wider group initiated
a USD30-million investment fund for
in-house research and development,
supporting our wealth of knowledge and
spirit of innovation with meaningful
resources,” says Naidoo.
The concept of ‘Smart Ore Movement’
centres on the need to ensure that all
available information about the state of the
mine, the quality of ore, the conditions of
the processing plant, and the value of the
output product are not only made available
to the mine management team in real time,
but that the information is presented in
such a way that it allows for minute-by-
minute decision-making.
As more and more companies are
discovering, the road to digital transformation
in today’s increasingly integrated landscape
is not as simple as an ‘upgrade project’. To
remain on the cutting edge of their respective
marketplaces, companies are turning their
focus towards improving not only those tools
used in their everyday production, but also
the work processes that lead to true change
and improvement.
This digital transformation project will
target elimination of the inefficiencies that
Deshnee Naidoo,
CEO at Vedanta Zinc.
Gamsberg makes smart moves
would typically exist in today’s mining
operations, through the application
of new culture that is combined with
digital technology and a customised
delivery approach. As Gamsberg is a
greenfield project, this will allow it to
begin operations with best practices
already in place. These best practices
can then be replicated in subsequent
phases as well as across other parts of
the company. VZI sees this as protection
against the uncertainties of inevitable
disruption and intense competition, as
well as an opportunity to capitalise on
being the disruptor.
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