Mining in focus
Digital infrastructure makes it possible to operate a mine from a control room.
Riding the
digitalisation wave
By Dineo Phoshoko
The face of mining has changed drastically since digitalisation came into the
picture. Dennis Gibson, chief technical officer for Black & Veatch’s mining
business, explains the role of digital infrastructure in mining, and the potential
impact it has on the industry.
D
igital infrastructure will help to
improve safety, productivity and
efficiency in the mining industry.
So says Dennis Gibson, technical officer for
Black & Veatch’s mining business, adding
that from an efficiency point of view, digital
infrastructure will help with reducing wastage
at mining operations.
[20] MINING MIRROR JUNE 2019
“Over time we have really looked at the old
approach of ‘operations and “production at
any cost”,’ which was prevalent in the late
2000s. At that time, it didn’t matter how
much it cost to produce, because the product
was so valuable and in such high demand, so
we tended not to focus a lot on efficiency,”
he says.
A white paper by the World Economic
Forum – titled Digital Transformation
Initiative: Mining and Metals – points
out that in the mining and metals space,
digitalisation is changing the nature of
companies and their interaction with
employees, communities, government and
the environment. “From mineral exploration
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