MINING INDABA 2018
Africa ’ s junior mining companies , told Zwane at the question and answer session . Radebe called for a fund or even a bank for junior miners . “ Agriculture has a bank , why can ’ t mining ?” she asked .
Mining 2050
Moving on from the broader context of the event , for the first time this year , Mining Indaba had dedicated streams focusing on various pressing issues affecting the mining sector . One of these was the Mining 2050 Innovation programme , which looked at where companies should invest in the age of disruption . Industry leaders from companies such as Anglo American , Rio Tinto , Barrick and even Caterpillar took part in panels discussing the latest disruptive technology and innovation strategies .
Speaking about the decision to include this focus area in the 2018 Mining Indaba , managing director Alex Grose says , “ Mining 2050 looks to the future ,” adding that the aim of the sessions is to examine how the mining sector can adopt innovative ways of thinking and technologies so that it thrives . “ Africa is competing for investment and commodities around the world , while the continent has a head start in terms of its resources in the ground , let ’ s not fall behind in terms of planning for the future ,” says Grose .
Some of the topics under discussion throughout this stream include how exploration and processing are likely to change over the next 10 years and into the future ; key ways that mines can use technology and big data to manage risk across the project lifecycle ; the power of big data , and how companies are having to adjust their operations to take advantage of the opportunities it presents ; sustainable intelligent mining ; how the Internet of Things ( IoT ) will shape the mine of the future ; and how to develop sustainable procurement strategies .
“ The digital age is giving us the ability to collect and analyse vast amounts of important data , for instance , which makes for better engineering decisions – whether these relate to rock mechanics , water management or social impact ,” says SRK partner and principal mining engineer Marcin Wertz . “ The current optimism about mining ’ s future prospects need to be based on this more innovative and inclusive approach if it is to provide the longer-term benefits to all stakeholders .”
One of the panels also included an introduction to start-ups with new ideas on how to help optimise mining technology . A lot of the focus in this session was on different
Robyn Grimsley ways to use data to optimise operations , and how to interpret the data for the best possible outcomes . Jason van der Watt , co-founder of Applied Vehicle Analysis ( AVA ), spoke about the company ’ s web-based production platform , which is primarily focused on the load and haul space , where 80 % of production costs lie . Van der Watt explained that the company was founded on the basis of optimising load and haul operations without the prohibitive costs associated with a lot of new technology .
“ What is the future of load and haul mining ?” Van der Watt asked those attending the session . “ Many people say that it ' s automated truck and shovels , but even the most optimistic outlooks say five to 10 years ' time before we see these in the mainstream , and it will take a huge amount of cost and effort to get this correct .” Considering this , AVA decided to look at another area , one that could show results now without the prohibitive cost elements .
“ We took a bit of an alternative view on this and we said there ' s so many existing devices that are already tracking what these vehicles are doing inside the pit , can we not just use those to create a really cool web-based production platform ?”
By doing this , the company separates the hardware from the software , which has the advantage of low or no capital cost on the hardware front , as well as allowing for locally supported technicians who know how the hardware works , and even for hardware to be swapped out at any point and for any reason .
“ Then on the software front , that ' s where we put our focus ,” Van der Watt explained ,
Robyn Grimsley
1 & 2 : Stage C was the location for the panels and presentations comprising the Mining 2050 ( Technology & Innovation ) stream on day 3 of the conference .
“ because now your whole production platform becomes a variable cost , so there ' s no risk to you in running it . If you don ' t use a truck , you take it off the platform , and you don ' t pay for it . You can also access it from anywhere , there ' s no per licence cost , so you can have people all over the world that all know exactly what ' s going on in your
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12 _ QUARRY SA | MARCH / APRIL 2018