MINING SOFTWARE
Sustainable software
Mining software vendors and the companies using these solutions are realising major ESG benefits that the whole sector is now being judged on , Dan Gleeson reports
Trends in mining software ebb and flow with the cycles : one downturn , productivity and efficiency gains are highlighted in every release ; the next upturn , throughput growth and data visibility are emphasised .
The great thing about software is that it requires updates , providing many opportunities for vendors to move with the times .
Today , there has never been as much data and data points for platforms to ingest and display , but the major trend all companies are looking to provide solutions for is the environmental , social and governance ( ESG ) wave .
Whether it is for forward-thinking internal reporting and studies , anticipated public announcements , or for local community consumption , ESG data is becoming increasingly valuable . This has led to many software companies pivoting in search of solutions that can fill this void .
Some companies have devised their own products , others have adapted an existing part of their offering , and a few have acquired entire businesses to gain exposure to the ESG software space .
IM spoke to groups in all three of these categories to get to the bottom of this evolving part of the market .
One of these came in December when Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions announced plans to acquire Deswik , a provider of mine planning software , as part of a strategy to form a new Digital Mining Technologies division within the business area .
By acquiring Deswik , Sandvik says it would gain a top-tier supplier of integrated software platforms that support digitalisation throughout mine planning stages , with more than 10,000 current licences . Deswik would also represent one of three cornerstone assets in the newly created Digital Mining Technologies division , the other two being Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions ’ automation solutions and the Newtrax
Erik Anderson , Product Manager – Mine Planning , Hexagon says the ongoing integration between all technologies that touch a mine in the coming years will ensure all data can be used and analysed – from the mine to the boardroom – to keep a continuous live pulse on the entire operation . This data , he says , is vital in achieving ESG goals
telemetry and collision avoidance solutions .
This division was established to accelerate the execution of Sandvik ’ s strategic priority to lead the industry development of underground sustainability and productivity solutions in electrification , automation , digitalisation and end-to-end optimisation .
This could see the mine planning expertise of Deswik being used to , for example , incorporate electrification at the mine planning stage .
Riku Pulli , President of the new Digital Mining Technologies division , told IM that this new division has a suite of digital solutions – mostly
Sustainable and strategic M & A
This ESG market trend has been keenly observed in the software M & A space with several significant completed or planned transactions .
Deswik ’ s mine planning expertise could be used by Sandvik to design and build fully-electrified mines
International Mining | FEBRUARY 2022