Page 46 - Vol 28 Issue 29 2019

mining technology

Digitalization in the mining industry:

New opportunities for Africa

By Pavel Rastopshin, Managing Director of ZYFRA

of these processes. In reality, digital
transformation in the mining industry
began with emergence of the first sensors.
What else is specific to digital
transformation? It is not the evolutionary
development of technology which has
taken place over the last 20 years so much
as the increase in the mining shovel bucket
volume or mining truck loading capacity
connected with major investments. Vice
versa, the employment of information
technology does not require investment
but makes it possible to employ existing
equipment effectively.
©Sproetniek, IStock Moving away from the general to the
Equipment monitoring and control specific, I would like to give several
examples. The first example concerns
frica is a world leader in volume of develop innovative solutions for the the quality control of technological
reserves and the extraction of many mining industry, including: dispatching roads. Within the last five years, virtually
Avaluable raw materials and fuels, and diagnostic systems, automatic or all major mining plants began using
over 90% of which is then exported. The unmanned control systems for dump dispatch systems, while road quality
mining industry forms the basis of many trucks and drilling rigs and predictive control and even road cross sections can
countries’ industrial capacity and exports, maintenance, and analytics for solving be analyzed simply based on information
accounting for around 75% of all foreign mining process optimization problems. from a suspension sensor, inclinometer
investment. Traditional field development Unmanned vehicles are the key to and dispatch systems. Giving tasks to an
methods are becoming increasingly innovation in the mining industry. equipment operator based on this data –
expensive. Productivity is dropping due that is the digital transformation we are
to high maintenance costs, unreliable Digital transformation talking about.
equipment, reactive troubleshooting, What is digital transformation: a The main objective is to increase the
low capacity factors and incidents fashionable phrase or an objective efficiency of mining and conveyor
related to safety violations. What new necessity? There are various definitions equipment, i.e., all the equipment
technologies can ensure the development of digital transformation, but they are for solid raw material extraction,
of modern industry? How can workplace all united by a change in production including dispatch control, by 10-20%.
and environmental safety issues in the management processes through all the Russian experience shows that the
mining industry are dealt with effectively? stage of value creation with the use of implementation of automatic dispatching
modern technologies. and the optimization of control over
With every passing year, mining operations
are carried out in progressively more The focus of digital transformation is mining and conveyor equipment makes
complex and dangerous geological and the mining plant. There are multiple it possible to increase the productivity of
climatic conditions. Exploiting deposits in systems which have been implemented the excavator and truck fleet by 5-15%,
the Far North, where there are deserts and for decades and are somehow connected reduce equipment operation costs by
mountainous regions with insufficiently to information technology, information up to 8% and reduce expenditure on
developed social infrastructure, acquisition, sensors and changes in fuel by 5-10%, as well as reduce non-
significantly complicates the participation processes. In fact, since the emergence of technological downtime by up to 80%.
of personnel in mining processes, which the term ‘digital transformation’, its core Up-to-date decision solutions make it
require highly qualified specialists. meaning has not changed and consists possible to obtain real-time information
In order to increase production of modifying conventional management about the condition of all vehicles and
processes using information technologies
efficiency in accordance with industrial and creating digital doppelgangers identify weak points in equipment
safety standards, there is a need to fleet operation with the possibility of

46 | AFRICAN POWER Mining & Oil Review Vol 28, Issue 29, 2019 Celebrating 10 years of excellence