In a data-dominated world, the mining industry remaines a labour-intensive enterprise that relies on long-term planning which, when inaccurate, can massively impact on bottom lines, consulting company IBM mining executive Magda Honey said last month.

Better insight into data technology results in increased efficiency, reduced overheads, informed decision-making and empowering mines to be proactive and agile rather than reactive and cumbersome, she outlined at an IBM media event on big data and mining, in Illovo, Johanneburg, last month.

“The scale and complexity of the data generated in the process of mining may, in fact, be of more value than any other technological innovation in the industry’s history,” Honey noted.

Decision-makers are understandably reluctant to make drastic changes, relying instead on inference and history; however, big data analytics makes it possible to identify necessary changes without the risk usually involved in providing research to support arguments for change.

“Traditionally, IBM’s role in mining has been limited to hardware supply and information systems, but big data is helping to change that. “IBM has invested heavily to develop a range of solutions to make sense of big data and use it to drive innovation, identify potential pitfalls and stimulate growth. “Added to this is IBM’s global expertise in the resources sector, which has now been extended to South Africa,” Honey explained.

This year, IBM will bring to market a number of big data offerings specific to South Africa through partnerships with companies such as local mining and consulting services provider MineRP.

“By integrating geospatial, temporal mining technical data with enterprise resource planning solutions through patented methods, including GeoFinance and GeoInventory, MineRP and IBM are able to store and analyse both structured and unstructured data and turn it into useable information and valuable insight,” Honey pointed out.

This allows for end-to-end simulations across the mining value chain, replacing guesswork with information-based strategy.

Honey further stated that MineRP and IBM can provide mines with an off-site integrated operations centre that delivers normalised and standardised data and information to and from decision support systems.

This positions mines to improve production and reduce costs across a range of mining activities and makes it possible to undertake coordinated decision-making that was based on current, reliable information.

“Not only does this provide an unprecedented comprehensive overview of operations, but it also creates an early warning system that monitors key risk indicators and allows mines to be proactive rather than reactive and to act on information in real time,” Honey mentioned.

She added that by properly harnessing big data across disparate operations, IBM and MineRP’s solutions could expose risk, identify growth opportunities, improve and refine planning processes, and ensure that production and output were increased while decreasing costs.

“Information analysis does more than streamline processes, it can be used to identify potential social upheaval. In the age of permanent connectivity, social media and unprecedented mobility, preventative, predictive analytics make it possible to conduct social sentiment analysis and identify issues before they become crises,” Honey concluded.