The global mining industry faces major challenges while needing to meet mounting stakeholder expectations. In order to stay competitive, companies have to become leaner, stronger, and more innovative. In this context, digitalization plays a crucial role by offering new possibilities to increase productivity – and operational excellence

As a leading provider of efficient, sustainable and class leading equipment to mining companies in Africa, Siemens offers solutions tailored to the region’s needs. Presenting its comprehensive and integrated solutions in the Mining portfolio, Siemens hosted its major customers recently in Sandton for a Mining Technology day with a leading delegation of global and local business and technical experts.

Representing the Chamber or Mines, Mr Sietse Van Der Woude, Head of Modernisation and Safety delivered the key note address and provided an insight to the Chamber’s strategic partnerships and collaboration and mining modernisation and the impact of future technologies.

We are proud to be directly involved in around 50% of the South African mining sector. Our customers are using Siemens automation and drives technology to make mining safer, increase productivity and improve efficiency. In 2014, our technology enabled R140 billion of value by helping our customers to move 175 million tons of material in key sectors like platinum, gold, diamond, coal and iron ore’, says Sabine Dall ‘Omo, Siemens Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Southern and Eastern Africa.

Digitalization in Mining:

Technologies are available today to help mining companies increase digitalization.  Siemens creates sustainable value for its customers in the mining industry by optimising plant efficiency and Digitalization can help the minerals sector tackle major challenges like productivity improvement. Digitalization is one of the levers that Siemens is offering its mining customers for mastering major challenges such as the need to increase productivity.

To drive the progress of highly efficient and sustainable mines, Siemens offers proven digitalization solutions: an industry-specific process control system for comprehensive automation (MinAS), an engineering tool for effective plant management (Comos), and a platform for aggregating, relating and presenting operational and business data for the big picture (XHQ). It’s time for a higher degree of digitalization ‒ to gain a true competitive edge.

Siemens has been active in SA mining since 1897, and today the industry depends on Siemens’ innovative drive, automation and electrical technology for everything from extraction to transportation and beneficiation.