The mining sector remains crucial to the economic growth of many African countries, including copper-dependent Zambia, and, as such, it is important that foreign mining companies operating in these countries can improve the performance of their mining assets to ensure their continued economic contribution to their host countries.

Connectivity, however, is a constant challenge for mine operators in Africa, says global communications provider BT Global Services head of external relations for Asia, Middle East and Africa Stephen du Preez.

“Having stable connectivity is dependent on having access to sufficient infrastructure. The reality is that the areas where most mines are established in Africa are still very remote and underdeveloped,” he explains, noting that these mining areas often have little access to primary infrastructure and, therefore, it is no surprise that access to the Internet or sophisticated information and communications technology (ICT) is also challenging.

Although, this challenge, he notes, can be mitigated through mining companies investing in and deploying such technologies though partnerships with companies like BT.

“Critical to rolling out the requisite technology is solid network infrastructure that connects mining operations, but also enables the digitalisation of the mine through the use of industrial wireless services and the deployment of cloud-based technology, which in turn enables a comprehensive view of their mining operations for maximum efficiency,” du Preez explains.

Keeping Pace

Technology, he explains, continues to evolve at a rapid pace, where developed and emerging economies, alike, are coming to terms with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and what this adaptation will mean in their industries and regions.

“The Fourth Industrial Revolution brings the biological, physical and digital together, with the last two realms of particular interest to mining companies,” he tells Mining Weekly.
 
With this in mind, Du Preez believes that more mining companies need to view all technologies as enablers of their business.

“ICT solutions can assist mining companies to mobilise parts of their back-office operations, automate – particularly their mining, processing and logistics functions – and significantly improve information visibility and collaboration, which can directly influence better decision-making and allow them to gain a competitive edge.”

He explains that many African countries – including Zambia – that have vast resources waiting to be mined, are very reliant on the extractive and related export or trade industries to stimulate the economic growth in their countries. 

Further, he explains, these mining operations have always been labour intensive, providing a high number of jobs. Therefore, consideration of and any decision to adopt the latest available technological innovations that call for less human intervention can have significant impacts on employment statistics.

These technological innovations will not only impact the mining company’s operations and outputs but also its social contributions to its immediate local economy as well as its micro- and macroeconomic contributions to the industry and its host country’s gross domestic product.

“Some mining companies operating in Africa find themselves between a rock and a hard place when trying to balance investments to adopt transformative digital technology and meet their obligations to local content and their social licence to operate,” Du Preez notes.
 
However, he explains that the mining industry is asset intensive and needs to be managed and driven effectively to continue its growth across the continent.

At a time of rapid change in the mining sector and markets overall, Du Preez avers that, driven by digital technologies, establishing visibility over far-flung global operations has never been more critical for those operating across the globe.

“Mining companies, therefore, need to examine which technological investments will have the biggest positive impact on their business, as well as offer the greatest value potential and return on investment.”
 
While the long-term outlook is strong, he notes that the digital mine with integrated data flows is fundamental if mining companies are to meet the numerous short- and medium-term challenges that are facing the global, including the African, industry.

“It’s about a connected workforce, but, more importantly, the collection of information that can be used to drive safety, learning and operational effectiveness,” he enthuses.
 
Next Industry Trend 

Du Preez says new trends in autonomous and centralised operations centres are changing the reliance on connectivity, thereby forcing organisations to rethink the design, deployment and management of this critical infrastructure.

“This is an area where BT is assisting our mining clients in providing an end-to-end networking services to give them a view from the shop floor to the top floor,” notes Du Preez.

As the next big trend in mining technology, mines will be transitioning from manual to autonomous operations, with a higher reliance on digitalisation, he declares.
 
“Many mining companies have started to look at how the convergence of information technology and operational technology makes equipment more relevant in their operations. These companies stand to benefit significantly from further automation adoption and, ultimately, artificial intelligence (AI).”
  
Although lagging behind advancements in autonomous processing, he adds that there have been numerous significant automation initiatives undertaken by the mining functions in recent years.

“These differ according to the mining method employed, but include autonomous drilling, hauling fleets for opencast mining, and longwalls, continuous miners and flexible conveyor trains for underground mining.”
 
He explains that the value that mining companies can derive from employing automation in the physical operation of equipment and in the processing area is two-fold.

“Firstly, safety – when activities can be automated it removes people from the equation and introduces a level of safety that cannot be achieved without automation. Secondly, it increases productivity,” he tells Mining Weekly.
 
Du Preez further explains that developments can also be seen in the information space, around how mining companies are able to automatically extract and process data.

“The ‘holy grail’ is to be able to model an unwanted event; to predict the unwanted event before it happens and take action to prevent the unwanted event from happening – whether it’s a safety- or production-related event.”
 
Though, he adds, this ability should not be confused with AI, which is “a component that sits on top of the company’s automated operational deployment and enables their business”.

“Importantly, AI is also only as good as its programmers. Much industry knowledge and expertise is needed to build a model that is able to learn – which is defining of AI – based on the specific and unique processes that are involved in the different parts of the mine value chain, not to mention the different types of mining,” he notes.
 
Mining companies should, therefore, focus more on digital transformation and automation, Du Preez suggests, noting that, once mining companies have identified operational areas that will benefit from automation, they should consider the employment and plan the integration of AI.