US multinational conglomorate GE focuses on helping its mining customers overcome their toughest challenges and has developed a suite of products to increase efficiency and productivity for greenfield and existing mine sites in Africa.

GE Mining Solutions GM John Manison tells Mining Weekly that the company, which attended the 2015 Investing in African Mining Indaba this month, has distributed power solutions that operate efficiently in rugged industrial settings, along with smart grid technology to reduce the overall cost of a project.

The company also focuses on water infrastructure in the mining sector. Manison notes that GE is implementing more efficient, new pumping systems, and it has identified a way of using one pump for dewatering instead of three pumps.

“We have also developed a specialised version of our remote monitoring and diagnostic RtOI software for mining operators, called Mine Performance, which combines process and asset improvement in a single offering,” he says.

He explains that the solution aims to predict and reduce equipment failure, as well as stabilise, standardise and improve processes at every phase of the mining value chain.

Further, the software not only improves asset uptime, throughput and recovery but also reduces variability and, subsequently, energy costs.

Manison says the African mining industry currently faces three major challenges.

“The first challenge is increasing productivity of mining assets. We are developing highly efficient, networked technologies that reduce costs and enable greater productivity. The second challenge is funding, so we are working with many companies across the continent to help with funding to get projects launched.”

Manison adds that the problem of skills shortages is the third, longer-term challenge, pointing out that this is why partnerships that include skills training and the development of local employees and suppliers are critical.

He notes that the best way for mining operators to ensure long-term sustainability is to embrace smart technologies that can protect their assets into the future and to focus on developing their talent pool.

“Given today’s volatility within the sector, mining companies need to make good decisions about their long-term partners and should make sure those partners are focused on investing in technology.”

Manison notes that, from a commodities viewpoint, the biggest potential for growth lies in gold and large iron-ore projects; from a geographic standpoint, Central Africa – specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo – and West Africa offer the most significant growth opportunities. In terms of technology, the Industrial Internet will be a game changer moving forward, he adds.

Further, GE focuses on leveraging the power of the Industrial Internet for the mining sector. “GE has been investing in this for decades to enable intelligent machines connected through sensors and software to improve processes and asset performance. The Industrial Internet is going to have a huge impact on mining operations in Africa, in the short and long term, and GE is betting billions on that,” Manison declares.