The mining industry in South Africa is looking to technological advancement to resuscitate the ailing sector which has been grappling with legal challenges and controversial new regulations, deterring investors, as well as safety.
These are sentiments coming out of the Mining Indaba, currently underway at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in Cape Town. The Indaba is an annual mining investment conference that is dedicated to the capitalisation and development of mining in Africa.
"If we are to deliver the step-changes required to create a truly modern, safe and productive industry on a sustainable basis that society demands and that our customers expect, the industry must evolve. New technology trends in mining, in the form of mining software and innovations in water resilience, are offering the greatest opportunities for efficiency gains and are worth investigating for adaptation across the sector," says Anglo American PLC - one of the region's top globally diversified mining business.
According to Deloitte mining 2018 edition of Tracking the Trends Report, there are a few earmarked trends for 2018 in the sector which include using data-driven insights to drive value and overcoming innovation barriers. "Technologies like robotic process automation and artificial intelligence will enable core mining activities to be performed from locations that can support a more diverse and inclusive workforce," stated the report. "These new technologies will turn the mining value chain upside down, disrupting both existing business models and the traditional roles and relationships among mining companies and their customers, suppliers, and even competitors."
New innovations
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) launched two new technologies to improve safety in the mining sector, the Rockpulse and the Monster.
The Rockpulse is a compact, battery-operated early warning and monitoring device that constantly monitors rock-mass for micro-seismicity. "With RockPulse, it is now possible to listen to raw micro-seismicity, extract micro-fracture features and analyse the resulting series of features to detect large instabilities taking place in the rock mass early. Continuous real-time monitoring of instabilities also allows for optimised safe re-entry times after hazardous events," explained the council.
The Monster is a robot platform equipped with safety inspection sensors to enter mines during safety periods. "The inaccessibility of some areas underground makes it difficult and dangerous for inspections after blasting - so as the CSIR we developed the robot to assess and identify risk for underground mines."
Meanwhile, Unearthed Solutions, in partnership with Mining Indaba, have given five tech start-up companies from across the global mining industry the opportunity to pitch their innovative solutions at the conference. The start-ups include Minespider, Cribbler, Imago, Applied Vehicle Analysis and Dataprophet.
"We are excited to be able to offer both local and international start-ups the chance to pitch to potential customers and investors at one of the world's largest mining conferences," said Unearthed founding director Justin Strharsky.
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