Digital transformation in mining: challenges across the industry

The arrival of COVID-19 brought new challenges to the working environment and has not bypassed the global mining sector, driving companies and the entire mining industry to work on building an extensive digital transformation. 

At Datamine, we bring you some of the most important aspects that will come hand in hand this year, so that organisations can be better prepared for a digital transformation in mining. 

In the year 2020, the Virtual Mining Congress (Covidmin 2020) met in an effort to outline the new challenges facing mining in the coming years. At this meeting, which was attended by members from 52 countries, the new approaches that mining must take to maintain an optimal pace and production status at the beginning of a new decade were determined. 

As you can see, digital transformation also impacts the industry and is defined as the change associated with the application of digital technologies in all aspects of the process. 

Digitalisation offers many opportunities for growth. This leads to process improvements that increase efficiency and reduce costs. Let’s now look at the challenges of digital transformation for the mining sector this year. 

Digital transformation in mining: The first challenge for the coming years 

The first challenge that mining will face in the coming years is the need for greater automation, innovation, and digitalisation of operations. This will be in an effort to increase the productivity and safety of workers, as well as to optimise the coordination and management of the large amount of machinery required for large-scale mineral extraction, something that, while facilitated by the rapid development of new technologies, brings with it new challenges for workers. 

Non-Conventional Renewable Energies (NCRE): opportunities and challenges in the mining industry 

Another critical point to highlight in the digital transformation in mining is the use of Non-Conventional Renewable Energies (NCRE). This is a climate-smart mining capable of extracting minerals without destroying the ecosystem and keeping up with the new environmental protection policies and the fight against global warming. 

This challenge, says Arnoldus van den Hurk, founder and director of the Renewable Energies and Mining International Observatory (REMIO) and director of Covidmin 2020, “is not about polluting less or little, but about integrating the concept that no other industry in the world has a greater responsibility for climate change mitigation than mining”. 

Challenges in mining in the coming years 

In the coming years, the mining industry faces a great opportunity to undergo a complete digital transformation process. At Datamine, we have developed a comprehensive software that will allow mining companies to strengthen and optimise processes related to industrial operations and risk management. 

We must focus all our efforts on mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in the mining sector by working on best practices, understanding, and analysing what the new post-COVID-19 era looks like. We must also focus on generating valuable connections together to strengthen the links between demand and supply within the mining sector. 

Through digital integration in mining, companies seek to improve and optimise productivity. At Datamine we invite you to connect with and request a free DEMO to better face all the challenges of the Digital Transformation in Mining. 

Contact us and request a free DEMO here.