The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated demand and investment into automation and technology upgrades as mining companies look to reduce active workers on-site to prevent the spread of the disease, according to the chief of Swedish mining giant Epiroc.
Photo: Epiroc
Technological advances within the mining industry have been made slowly and are often made to deal with low-grade equipment or to tunnel into deeper mines, which often involve greater volumes of water.
There has also been mounting pressure from global governments to reduce carbon emissions, which a number of mining companies have taken heed to and set themselves emissions targets within the next few decades.
Read more: Anglo American set 2040 carbon-neutrality targets
There has been a surge in demand from mining companies to invest in electric vehicle technology, such as trucks, as most major mining players attempt to stick to their climate goals.
Reducing the number of workers on-site to adhere to social distancing and reducing the spread of the disease has been a major contributor to the adoption of better technologies within the mining sector, according to Epiroc's CEO Helena Hedblom.
In an interview with the FT, she stated: “Given the pandemic, that has really been identified as an area where automation and digitalisation can help. With connected machines, when you send a technician to site, you know what the problem is. If anything, the pandemic has increased the transition to new technology.
"The mining industry has huge potential to improve sustainability, safety and productivity. The average age of mining equipment is increasing, she added, offering opportunities both in new sales and in servicing older machinery."
Epiroc reportedly still has room to grow as it only services about half of the machines it sells at the moment. The company is also rebuilding equipment part way through its lifetime to boost productivity, she added.
Epiroc recently released an interim Q4 report which discusses in more detail the effect the pandemic has had on the mining giant.
According to the report, the company managed to lower costs and focus on innovation, which resulted in demand recovering for the second half of 2020.
Owing to the effects the pandemic had in the first half of the year, overall revenue still dropped by 5% but was mitigated by quick actions by the company.
The company reported organic growth across all its businesses, with its equipment and services sector seeing the greatest change. The company was also able to capitalise on the increased push for automation and greater technological advancement in the workplace to connect more and more machines.
Mining is a dangerous industry with hundreds of deaths annually across the globe. Increasing automation could also help reduce the risk of mining accidents with the real cost of human lives.
Read more: Half of trapped miners rescued from Hushan Mine
Ms Hedblom added that electrification may be necessary as mines get deeper as it removes the need for expensive ventilation to remove diesel fumes.
She also stressed the importance of what she referred to as "mixed-fleet automation" owing to many miners using different equipment from a variety of manufacturers.
This may require some degree of information exchange between equipment manufacturers, which should help increase interconnectivity in adherence with the Industrial Internet of Things.
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