Automation

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted mining by pushing the industry further in the path of digital and cultural development. Vanessa Zhou speaks with Deloitte Australia partner, consulting, Paul Klein about the prevailing shift.

Kirkland Lake Gold has outlined zero harm and a lower environmental footprint in its requirements for technology innovation at the Fosterville gold mine in Victoria.

Austmine speaks with Accenture about the approach mining companies should take in evaluating the needs and benefits of automation in their projects.

FLSmidth has received an order for its BulkExpert digital solution from a customer in Brazil. The solution will fully automate the stockyard operation of two large iron ore shipping export terminals in the south of the country.

BHP chief executive Mike Henry has confirmed in a shareholder Q&A session this week that the company isn’t currently planning to introduce fully autonomous trains.

The adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the mining sector has highlighted the lack of skills needed to deploy it, according to Inmarsat research program, the Rise of IoT in Mining.

ABB has partnered with the Enterprise Transformation Partners (ETP) and the University of Western Australia (UWA) to digitalise Gold Fields Australia’s Granny Smith mine in Western Australia.

Bis has announced a joint venture with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to launch mining technology company Auto-mate.

WesTrac has opened an autonomous technology training centre near Collie in Western Australia – the second facility of its kind in the world.

More than 20 Sandvik employees have signed up for a digital training course being piloted by vocational training bodies across the country.

Rio Tinto has pledged almost $60 million to accelerate the development of automation skills in Western Australia’s mining workforce.

Mining operations can reap huge benefits from automating their drill and blast operations, but Drilledge says workforces must have the right amount of expertise to take full advantage of the technology. 

Scott Technology has started constructing an automated mine site laboratory at Rio Tinto’s Koodaideri Iron Ore project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

What’s the deal with automation and augmented reality? OSIsoft and Rockwell Automation debunk high technology myths with Vanessa Zhou.

Fortescue has rolled out its 100th autonomous haul truck conversion at its Chichester Hub in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Removing miners from dangerous or monotonous tasks by using automation and remote operating technology helps companies to work safer and more productively. Dares Technology has another method that helps monitor conditions from afar.

Fortescue Metals Group’s Integrated Operations Centre allows workers to operate a mine, rail and port network that is 1200 kilometres away. And during COVID-19, it sets a blueprint for what the industry can do to safeguard operations in the future. Nickolas Zakharia writes.

Infrastructure SA has released a 20-year infrastructure strategy for South Australia that includes short- and long-term strategies to grow the state’s resources sector. 

Mining, metals and materials companies have increased their investment in automation and technological innovation in recent years.

MPC Kinetic has launched its first fully autonomous excavators in Queensland, with more to come as the company aims to usher in a new era of excavation machinery.