Future of Mining with AI

Mining with AI – What does the future hold for industries like mining and implementing new technology to this sector? Deloitte and Norcat have collaborated to explore the future in mining. The article: “Future of Mining with AI: Building the first steps towards an insight-driven organization” explores this area where the majority of mines still use legacy technology.

As is often the case with new technology, implementation can be difficult, time‑consuming and ultimately more costly than anticipated. The challenges faced are not only technical challenges, but people and environmental factors as well.

What are some of challenges in implementing new technology to the mining sector? Tom Palangio, President of WipWare was asked for his insight on this topic. He is an explosives application specialist and more than 40 years in the explosives industry. Tom has pioneered the use of new technology and experienced the difficulty of introducing new ideas to the mining industry.

INDUSTRY CULTURE – Tom Palangio

Mining was traditionally perceived as a risky undertaking with uncertain grades, investment volatility and variable metal prices so every opportunity to reduce risk and stay with the proven methods of operation was encouraged. This risk aversion stifled innovation opportunities and many major operations avoided taking the lead in proving empirical performance of new technologies because the up‑front costs and the potential failure or risks involved with bleeding edge innovations was considered unwise. WipWare’s approach was to focus on improving the daily experience of frontline workers—including shifting from entirely trial and error practices of the past, where employees attempting to predict the crusher gap often increased equipment downtime. Relying on neural networks, WipWare provides real time material sizing data throughout the mining process that enables automated process control, which improve workers’ abilities to anticipate disruptions in their operations and cut costs through less downtime and extended equipment life.” (Page 7)

Click on the link to download the report: Future in Mining with AI