IT in Manufacturing


Process automation for sustainable mining

November 2023 IT in Manufacturing

Process automation plays a vital role in making the mining industry more sustainable. It enhances operational efficiency, while reducing environmental impact. By leveraging advanced automation systems, mining companies can optimise resource utilisation, minimise energy consumption, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Process automation contributes to sustainability by enabling precise and data-driven decision making. It delivers real-time monitoring and control of mining operations from a central location that allows for immediate response and adjustments to changing conditions. This ensures that processes are running at their most efficient levels, minimising waste and unnecessary resource usage.

Importantly, process automation facilitates predictive maintenance, which can assist in identifying and addressing mining equipment issues before they escalate into costly breakdowns. This proactive approach not only minimises downtime but also extends the lifespan of mining equipment, reducing the need for frequent replacements and associated resource consumption.

Sustainable mining with process automation

An important differentiator of process automation is its ability to be used in selective mining, targeting high-grade ore deposits with precision. This reduces the amount of overburden that needs to be removed, minimising the environmental disturbance, and preserving surrounding ecosystems.

According to research, as much as five tons of overburden can be produced for every ton of productive material extracted, depending on the mining method used. Minimising overburden is therefore a major advantage for sustainability.

Automation can also help streamline mining operations, eliminating inefficiencies that can negatively impact the business and the environment. For instance, analytics solutions can help identify areas where an organisation is producing excess waste, enabling mining organisations to take actions to mitigate it.

Process automation offers the following important benefits to mining operations:

• Safety: Direct exposure to mining processes and equipment operations poses a significant risk to miners. By automating a process, companies can take the necessary steps to alleviate potential injury to their operators. Furthermore, certain parts of the mining process can be automated, exposing fewer workers to hazardous areas.

• Transparency of consumption: Energy visibility is the starting point for decarbonisation. Obtaining insights from across the value chain is vital for measuring what you use and controlling what you measure.

• Precise and data-driven decision making: This removes any bias or subjectivity from the process. By relying on data and analysis, mining organisations can make decisions based solely on facts rather than personal preferences, previous experience or opinions.

• Predictive maintenance: This seeks to prevent equipment failure and downtime by connecting IoT-enabled enterprise assets, applying advanced analytics to the real-time data it delivers, and using the resultant insights to inform educated, cost-effective and efficient maintenance protocols.

Ultimately, process automation offers precise, data-driven analytics that can assist mining organisations in reducing resource consumption, improving safety, while meeting sustainability requirements and targets.


Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

SA Food Review
IT in Manufacturing
Food Review is a monthly trade journal for South Africa’s food and beverage manufacturing industry, for industry professionals seeking detailed information on trends, technologies, best practices and innovations.

Read more...
Keeping an eye on oil consumption with moneo
ifm - South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Manufacturing companies in the metal industry need oils and other fluids that are consumed by their machines. To make this consumption transparent and to establish a link to the ERP system, Arnold Umformtechnik relies on the IIoT platform, moneo, in combination with the SAP-based software solution Shop Floor Integration (SFI) – both from ifm.

Read more...
AI accelerates energy transformation
RJ Connect IT in Manufacturing
With the rapid expansion of generative AI applications, data centre power demand is reaching unprecedented levels.

Read more...
Revolutionising mining operations with MineOptimize
IT in Manufacturing
Now more than ever, mining and mineral processing companies need to boost productivity, ensure safety, and protect the environment. ABB’s comprehensive electrification, automation and digital solutions portfolio is ideally positioned to meet these challenges across all mining processes, from mine to port, transforming performance in a digital world.

Read more...
Buildings in Africa’s urban evolution
Schneider Electric South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Africa is now an urban continent. How does the continent mobilise to accommodate urban dwellers and maintain and implement critical infrastructure that allows for this expansion? Building management systems provide a tangible solution to optimise resource use, lower operations costs and ultimately contribute to a growing continent that also employs green practices.

Read more...
TwinCAT Vision functionality extended
Beckhoff Automation IT in Manufacturing
The image processing and camera integration capabilities of Beckhoff’s TwinCAT 3 Vision software have been expanded.

Read more...
Automation software to future-proof your operations
Adroit Technologies IT in Manufacturing
As the official partner of Mitsubishi Electric Factory Automation, Adroit Technologies empowers businesses with cutting-edge solutions that reduce costs, improve quality and increase productivity.

Read more...
Siemens automation portfolio, your bridge to the industrial metaverse
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Step into the future with Siemens’ automation portfolio, your bridge to the industrial metaverse. Our cutting-edge solutions integrate AI, digital twins and real-time simulation, driving smarter, more efficient production.

Read more...
Transform your manufacturing efficiency
TransLution Software IT in Manufacturing
MÄDLER offers a wide range of gears in various materials, modules and designs, available directly from stock.

Read more...
Prevent cyber attacks
RJ Connect IT in Manufacturing
The EDR-G9010 Series delivers advanced industrial networking with multi-port secure routing, firewall/NAT/VPN, and managed Layer 2 switching.

Read more...