Mining 4.0: How innovation is shaping mines of the future

Mining may be the gateway to the world’s carbon-neutral future.  Green energy storage systems, for one, are largely dependent on minerals. According to the World Bank Group, clean energy needs will escalate the demand for rare earth minerals by nearly 500% by 2050.

While this growing demand holds much promise for mining companies, it also creates new challenges. Mining operators must navigate the ever-present highly cyclical market conditions and capital-intense operations. Recent trends layer on additional challenges, such as the progressive retirement of the industry’s most experienced workers, increasing regulatory pressures, and rising energy costs. To proactively manage these multiple challenges and capitalise on rising demand, mining companies must innovate and lower operating costs to remain both profitable and viable.  

Why the Urgent Need for Innovation?

Leading mining companies have shown that lower operating expense (OpEx) is a pre-requisite to on-going business success. This need is driven by the cyclical mining market and ever-present, hefty capital requirements, both of which are inherent in the mining industry. And, when demand is high, the OpEx cost component of unplanned downtime grows steeper. Data indicates that, in mining operations, the root cause of OpEx overages lies in maintenance issues that impede operating efficiencies and incur unnecessary costs. Left unaddressed, these gaps will prevent mining companies from fully capitalising on increasing demand.  

According to McKinsey, mining companies have historically struggled with significant productivity declines, as shown below. In recent years, there is evidence that a slow recovery is underway, however, full resolution is in its’ infancy, primarily rooted in maintenance cost optimisation.

Other data points on current mining operations underscore the urgent call for innovation and change: 

• 70% operating efficiency due to breakdowns and stalled production, which translates to the real potential for increased productivity and throughput 
• 30-50% of mining operations costs are spent on maintaining plant, fleet and equipment, so, the magnitude of potential improvements on bottom-line profitability is the significant 
• 3-5X cost for urgent repairs and corrective work requests versus planned maintenance, often made evident by tracking the percentage of work orders managed through the planning office.

While change is always difficult, the promise of technology (and Industry 4.0, Mining 4.0) is a welcome and required one for mining companies.  Digital technologies and automation, or Mining 4.0, is defined by smart equipment, drive data-driven (and thus better) decisions, catalyse connected communications and provide easier, more affordable maintenance. From there, mining companies will be able to speed up production, reduce downtime and boost employee safety – three pillars that have challenged mining operations for years.

The First Step: Proactive Maintenance Via Condition Monitoring 

As the first tep to regain operational optimisation and lower costs, mining companies must get “ahead of the curve” and prevent process interruptions and unplanned downtime. The key is proactive maintenance via condition monitoring systems.  By proactively assessing equipment health, mining operators can be alerted to developing failures before they occur and schedule planned repairs at the lowest possible cost and with minimal impact on production.

Condition monitoring systems are based on the principle that failure is a process, not an event. By monitoring asset characteristics, latent anomalies become apparent well before full failure, allowing for low-cost interventions, root-cause analysis and proactive planning for resolution, thereby mitigating process interruptions. Concurrent with the deployment of a well-engineered proactive maintenance strategy, a thorough rationalisation review can minimise unnecessary or redundant maintenance tasks and, in many cases, eliminate human-induced failure modes.

Maintenance optimisation is a powerful lever – and the first step -- to achieving and sustaining lower production costs in mining.

When 14% Equals US$8mn 

Consider this PwC mining example, where proactive maintenance enabled a 14% reduction in maintenance spend by mitigating unplanned downtime to deliver US$8mn savings in operating expense (OpEx).

Goal: Reduce unplanned downtime

Solution: Condition monitoring system on critical equipment

Process:

1. Condition monitoring insights provide operator alerts of potential failures.

2. Proactive scheduling of repairs moves resolution to occur during planned maintenance, partial outage periods or normal equipment rotations.

3. Asset availability and reliability increase, production interruptions are minimised and maintenance costs are reduced.

Result: 14% reduction in maintenance spend generates US$8mn in OpE

Source: PwC “Balancing Uptime and Working Capital: Maintenance and Inventory Strategies in Mining”

Reliability and Employee Safety

The example above illustrates the dramatic improvements to operating expenses as mining operators move from reactive/unplanned to proactive/planned maintenance. With decreased downtime, overall operational reliability also improves and with it, a metric of paramount importance in mining: employee safety. 

Studies indicate that more reliable operations are safer operations. That’s because technology serves to reduce human-to-machine interaction and urgent, reactive work declines.  For one industrial company, as shown in the graph below, an OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) improvement of 52% delivered a safety improvement of 69% during a 10-year period. 

Customer Case Study: Slurry Pumps

Let’s look at a specific mining application ripe for optimisation and maintenance cost savings: slurry pumps. In mining pumping stations, pump failures are responsible for 97% of unplanned maintenance costs.  Pump reliability, however, is crucial in the areas of safety, environmental impact, and efficient transportation.

Key characteristics of slurry pumps can be monitored so that timely analysis of impending issues enable early detection of issues at inception and prior to failure. This avoids unplanned maintenance, unplanned downtime, and averts lost revenue.

In slurry pump applications, dynamic pressure sensors can be used to detect reciprocating diaphragm failures, providing a novel diagnostic to increase pump reliability. The solution is based on these design principles:

• The hydraulic fluid flexes the diaphragm
• When the diaphragm flexes, slurry is discharged
• Abrasive, corrosive slurries prohibit pressure sensor installations in slurry valves
• Thus, dynamic pressure monitoring of the hydraulic fluid assesses the effectiveness of slurry discharge

The result?  A savings of US $3 million per year, based on maintenance cost recovery and capacity increases for a 10-pump station.

Outcomes like the example above are possible for mining operations via innovative condition monitoring systems. There are many other condition monitoring mining applications, such as wireless sensors for hoist systems and continuous monitoring for SAG (semi-autogenous grinding) mills that deliver transformational outcomes.  The ultimate payoff for mining companies occurs when these applications and systems scale and interconnect into an operation-wide solution, enabling more holistic optimisation.

Benefits of Condition Monitoring

Condition monitoring is part of Mining 4.0, the transformation driven by the adoption of automation and digital technologies. Mining 4.0 inherently supports the infrastructure and process requirements for condition monitoring systems. Specifically, Mining 4.0 will facilitate capabilities such as digitisation, automation, analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, establishing a powerful foundation for proactive maintenance solutions and innovation.

Technology and proactive maintenance benefits have the potential to transform mining operations, starting with condition monitoring. In addition to managing and minimising the impact of failures, mitigating downtime and reducing maintenance costs, condition monitoring systems also help to increase worker safety, reduce energy consumption and meet environmental requirements. 

These benefits unleash the significant potential for radical and positive changes in mining operations. All condition monitoring systems, however, vary in scope and effectiveness, so proper selection of a design and enablement provider with full-scale capabilities and proven expertise can impact outcomes significantly. 

Innovation Beyond Technology

While innovation and transformation hold great potential, mining companies must go beyond reducing maintenance costs and implementing technology solutions. Companies must work differently and work smarter to capitalise on the full potential of digital technologies and holistic data strategies that deliver operation-wide benefits. For successful adoption, overcoming internal organisational barriers and cultural challenges to digital adoption is equally essential.  

To reduce pressure on capital-intense mining operations, condition monitoring solutions can be “self-funding” initiatives on the journey toward Mining 4.0 as operational benefits of condition monitoring are realised progressively from the early stages of implementation. 

The way forward for mining companies is clear -- and full of promise. As the world increasingly relies on mining to produce the minerals needed for green energy, innovative mining leaders will usher in an era of profound global transformation that ultimately benefits us all.

To learn more about condition monitoring systems in mining operations, please reach out to speak with one of us or another experienced professional at Baker Hughes