Industry Experts Advise Mining Firms to Transform, Innovate — or Be Left Behind

IntelliSense.io recently had an event that centered on a discussion around mining processes and technology and the future of mining. The session included BHP’s head of innovation Cleve Lightfoot, senior VP of Oilfield & Mining solutions Damien Caby; Ippei Akiyoshi of the CVC Mineral Resources Group; and Sam G Bose, CEO and founder of IntelliSense.io.

The themes discussed during the forum focused on why the mining industry requires change, what the industry would look like in the future and how the industry could adopt innovation. At the center of this discussion was the view that mining processes and technology were out of date.

Lightfoot expounded on this, stating that the industry was working with processes and technology that were developed nearly a century ago, which makes those processed and technology unsuitable for the future of the mining industry. He added that while the technology was more efficient as well as bigger and better, the industry had not taken into account how operations in the mining industry had changed and the fact that it would continue changing at a more rapid pace.

Bose said that sustainability solutions had become an immediate need for the mining industry as advanced technologies were developed. He stated that the next-generation miners were more vocal on this change as it would enable mining to occur in a way that was more sustainable. Additionally, he added that new miners entering the industry were looking into various systems that would allow them to access information instantaneously, which would allow them to make decisions using data in real time. This, he said, had also acted as an incentive for the industry to explore alternative ways of operation.

Akiyoshi of Mitsubishi supported this view, adding that investors were also keenly interested in the environmental consciousness of mining firms. He stated that developing a good economic value was good but that mining firms needed to demonstrate that they not only cared for the environment but were also responsible in how they carried out their operations.

Caby from BASF chimed in, stating that from an operational viewpoint, the demand for material that was environmentally-conscious and ethically sourced had also influenced the direction of the natural resource industry significantly. He explained that this was the largest driver of change as it would shift the way most minerals would be extracted from the earth.

He then suggested that moving forward, companies would need to prioritize their opportunities, which would include understanding the situations of their own mines and unlocking their operational data value before they began their innovation journey.

Speaking of technological transformation, Energy Fuels Inc. (TSX: EFR) (NYSE American: UUUU) has three facilities at which it leverages two key technologies —in-situ recovery and conventional extraction methods — to excel at mining uranium.

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