Robots will run mines within the next decade - Anglo

A

Adrianax

Banned
Joined
May 3, 2017
Messages
2,336
Reaction score
33
https://www.fin24.com/Companies/Mining/robots-will-run-mines-within-the-next-decade-anglo-20171130

London - Some mines in the next decade will run without humans and instead rely on robots, virtual models and sensors, according to Anglo American [JSE:AGL].

Anglo is betting on technology, such as computerised drills with "chiseling ability as good as a human" to increase productivity, cut costs and reduce environmental impact, Tony O’Neill, technical director at Anglo, said at the Mines and Money conference in London.

"The industry that everybody currently knows will be unrecognisable" in five to seven years, O’Neill said. With mining processes automated, Anglo’s "employee of the future" will only need to focus on managing the company’s relations with governments and communities that live near its mines, he said.

Anglo operates some of the world’s most valuable copper deposits and employs 87 000 workers from South Africa to Chile.

Bots, or software that can execute instructions, will be increasingly important in underground mining, O’Neill said. Small and self-learning, the technology requires less infrastructure than current methods, and commercial application is five to seven years away.

READ: Ramaphosa warns workers to prepare for mechanisation storm

Anglo isn’t the first to invest in automation.

In Australia’s Pilbara iron ore region, BHP Billiton [JSE:BIL] has begun work aimed at implementing autonomous trains along its 1 300-kilometre rail network.

Barrick Gold is a year into the gold mining industry’s most ambitious experiment to modernise digging, using thousands of sensors at and around the Cortez mine in Nevada.

Other technology uses real-time, virtual models of physical processes to prevent problems before they occur and can be deployed to monitor the mine, processing and distribution, O’Neill said. The systems, borrowed from the aerospace industry, could increase productivity by about 20% and lower costs by 15%, he said.

The company plans to use so-called "dry water" for cooling and other processes that use lots of liquid. It also aims to reduce mine waste, which would make tailings dams unnecessary.
Click to expand...
 
NUM shall herewith be known as NUOME(National Union of Outdated Mining Equipment).

:p
 
Won't happen in South Africa.

The [-]terrorists[/-] unionists will see to that.
 
If mines want to survive they need to get to ore deposits which reside in areas that human workers simply cannot practically work in. This is the next evolution of mining, (un)fortunately.
 
Good for them. Efficiency of production. Get rid of the unstable and unprofitable elements.
 
thestaggy said:
Won't happen in South Africa.

The [-]terrorists[/-] unionists will see to that.
Click to expand...

Unions have left automation in process/manufacturing plants to proceed unhindered. I don't see that changing with introduction of robots.
 
Finally, some sort of futuristic twang to the world I was promised by all those movies as a kid..

At least Elon made it with electric cars too..
 
thestaggy said:
Won't happen in South Africa.

The [-]terrorists[/-] unionists will see to that.
Click to expand...
If a business cannot be operated profitably it will close. Nothing a union can do about it. ;)

Robots will reduce cost and will not go on strike every year.
 
Wait until China and Russia owns all mines in South Africa..... bots will do all the mining and some more bots will defend these mines with lethal force and not a single person will be allowed to cry a tear about it!!
 
LaraC said:
If a business cannot be operated profitably it will close. Nothing a union can do about it. ;)

Robots will reduce cost and will not go on strike every year.
Click to expand...

I've been striking for some time now.

They should hire ponies for the hard labour :whistle:
 
I saw some workshops for Anglo 2030 a few years ago. The goal is to phase out people as they reach retirement age, and upskill the remainder to handle support of the autonomous systems.

Underground mines will be difficult, but pit mines are getting there really fast. The latest Komatsu Automated truck doesn't have even a cab, let alone a distinct front or back.
 
ForceFate said:
Unions have left automation in process/manufacturing plants to proceed unhindered. I don't see that changing with introduction of robots.
Click to expand...

So you don't see a problem from a group like NUM when suddenly 1000 miners are retrenched and replaced by 100 robots?

*Hypothetical scenario

Unions are as much about making money as they are looking after the interests of workers. For interests sake, in 2012 the NUM secretary was earning R105,000 per month. . .What do you think the reaction will be when suddenly their paying members start losing their jobs? Hell, unionists already kill one another in ''turf wars''. Unions are big business, there is a reason why even the Mafia muscled in on it in the States. They will resist anything that hits their pockets.
 
For the Automation sector, this is great news.

But I suspect that this will take a lot of convincing to get past our labor intensive mining unions.

If they automate portions where there is no workers first, and then train the operators on these new sections, it might work

Just my 2c....
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X