Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Automated operations are winning over today’s mining industry. Whether it is autonomous trucks, tele operated drills and blasts or automated logistics applications, mines are increasingly introducing these kinds of equipment and solutions.
The installation and the maintenance of those technologies, says University of British Columbia mining professor John Meech, doesn’t imply that robots will replace people. In an interview with local newspaper The Vancouver Sun, Meech says that mining engineers need to understand the principles behind this equipment and how it all coordinates together.
“It took about three or four years for the students to accept that this is their future,” Meech said. “Many of the students asked ‘Why do we have to know about robots? That’s what the electrical and mechanical experts should be spending their time on.”
Continue reading this article at The Vancouver Sun.
