Positive news for mine management software companies as both large and small miners confirm investment in their products is critical

globaldata | December 17, 2018 | 10:06 am

Mines remain very conservative in their investment choices, sticking to those things that deliver an immediate return such as predictive maintenance and mine management software, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Global Mine-Site Technology Adoption Survey, 2018’, reveals that predictive maintenance and mine management software, have seen the highest penetration levels and mining companies of all sizes are predicted to continue to invest. In contrast, less than 40% of miners have invested, even to a minor degree, in cloud computing, augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR).

The report includes data and analysis from the company’s survey of over 200 worldwide mine sites, which investigated the extent to which mines had invested in 13 different technologies ranging from communication systems to drones, predictive maintenance, cloud computing, autonomous vehicles and wearables, as well as their investment intentions over the next two years.

David Kurtz, Director of Analysis, Mining and Construction at GlobalData commented, ‘‘This is positive news for software companies such as Dassault Systèmes, who offer a range of options under the Geovia brand, and Datamine, who together work with almost half of the mines surveyed. Other popular choices are Maptek, Deswik and RungePincockMinarco, which are collectively used by over 20% of the mines surveyed.’’

Amongst the other technologies investigated, whilst relatively few had yet invested in remote control vehicles, a reasonable share (35%) are planning to invest, either initially or as part of further investment, in this technology over the next two years. This will rank remote control vehicles in third place behind predictive maintenance (39%) and mine management software (48%).

Amongst the other technologies investigated, whilst relatively few had yet invested in remote control vehicles, a reasonable share (35%) are planning to invest, either initially or as part of further investment, in this technology over the next two years. This will rank remote control vehicles in third place behind predictive maintenance (39%) and mine management software (48%).

Kurtz added, “Investment in mine-site technology to date has been dominated by the majors, however the smaller miners are following suit in areas such as mine management software and predictive maintenance which allows them to increase productivity and run their complex operations as efficiently as possible.”

Information based on the GlobalData report, ‘‘Global Mine-Site Technology Adoption Survey, 2018’’

Methodology

  • The survey was conducted between July and October 2018, and included only operating mine sites
  • Respondents included mine managers, general manager and mine-site IT managers, and interviews were conducted via the telephone with surveys also emailed to qualified individuals
  • A total of 211 responses were received including 36% from Asia, 26% from Africa, 23% from the Americas, 8% from Australia and 7% from the rest of the world, including Europe and the Middle East.
  • 49% of responses were from surface-only mines; 35% from underground only, and 16% of from individuals where mines had both surface and underground operations. Only one response was accepted per mine.
  • 56% of responses were from majors, and 44% from smaller miners

About GlobalData

4,000 of the world’s largest companies, including over 70% of FTSE 100 and 60% of Fortune 100 companies, make more timely and better business decisions thanks to GlobalData’s unique data, expert analysis and innovative solutions, all in one platform. GlobalData’s mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative across a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer, retail, financial, technology and professional services sectors. PR3228