Industry 4.0 – The Innovative Market Solutions for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Mining
The global demand from the industry makes the mining market a strategic segment for several countries. Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru, for example, are major producers of minerals, accounting for 85% of all exports from Latin America and the Caribbean. Since 1970, mineral extraction has grown 600%, reaching 3.97 billion tons in 2017. Investment in the segment is also substantial: $171 billion was injected between 2003 and 2017, despite a slight decline in the last five years.
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Digitalization Trends in the Mining Industry
The mining market can benefit and gain competitive advantages by employing digital technologies and data analytics to optimize operations, asset performance, and reduce risks. However, for this, mining companies will need to overcome the barriers of their operations, which are often divided into individual operational silos, with ineffective integration between the mine, processing, and transportation.
By bringing together these elements of the industry and supply chain, a greater scope for market change arises, presenting an opportunity to find new efficiencies that generate results.
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Russia erected the tallest building in Europe on ground as soft as quicksand, on the edge of the Gulf of Finland, with 264 piles of 25 meters, 30 thousand tons of steel, and 16,500 glass panels curved one by one in Saint Petersburg.
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A mother of four sought a safer family environment, watched tutorials on the internet, built a 325 m² house with her family, and learned foundation, walls, plumbing, and electrical work without any professional experience.
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Brazilians build modern houses 10 minutes from Disney, with luxury finishes, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a $227 condo fee, and potential for Airbnb, targeting investors who want to use the property in Orlando and rent it out when they are not in the United States.
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A city with fewer than 2,000 residents believed that 3D-printed houses would solve its housing crisis, but the project stalled, walls cracked, the printer disappeared from the site, and the FBI got involved in the case.
To overcome these barriers in the mining industry and achieve digital transformation effectively, it is essential to focus on systems, processes, and primarily on the resources and the mindset that must be implemented.
The Mining Market in Brazil
In Brazil, a large part of sand extraction and production is carried out in riverbeds, generally marketed as it is extracted. The state of São Paulo is the largest Brazilian producer, accounting for 39% of national production.
One of the main uses of sand in the construction market includes: as an aggregate for concrete, mortar, filters, abrasives, concrete artifacts and prefabricated items, concrete and asphalt pavement bases, glass production, among others.
The iron-carbon alloy (stainless steel) has resistance and durability as one of its main characteristics, attributed to the addition of chromium (11% in composition), in addition to an elegant and modern appearance. This type of steel is widely used in cladding, elevators, sinks, floors, and other urban furniture items, as it maintains its original appearance for a long time and requires no corrosion protection. Besides these advantages in mining, various iron ore deposits are mostly sufficiently rich, pure, and easy to explore, in addition to the possibility of recycling scrap.

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