Use of technologies in the digital age provides more productivity and safety to an unhealthy and high-risk activity such as mining and more gains for the economy
“Mining is an unhealthy activity, but we need ores, which are the basis of much of what we consume and which has an impact on our economy, even more so in the digital age. The solution to a good portion of the problems is to automate everything possible”, says mining engineer Giorgio de Tomi, director of the Research Center for Responsible Mining at the University of São Paulo (NAP.Mineração-USP).
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The mining of the future in the digital age and the impact on the economy
The digital mining of the future, assesses Giorgio de Tomi, will be completely autonomous, without the presence of employees in risk areas, and will make intensive use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in data analysis.
The goal is to generate productivity and determine the most sustainable way for the economy, a way of taking advantage of mineral reserves that are increasingly scarce and located in remote and deep regions, which can boost the Brazilian economy.
Digital mining in Brazil
In Brazil, Vale, the largest mining company in the country and one of the global leaders in the sector, closed at the end of 2019 an agreement worth BRL 21 million with operator Vivo to implement a private network Long Term Evolution (LTE/4G), for data transmission in remote areas in all its units in the national territory.
The Carajás mine, in Pará, should be connected in the first half of the year. According to Mosquim, from Vale, the system will support the implementation of drills and autonomous vehicles. The idea is to have 37 autonomous trucks in Carajás by 2024.
Initiated in 2016, Vale's digital mining transformation process gained momentum two years ago, when the company started a program with an expected investment of US$ 467 million by 2023 to move towards Industry 4.0. An Integrated Operations Center was set up in Nova Lima (MG) with the aim of integrating the production chain and the different business areas through digital technologies and leveraging the Brazilian economy.
