Innovation in the Mining Industry: Technological Trends and a Case Study of the Challenges of Disruptive Innovation
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REVIEW
Innovation in the Mining Industry: Technological Trends and a Case Study of the Challenges of Disruptive Innovation Felipe Sánchez 1
&
Philipp Hartlieb 2
Received: 14 January 2020 / Accepted: 6 July 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Innovation plays a critical role in the mining industry as a tool to improve the efficiency of its processes, to reduce costs, but also to meet the increasing social and environmental concerns among communities and authorities. Technological progress has also been crucial to allow the exploitation of new deposits in more complex scenarios: lower ore grades, extreme weather conditions, deeper deposits, harder rock mass, and high-stress environments. This paper discusses the importance of innovation for the mining industry and describes the mechanisms by which it is carried out. It includes a review of the drivers and actors involved and current trends. The digital transformation process that the industry is going through is analyzed, along with other relevant trends that are likely to shape the mining of the future. Additionally, a case study is presented to illustrate the technical and economic implications of developing a disruptive innovation project. Keywords Mining innovation . Mining technology . Digital transformation . Industry 4.0
1 Introduction Over the past decades, the mining industry has had to face a challenging scenario for its operation. Improving productivity to overcome natural factors such as decreasing ore grades, deeper deposits, and harder rock mass, combined with an increasing environmental and social awareness, has boost the industry to constantly work to enhance their processes along the whole value chain. In this, innovation plays a crucial role by providing suitable solutions to surpass these difficulties, ensuring the continuity and sustainability of the mining activity. There has been a historical debate whether mining is indeed an innovative industry or not. It is often perceived as a conservative sector, where innovation takes only a
* Philipp Hartlieb [email protected] Felipe Sánchez [email protected] 1
Department of Strategy and Policy Planning, Chilean Copper Commission, Santiago, Chile
2
Chair of Mining Engineering and Mineral Economics, Montanuniversität Leoben, Leoben, Austria
secondary position in the concerns of companies. But at the same time, many argue that mining is more likely to be comparable with high-tech industries, considering that it utilizes vanguard technologies in its processes, such as automated or remote-controlled machinery, and advanced monitoring systems for the collection and analysis of large amounts of data [1]. Nowadays, many relevant actors of the industry claim that mining is going through the first stages of a deep changeover from the hand of digital transformation. It is said that this process could change how mining is done, passing from human-run operations to autonomous or semi-autonomous remote-controlled mines. Independent if fully automated operations are achieved in the near futu
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