Meet the future of mining

Q: What does a typical mine look 
like and how does it run 20 years 
from now?

A: We’re seeing bits and pieces and getting a taste of what the future mine can be. Our way of living today forces us to mine in more challenging places. This is why having truly remote, large-scale monitoring is becoming increasingly important. For me, it’s about working towards a more self–sustainable mine where, ideally, most employees don’t even have to be on-site, and the work is geared towards supervision and monitoring rather than hands-on, on-site work. Here in Australia, we have mines where people are operating autonomous equipment about 2,000 kilometers away from the actual site. Which is a great thing from a sustainability standpoint, as personnel don’t need to fly into mine sites.

Q: How does Sandvik work with AI?

A: One example is Sandvik Remote Monitoring Services, where we utilize big data from our global connected fleet and build algorithms to identify premature failures as well as operator competence gaps. These algorithms include AI models, which are especially convenient for premature failure detection. This enables our customers to make better decisions on maintenance and operator training, allowing them to always be one step ahead. 
I think that’s where we’re advanced 
at Sandvik. But of course, the full potential of AI is yet to be discovered.

Q: What does Sandvik provide within the digital offering from a customer standpoint?

A: Sandvik’s digital offering is very strong and market unique. We cover everything from safety, mine planning, optimization, automation and operational management. We have all the fundamental pieces for a fully autonomous mine, with each of the offerings being strong on its own. We’re able to support our customers in implementing these pieces and taking all the necessary steps towards the future mine. We are already able to run fully autonomous mass mining operations with the digital offering from Sandvik, yet the key for us is to show how it can be used in any kind of mining operation.

Q: In what ways do you meet your customers’ individual needs?

A: The diesel-electric truck is a good example of a stepping-stone towards fully battery-electric vehicles. While we recognize that not all customers will immediately adopt a full Sandvik digital offering – despite its being the ideal scenario – we understand the importance of allowing customers to take incremental steps and choose solutions that best fit their specific site needs. This flexibility reinforces Sandvik’s 
position as a strong and reliable partner. We work closely with our customers, building relationships that enables us to further develop our products based on their experiences and feedback. Transitioning to battery-
electric vehicles and autonomous mines introduces a new level of management, such as planning for charging and health management. This is where our digital offering really comes together, providing a fully integrated solution, because it is all connected.

Q: How does new mining technology affect diversity and inclusivity?

A: With new technology we’ve removed a lot of manual labor. So that shift has already happened, so now we need to change the mindset to make the industry 
even more diverse, to be able to show for example more women that this is a real career path. There was a study that showed that more than 70 percent of mining managers think that skill shortage is going to be one of the key impacts to their productivity in the coming years. I always think it’s important to lead by example, to show that it’s possible for anyone to have careers in this industry as well, that it’s not a restricted field.