Bentley Systems and its subsurface company Seequent recently conducted a global survey of 400 industry experts regarding the state (and future) of condition monitoring for mines. The takeaways are a peek into what’s to come for monitoring, automation and more.
Does it surprise you to learn that, over the last two years, mine owners and service providers have switched to more automated monitoring while reducing their use of manual methods? Too be specific: 29% of mine owners accelerated their use of automated real-time data collection.
This and more were key to the outcomes of “Condition Monitoring in Mines,” released by Bentley Systems and partner Seequent to look at the current landscape for global operations’ condition monitoring for mines, including levels of automation, software in use, and the challenges often faced by their owners. The pair also sought to determine what is driving the change to automate monitoring and how others can make the transition based on lessons learned from those companies that have.
Overview
“The global mining industry plays a vital role in the world economy by providing essential resources…[and], generating several trillion dollars in revenue annually, the industry encompasses thousands of active mines spanning many countries around the world. Yet the sector faces a series of pain points and needs, including the need to reduce risk and improve safety, meet ESG and sustainability goals, ensure regulatory compliance and good governance, better understand mine site performance, and achieve system and data integration,” the two said in its opening of the report.
With that in mind, and with the knowledge that answers would boost the industry’s ability to optimizing condition monitoring practices and workflows, Bentley commissioned ThoughtLab for the survey of 400 industry experts from North America, Europe, and Australia. Experts included a mix of C-suite executives, technical managers, and technical staff working for companies ranging in size from under 100 employees to over 1,000.
It included 52 mine owners and their service providers – such as engineering firms and consultants – who focus on geotechnical, structural, and environmental monitoring.
The results clearly show the progress that mine owners and service providers are making in condition monitoring, including a shift to automated monitoring to achieve their goals for sustainable operations, enhanced mine site safety, and greater efficiencies over the longer term.
Current landscape
According to the findings, automated condition monitoring predominates for mines. Geotechnical, structural, and environmental data collection is now largely automated, though mine owners are further along in automation than their service providers – particularly in the most advanced data collection method, automated remote monitoring for transmission via telemetry.
“Nearly a quarter of mine owners fully automate their data collection, versus 17% of service providers,” the report confirmed. What’s more: mine owners are moving fasted because they tend to be large, sophisticated firms with resources to implement these automated systems.
“They understand the myriad benefits of automated monitoring to improve efficiency, reduce costs, mitigate risks, and ensure compliance. Service providers have the opportunity to move faster to automation to stay in step with the needs of their mining clients.”
Owners integrate more data sources
Another key finding was that, while both mine owners and service providers use a range of software to analyze condition monitoring data, on average, mine owners employ 3.8 software applications versus 3.3 for service providers (out of nine surveyed). Most favor general-purpose programs such as Excel, Tableau, and Power BI rather than specialized software for sensor data analysis.
“However, as both mine owners and service providers advance in automating their condition monitoring, they are likely to adopt specialized software that provides benefits, such as real-time monitoring of data, advanced visualizations of the subsurface, and customized reporting,” the report noted.
Additionally, integration with other data sources is key. Bentley and its team pointed out that organizations can enhance the value of condition monitoring data if they integrate it with data from other information sources.
“Mine owners, who tend to be more automated than service providers, are more apt to do this integration, particularly with data from asset management systems. These systems give owners a holistic view of mine performance and maintenance history. Mine owners and service providers integrate their sensor data with geoscience data, GIS layers, digital twins, and predictive models. These capabilities give them the ability to forecast maintenance requirements, anticipate mine-related risks, and make timelier and more data-based decisions.”
Automation lowers mine monitoring hurdles
The research compared the performance of organizations utilizing fully automated monitoring with those that use any degree of manual monitoring, labeling the first group “fully automated” and the second group “any manual.”
On average, Bentley said, fully automated organizations face fewer challenges in condition monitoring than manual ones – on average, 1.5 challenges versus 2.9, respectively. In fact, no fully automated enterprise surveyed reported experiencing difficulties with data ingestion and compatibility or with sampling errors.
“It is a different story for organizations that do any manual monitoring,” the report said. “More than half reported problems with sampling errors, and 44% reported problems with data ingestion and compatibility. In addition, manual organizations are more than four times as likely to have difficulty maintaining visualizations and charts.
“They also reported more trouble with sample collection and frequency, as well as with sharing data with stakeholders.”
Mine site monitoring continues to advance
“Over the last two years, both mine owners and service providers have switched to more automated monitoring while reducing their use of manual methods. One-third of service providers and 29% of mine owners accelerated their use of automated real-time data collection during that period,” according to the report, with the shift leading to other important trends in mining.
In fact, more than half of service providers and nearly a third of mine owners have increased the number of parameters that they measure, from particulates and air quality to wind and temperature; moreover, 22% of service providers and 29% of mine owners’ plan to widen the scope of their monitoring capabilities.
The findings make yet another great point that mining has come to know as true: that public disclosure and transparency builds trust with the community. Of those surveyed, 29% of owners said they have bolstered public data sharing over the past two years. While service providers have increased it a bit less, they tend to follow their clients on public disclosure policies.
“Providers have done more on monitoring transparency – for example, by clarifying data sources and improving reporting to internal and external stakeholders,” the companies said in the data release.
Stakeholders drive automation trend
That is the perfect segue into one of the biggest drivers for automating condition monitoring in mining, per the data. Social license – the need to communicate strong condition performance to stakeholders – is significant across mining. Looking at the data, approximately 65% of mine owners and 67% of the service providers that support them see global and growing environmental and safety demands as very influential.
Benefits of automation to mine owners
Since mine owners have automated their operations more than service providers, it follows that mine owners tend to realize somewhat more benefits for their businesses – when asked about five specific benefits, mine owners reported realizing 2.5 of them on average versus 2.1 for service providers.
More than eight out of 10 mine owners say that they can execute projects more cost effectively due to automation, and 76% report a greater ability to move into new markets.
Additionally, and likely no surprise to most, automated monitoring boosts revenue and productivity. However, more service providers (33%) than owners (9%) say that automation allows them to operate with leaner teams and staff, contributing to greater productivity.
Somewhat more providers (44%) than owners (36%) also say they can unlock recurring revenue. They can do so by expanding their client base and providing more services to existing clients. Similar percentages of service providers and mine owners say that they can execute more projects in a year.
A look to the future
Bentley said that the report has shown that the move to automation will continue to accelerate.
“Mine owners will continue to shift their monitoring practices toward automation over the next two years, increasing their average percentage of automated data collection from 72% to 80%. Service providers will follow suit, augmenting their average percentage of automated collection from 68% to 77%.
“While this is a sizable increase, in two years, service providers for mining will continue to lag the average of 81% for the providers in all industries in our study (which includes transportation, dams, utilities, and water distribution/wastewater infrastructure),” it added.
There is, conversely, resistance to full automation. While, overall, the move to automation is clear, some firms remain reluctant to fully automate data collection because they believe manual monitoring has advantages.
“Some think that manual processes are cheaper. However, 82% of mine owners and 44% of service providers said they could execute projects more cost effectively through automation,” the findings explained.
“Similarly, despite the worries of some executives, automating data collection does not eliminate human judgment or oversight. Instead, it frees up people from the mundane task of collecting data, allowing them to use their time more effectively and apply their insights where needed.”
Automation is, in fact, needed to future-proof business. This message is clear for both mine owners and service providers: in the long term, automated data collection is crucial for meeting the needs of stakeholders.
Automated condition monitoring enables mine owners to generate accurate, real-time data and unlock greater data insights at lower costs. That is why 100% of fully automated mine owners believe that their condition monitoring practices will allow them to continue to meet stakeholder demands in 10 years. In contrast, 42% of those doing any manual monitoring say that their practices will not suffice.
Service providers also recognize the importance of automation for their future business success. Every fully automated service provider surveyed believes that their condition monitoring practices will remain economically viable in 10 years, while nearly half of manual providers realize that their approach will not hold up in the future.
Key takeaways
So, how is automation improving condition monitoring for mines? For the resource-rich mining industry, condition monitoring is now predominantly automated, Benley and Seequent said.
“Among mine owners, 72% of data is now collected via automated means, and among service providers, the figure is 68%. Over the next two years, owners and providers alike will further increase their automated monitoring of all data collected to 80% and 77%, respectively.”
The analysis revealed that shifting to automation offers five key benefits for mining companies and their service providers.
Greater value from sensor data. Automating condition monitoring – particularly when analyzing data with specialized software – makes it easier for organizations to get more from their data by integrating it with data from other information sources. These sources include asset management systems, geoscience data, GIS layers, digital twins, and public data.
Reduced challenges in condition monitoring. Fully automated organizations experience fewer roadblocks in condition monitoring than manual ones. Data ingestion and compatibility, as well as visualization and chart maintenance, are some of the main challenges that mine owners and service providers overcome by automating.
Ability to monitor more variables. As they have automated data collection over the past two years, 56% of service providers and 32% of mine owners have increased the number of parameters they measure, such as particulates and load. More than two in 10 in both groups have also widened the scope of their monitoring to include more areas, such as air quality, noise, vibration, and structural soundness.
Cut in costs and greater productivity. Mine owners and service providers are seeing sizable cost benefits from their shift to automation. Eighty-two percent of mine owners say they can execute projects more cost effectively; 44% of service providers say the same. Meanwhile, 45% of owners and 44% of providers say that they can execute more projects in a year.
Boost to the top line. Automated condition monitoring stimulates revenue growth for both mine owners and service providers. More than three quarters of mine owners say they can move into new markets, and 44% of providers say the same. A significant share of owners (36%) and providers (44%) say they can unlock recurring revenue.
Lessons learned
Bentley asked mine owners and their service providers what they learned on their journey to automated condition monitoring. The five lessons they offered include:
Standardize and integrate processes. Organizations that develop a comprehensive strategy for integrating automation with existing systems and processes achieve better results when automating condition monitoring. “Standardization ensures smooth integration and allows for easier troubleshooting,” said a design engineer at a U.S. mining firm.
Ensure the right resources and infrastructure. To successfully automate condition monitoring, mining firms must have the necessary digital and organizational foundation in place. “Setting up automation involves dedicating essential financial, human, and technological resources,” said an instrumentation specialist at a U.S. mining company.
Maintain high quality standards. Organizations should regularly review and optimize automated processes to ensure they remain effective and trustworthy. “It’s important to make sure that quality standards stay up-to-date and efficient,” said an instrumentation specialist at an Australian mining firm.
Make data security and privacy a priority. To ensure data security, companies will want to employ the right software and processes when automating. “Implement robust data privacy and protection measures to safeguard sensitive information and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements,” said the CEO of a U.K. mining company.
Educate and engage employees. Companies should ensure their technical staff know they are not being replaced by automation. Automated condition monitoring will simply reduce or eliminate the mundane, time-consuming work of manual data collection so they can focus on more important tasks.
“Foster a culture where automated condition monitoring complements human expertise, rather than replacing human roles,” advised a technician with a Canadian mining firm.
This submission has been edited for space.