Efficiency in Australian mining has taken the focus in recent years, as there’s significant reliance on the Australian mining sector to produce exports of coal, rutile, zinc, uranium, gold and aluminium.
Tracking data and implementing digitalization will be the key to increasing efficiency. Here’s how we can do it.
The productivity requirement
The need for increased productivity and efficiency has plagued the Australian mining sector for years. It stems, ultimately, from one source: the conflict between a need for innovation and a reluctance to change. While some companies – such as Rio Tinto – pioneer the way in innovation, there are many, especially small ones, who lag behind.
For small miners, implementing massively innovative technologies is not an option. They don’t have the time, the budget, or the manpower for an autonomous fleet or intelligent machines. However, there’s an aspect of digital transformation that the small miner can access: improved data tracking.
When it comes down to it, lack of efficiency almost always comes back to data: supply chain data, fuel data, lack of data or an excess of data. Often, companies are bombarded with information from various sites, with no way of making any sense of it. This is why effective data management platforms are an absolute necessity.
Moving towards better efficiency in Australian mining will require companies to optimize the value of their data. This means:
- Implementing better data platforms
- Using analytics to make sense of this data
- Bring value to the data by using it for forecasting practices
A 2014 study by PWC points out that, “Mining companies understand implicitly that productivity carries a value, but are not armed with the right data to make informed choices on the risks/rewards involved.”
Data, again, lies at the centre of the problem.
So, what sort of data should we be tracking?
Any type of data can be useful. However, the main types that we should focus on in mining is productivity, production output, and asset data. When we say asset data, we refer to things such as supply chain commodity data or fuel data. Tracking these allows us to understand where our product is going and where it’s coming from.
In the case of fuel data in the mining sector, tracking it can allow us to reduce unnecessary fuel loss, which saves costs. In addition, platforms such as STAMP Fuel intake, analyse and forecast your data, so that you can reduce time wasted on extensive spreadsheets and difficult software. This reduces risk of incorrect fuel recording and fuel fraud, which saves both cost and productivity.
Data tracking and forecasting is central to improving mining efficiency. By implementing better data platforms, we can ensure that the mining sector preserves its longevity and maintains innovation. You can find out more about STAMP Fuel here or contact us here for a demo.