A recent survey carried out by Ventyx has indicated that costs and uncertainty make optimising production mining’s biggest challenge.

Three quarters of the mining executives responding to the Ventyx 2014 Global Mining Industry Survey indicated that optimising or maximising production was the most urgent challenge that their companies should address during a period with a combination of rising production costs, slim margins and fluctuating commodity prices.

A growing number of executives and managers suggested that optimisation was a leading benefit of combining information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), compared to the 2013 Survey, more than half report their companies are still operating with siloed data through the organisation and rely on spreadsheets combined with human expertise for crucial decision support.

The next five most-urgent challenges after optimizing production, according to survey respondents, are:

• Workforce safety (73%)
• Equipment reliability (71%)
• Managing capital projects correctly (70%)
• Addressing environmental concerns (63%)
• Executing to operational plan (57%)

Jay Jenkins, Director of Product Management for Ventyx Technical Mining Software said: “The 2014 Ventyx Mining Survey is an encouraging snapshot of an industry slowly but increasingly embracing technologies that help the industry meet its most urgent challenges, deliver predictability and improve safety while increasing shareholder return. Judging from the top challenges listed by respondents, the best solution is a combination of technologies that includes remote asset diagnostics, continuous automation and software optimisation.”

The Ventyx 2014 Global Mining Industry Survey interviewed 247 mining executives and managers in more than a dozen countries during July 2014 using an online questionnaire. Geddes Analytics LLC developed the research design, survey questionnaire, and final analysis in collaboration with Ventyx, an ABB company.

Other noteworthy findings of the Ventyx 2014 Mining Industry Survey:

• Safe, skilled workforce remains a priority: Operations managers are particularly concerned with resourcing their skilled workforce, with 27% identifying this goal as the leading force driving optimisation. This may be because more than a third of mining companies surveyed still rely on human intelligence to optimize the value chain. Workforce safety remains a priority. While 73% cited it as “the most urgent challenge,” more than 50% of respondents stated that it’s an extremely urgent priority. More than a third of respondents already have mobility solutions in place that can alleviate some short-term safety challenges, but the focus on zero harm; zero fatalities will continue to drive investments in mobility, automation and initiatives such as remote mining.
• Access to real-time production and equipment data is an executive priority: Two in three operations management executives, 92% of asset management executives and 67% of corporate executives seek the ability to make smarter decisions based upon real-time production and equipment data as a primary objective for their move toward greater automation.
• Remote mining continues to increase: Half of respondents indicated their companies are actively implementing remote mining strategies. As technological capabilities for automation and optimisation evolve, remote mining initiatives also bring relief to the urgent challenges to optimise production, improve worker safety and improve reliability.

“The survey results confirm what we’re hearing from our customers: the mining industry is looking for better ways to profitably increase productivity, while ensuring safety and environmental compliance. Further, encouragingly, the miners see technology as one of the main enablers to achieve these goals,” said Eduardo Gallestey, Senior Principal Engineer for Advanced Process Control at ABB. “ABB’s technology road map will continue to focus on generating value in the areas of system integration, real-time visibility, process optimization and remote operations.”