Uptake says it and the world’s largest copper producer, Codelco, are working on an artificial intelligence (AI) solution to monitor the health of mining equipment and ensure operations run efficiently and maintenance needs are predicted.

The agreement, part of Codelco’s digital transformation plan, includes mining and processing equipment at Codelco’s Division Ministro Hales (DMH) mine in Calama, Chile. In addition, Uptake will monitor grinding mills, roasters, crushers, pumps, haul trucks, and other machines with a view to creating a comprehensive and enterprise-wide Asset Performance Management solution across all of the company’s operating mines.

In 2017, the company’s DMH mine produced 215,086 t of copper alongside more than 126 t of silver.

Jaime Rivera, Codelco General Manager of the Andina Division, said: “Deploying artificial intelligence will allow Codelco to make best use of our operational data and allow us to reach our goals of boosting mining productivity, reduce costs and maintain safe machine operations through the predictive capabilities of Uptake’s Asset Performance Management (APM) software.”

Jay Allardyce, Uptake Executive Vice President of Industry, Product and Partnerships, said: “Codelco is the world’s leader in copper production and we’re pleased to support their digital efforts to make operations and maintenance expenditures more efficient by increasing visibility into the real-time and future health of mining machines.

“We are excited to partner with Codelco given their forward thinking to accelerate not only their operations, but the industry. With their data first approach coupled with our AI leadership, the transformation impact is outstanding and with leaders like Codelco it sets the tone for what is possible.”

Uptake’s APM software solution improves operational efficiency by leveraging AI to create business value from operational data, according to Uptake.

“Traditional asset management only covers routine maintenance tasks and fails to anticipate and adjust to the ways industry operates its business,” Uptake said. “Today’s asset-intensive environments require a new approach with industrial data science generating OEM (original equipment manufacturer)-agnostic insights, predictions and recommendations for any asset.”

By deploying Uptake APM, industry can unlock new operational efficiencies by making proactive maintenance decisions based on predictive insights, the company said. “Our industrial AI and machine-learning engines detect asset anomalies and help predict and prevent problems before they happen. Industry can also leverage the data analytics to understand how to drive more financial outcomes that impact business.”