I just got back from MineXpo in Las Vegas and had the pleasure to speak with both our partners and customers in this exciting market. The conference is very unique because it is only held every four years and to me this is telling of the industry. Not that the industry doesn’t change, but that change takes some time and is built for the long haul.
An example of this is the work that we are doing with partners such as Caterpillar and Komatsu. Walking through their booths took a long time due to the incredible amount of square footage at each. What kept coming up was that data is the key to success in mining going forward. Here is a photo of how Caterpillar defines this with their customers:
Getting to the data has been difficult, but it’s getting easier as we have been working to understand the nuances of the market and building robust, pervasive networks across customer sites. One output that customers want is advancements in the Autonomous Vehicle space. Here is a shot of the new Komatsu haul truck and if you look closely, you will notice that there is a piece missing – the driver’s cab!
Not only has Komatsu designed a fully autonomous vehicle, but there is no turning back. There is no way to have a driver in this vehicle so you are either all in for autonomous or it will not work. We are working with Komatsu to ensure full compatibility and integration onto the operations network and ensure their uptime needs are met.
The market is in an upswing and digital ideas & implementations are at the forefront of companies’ thoughts. Our recent announcement with Barrick Gold shows this as they have committed to a full transformation into a Digital Mining company. They have also stated that they will be up and running with these concepts within three years, which is an incredibly quick turnaround for us to implement. The great thing is that we hope to talk about these real life examples and stories at MineXpo 2020!
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