Technology of mining in the future (Part 1)

Technology of mining in the future (Part 1)

Published by Donna Schmidt in www.miningmagazine.com

The future of mining is not just about the deposits and reserves that have not yet been efficiently tapped. It also is not just about the people who will make up the mining community years from now - though both are crucial to the sector's future.

A central element of mining's future is technology, be it those ideas which keep miners safe, keep mining equipment moving in the most optimised manner, new ideas that will keep commodities moving from pit to port, or that reduce or even eliminate the ecological impact of the industry.

In order to advance the natural resources and mining industries with a focus on sustainable and socially responsible solutions, Indian mining conglomerate Vimson Group and New York-headquartered innovation hub Newlab founded Prospect Mining Studio.

The partnership supports top entrepreneurs, engineers, inventors, and prominent researchers to advance the natural resource and mining industries. The program explores opportunities in prospecting and surveying, exploration, mine design and planning, closed loop production, and mine closure and mitigation.

Newlab is a tech firm with over 800 inventors, engineers and entrepreneurs applying their respective technologies to better health, environment, infrastructure and and other sectors, and many have taken on mining alongside other industries they represent.

In late 2019, Prospect Mining Studio launched an open call for entrepreneurs and researchers to apply their technology to address the mining industry's most pressing challenges. The studio received 70 applications from six continents.

In December 2019, it convened a one-day summit at the Newlab headquarters in Brooklyn to bring together the startups with mining companies, academic researchers and corporations with the goal of finding the most compelling opportunities. It used the topics uncovered at the workshop to guide its application review process, identifying opportunities on tailings remediation and robotics and automation as well as new models of data analysis and predictive analytics.

It subsequently picked 15 companies for its inaugural cohort and is currently supporting each team to deploy pilots at sites of the Vimson group or a partner, with the ultimate goal of advancing the mining industry with a focus on sustainable and socially responsible solutions.

"Prospect is currently developing prototyping and pilot opportunities for these startups and engaging additional mining partners," Newlab noted. "The studio has also progressed diligence activities with a few companies to make its first investments for the program."

"Prospect will continue collaborating with its stakeholders to commercialise new products and assist startups to scale up into the mining industry, all while driving investment and disrupting the status quo."