8 March - 2023By Alex Fenn, Head of Technology and Innovation, Sibanye StillwaterHow has your experience been at Sibanye Stillwater, as the head of technology and innovation?I have been with Sibanye Stillwater since it was unbundled from Gold Fields Limited in 2013. As part of Sibanye Resources' Gold and Platinum divisions, I oversee the implementation of safe technology and innovation-related projects. I handle all the safety-related projects, mining digitalization programs, and asset standard management for mobile machinery of the Gold Division. Could you shed some light on the recent trends and developments in the mining tech domain?Today's digital technology gives us a lot of opportunities to better understand the mining environment as a first step, and then understand how our employees are participating within that environment. Then we can focus our efforts on strengthening occupational health and safety (OHS) for our employees. Mining incidents were mostly tackled reactively, which means actions were taken after an incident had already happened. Then, we would focus on how to remediate the situation. But now, we are taking a more proactive stance to ensure OHS. We are doing it using advanced digital technologies, continuously analyzing data to understand a working scenario better. For instance, we have implemented a system called Proximity Detection and Collision Avoidance. As the name suggests, the systems help in generating working practices through increased safety awareness and modified worker behavior. It helps to prevent machine-to-machine collisions and machine-to-person incidents, which in turn improves overall productivity and efficiency of operations.We are also implementing solutions to decarbonize our operations. Deep mining is a carbon-intensive industry. This creates a high demand for electricity resulting in the excessive use of coal and carbon emission. We are now looking at the electrical equivalent to reduce fossil fuel usage associated with the same. But, with the utilities being a very large scope, there's always efficiency arbitrage at play. We are trying to optimize the carbon emissions, whether through the replacement of equipment, optimization of processes, or efficiency of specific machinery. Could you elaborate on some challenges that businesses are facing in the implementation of the latest technologies?Need to understand the problem; not force-fit solutions: A lot of new technologies enter the market every day, but not all are designed for mining applications. One of the key things to do is identify what your primary objectives are, the problems your business is experiencing, and what opportunities exist in the market to differentiate your brand, and then start looking for or developing solutions around those challenges, problems, and opportunities. Alex FennGREENER MINING USING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIESIN MYOPINION
< Page 7 | Page 9 >