"We are at the tipping point of ushering in a new era of mining excellence and productivity," said Business Science Corporation (BSC) director Tony Savides during the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) 2023.
Delivering a keynote address on the topic of Practical Applications of AI in Mining, Savides highlighted the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), expecially in mining.
He pointed out the growing ubiquity of AI, using the event's opening video as an example of how AI technologies have streamlined creative processes.
“We used ChatGPT for help with the text, AI voice for the narrative and even the 3D components were generated by AI,” he said.
"The video was created in a significantly less amount of time than this would have taken simply a year ago. And that's how rapidly things are changing.
“It's undeniable that AI is significantly enhancing productivity and advancing rapidly.”
A tipping point
"We are at the tipping point of ushering in a new era of mining excellence and productivity," said Savides.
“As we develop and apply these foundational AI components, what excites me is how when they're used in combinations together, the compounded or multiplicative effects will be game-changing.
“In other words, each component alone adds value. But for some, when used together, this becomes 10x [the value].”
Savides referenced a case study by BSC that examined the productivity of autonomous vehicles, finding that automation wasn’t particularly beneficial from a productivity perspective than its manned alternatives.
That is until you combine automated machinery with an AI Traffic Manager.
“Everything changes, where the AI is able to orchestrate and control every piece of equipment within the mining environment, creating a symphony of moving parts,” Savides explained.
“The result is game-changing, one plus one is 10.”
Understanding the possibilities
Savides pointed out the millions of possibilities and trade-offs in mine design, mining methods, equipment, schedule, safety and economics to name a few.
“Imagine we had 10 capital projects to choose from and each one of those capital projects you could schedule to start at the start of a particular year of a 10-year period,” he described.
“If you look at the combinatorial options of that, what do you think would be the number of options you could choose from? 1 million, 10 million, 100 million?
“Try 26 billion. That’s right, 26 billion options.
“Now imagine what AI can do for mining.”
Savides highlighted the limited nature of human knowledge and experience and the cautious approach that tended to be taken toward new and unknown ventures.
“In contrast, AI is unlimited, and options to consider virtually infinite,” he said.
“I could design mines that are hyper-productive, tackling the ore body in ways I never considered before, mining it in methods unimagined.
“Consider for a second what mining technologies and equipment designs could be created by AI, driving innovation in mining to entirely new heights.”
Savides closed the speech with an assertion that AI in mining was well placed to offer strategic, operational and tactical insights, in a way that facilitated better agility and decision-making.