MINING 4.0 HOW DO WE GET THERE?
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“A systems approach is required for the Andrew Whibley, Gold Fields VP for Technology and Innovation. “ future mine” Insights from
With digital transformation and decarbonisation inextricably linked, it makes sense that Andrew Whibley is responsible for developing a decarbonisation framework in his role as Vice President for Technology and Innovation at Gold Fields. He explains why a systems approach is required for the mine of the future. “An important concept to understand is that mining is a portfolio business and there is a lag between culture and technology,” he says. “A systems approach is about scaling risk in your business. You can’t be one dimensional. For example, if you decide to change to battery vehicles, what will that do to the wider energy situation at the mine or the local energy suppliers, or the local community? There are a lot of ramifications and interdependencies to consider.”
“What we are doing is focusing on decarbonisation and how we bring that into the strategic decision-making process. This starts with defining problems at a high level, such as renewables supply, underground electrification, and fundamentally how we move ore,” he elaborates. “There are different risks, but what digital connectivity provides is the collaboration to understand the systemic changes required in your business and co-design these instead of taking a federated view of how to optimise.” Moreover, Whibley argues that Mining 4.0 is more about culture change than technology. He therefore advises miners to centre their digitalisation strategy around people. “Fundamentally it’s about people change. If you know what drives them personally, you can shape how you work together in the business structure. If you can achieve this type of synergy, where there is diversity of thinking and inclusivity, then you can achieve success.”
Which is why Whibley firmly believes that strategy must precede structure.
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