The mining industry is gradually but steadily turning toward digital technologies. According to a Kept study, three areas will become the main investment priorities by 2030: mine dispatch systems, named by 81% of companies; integration platforms, cited by 76%; and AI-based decision support systems — so-called AI advisors — also named by 76%. The top five priorities are rounded out by mining and geological information systems at 68% and predictive equipment maintenance at 65%.
What are AI advisors, and why does the industry need them? They are intelligent assistants that analyze data from equipment, manufacturing execution systems (MES), geological models, industrial IoT, machine vision cameras and dispatch systems. They then suggest optimal decisions to process engineers and dispatchers: how to adjust quarry operations, redirect machinery or change processing parameters. Such an advisor can detect hidden patterns and connections that a human operator would simply miss in conventional control systems.
In an ideal digital ecosystem, everything is connected in a single loop: sensors on machinery transmit data, a digital twin models processes, dispatch systems control equipment, and an AI advisor provides real-time optimization recommendations. But the industry is still far from that picture. The study shows that 81% of mining companies use digital technologies only in fragments or in pilot mode. Only about 10% are ready for large-scale investment in digital transformation.
The sector is still at the beginning of this journey: interest in AI advisors is high, but real implementation is held back by fragmented data and infrastructure that is not yet ready. Still, the trend is clear: in five to seven years, managing complex mining operations without an intelligent assistant may be as difficult as working without GPS today.
Source: Kept
