The Udokan Copper operation in Russia’s Transbaikal Territory has reported record production figures, mining 19 million tonnes of ore over the year—the highest volume in the project’s history. The achievement was driven not only by the scale of the operation but also by a growing suite of digital tools taking over key production processes.
The company has deployed two neural-network systems that it says have no direct equivalents in Russia’s mining and metals industry. The Sovetchnik system is responsible for fine-tuning mineral processing operations. It monitors grinding mills, flotation cells, and thickening units, providing recommendations on optimal operating parameters. The second platform, Maestro, integrates these control loops into a unified management system and automatically applies calculated settings to equipment without requiring direct operator intervention.
In the open pit, the Free Bucket optimization system manages haul truck allocation. It assigns trucks to excavators to prevent queues from building up at loading faces and helps keep the fleet running efficiently. Maintenance operations have also undergone extensive digitalization. By the end of the reporting period, four out of five scheduled maintenance operations were being managed using electronic tools.
Further projects are already in development. Engineers are introducing an optimizer for individual production processes designed to improve efficiency at each stage of mining and ore processing. At the same time, machine-learning algorithms are being trained to calculate the most efficient haul routes for mining trucks.
The company has also invested heavily in occupational and industrial safety. More than RUB 386 million was allocated to workplace safety and industrial protection during the year. Eighty-five trucks have been equipped with driver-monitoring video analytics, with another 69 haul trucks scheduled to receive the technology by the end of the year.
Udokan Copper is gradually assembling a comprehensive digital ecosystem in which algorithms coordinate the mine, processing plant, and haulage fleet. The record 19 million tonnes of ore is only the most visible result of a broader technological transformation taking place across the operation.
Source: Udokan Copper
Image: Udokan Copper
