Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr
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Rewards of Real-time Data Continual awareness of the status of vital productive assets is a prerequisite for oper- ational success, as the authors of the McKinsey & Co. article pointed out: "One benefit of real-time data is knowing the state and location of every piece of equip- ment in a mining operation at every sec- ond—and, in particular, whether it is oper- ating according to or outside of the plan. This real-time insight gives new meaning to operations performance management, tak- ing the conversation from one about monthly output to one that focuses on vari- ability and compliance to plan. Further- more, connecting this real-time feed to a central operating center not only makes possible a real-time response but also moves control to a more sophisticated decision-making capability at the center that can take actions to optimize opera- tions across the whole supply chain, rather than local silos. This capability can be deployed both to improve safety outcomes by detecting deviations from expected operating conditions and to maintain high equipment utilization and low operating cost consistent with operating plans." Companies are catching on: Intelli- Sense.io, a Cambridge, U.K.-based tech- nology firm, recently announced that Antofagasta Minerals, Chile's largest pri- vate mining group, had signed a strategic partnership to deploy IntelliSense.io ana- lytics and digital technologies for their "Mine to Mill" operational efficiency pro- gram. The technology will be deployed at Antofagasta's Minera Centinela operation, initially targeting the thickener circuit. IntelliSense pointed out that, historical- ly, mining has been slow to adopt technolo- gy innovations—compared with other indus- tries such as manufacturing that have improved their productivity and efficiency by deploying information, communications and computing technologies. However, against the backdrop of an uncertain commodities market and after a year-long drop in the price of copper, Antofagasta Minerals found it opportune to invest in innovative tech- nologies to improve operational efficiency. 68 E&MJ; • DECEMBER 2015 www.e-mj.com C O N T R O L S & S E N S O R S Blasters Weekend January 30 - 31, 2016 Register Now! www.isee.org For more information: International Society of Explosives Engineers Tel: (440) 349-4400 meetings@isee.org Mark Your Calendar! Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino Chilean copper producer Antofagasta Minerals will employ IntelliSense data analysis technology to improve thick- ener performance at one of its operations.