By: Belema Koleoso - Territory Technical Lead, Process Automation at Schneider Electric West Africa

Today, the West African mining industry serves as an all-important driver in the region’s continued economic growth, employment and development.  West Africa is undoubtedly mineral rich with resources such as gold, bauxite (essential for aluminium manufacturing), iron ore, diamonds, and manganese.  In fact, countries like Ghana and Mali are among the largest gold producers in the world.

But, to keep up with mining industries across the world, West Africa’s mining, minerals and metals (MMM) sector must also innovate. And at the heart of innovation is technology that will aid in the establishment of highly efficient, productive and long-lasting industry.

Overcoming industry challenges

One of the major hurdles in West Africa’s mining sector is the lack of enabling policies that mandate efficiency and transparency. Drawing insights from the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) framework in Nigeria, and the advancements in the oil and gas sector, there is a pressing need for policies that will drive innovation as well in mining. 

Here, enforcing industry standards and conformance can naturally enhance productivity and encourage the adoption of technology. Standardisation, for example, can promote technology adoption, improve process transparency, and enhance safety and efficiency.

Furthermore, local technology transfer and development are crucial for making mining operations profitable and economically empowering. By equipping the curriculum of tertiary institutions with the necessary industrial know-how, mining companies can cultivate a skilled workforce ready to implement and maintain automation technologies. 

Also having these institutions as hubs for research where young minds can explore real world problems and practitioners can return to school exploring industry transforming topics is crucial for organic innovation in the sector.

Process automation in mining

Mining operations are by its very nature high risk.  Technology such as process automation can alleviate some of the risk by not only optimising operations but also enhancing safety.

Key benefits of process automation include:

• Enhancing safety - with automated safety measures in place, operational efficiency improves as systems trigger responses in real time to prevent hazardous incidents.
• Process efficiency- ensuring that resource consumption and process schedules are optimised, ensuring dynamic and optimised mineral extraction by utilising controllers that manage sequence events and orchestration.
• Asset reliability -maximising equipment uptime.

Energy management and automation 

Energy usage is dependent on the type of mining operation.  For example, open-pit mining relies heavily on diesel-powered equipment, whereas underground mining requires electricity for ventilation, lighting, and conveyor systems. Also, processing plants consume large amounts of energy for crushing, grinding and separating minerals.  

Whilst distinctly different, the above three examples have one thing in common: high energy usage. By implementing intelligent automation solutions, mining companies can optimise energy use and ensure less environmental degradation when providing power to their operations. 

Energy management strategies such as the introduction of drives and soft starters can significantly reduce energy consumption while increasing equipment uptime. Cumulative benefits can be seen with more robust strategies that further incorporate power monitoring solutions and analytics that support the power saving aspirations of the plant.

Digital Twins and mixed reality

Digital replicas of the mining process from the individual equipment’s to the interconnecting processes and process variables as well as setpoints, allow for analytics, predictive maintenance, and simulation-based training. 

These digital replicas enhance testing, operator training, and system diagnostics, leading to greater robustness and efficiency.

Additionally, mixed reality technologies provide operators with enhanced visualisation for real-time critical operations, improving response time and conceptual analysis. This not only aids operational precision but also supports faster decision-making in high-risk environments.

Sustainability in Mining

It’s well known that greener, sustainable mining is top priority across the globe, including West Africa.  This is particularly true when it comes to Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, water and energy usage, and waste management. Again, automation can be an invaluable tool, enabling:

• Optimised operations across the value chain to minimise resource waste.
• Reduced Scope 2 emissions through renewable energy integration and microgrid solutions.
• Lower Scope 1 and 3 emissions by transitioning to green products and carbon-neutral strategies.
• Using analytics to track the plant’s KPIs and processes to ensure the strategies employed are yielding desired results. One of such tools is Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Resource Advisor.

Ultimately, by implementing automation and energy management solutions, mining companies can create IoT-compliant operations that enable real-time KPI tracking and provide actionable insights for sustainable operations.