Many opportunities, such as cost reduction, better production, enhanced safety, and the ability to predict and mitigate crises, are created in the mining industry in 2020.

Fremont, CA: The emergence of the social investor, plotting a path towards decarbonization, and modernizing core technologies are three of the leading trends impacting the mining sector. Multinational professional companies seek ways to create value beyond compliance by delivering a positive socio-economic impact and simultaneously fostering operational efficiency and business competitiveness. A mining report provides insights, strategies, and ideas from various firms on how miners can steal a march on their competitors.

Here are some of the mining technology trends to embrace.

The social investor

The drive towards the socially conscious profit is not limited to environmental activists, with civil society and investors demanding greater transparency about the social, economic, and environmental impact of sectors such as mining. To retain the investor's trust, miners should adopt a commitment to value beyond compliance, which it adds as the fundamental synergy between economic performance and social progress.

This would leverage shared value principles, analytics, innovation, digitization, and strategic and evidence-based solutions to provide a socio-economic impact—allowing the principles to aid in addressing rising investor expectations.

Opportunity amid uncertainty

Currently, the economic trends are forecasting a potential global downturn, impacting the commodity prices. To help companies from being blindsided, the report pinpoints several ways miners should prepare. It recommends developing for a range of plausible scenarios rather than one general downturn; stress-test company strategies; build strong leadership teams; continue to innovate; take the time to redesign workflows; retain key talent; re-examine relationships with other companies; acquire new resources.

The path to decarbonization

According to the report, increased stakeholder pressure and the strengthening business case for decarbonization have seen most mining companies taking steps to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. It says market factors are also strengthening the business case for decarbonization, with the costs of lithium-ion battery storage and solar power falling. The consumption costs related to renewable energy are negligible.

Dynamically managing risk

The mining companies can no longer rely on their risk registers to identify critical risks as global volatility rises. Issues such as insufficient risk sensing, a 'tick the box' mentality, and complex operating models force them to predict the impact of emerging events and prioritize critical risks. The analysis notes five elements associated with strategic risk management — integrating risk, control, and assurance; going back to basics by redefining the company's risk appetite; exploring alternative futures and planning for worst-case scenarios; leveraging better data; learning from past mistakes and empowering employees to report risks.