Global mining automation market expected to reach US$6.18 billion by 2025

Mining automation is the deployment of drones and robots to enhance the productivity of mining operations and improves workers’ safety working in underground mines. In the present scenario, with the digitisation of technology, significant developments in mining are witnessed. The organisations engaged in the mining industry are significantly investing in their R&D to develop new devices and drones that can be utilised for underground mining activities. The need for optimising mining operation costs along with less human intervention is the primary factor stimulating the mining automation market growth. Organisations like Rio Tinto Group, Tata Steel, and Komatsu are among the early adopters of drones and the automation technology.

Moreover, the growing need for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in mineral exploration activities, as GIS helps the professionals in figuring out the unexplored and dangerous mine areas. This is another factor influencing this market’s development. However, the lack of skilled labour in operating the highly efficient equipment may put a hindrance on this market’s development in the upcoming years.

Based on type, the mining automation market includes equipment, software, and communication system. The equipment segment is expected to dominate the market in the future, owing to the development of autonomous trucks, remote control devices, drones, etc. By technique, the market is categorised into underground mining and surface mining. Underground mining is expected to dominate the market in the future, as most of the mining activities are performed below the Earth’s surface. The application segment of the mining automation market comprises metal mining, coal mining, and mineral mining. Metal mining is projected to dominate globally in the years ahead, due to the growing acceptance of automation in metal exploration activities and the escalating demand for metals like lead, copper, zinc, and nickel by various end-use industries.

The Asia Pacific region holds an extensive share of the global mining automation market, due to the presence of a large number of mines in the region and the increased adoption of automation technologies for mining activities and operations in Australia. Moreover, the mining exploration activities in the untapped parts of China and India are likely to positively impact this regional market’s growth.

North America holds the second position in the global mining automation market. The growing mining activities for extraction of minerals like lead, zinc, nickel is the primary factor stimulating this regional market’s growth. Additionally, some mines in Canada have experienced automation by using autonomous haul trucks to unearth and transport oil sands for crude oil processing. This is another factor responsible for the North American mining automation market in the future.

Europe is expected to show modest development in the global mining automation market. The initiatives taken by the regulatory bodies across the region are likely to have a significant market impact. For instance, the European Union (EU) via SPARC programme and Horizon 2020 is focusing on autonomous underground mining. SPARC programme of EU is a public-private partnership (PPP) model between euRobotics and the European Commission, with an objective to make Europe a leader in civilian robotics technology including mining automation.

The Middle Eastern and African region is expected to show modest development in the global mining automation market, as mineral mining activities are flourishing in the region and the growing regional demand for metal mining.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/finance-business/21052019/global-mining-automation-market-expected-to-reach-us618-billion-by-2025/