A new operating model for mining

The global transition to cleaner energy and electrification is driving unprecedented demand for critical minerals. But meeting growing demand for critical minerals will require mining companies to do more than increase production. It will require a different way of operating.

Mines are becoming deeper and more remote, while skills shortages, safety requirements, and pressure to improve efficiency are adding new complexity to day-to-day operations. Against this backdrop, there is an increased focus on the ability to make faster, better-informed decisions across the operation.

Technology will play a critical role in that transition, but the evolution of mining cannot be reduced to the deployment of autonomous equipment alone. The bigger shift is towards a more connected operating model. One that brings systems, data, and people together and creates the foundations for progressively greater levels of autonomy.

Technology is only part of the shift

Discussions around mining innovation often focus on autonomous haul trucks, AI-powered systems or the latest generation of robotics. While these technologies are important, they represent only one part of a much broader shift in how mines operate.

Technology alone does not create a new operating model. That depends on the ability to connect people, assets, and information so that decisions can be made consistently across the mining operation. Greater levels of autonomy can be an important part of that evolution, but they are ultimately the result of this operational maturity rather than the starting point.

Without those foundations, even the most advanced technologies cannot deliver their full potential.

The mining industry's real challenge is not a lack of innovation. It is overcoming the complexity created by disconnected operational systems, fragmented data, and decision-making that remains tied to individual sites rather than the wider business.

Better decisions start with connected operations

As mines expand geographically and operational data continues to grow, traditional ways of working become difficult to manage. Different departments often work with different information, making it harder to react quickly or coordinate activity across the value chain.

Creating connected operations changes this dynamic. When operational technology, production data, and expert knowledge are integrated, organisations gain a clearer understanding of performance across multiple sites. This enables faster responses to operational issues and more consistent execution between teams and a more coordinated way of working across the business.

One of the clearest examples of this is the growing adoption of integrated remote operations centres. At Boliden's Garpenberg mine in Sweden, ABB's System 800xA platform has helped digitally connect hundreds of motors, drives, and process assets, bringing them together within a central control room. By creating a single operational view of the business, the project improved predictive maintenance, increased operational visibility, and enabled more consistent decision-making across the site. It demonstrates how connecting operations, people, and data can fundamentally change the way a mine is managed.

Although these remote operation centres are often associated with operating mines from a distance, their greatest contribution is not geographical separation, but operational integration. By bringing together expertise and real-time information into a single environment, they enable organisations to manage multiple assets with greater consistency while reducing variability between sites.

These capabilities are important to a new mining operating model: one where decisions are informed by a wider view of the operation, expertise can be applied across traditional site boundaries and teams can respond more consistently to changing conditions. They also create the foundations for greater levels of autonomy as operations continue to evolve.

Evolving the operating model over time

Changing how a mine operates does not necessarily mean replacing the infrastructure already in place. For most mining organisations, whole transformation is neither practical nor necessary. In fact, many of the industry’s biggest gains to date have come from building on existing assets – integrating systems, modernising infrastructure, and introducing new technologies where they deliver measurable business value.

Our work with LKAB at the Kiruna iron ore mine in Sweden illustrates this approach. Rather than replacing operational infrastructure wholesale, the project focused on a generational upgrade of the mine's critical hoisting systems. Delivered over more than a decade while maintaining production, the modernisation extended the life of the mine's critical hoisting infrastructure and laid the groundwork for future digitalisation. It is an example of how mining companies can reduce risk and update progressively, while strengthening the operational foundations needed to support future capabilities.

This phased approach allows organisations to modernise without disrupting production, generating improvements throughout the process rather than waiting for a single large-scale transformation. Each incremental change can improve the way the mine operates while creating the flexibility to introduce new technologies and capabilities over time. The result is an operating model that can continue to evolve in line with the organisation’s priorities, operational requirements, and ambitions for the future.

Towards a new way of operating

Mining’s next transformation will not be defined by a single breakthrough technology. It will be shaped by how effectively operations bring together systems, data, and people to create a more connected, informed, and resilient way of working.

Mining companies need operating models that can respond to greater complexity, support faster and better-informed decisions, and continue to evolve as new technologies and capabilities emerge.

For most, that transformation will happen progressively. Connecting operations and modernising existing systems can deliver value today while creating the foundations for greater levels of autonomy over time. The mines that lead the next generation will therefore not simply be those with the most autonomous equipment, but those that have built the operating model needed to use it effectively.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/18092026/a-new-operating-model-for-mining/