How are mining companies in southwestern US using Hexagon’s solutions?

Hexagon has a well-established background in Arizona, dating back to the “MineSight” software in the 1970s, now known as HxGN MinePlan. Today, mining clients need to make decisions fast. This is where our Power of One approach comes into play. Mines generate loads of information; they are chaotic, busy, and traditionally one individual will have to go through data from several sources and try to analyze it. The Power of One solution is one common set of hardware collecting data and sending it to one centralized platform from one vendor where you can access all the information you need to make the best decisions. Not only is this inherently easier, but on the sustainability side, more efficient decisions lead to less waste. One of our clients is migrating to our Power of One approach; they are just south of the border, and they use a GPS antenna, multiple CPU boxes, multiple screens… That’s multiple pieces of hardware connected to multiple data platforms. Recently, they learned they can consolidate all that with one set of hardware, from one vendor with one platform for analytics and reporting. This changes the way logistics work, the way maintenance works, and the way analytics works, and the process can be incremental. Clients can start with our base hardware and build modules as they go. This is the future of the industry—allowing a client to mature on their own schedule and the solution grows with them.

How can Hexagon’s AI and hardware innovations help clients minimize downtime?

AI involvement in the decision-making processes makes operations easier and more predictable. When it comes to camera analysis solutions, such as our HxGN MineMeasure solution, clients can detect material sizes at the dig face and make decisions fast, before material reaches downstream equipment. Another example is our semi-autonomous drill solution combining AI and control systems. These solutions replace repetitive human actions that can lead to bad decisions several hours into a long shift or a night shift. The program determines how fast you should run the drill, how much down pressure is needed and provides increased consistency, resulting in better productivity and safeguarding of equipment. In that sense, our partnership with Phoenix Drill Control that began in February 2022 allows us to develop technologies so clients can get as much as they can from their drills, which is critical to the success of their mining operation. In September, we are doing a pilot project at a copper mine in Arizona to reconfirm positive results from a previous trial.

What is Hexagon’s role in addressing the labor shortage in the mining industry?

The first step is education. Hexagon is partnered with the University of Arizona, and we recently developed a training program for our employees to help staff understand the industry. In addition, we are a large employer of engineering and geology students. There are a lot of mines in AZ, so young engineers can get exposure to operating mine sites without having to relocate or commit to lengthy work on rotations. Locally, this helps us attract talent. These days, less people are drawn to working in mines, so the best thing we can do is help the industry highlight its high-tech side. Innovative solutions like our drilling automation will help mining companies attract and retain talent. This particular technology enables a mine to hire someone with little to no experience and make them as productive as someone with 10 years of experience—it reduces training time, costs, and alleviates the pressure on skilled labor. People need to see that mining is more than just putting dirt in trucks, we’re solving big problems with incredible technology.

What do you see in terms of trends in automation adoption in Arizona and Nevada?

Most mining companies in these states have been here for a long time. In those many decades, they have invested in equipment, and often possess older infrastructure and existing systems. For greenfield operations, we would suggest going fully autonomous from the start, but automating an entire mature fleet is not realistic. What is more doable is trying to de-bottleneck areas where constraints are and start automating portions of these areas. The simplest solution for a mature mine is our Power of One approach that can be built upon gradually, from assistance to intervention then to full autonomy.

What are the vulnerability risks that come with processing vast amounts of data?

Cybersecurity-wise, the best thing mines can do is lock their systems down and educate people to look out for threats. Most breaches are human error as opposed to hackers penetrating systems on their own. These days the industry is accustomed to having applications hosted on AWS for instance, whereas five years ago, no mine would have used any cloud-based software. Opening up to “the cloud” comes with risks that a strong educational progress can mitigate, and most clients are doing just that.

What are Hexagon’s growth objectives in the coming years?

Within the next five years, Hexagon will be a leader in autonomy. Today we are making incremental automation possible with solutions like our Power of One, but looking ahead, full autonomy is our goal.