How has demand changed over the past year?

Over the past year, our priority has been a “Power of One” approach, in which we have the same environment for automation across the board. This allows us to connect different partners and suppliers, delivering the correct information to the right place at the right time. Our technology is agnostic because we are an open company, not an OEM supplier. For Hexagon´s Mining division, Latin America is 45% of our business. In the last quarter alone, we grew 30.9%.

Can you provide an example of your technology in operation?

In a truck, you have an on-board machine, an on-board computer, to which you can add different displays for different solutions. If a customer has a fleet admin system and wants to add others, it must have three displays, computers, and receivers. Hexagon allows the client to utilize a single antenna, display, and receiver, reducing the cost of the acquisition and maintenance for the client through less cables, less computers, less headache, and a single contract.

The company aims to offer solutions as a digital platform. We generate data and translate that data to transform information. When a company has a single data source, it enables decision-makers to respond in real time.

What are the benefits of your MinePlan Block Model Manager?

It is vital to connect what is being planned in a centralized and secure way. MinePlan Block Model Manager enables the planners to simultaneously design and share block models while centrally managing the information allowing greater collaboration and data interoperability while maintaining version integrity with an audit trail of changes. To maintain high levels of model accuracy and link what is planned to the execution in real-time, effective management is needed to connect the dots.

Automation is different from autonomous. When we are talking about autonomous automation, we are putting data together to work seamlessly. Instead of having an autonomous truck move the wrong material to the wrong destination, we connect the dots to ensure the autonomous truck sends the right material to the right place. People discuss autonomous machinery, but that does not mean the process is automated.

Can you discuss your work with Codelco?

For Codelco, we implemented a fleet management system over the last three years. They already use the HxGN MineProtect Collision Avoidance System (CAS), so we collected data from the fleet administration system and combined it with the collision avoidance system. We used artificial intelligence to manipulate that data to make it more meaningful for decision-making. Codelco has the Center of Operational Intelligence (CIO). We define KPIs highlighting the level of safety moving forward. The next step will be the HxGN MineProtect Vehicle Intervention System (VIS), ensuring that if the driver does not act during a collision, the system activates the brake and intervenes automatically, avoiding the accident. This is EMESERT Level 9 intervention, and Hexagon is the only company worldwide with that level of autonomy.

How does Hexagon enable improved productivity?

In an autonomous environment, you can plan everything, creating the right path for the drilling process. This can be done by defining the sector in the deeper hole for exploration, defining the appropriate explosive tools to blast the rock based on the rock characteristics, and so on. We have a specific blasting technology: little balls put in the drilling hole, which track the displacement. This technology minimizes waste and increases efficiency. That increased efficiency also has an ESG component because it minimizes energy consumption. Utilizing assets properly minimizes consumption and maximizes crusher performance, reducing the level of energy used by the crusher and reducing the cost of Chile’s costly energy.

How does Hexagon support development and innovation regionally and locally?

Hexagon had US$4.3 billion in revenue last year and has acquired over two hundred companies over the previous twenty years. Integration is complex, and we use 20 to 35% of our revenue on R&D. We work across industries, and at the end of the day, when we are talking about technology in one field, why not apply it to mining? We have such a diversity of technology that can be delivered so quickly because it was proven in other environments. Hexagon’s vision of open autonomy ecosystem enables partnerships with local suppliers, making a considerable impact on the region through the support of local companies.