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A Review of Digital Transformation in Mining

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Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-019-00103-w

REVIEW ARTICLE

A Review of Digital Transformation in Mining

Aaron Young 1 & Pratt Rogers 1

Received: 30 December 2018 / Accepted: 24 June 2019

# Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. 2019

Abstract
Digital transformation (DT) is the process by which entities adapt themselves to modern technology. As digital technology
becomes more prevalent (automation, cameras, sensors, touchscreens, artificial intelligence, etc.), there will be increased pressure
on companies to leverage it for additional gains. For many companies in the mining industry, this will involve overcoming a steep
learning curve. Furthermore, as the long-term success of the mining industry is dependent on a labor force with new skills (data
management, analytics, digital literacy, etc.), new curriculum will need to be appended to the mining engineering discipline. This
paper considers the mining industry’s need for DT. Then, it presents a three-part review of the foundational components of the DT
process–ubiquitous data, connectivity, and decision making. Finally, it provides a discussion on the future of DT in mining as
well as a research direction, which identifies the need of academia to provide support for mining companies in the form of both
research and the education of digitally literate, dynamically capable mining engineers into the coming decades.

Keywords Big data . Analytics . Operations technology . Data science . Innovation

1 Introduction different definitions for DT [15] within this article, we define

Researchers have been interested in how mining companies
adapt to technological change for nearly 70 years [1, 2]. In
fact, the founding study of sociotechnical theory occurred in a
British coal mine by Trist and Bamforth in 1951 [1]. The coal
mine experienced unforeseen setbacks due to the transition
from “hand-got” to longwall mining methods. Analysis of
these setbacks revealed that they were the result of an inability
of the incipient longwall process to handle disruptions from
socio-psychological and production influences that grew over
the course of the transition.
Fast forward to the fourth industrial revolution occurring
today, the world has entered what has been called the first digital
decade [3]. With more data than ever before (roughly 2.5 quin-
tillion bytes globally each day) [4], there is an abundance of
opportunity for mining innovation and much work is currently
being done to “digitally transform” the mining industry [5]. The
term, digital transformation (DT), has come to define how en-
tities adapt to digital changes [3, 6–17]. While there are many
* Aaron Young
Aaronsyoung@gmail.com
1
University of Utah-Mining Engineering, William Browning
Building, 135 S 1460 E, ROOM 313, Salt Lake
City, UT 84112-0102, USA
DT (Fig. 1) as a technology-driven process of change derived
from ubiquitous data, connectivity, and decision making [9].
Through successful DT, a mining company may increase its
digital capabilities and develop its sociotechnical capacity [2,
18]. DT is a formidable change to a mining operation, since it
can fundamentally alter every aspect of business [19]. Despite
large strides towards DT by other industries, many mining com-
panies are struggling to even begin [20].
As current literature specific to DT within the mining con-
text is perfunctory, this article offers four contributions. First,
it considers the mining industry’s need for DT. Second, it
provides a three-part review of the foundational components
of the DT process, namely, ubiquitous data, connectivity, and
decision making. Third, it provides a discussion on how DT
will be an integral part to the success of mining companies
into the next decade [20–25]. Fourth, it identifies strategic
areas in which institutions of higher education can provide
DT support for mining companies [26, 27]. While some infor-
mation from other countries is included, the majority of the
data presented and discussed in this article is from the USA.
2 Need for DT in Mining
Through a brief industry review, this section examines the
need for DT as well as its challenges unique to mining.

Fig. 1 Components of digital transformation
Current attempts at mining digitization are timely, since the
industry is considered behind most other industry sectors, as
shown in Fig. 2.
A 2014 review of annual reports from the industry’s top ten
mining corporations revealed that only six out of ten mentioned
Fig. 2 Relative digitization by industry sector adapted from [28]
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
DT as part of their strategy, only three out of ten companies
could list qualitative results from DT, and only one out of ten
could give quantitative value for the benefit of DT [29]. Even in
cases where mining companies are working to benefit from DT,
there remains a sizeable need for personnel with the non-
traditional skills necessary to implement it [30].
While it would be impossible to evaluate what every min-
ing company is doing for DT, trends for the industry as a
whole may be induced by looking at the frequency of associ-
ated terms as they occur in annual reports from its top com-
panies (by market value). Annual reports from forty-one of the
world’s top fifty mining companies were reviewed for many
common terms relating to data, analytics, and technology. The
results are displayed in Fig. 3.
Figure 3 displays the number of companies which men-
tioned specific terms in their annual reports in the first column,
and the total number of mentions of each term considering all
reports reviewed in the second column. The terms data and
technology appear the most in the annual reports reviewed;
however, these terms were often mentioned out of the context
of DT (e.g., drill-hole data). Innovation was mentioned very
often, and usually closely associated to the term technology,
which suggests that innovation and technology are common
priorities across mining’s top companies, being mentioned a
total of 1450 times in 39 of the 41 reports. Cyber was men-
tioned 132 times and usually in the context of cybersecurity,
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
Fig. 3 Frequency of DT or related
terms found in annual reports
[31–69]
making it a priority for roughly half of the companies.
Automation and Autonomous combined were mentioned about
as much as cyber. Information technology was mentioned by
over half of the companies, but operations technology was
mentioned only once by one company. Finally, digital
transformation was mentioned by three companies for a total
of 11 times. The low number of companies mentioning DT
might suggest that companies are unaware of what DT is,
choose to use different terms to convey a similar idea, or do
not view DT as something valuable enough to be worth men-
tioning to their shareholders in specific terminology.
In contrast, a review of Fortune-level companies across all
business sectors showed that over 88% of them have major
DT initiatives [70]. Furthermore, businesses with successful
DT strategies were 40% more likely to find new unexpected
ways to improve their businesses. Returns on new digital in-
vestments were also eight times higher, and projects were
completed within half the time for these businesses compared
to their peers [12]. DT creates value in many other sectors
from the development of customer-facing applications that
engage and enhance customer experience [15, 71]. However,
in the case of mining, most companies have very few cus-
tomers and mining products must undergo numerous other
value-added processes before they reach the consumer. This
fact creates little economic incentive for improving customer
engagement with mining companies.
Diversity [72, 73], digital literacy [74, 75], and
Gerontechnology (the study of how aging populations adapt
to new technology) [76] have a direct impact on the ability of
the mining industry to pursue DT because a large portion of
the mining workforce is composed of an older age demo-
graphic. Roughly 32% of the mining labor force are contrac-
tors [77], which only complicates digital governance since
companies have less control over contractors than their own
employees. “Brain Drain,” which refers to the high number of
retirements, staff reductions, and loss of talent, that has
plagued the mining industry for years also contributes a large
effect on the sector’s ability to adapt to new technological
change [78]. Furthermore, the widespread and overlapping
use of new buzzwords [79] surrounding DT has resulted in
the need for a larger semantic vernacular across disparate
groups within mining companies, and a unifying digital ter-
minology is overdue for fundamental aspects of DT [15], such
as cybersecurity [80–83].
It is also not unheard of, or hard to imagine, that many
consultants present DT to mining companies at a high-level
business perspective by placing zealous emphasis on new
business models and increased operational efficiency, without
bothering to explain the low-level complexities involved to
achieve such outcomes [84]. In reality, DT has occurred to
desultory extents within the mining industry over the last sev-
eral decades [85], but as a result of the radical development of
new technologies in recent years, the industry is now lagging
behind and without adopting DT skills, some companies may
never catch up [6].
Some mining companies rely on Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) systems instead of adopting a DT strategy
[14, 86, 87]. While it is true that ERPs are vital for creating
process standards, they do not yield operational insight or
competitive advantage [87–90]. In addition to ERPs, many
companies wish they could purchase off-the-shelf DT solu-
tions, but such software products would be inherently contra-
dictory to the nature of DT, which involves business model
innovation and a new organizational culture around data usage
[7, 8, 12, 15–17, 70, 79]. The following sections (3 through 5)
examine the components that are fundamental to successful
DT.
3 Ubiquitous Data
This section clarifies the difference between operations tech-
nology (OT) and Information Technology (IT), and describes
how data generally originates within mining companies.

For more than 30 years, data has been considered an asset
[91–96]. Today, an abundance of readily available data, often
referred to as big data [92, 94–99], exists in the mining indus-
try primarily as the result of machine-generated data [98].
High-speed electronic circuits with embedded self-
monitoring and intelligent systems have low cost/
performance ratios and are the generators of unprecedented
amounts of information exchange in mining [84]. Big data is
characterized according to Ohlhorst’s concept of four V’s,
namely volume, velocity, variety, and veracity [96]. Volume
means a large amount of data. Velocity means that the data is
in a dynamic and changing state. Variety means that the data
occurs in many forms. Veracity infers a large amount of sta-
tistical errors and noise in the data.
Most data in mining comes from OT and is often structured
data in the form of logged records. Structured data [100] is that
which can be routinely managed by a relational database man-
agement system (RDBMS) and is manipulated programmati-
cally via structured query language (SQL) [101–103].
Structured data can also be time-series data which is often
sourced from signal-based data and managed by data histo-
rians, such as the OSIsoft PI system [104, 105]. Semi-
structured data differs from that of structured data in that it
requires initial one-time data wrangling; for instance, data
from a fleet management system (FMS) [106, 107] may re-
quire the removal of outliers in cycle times which are the result
of errors from the FMS. Unstructured data comes in many
forms and is the most difficult to manage without multi-
lateral or alternative platforms [108]. Regardless of structure,
useful data relies on robust data controls that ensure its quality,
timeliness, and attestability (worthiness of legal attestation in a
court of law and usability for business-to-government
reporting) [10, 91].
3.1 What Is OT
IT generally refers to anything related to computer technology,
such as hardware, software, networking, or the Internet. While IT
is familiar to most people, OT commonly refers to the hardware
and software that monitors and/or controls physical devices, pro-
cesses, and events in a company [109, 110]. OT has also been
defined to mean the techniques an organization uses in its
workflow activities [111]. Strong links exist between the adop-
tion of a new technology by an organization and the resulting
changes in that organization’s structure [2, 8]. OT likewise com-
monly means the department or group within an organization
responsible for the deployment, care, maintenance, and perfor-
mance of OT (e.g., the OT department) [112].
Recent advancements in digital technologies have merged
software development with the core of OT and opened oper-
ating models to many contributors both within and without of
the corporate umbrella. Opening tightly controlled and highly
valuable operations to the world poses many risks [113], and
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
minimizing those risks requires an emerging skillset between
IT and OT disciplines [8, 114].
3.2 Differences Between OT and IT
Generally, IT is not considered to include the embedded tech-
nologies which are primarily responsible for generating data
for mining companies [109]. It is of little surprise that IT and
OT departments have traditionally held separate roles within
mining companies. Few companies have an OT department,
and OT rarely receives the appropriate amount of support
within mining companies.
The convergence of IT and OT has come about due to the
contribution of many new innovations, including Networked
sensors (wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs)),
machine-to-machine communications, Neural Networks
(NN), Machine Learning (ML), cloud computing, edge com-
puting, predictive analytics, wireless communication, and the
development of Internet-capable systems, including supervi-
sory control and data acquisitions (SCADA) systems, distrib-
uted control systems (DCSs), programmable language con-
trollers (PLCs), and computer/non-computer numerical con-
trol ((C)NC) systems [114, 115].
Figure 4 shows the results of a study performed by
Dimensional Research in March of 2018 about whether IT
and OT collaboration increases effectiveness [114]. The sur-
vey involved 151 people who worked with industrial control
systems (ICS) at energy companies.
The results shown in Fig. 4 suggest that collaboration be-
tween IT and OT functions is both increasing in volume and
improving in quality. While 73% of survey responses agreed
that collaboration is currently stronger and more effective,
19% of IT departments surveyed think that it is weaker now
than in the past. The value of closing the IT/OT divide is
expected to be an increased understanding and control of each
domain [114]. The survey also found that both IT and OT
departments had trouble finding new talent.
3.3 Human Data Sources
Digitization of mining has also increased access to data gen-
erated by humans, such as pre-shift risk assessment docu-
ments, explosive usage logs, ore control maps, block models,
pit designs, and maintenance work orders [116]. Humans
themselves may also be the object of data gathering at mines,
for example, monitoring a haul truck driver’s facial features to
determine if their eyes are open [117]. Another example is
heat stress data for miners in hot underground working con-
dition [118, 119]. Wearable technologies show potential for
improving data collection in this area [119].
Arguably, the human-generated data with the most influ-
ence on mining companies originates from humans outside of
the mining company [120]. According to The International
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
Fig. 4 How IT and OT teams work together now compared to in the past
adapted from [114]
Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the concept of
shared value (benefit to the host community as well as the
mining company) has become critical for mining companies
to secure their social license to operate (SLO) [121]. SLO has
been ranked as the fifth greatest challenge to the mining sector
[122]. Some preliminary work has been done to not only de-
fine and measure SLO [123], but also establish a framework
for understanding SLO in real-time. The backbone for the
real-time SLO framework is of course, human-generated data,
sourced from smart phones, social media, blogs, news, outlets,
and websites, which can be analyzed using web scraping,
Fig. 5 The Internet of Things as it
relates to mining adapted from
[90]
access to user smart phone data, and Natural Language
Processing (NLP) techniques to identify trends [124].
3.4 New Data Sources
Autonomous operations, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),
robots, sensors, smart devices, wearables, and meta data (data
created as a result of data exchange and analysis) are among
the new data sources that will require mining operations to
adopt better DT strategies [17, 125, 126]. With an increase
in OT comes an increase in data, and mining companies now
have access to data that they have never had before, such as
photogrammetric data from UAV surveys, real-time locations
of workers from wearables, ore feed quality from on-belt sen-
sors, or equipment performance data with unprecedented
granularity [98, 103, 127]. Additionally, modern mining is
facilitated by sensors for real-time monitoring of mining en-
vironment, such as for temperature, humidity and gases for
underground mines, or slope stability, seismicity, and weather
patterns for surface mines, as well as remote machine health
and maintenance, drilling control, and heavy equipment oper-
ation (teleremote operations) [128]. While some of this data
has existed within mining companies for years, it is still vastly
underutilized.
4 Connectivity
This section examines connectivity, which is the second fun-
damental component of DT. Here connectivity is broken down
into six topics, including The Internet of Things (IoT), data
knowledge exchange, cybersecurity, remote operation centers,
integrated platforms, and wireless communications and 5G.

4.1 IoT
In tandem with data abundance, connectivity between and
among devices has never been cheaper [98]. The vast network
of connected physical devices, which now outnumber the
number of humans [129], is commonly referred to as the
Internet of Things (IoT) [130]. The mining IoT landscape is
shown in Fig. 5 [90].
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) therefore refers to
IoT within the industrial domain, but the terms IoT and IIoT
are often used interchangeably [131]. IoT is made possible
through managed data flow cycles, where the data flows from
embedded devices or OT (things) to data warehouses, then
into analytical platforms, where it flows to end users (ana-
lysts), and finally back into the process and/or the original
device [84]. Because of IoT, mining companies can now con-
nect heavy equipment, processing machinery, sensors, and
people into integrated platforms, as shown conceptually with-
in Fig. 5. These integrated platforms result in enhanced deci-
sion making through the use of data analytics and other
techniques.
4.2 Data/Knowledge Exchange
Simply gathering large amounts of data is not necessarily use-
ful [102]. A data warehouse is a database containing informa-
tion from multiple sources, which is consolidated, integrated,
aggregated, and structured in such a way that they can support
business analysis and decision-making [6, 89, 101, 132–136].
Data warehouses serve as organizational libraries of knowl-
edge that can be used far and wide across an organization to
query and compare any number of variables of interest, such
as pump or tire performance immediately before failure. The
data for the pump or tire could originate from a remote and
unrelated part of the business, but fed into a data-warehouse,
where it becomes a useful diagnostic tool, useable anywhere
within the organization, potentially far beyond where the
pump is installed, or the tire is rolling [137]. Collected data
rather than just sitting on a server somewhere can also yield
value by providing real-time information to the customer re-
garding specifications of saleable product before it even ar-
rives at its destination.
The Extraction Transformation Load (ETL) process consti-
tutes up to 80% of the work required to create a data ware-
house [101]. ETL involves (1) locating data from its original
source, (2) creating software applications to extract, filter, and
conform the data to a common format, and (3) loading it into
the data warehouse. Because data warehouses can be so com-
plex, many companies use data marts as a downsized ap-
proach to data warehousing. Data marts are small-scale data
warehouses that provide Decision Support Systems (DSS) for
a limited number of users [138].
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
4.3 Cybersecurity
According to forecast, in 2022, there will be approximately 18
billion IoT devices [139]. IoT products have saturated the market
so quickly, and are adopted so rapidly, that there is a growing
concern for how these devices will affect cybersecurity [81, 113].
In most cases, these devices are added despite potential cyberse-
curity risks, since they have the potential to save money for
mining companies. This is especially true in the case of small
devices with embedded systems that were not programmed to be
intelligent until recently. Security for such devices is often differ-
ent than for traditional devices that follow more pre-defined com-
munication protocols. Cloud services further compound the se-
curity problem by taking these industrial systems, which previ-
ously were constrained to a company’s network, and connecting
them to the internet [140]. Unfortunately, courts have not tradi-
tionally held software manufacturers accountable for security
vulnerabilities, and merchants of embedded devices have little
economic incentive to make them secure [82].
4.4 ROCs
Remote operations centers (ROCs) [25, 115, 141–143] are
rapidly becoming indispensable tools for mining companies
to manage, synthesize, and act upon the large volumes of
incoming data. Traditional methods of presenting and analyz-
ing data like spreadsheets and simple reports are inadequate.
ROCs utilize technologies long leveraged by industries out-
side of mining, like cloud computing and data visualization, to
provide a useful and meaningful way to help enable making
rapid and impactful decisions [144, 145].
Additionally, ROCs reduce exposure of employees to risk
and increase productivity. By using tele-remote and semi-
autonomous equipment, employees are removed from haz-
ards, thereby obviating the need for costlier and less effective
safety measures such as engineering controls, personal protec-
tive equipment (PPE), etc. [146]. Per the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Healthy (NIOSH) Hierarchy of
Controls, removing employees from exposure to hazards is
the most effective and desirable method of reducing risk
[147]. In ROCs, operators typically work in comfortable
climate-controlled rooms and can control multiple pieces of
equipment, resulting in appreciable gains in productivity.
4.5 Integrated Platforms
Through the integration of various IT and OT platforms, min-
ing companies can transform their operations into information
systems (IS). Scalability is fundamental to any integrated plat-
form. Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs) provide an
attractive and scalable way to integrate multiple functional
groups and data sources into one system [148]. An API estab-
lishes the protocol for a developer or outside program to
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
request services from a software program [138, 149]. It is
through the use of APIs that multi-platform applications can
communicate with one another and exchange data.
The field of Management Information Systems (MIS),
which traditionally had nothing to do with computers [150],
now studies how IS are implemented and received by users
[151]. Mining’s complex nature requires understanding con-
struction, factory processes, labor challenges, workplace cul-
ture, information availability, integrative data elements, and
the current technical education of mining engineers in order
for IS to be successfully incorporated [152].
IoT morphs the physical world into a type of IS through the
use of Internet Protocol (IP) [16]. This transformation
removes the difference between information and materials
by linking products with information. What remains is a total
consolidation of devices and process management. Such a
scenario is depicted in Fig. 6, as an integrated platform.
While the reality of Fig. 6 remains yet to be seen for many
mining companies, what the concept shows and means is that
through integrated platforms assets, devices and work flows
merge to become a single unit. This merge unifies operations,
support, and business centers and empowers them with new
insights [16, 99, 153]. As such, integrated platforms have been
identified as pre-requisites for the “digital factory” concept
developed through the Factories of the Future (FoF) initiative
[83, 154, 155].
4.6 Wireless Communications and 5G
Not only are mines remotely located, but also their environ-
ment is extremely harsh and their operation is constantly
changing [113, 156]. These factors constitute significant bar-
riers to the wireless connectivity of large mobile equipment at
Fig. 6 Integrated mining platform
mine sites. To make matters worse, these large mobile assets
are typically used for decades, while network hardware man-
ufacturers only provide support for their products for a few
years before obsoletion [113]. Mining companies need wire-
less communication systems capable of scaling over time to
the dynamic and robust demands of their business.
Furthermore, as data transmission volume increases, so do
the risks to cybersecurity [113, 157] and the demands on the
network [158]. 5G wireless communication shows potential to
meet these demands and is discussed further in the future
discussion section (Sect. 6).
5 Decision Making
This section reviews decision making as the final component of
DT. Within the DT context, decision making is an analytical
process which involves both people and technology. This form
of decision making is also referred to as data-driven decision
making [6, 132, 133, 136] or decision support [134, 136].
Regardless of how manageable a dataset is, there is no busi-
ness impact from data alone, but rather from turning data into
action [92]. According to the Harvard Business Review, OT is
only fundamental to business processes, because it provides
companies with a “power to act” [21]. Analytics may be de-
fined as any data-driven process that provides insight [88].
Insight leads to action. Experience and talent have historically
held a high basis for decision making throughout the mining
industry [133, 159]. However, today, decisions based solely on
gut or experience are no longer acceptable [160]. What is more,
an organizational approach to decision making has direct and
indirect implications on openness to diversity of thought [161,
162]. Thus, the real value of DT derives from the data-driven
decisions it can produce. For autonomous systems, this value
comes from the fact that small decisions can be made automat-
ically, but even these systems can reach the limit of their added
value [163]. For systems involving Human-Computer
Interaction (HCI), much research has been performed to ensure
that the cognitive capabilities of humans are synergized with the
computational power of computers [151].
5.1 Analytics
Quantitative analytics may be descriptive, predictive, or pre-
scriptive [164]. Descriptive analytics uses data to answer the
question of what is happening right now [165]. Predictive
analytics uses historical data to create a forecast of what will
happen in the future [166]. Prescriptive analytics creates
models from both descriptive and predictive analytics to an-
swer the question of what should happen [135]. Reporting,
trending, segmentation, and predictive modeling are common
examples of analytics [88].
 Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration

Table 1 Role of analytics in

strategic planning [88] Method View Description

SWOT Analysis Traditional Planning around SWOT:

•Strengths
•Weaknesses
•Opportunities
•Threats
Porter’s Five Forces External Planning around Porter’s Five Forces:
•New market entrants
•Substitutable products
•Competitive Rivalry
•Suppliers
•Customers
Resource-based view of the business Internal Development VRIN resources by:
•Valuable
•Rare
•Inimitable
•Non-substitutable
Wilde and Hax’s Delta Model Market Create customer bonding through:
•Best product
•Total customer solutions
•System lock-in

Analytics is most valuable if it removes the gap between
raw data and business processes; without doing so, many at-
tempts at analytics fail and the effort spent to create, connect,
store, and aggregate the data are wasted [92]. According to
Stubbs, analytics supports strategic planning, creates a com-
petitive advantage, and delivers value to organizations.
Table 1 outlines how analytics supports strategic planning.
While business analytics applies to the entire business, much
like a data warehouse applies to an entire operation, functional
analytics applies to different silos within a business, similar to
data marts [167]. Functional analytics groups typical of the min-
ing industry are shown in Table 2. These functional analytics
groups often evaluate different scenarios, including investments,
risk, cash flow, maintenance, and reliability [133].
5.2 People
In tandem with the convergence between IT and OT, DT
brings a convergence of data analysts with business analysts.
Business analysts, which have historically been responsible
for analyzing and documenting the rules and processes of a
business, are stepping into roles traditionally held by IT per-
sonnel for the maintenance of these very same rules and pro-
cesses [93]. As data streams have become more continuous,

Table 2 Functional analytics groups in mining

Analytics type Analytics End user benefit

Human resource analytics
Staffing and scheduling
Supply chain analytics
Commodity market analytics
Geology and exploration
Mining and processing analytics
Safety and risk analytics
Permitting and environmental
analytics
Financial analytics
Retention, compensation, reward analysis Human capital management
Crew size, growth, deployment, utilization, allocation Employee productivity
Sourcing, supplier rating, working capital, inventory, transport and Better management of supply networks
transshipment
Economic order quality, lead time, risks Inventory and stockpile management
Scanning and locating eligible targets, due diligence of new resources Exploration portfolio management
Servicing, lead times, cycle time, unit costs, risks in enterprise, Resilience, reactivity, and execution of
compliance delivery
Root cause analysis, risk assessments, regulatory compliance Risk management
Regulatory compliance, reclamation Transparency and SLO
Portfolio optimization Business management
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
and business processes more fluid, the need to form system-
atic analytical solutions has arisen, creating a void for data
scientists in business organizations where previously there
was none [168]. Analytics not only requires these changing
roles, but also a skillset primarily based on digital literacy [27,
74].
Digital literacy is the ability to understand and use infor-
mation presented by computers in multiple formats from a
wide number of sources [74]. Digital literacy frees audiences
from previous restrictions of medium, enabling the kind of
information being presented to fit the audience it is being
presented to [169]. Unlike traditional literacy, digital literacy
does not mean to simply understand what content is presented,
but rather the ability to build and interact with content dynam-
ically placed at a user’s disposal by a computer.
Digital literacy is a skillset traditionally found in graduates
of computer sciences (CS) and MIS, talent which the mining
industry has difficulty finding [30]. Moreover, successful an-
alytics programs require knowledge of mining, metallurgy,
and geology, which these graduates lack. The best solution
is a multi-disciplinary team [170]; hackathons are a recruiting
method for new, non-traditional talent that mining companies
have begun to use [24].
5.3 Process
The methodology for the analytics process, as shown in Fig. 7,
is an iterative and scalable process for investigation.
Centered around business understanding, the analytics pro-
cess begins by identifying a problem area of the business
process which is not fully understood. Data preparation then
occurs with the objective of breaking down the given problem
in such a way that each piece of it can be worked with
Fig. 7 The Data Management and Analytics Process adapted from [171]
currently available data science tools [168]. This data break-
down can be achieved through many techniques, including
classification, regression, similarity, clustering, co-occurrence,
profiling, link prediction, data reduction, causal modeling,
cross-correlation, decision trees, and anomaly detection [92,
94–99, 168, 172]. Each of these techniques is part of either
data collection, preparation, or other requirements as shown in
Fig. 6.
Once the data is broken down into components, first prin-
ciples models can be made, which model the behavior of the
model using engineering and ML techniques [99]. These
models are then tested and evaluated in a variety of ways,
and the model is incrementally improved based on feedback
from the process. Thus, in theory, the more feedback and the
longer a model is refined, the better it fits the data. The ability
of models to adapt to changing conditions over time is perhaps
one of the greatest benefits of using data analytics techniques
as opposed to traditional and static engineering methods.
Models serve to enhance the business understanding and the
entire process and can be repeated.
5.4 Technology
In addition to the technology mentioned previously in Sects. 2
and 3, many analytics-specific technologies exist. Some of
them are commercial and some are open source. Table 3
shows some of the most popular commercial and open-
source data analytics technologies.
Many of these technologies employ the software as a ser-
vice (SAAS) business model. SAAS involves a subscription
to software products that provide desired solutions without
requiring companies to implement and maintain the software
themselves, and often leads to better solutions for cheaper
starting costs [95]. Additionally, most of them are compatible
across wide varieties of software systems and platforms.
Considering big data, the attributes desired for data pro-
cessing and modeling technology include scalability, ability to
handle highly variable data and computational workload,
compatibility with other software, low cost, and parallel com-
puting [92, 94–99, 173]. Hadoop, created by the Apache
Software Foundation, is a powerful open-source platform for
data storage and processing [95]. There is also a plethora of
programming languages available for custom solutions, in-
cluding python, R, and Spark [97]. These technologies enable
analysts to leverage ML, NN, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
techniques, which generate value through scalability to large
and complex problems [9].
6 DT and the Future of Mining
DT differs substantially from previous IT-enabled trans-
formations due to its speed, size, and complexity [3,
 Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration

Table 3 Popular data analytics technologies used in mining (adapted from [95])

Technology Description Website

Tableau Interactive data visualization and Business Intelligence software www.tableausoftware.com

QlikView Business Intelligence platform that finds data insights across www.qlikview.com
various sources with its indexing engine
MicroStrategy Software solutions for building and deploying analytics and www.microstrategy.com
mobility applications
D3.js Data Driven Documents JavaScript library http://d3js.org
SAS Software platform transforming data analyzation into www.sas.com
intelligence
Gephi An open-source data visualization platform https://gephi.org
Flowing Data A community for data artists to understand and share http://flowingdata.com
visualization techniques
Arbor JS A Java-based graph library http://arborjs.org
Cubism D3 plug-in for visualizing time series http://square.github.com/cubism
GeoCommons A community building an open mapping platform http://geocommons.com
JavaScript InfoVis Toolkit Web tools to create Interactive Data Visualizations http://thejit.org
Cognos/Many Eyes Data visualization tools from IBM Research http://www-958.ibm.
com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes
Microsoft Power BI Analytics and Business Intelligence software https://powerbi.microsoft.com
ESRI ArcGIS Geographical Information System http://www.arcgis.com/
acQuire Geoscientific information management system https://www.acquire.com.au/
Leapfrog 3D geological modeling software for the hydrogeology, http://www.leapfrog3d.com/
geothermal, and mining industries
DMSI (MAINTelligence) Provides maintenance solutions through multi-disciplinary anal- http://www.desmaint.com/
yses
EarthSoft EQUIS™ Advanced data management and decision support system for https://earthsoft.com/
compliance monitoring
Oracle Analytics Cloud Cloud-based business insight visualization tools compatable https://www.oracle.com/solutions/business-analytics/
with the oracle platform
AssetWise Performance Bentley’s AssetWise Performance Management (formerly Ivara) https://www.bentley.com/en/products/brands/assetwise
Management software supports operational analytics
Landfolio® Landfolio® (formerly FlexiCadastre) land management software https://landadmin.trimble.
is built on the ESRI® platform for natural resources com/solutions/land-management/
management
TapRoot Root cause analysis tool for incident investigations https://www.taproot.com/
WorkAlign® WorkAlign® Analytics is a complete BI solution for EAM data https://www.viziya.com/products/analytics/
OSISoft PIVision Intuitive web-client visualization tool for PI System data https://techsupport.osisoft.
com/Products/Visualization/PI-Vision/Overview
Resolver Risk Management software with analysis and reporting https://www.resolver.com/
capability for risk oversight
iDashboards Fully customizable visualization and data management platform https://www.idashboards.com/
ioGAS An exploratory data analysis software for geochemical and https://reflexnow.com/iogas/
geometallurgical data
Pronto Full ERP software integrated with IBM Cognos https://www.pronto.net/
Geosoft Suite of software for visualizing and analyzing complex https://www.geosoft.com/
geoscience challenges
Blue Marble Geographic GIS based modeling and visualization software https://www.bluemarblegeo.com/
Domo Fully mobile, cloud-based operating system for mobile BI solu- https://www.domo.com/
tions
Minitab Statistics and analysis package developed at Pennsylvania State http://www.minitab.com/en-us/
University
Hexagon MineEnterprise Web-based reporting and analytics and live dashboard platform https://hexagonmining.com/
Platform
Uptake OEM agnostic data analysis platform https://www.uptake.com/industry-solutions/mining

6–17]. It also differs substantially in potential benefits. benefits will come in three different categories: people,
The remainder of this section discusses how these process, and technology.
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
6.1 People
Approximately 1% of the global population are mine workers
[174]. DT that incorporates IS design centered around human
values will be an important social requirement going forward
[151]. Educational programs have adapted to the need for
digitally literate and highly skilled analysts. According to a
Tableau report on the state of higher education in the USA
(Fig. 8) in 2016, nearly 100% of highly ranked universities
now offer analytics programs, compared to a 9% overall US
university average [26].
If the trend in analytics education continues, data analysts
will enter the mining industry in greater numbers. As IoT
continues to grow within the industry, the collegiate mining
engineering curriculum will likely develop more IT, OT, and
analytics learning. Furthermore, as the result of public educa-
tion, the future mining labor force will possess digital literacy
[175]. Additionally, women will continue to enter the mining
workforce, bringing a variety of benefits [72, 176]. These
changes will require a shift in how, who, when, and the speed
at which decisions are made. Future research on the methods
of decision making and its connection to diversity is needed,
since one major risk of the new digital eco-system is the po-
tential rise of new monopolistic or oligopolistic organizations
[11]. Moreover, countries and people without access to digital
innovations might see even greater labor and skill inequalities,
becoming “digital refugees” [177, 178].
Mining companies that overrate insight-based decisions
will likely be more responsive to digital changes and therefore
reap the benefits [133]. Mining companies that overrate
intuition-based decisions will likely not be as open to diversity
of thought and will struggle to gain the benefits of DT [161,
Fig. 8 Trends in categories of
analytics programs names (This
image is part of a live public
dashboard from tableau [26] and
is available at: https://public.
tableau.com/profile/emma.trifari#
!/vizhome/
TheStateofDataEducationin2016/
ProgramNameTrends)
162]. It could be possible to create leading indicators of diver-
sity through analyzing the methods of decision making within
an organization. These leading indicators could then be used
to measure and manage diversity of inclusivity more success-
fully. Additionally, as AI continues to develop, organizations
which can appropriately leverage its potential will have ad-
vantages, particularly when dealing with problems of com-
plexity [132, 179, 180]. Success in developing AI will most
likely come through involving stakeholders, establishing
values, conducting controlled experiments, and maintaining
a positive view on the future of AI [132, 136].
6.2 Process
When considering ways that DT will change mining, per-
haps the most radical future prediction is that one day, the
mine and mill superintendents will actually be able to sit
down at the same table without disagreement over opera-
tional data. DT will alter the fundamental processes of
mining by making operations safer, more remote, more
automated, and more transparent. Short range planning
and short interval control is another target for improve-
ment considering DT, since planning and engineering de-
cisions will have real-time data to support more frequent
but shorter meetings over operational decisions. A recent
review of short-range planning identified key challenges
and future directions for short range planning enabled
through DT [181]. Mine to mill reconciliation will im-
prove, and true bottlenecks to the holistic process will
be systematically removed as fuzzy models will become
clear [103]. With regard to SLO, mining companies will
gain increased stakeholder awareness and engagement
 Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration

with local communities as they leverage various media
platforms through DT [22].
Mining companies that change their organizational struc-
ture might benefit from adopting an organizational system like
agile software development. Agile software development is
based around four main values, which are individuals and
interactions over processes and tools, working software over
comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over
contract negotiation, and responding to change over following
a plan [182]. According to Cook [183], the success of agile
software development depends on 12 core principles, which
are:
& Responsive planning
& Business-value-driven work
& Hands-on business outputs
& Direct stakeholder engagement
& Immovable deadlines
& Management by self-motivation
& “Just-in-time” communication
& Immediate status tracking
& Waste management
& Constantly measurable quality
& Rearview mirror checking
& Continuous improvement
Truly agile software can handle the highly variable and
changing factors of the mining industry, such as resource
depletion, market competition, dynamic social factors,
and volatility. Agile development approaches not only en-
able organizations to more easily embrace change but also
increase efficiency of their most mundane and routine
processes [183].
6.3 Technology
According to a survey of 875 participants performed by
O’Reilly Media in 2017, non-relational database management
systems, such as Hadoop, NoSQL, columnar/MPP analytic
databases, Amazon Redshift, and Google BigQuery now
make up just more than 70% of data sources for doing analyt-
ics [184]. Since such platforms are more scalable and capable
of the demands of big data analytics, the increase of such types
of systems is likely to continue. These technologies will also
change and reduce the time required for data integration.
Virtual reality (VR) is a technology with huge potential for
mining applications, especially considering its ability to en-
hance remote operations and inspection of autonomous equip-
ment [103]. VR mines facilitate training to improve worker
performance, by simulating events that workers would other-
wise not experience unless under unfortunate circumstances
[185]. It also holds great potential for incident investigations
and forensics [186].
Another potentially disruptive technology to the mining
industry is blockchain. There are at least nine potential use
cases for blockchain in mining, which include (1) digital iden-
tity for assets and people (DIAP), (2) data integrity, (3) prov-
enance, (4) cradle to grave blockchain for assets, (5) workflow
automation in combination with IoT, (6) supply chain optimi-
zation, (7) tokenized mines, (8) workforce health recording,
and (9) human resources management [187]. The exact char-
acteristics of over one million diamonds have already been

Table 4 Areas of DT research identified as well as their sources

Area Description

Workforce development
Education
Supply chain management
Safety
Transparency
Reducing environmental impacts
Operational excellence
Innovation standards
Lowering innovation hurdles
Alternative investments
Business intelligence
Create an innovative and collaborative workplace culture [17, 18, 161, 162, 179, 180, 190]
Provide a new digital skill set to both the existing and future workforce through a change in
educational practices [26, 27, 72, 177, 191]
Improve reagent and product tracking methods [25, 126, 160, 165, 192, 193]
Eliminate conflict minerals and smuggling [10, 187–189]
Advance global market interaction [13, 17, 89, 92, 93, 160, 180, 194]
Empower and protect workers from harm and mitigate safety risks [117, 118, 128, 157, 195, 196]
Increase digital/data quality, transparency, trust, accessibility, autonomy, and infrastructure for
environmental compliance and oversight [10, 83, 154, 197, 198]
Manage tailings and accelerate the reclamation process [102, 103, 113, 199–205]
Create and refine data-driven business models [5, 21, 23, 142, 206]
Modify regulations to encourage innovative changes and establish digital best practices
[83, 120, 122, 123, 154, 205]
Overcome the “Innovation Gap” through the development of commercialization plans for new technologies
[7, 11, 29, 78, 90, 170, 177, 207, 208]
Strengthen stakeholder relationships and develop new partnerships [12, 79, 120, 122, 123, 190]
Provide analytics and decision support to decision makers [92, 94, 95, 132, 145, 180]
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
digitized into a blockchain-based record by Everledger (a
cataloging software based on blockchain), making them less
susceptible to illegal smuggling and immoral use [188].
Blockchain is also having an impact on innovation and entre-
preneurship, which could cause impacts to mining both direct-
ly and indirectly [189].
Technology must also focus on small to medium sized
mining companies. These operations make up a significant
portion of the mining market in terms of number of operations.
However, in many cases, they are underserved by traditional
mining technology. With continued advances in IoT and re-
duction in costs of sensors and connectivity, it is feasible for
marketable products scaled for smaller operations.
Advances in wireless technology, such as fifth generation
(5G) cellular network architecture, will enable device to de-
vice (D2D) communications and provide coverage to greater
areas, making it easier to bring digital capabilities to even
small and remote mines. As robust communication networks
continue to improve for underground mines, decision making
and production optimization will likely progress beyond short
interval control and into dynamic optimization of the mining
process. 5G communication will also lower the risk of auto-
mation to the mining process, since autonomous heavy equip-
ment will be more aware of its surroundings.
7 Roles of Academia in DT
Academia can help the mining industry benefit from DT in
many ways. Techniques developed in the field of data science
have potential applications in all of the identified areas, espe-
cially in the education of future mining engineers. Table 4
presents twelve areas suitable for academic research or curric-
ulum development as a part of DT, and was created as a sum-
mary of existing literature and digital initiatives. While this
table is not exhaustive, it provides ample direction for focus-
ing future research related to DT in mining.
8 Conclusions
DT is the technology-driven process by which companies
adapt themselves to an increasingly digital world. Successful
DT strategies require data management, connectivity, and de-
cision making (Fig. 1). Mining is behind many other industry
sectors in relative digitization. Many of the top mining com-
panies are digitally focused, setting the precedent for smaller
junior operations. Data analytics programs are growing rapid-
ly within higher education in the USA, and mining companies
are struggling to find digitally literate workers. As a result,
there is an opportunity and a challenge for advancing the
mining engineering curriculum and developing novel research
areas, especially within the USA. It is the role of academia to
provide support for the DT of mining companies in twelve
identified areas, including workforce development, education,
supply chain management, safety, transparency, reducing en-
vironmental impacts, operational excellence, innovation stan-
dards, lowering innovation hurdles, alternative investments,
and business intelligence.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
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