Modern Mining August 2019

MINE AUTOMATION

all the operations, looking at the assets – such as Wi-Fi networks and acces- sibility to digital devices – already in place to support digitalisation and what would need to be added,” he says. “By 2018 we had a much clearer picture of what needed to be done and we launched our Digital@Exxaro programme, which is still evolving but which, in essence, is aimed at digitalis- ing and linking together all the steps in the value chain from pit to port, start- ing with the digitalisation of geological data at one end of the chain and end- ing with the shipping of the product at the other.”

According to Mnisi, while all Exxaro’s mines are now well advanced on digitalisation, the strategy will find its fullest expression at the new Belfast open- pit mine – Exxaro’s first new mine development in over a decade – which has been designed from the ground up as a fully digital operation. “Obviously, it is much easier to install cutting-edge technology in a new greenfield mine than to retrofit it to existing operations and we have taken full advantage of the opportunities presented by Belfast,” states Mnisi. An almost revolutionary jump forward at Belfast is the application of the ‘digital twin’ concept to the project. “In effect, the ‘digital twin’ is a digital replica of the mine, incorporating all the real world assets in comprehensive detail,” Mnisi explains. “In the construction phase it grows with the mine while in the operational phase it will allow management to connect to the mine and manage it from anywhere. Digital twins – which are closely associated with the fourth industrial revolution – are being used world- wide in many industries but we believe that the

digital twin we’ve developed for Belfast is the first in a mining application in South Africa.” Apart from the use of a digital twin, Belfast will have an array of high-tech systems which – for the most part – have not yet been deployed on Exxaro’s mines. “Just to give a couple of examples, when you drive onto the Belfast property all the roads will have sensors and cameras that will tell you whether or not you are speeding while there will also be smart key technology controlling access to vehicles and areas within the mine,” says Mnisi. “On the materi- als handling side, we’ll have technology that ‘senses’ the quality of the coal passing into the plant on the conveyors.” Belfast, like other mines in the Exxaro group, will also have an Integrated Operations Centre. This is basically the integrated collaborative centre, but with a high tech makeover which allows input from every part of the mining operation to the control room, making for tighter integration and better control of all the mine’s activities in real time. The benefits

The ‘Middle Eye’ screen at the conneXXion, Exxaro’s new high-tech headquarters in Centurion. The Middle Eye drives integration between all business unit capabilities and value chain partners to optimise the end-to- end coal value chain.

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August 2019  MODERN MINING  31