Global trends of electrification have led to increasing demand for both electric vehicles and semiconductors, which in turn has resulted in a corresponding demand increase for the specific minerals required for production (e.g., cobalt, lithium). With increased demand, many practices across the mining process are undergoing technological innovations to increase efficiency of production, with the eventual goal of creating a completely connected, autonomous, and electric mining process.
The mining industry is being forced to change, as many historical mining practices are not sustainable to meet the growing demand of EV and semiconductor related metals. New mines for cobalt, lithium, and nickel are being established around the world, and are in need of innovative technologies to improve overall production. These resources are the foundation for emerging technologies, and in order to support the heightened production, advanced technologies in the mining process are needed to achieve the highest level of production.
In order to keep up with this demand, the mining industry has already begun to adopt technologies making the entire mine site more connected, autonomous, and electric. IoT-enabled sensors are being used to connect and share data to the entire mine site, and artificial intelligence is creating autonomous mining vehicle pathways without human intervention. Leaders in the industry (e.g., Komatsu, Caterpillar have already begun to switch to these technologies, while suppliers who refuse to adapt will be left behind.
