Bulk Material Handling. It’s just moving dirt
After a year looking intensively at the metals processing side of mining, I recently spent some time back in bulk material handling. And after a plant tour not long ago, a colleague new to the business somewhat naively (but accurately) observed, “It’s just moving dirt.” Well, yes, it is, but it’s moving A LOT of dirt, with huge equipment, and exacting quality requirements, in a process that consumes a lot of energy! And don’t forget that there are big financial penalties for delays and errors, making that simple sounding act of “just moving dirt” a high stakes game that is not so simple after all. So I thought I would take some time to reflect (that’s what we do at the end of each year, right?) on the many areas of mining in which digitization is helping to make bulk material handling just a little easier. Material Movement Once extraction from the earth, millions of tonnes of ore are moved via conveyors, stackers, reclaimers and shiploaders. It is a formidable effort t...