Synopsis
This report provides a detailed analysis of investment intentions in 12 areas of technology in the North American mining sector. The analysis is based upon Timetrics survey of 101 mine managers, procurement managers and other key decision-makers, and focuses in particular on mine-management and vehicle-related technologies.
Areas of analysis include:
• Mining companies priorities for investments in the coming two years, across 12 mine-site technologies including collision avoidance, fatigue management, real time video training, remote control/machine automation, and fleet management to name a few, with separate analyses for mine-management technologies and vehicle-related technologies.
• Comparisons of investment intentions across segments, including four commodity groups, mine type and company revenue (as measured by global annual revenues).
• Comparisons highlighting differences between current and prospective investments across Canada and North America.
• Specific insight into the potential for autonomous vehicles and expectations for investment over the next ten years.
Scope
The report is based on responses from a survey of 101 senior managers at operating mines in Canada and the US, responsible for the purchase of equipment for plant and mine operations, along with its consumables. This included four different commodity groups and a range of surface and underground mining operations. Respondents were asked to outline their current and future intentions for technology investments across 12 areas, which included mine design, mine survey equipment, scheduling and optimization, equipment health monitoring and machine automation. The report outlines the drivers for these investments and outlines safety, productivity and cost cutting needs as influential in decision-making.
Summary
Overall trends in the data revealed:
• The primary technologies in which respondents plan to increase investments are vehicle-related, specifically collision avoidance, fatigue management, real-time video training, remote control/machine automation, and fleet management.
• For each of the 12 areas, at least 55% of respondents already have these technologies in place at their sites.
• 29% of respondents are currently using autonomous vehicles, with a further 6% planning on implementing in less than 2 years.
• Safety is the leading driver of technology investment, followed by productivity improvements and then cost reduction.
Reasons To Buy
• Understand what factors most influence technology investment, and how this varies by commodity group, mine type, company size and country.
• Target the segments with the greatest opportunity for technology products and services.
• Segment the market according to those fully invested, those partially invested and those not considering investment in each technology.
Key highlights
• The primary technologies in which respondents plan to increase investments are vehicle-related software, which includes collision avoidance, fatigue management, real-time video training, remote control/machine automation, and fleet management.
• For each of the 12 areas of technology, at least 55% of respondents already have these technologies in place at their sites.
• Some 29% of respondents are currently using autonomous vehicles, with 6% planning on implementing the vehicles in the next two years.
• Safety is the leading driver of technology investments, followed by productivity improvements and cost reduction.
Table Of Contents
1 Executive Summary
2 Technology Investment Intentions in North America
2.1 Benchmarking Investment Intentions across 12 Technologies
3 Technology Investment Intentions for Mine Management
3.1 Technology Investments in Mine-Management Tools
3.2 Mine-Management Technology Investment by Mine Type
3.3 Mine-Management Technology Investment by Commodity
3.4 Mine-Management Technology Investment by Company Size
3.5 Mine-Management Technology Investment by Country - Technologies Already In Place
4 Technology Investment Intentions for Vehicles
4.1 Overview of Vehicle-Related Technologies Investments and Intentions
4.2 Vehicle-Related Technology Investments by Mine Type
4.3 Vehicle-Related Technology Investments by Company Size
4.4 Vehicle-Related Technology Investments by Commodity
4.5 Vehicle-Related Technology Investments - Remote Control and Machine Automation
4.6 Automation in Mining Equipment and Autonomous Vehicles
5 Safety is the Key Driver of Technology Investment
6 Recommendations
7 Appendix I
7.1 Selected Data Tables
8 Appendix II
8.1 Survey Background
8.2 Analysis of the Survey Sample
9 Appendix III
9.1 What is This Report About?
9.2 Methodology
9.3 Contact Timetric
9.4 About Timetric
9.5 Disclaimer
List Of Tables
Table 1: Respondent Intentions to Invest in 12 Mine-Site Technologies (%), 2015
Table 2: Top Areas for Future Technology Investments (%), 2015
Table 3: Mine-Management Technology Investment Intentions (%), 2015
Table 4: Intended Mine-Management Technology Investment by Mine Type (%), 2015
Table 5: Intended Mine-Management Technology Investment by Commodity (%), 2015
Table 6: Intended Mine-Management Technology Investment by Company Size (%), 2015
Table 7: Mine-Management Technology Already in Place by Country (%), 2015
Table 8: Vehicle-Related Technology Investments and Intentions (%), 2015
Table 9: Intended Vehicle-Related Technology Investment by Mine Type (%), 2015
Table 10: Intended Vehicle-Related Technology Investment by Company Size (%), 2015
Table 11: Intended Vehicle-Related Technology Investment by Commodity (%), 2015
Table 12: Respondent Plans for Using Autonomous Vehicles On-Site by Mine Type (%), 2015
Table 13: Respondent Plans for Using Autonomous Vehicles On-Site by Commodity (%), 2015
Table 14: Rankings of Dominant Drivers of Technology (%), 2015
Table 15: Rankings of Dominant Drivers of Technology by Commodity (%), 2015
Table 16: Rankings of Dominant Drivers of Technology by Country (%), 2015
List Of Figures
Figure 1: Operating Mines in the US and Canada, 2015
Figure 2: Respondents’ Intentions to Invest in 12 Mine-Site Technologies (%), 2015
Figure 3: Top Areas for Future Technology Investment (%), 2015
Figure 4: Main Driver of Technology Investment (%), 2015
Figure 5: Respondents’ Intentions to Invest in 12 Mine-Site Technologies (%), 2015
Figure 6: Mine Management Technology Investments and Intentions (%), 2015
Figure 7: Intended Mine-Management Technology Investment by Type of Mine (%), 2015
Figure 8: Intended Mine-Management Technology Investment by Commodity (%), 2015
Figure 10: Mine-Management Technology Investment Intentions by Companies Earning over US$10 billion (%), 2015
Figure 11: Mine-Management Technology Already in Place by Country (%), 2015
Figure 12: Mine-Management Technologies - Do Not Have But Considering Investing, by Country (%), 2015
Figure 13: Vehicle-Related Technology Investments and Intentions (%), 2015
Figure 14: Intended Vehicle-Related Technology Investments by Mine Type (%), 2015
Figure 15: Intended Vehicle-Related Technology Investment by Company Size (%), 2015
Figure 16: Intended Vehicle-Related Technology Investment by Commodity (%), 2015
Figure 17: Remote-Control and Machine Automation Investments by Mine Type (%), 2015
Figure 18: Planned Investments for Remote-Control and Machine Automation Technologies On-Site by Commodity (%), 2015
Figure 19: Respondent Plans for Using Autonomous Vehicles On-Site (%), 2015
Figure 20: Respondent Plans for Using Autonomous Vehicles On-Site by Mine Type (%), 2015
Figure 21: Respondent Plans for Using Autonomous Vehicles On-Site by Commodity (%), 2015
Figure 22: Rankings of Dominant Drivers of Technology (%), 2015
Figure 23: Comparisons for Main Driver for Technology Investment by Commodity (%), 2015
Figure 24: Ranking of Dominant Drivers for Technology by Country (%), 2015
Figure 26: Respondent Countries (%), 2015
Figure 27: Survey Respondents by Mine Type (%), 2015
Figure 28: Survey Respondents by Commodity (%), 2015
Figure 29: Survey Respondents by Company Size (%), 2015
