Growing public concern around environmental factors presents significant challenges for many mining companies to protect everyone’s future health, safety and prosperity.

These challenges drive increased scrutiny on how these mining companies adapt and ensure a positive environmental impact and legacy for future generations.

In the last five years, there has been a rise in awareness and the adoption of Environmental Intelligence to provide meaningful insight to address these challenges and mitigate the effects of environmental change.

But according to the latest research by Frost & Sullivan, two-thirds of businesses are lagging when it comes to environmental technology adoption, despite the benefits it presents.

What is Environmental Intelligence?

Environmental Intelligence allows companies to harness the power of data to enhance insights through advanced analysis. For the mining sector in particular, environmental management is essential for compliance. While many companies will take on this risk at cost, others are turning to Environmental Intelligence to gain a competitive edge through mitigating and addressing a range of threats.

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Environmental Intelligence monitoring allows a company to introduce environmental data such as noise & vibration, dust, air quality, water. It is also capable of introducing weather parameters that can be matched with operational data alongside this.

Credit: Envirosuite
Credit: Envirosuite

This data is collated into a platform with the power of IoT and run against scientific algorithms, machine learning, using industry experience to produce predictive models to optimise a mining site’s operations to protect its social license while increasing productivity and saving costs.

Where Environmental Intelligence Adds Value to Mining

There are four key areas where Environmental Intelligence can add value to the mining industry. These are safety, optimising productivity, operational guidance, and protecting the social license to operate.

Safety

The safety of the workforce is paramount to mining operations. Environmental Intelligence gives mining companies the ability to continuously monitor and forecast risk ahead of time to take immediate action responses. Harnessing the power of technology also enables mines to scale solutions, increasing their ability to manage risk.

Credit: Envirosuite
Credit: Envirosuite

Productivity

Optimising operations while also managing and minimising the impact on site is key to a well-run mine. In addition to continuous monitoring techniques, Environmental Intelligence gives users digital modelling solutions and simulations to plan ahead. More comprehensive plans and increased data confidence leads to increased operational efficiency, which also positively impacts production.

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Operational Guidance

Environmental Intelligence enables operations to create dynamic plans based on real-time situational awareness. This relies on methods of communication, and a vital aspect of this is the trigger-actioned integrated response plan.

Social License to Operate

Environmental factors are a vital trigger for community complaints. With all essential data collected in one platform, mine operators can assess their impact beyond the boundary and quickly investigate if a complaint directly results from their actions. Having that data at hand arms mining operations to communicate meaningfully with the broader community and increase their confidence.

Credit: Envirosuite
Credit: Envirosuite

The Journey to Environmental Intelligence

Environmental Intelligence can add significant value to mining operations by developing more innovative ways to operate. With Environmental Intelligence, mining operators can improve the quality of life for both their workforce and the communities they serve in, while also enhancing the operation’s performance by unlocking their assets’ hidden value.

According to a new research report by Frost & Sullivan in partnership with Envirosuite, only a third of organisations (32%) use advanced digital tools for environmental management, while a further 38% of respondents are at the ‘planning’ or ‘watching and learning’ stages globally.

 

Environmental intelligence is the future of mining. To learn more, visit Envirosuite: https://envirosuite.com/

Watch the latest on-demand webinar from Envirosuite: https://www.australianmining.com.au/whitepaper/mining-masterclass-unlocking-the-value-of-your-assets-with-environmental-intelligence/