Digitalization has profoundly changed the structures surrounding mining work and production, resulting in significant challenges in key areas such as competitiveness, sustainable development, cohesiveness between processes, operational continuity and specialized human capital.
According to the study “Impact of New Technologies on the Skills Required in the Mining Industry” (2018), by the Mining Council and Fundación Chile, the industry has been operating by employing a mixed model that includes both remote control and automation. The field is characterized by data-driven decision making and the collection of detailed information from data centers. By 2050, the sector should reach a level of optimization that will allow it to maximize its technological potential throughout the value chain and across operations.
As industrial processes become more complex, they must be available 24/7/365. It all begins at a corporate data center (IT) that may be several kilometers away and culminates in the convergence of various processes of Operational Technology (OT) where the work is carried out. The expectation is that the data center technology will contribute to a cleaner, more competitive mining sector by offering sustainable development, reduced risks, cost savings and resource optimization (electricity and fuel).
This perspective is shared by the study Big Data in Mining (2020), carried out by the School of Science, Physics and Mathematics of the University of Chile, which highlights the importance of interconnected equipment as a key factor in the development and transformation of mineral processing from its current state. In addition to dealing with large volumes of data for extended periods of time, data centers must be able to scale up capacity over very short intervals, since various data sources can produce more and better data across short amounts of time.
Designed for Extreme Conditions
Large-scale mining is generally carried out in areas where the climatic conditions are extreme. In Chile, they are usually located in the desert or in the middle of the mountain range, which not only tests the staff, but also the entire infrastructure and IT systems.
Vertiv understands the complexity of the challenges that mining operations are facing, and has specialized in offering a full range of effective and reliable mission-critical solutions that are designed to withstand the most extreme conditions in industrial environments, including corrosion, humidity, saline environments, high temperatures, dust, high altitudes, earthquakes, and snow.
Our prefabricated modular data centers can adapt to the different needs and geographic realities of mining companies, since they bring together the provision of several data service providers that integrate IT capabilities, transforming them into an edge data center or data center node.
We work hard to optimize energy consumption as much as possible, which is why data centers are scalable and redundant (for higher availability), with a satisfactory Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), and cooling systems that reduce energy consumption by at least 30% through the use of energy savers, lithium-ion batteries and freecooling technology. Additionally, for locations that require a constant power supply, Vertiv offers industrial rectifiers, inverters, and UPS units. In this way, energy continuity can be used to support Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks at sites and in Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES).
Monitored for Reliability
As Vertiv also endeavors to protect critical processes in this industry, many of our products also have monitoring systems. For example, we provide data centers with cameras (visual monitoring) and automated temperature, moisture, airflow and liquid sensors (physical monitoring). These allow us to ensure that the solution can work in a completely autonomous manner, and can predict potential issues before problems arise, allowing for agile responses.
Local Response and Service
Meanwhile, if a more specialized approach is required, Vertiv has data center management, operations and maintenance personnel who can provide critical infrastructure services such as preventive diagnostics and monitoring services, maintenance programs, updates, replacements and retrofits.
In addition, we offer evaluations and professional testing that identifies gaps in the power infrastructure for improved availability of the IT/OT system, as well as information to plan for additional capacity.
We have seen how the adoption of big data has made a positive change for mining, combining excellence in data management with effective process monitoring and energy savings, culminating in better real-time decision making and ensuring operational continuity in a strategic sector that plays a vital role in several Latin American economies.
