Global Innovation
Global Innovation
MINExpo International is set to return in full force this Sept. 24 to 26 with its first post-COVID-19 pandemic showcase of mining equipment, products, services and technologies. Hosted by the U.S.-based National Mining Association (NMA) every four years in Las Vegas, Nevada, the event is the world’s largest gathering of the mining industry. It includes the unveiling of original equipment manufacturers’ (OEMs) latest technologies, as well as mining leaders and professionals from around the globe networking, exchanging ideas and meeting potential new partners.
The 2020 edition of MINExpo was postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rescheduled event in September 2021 attracted approximately 22,000 participants and 1,400 exhibitors—numbers that were significantly lower than usual because the world was still grappling with the pandemic and travel restrictions.
In sharp contrast, this year’s MINExpo is expected to host over 44,000 attendees from 126 countries, and more than 1,900 exhibitors across 65,000 square metres of exhibition space. As with previous events, MINExpo 2024 mirrors major industry trends of adapting to past challenges and highlighting the innovations that will chart the direction of mining in the coming years. That direction is one in which the mining industry is no longer merely adopting new technologies, but in which mining is re-designing itself and its operations to leverage what are now mature technologies and position itself as a sustainable player in the green energy transition.
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Sudbury-based Symboticware, which developed the 4-Sight.ai asset performance management platform for mining fleets, is another example of an established company incorporating leading-edge advancements to its offerings. It is also one that illustrates the rapidity of change in the industry over the last three years. In 2021, the company showcased its hardware solution at MINExpo, but this year, the company is unveiling its dramatic transformation—and rebranding as SYMX.AI.
“We are trying to disrupt the status quo with vertically integrated IoT software, AI and a connectivity platform,” said Ash Agarwal, the company’s CEO. “We offer all solutions in one and our AI is not a general-purpose AI—it is specifically built for mining.”
The company’s AI has been trained on the years of data and insights it has collected through its systems in actual mine settings—taking predictive maintenance to the next level. “For example, we know what happens immediately before a failure,” said Agarwal. “We don’t want to predict a failure event—we want to predict what happens right before the failure event by looking at data, and that’s something that AI can do.”
Symboticware has also partnered with SpaceX’s subsidiary Swarm and integrated satellite connectivity into its system. “Mining companies that do not have internet or Wi-Fi can still use our solution at a significantly lower cost than installing the [communications] infrastructure,” said Agarwal.
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This is only a sampling of the innovations that will be at MINExpo 2024, but overall they point to the biggest trend in the industry. After a decades-long journey of innovation, the mining industry has now reached a pivotal moment: it has already entered a new era of transformation.
With almost 2,000 exhibitors from around the world, and tens of thousands of participants, this year’s MINExpo could be remembered as the landmark event that marked a turning point where the enormous potential these innovations and technology have shown become day-to-day operational reality. It not only points to the future direction of the industry, but it also showcases how far it has come.
Source: CIM