This month’s Investing in African Mining Indaba has reminded the industry of the need to grow and innovate. In order to remain competitive and sustainable, technology must be front and centre of this innovation. A new and younger workforce will soon join the mining world, and they are not interested in using old and traditional tools and techniques that don’t deliver optimum outcomes. 

“This was the third Mining Indaba I have attended, and I can see that there is a growing realisation of the need to innovate,” says Jody Conrad, CEO of Krux Analytics.

“When it comes to data, I have seen over these years that more companies are grasping the power it holds to completely revolutionise their drilling operations.  If you use data correctly, it can help companies to drill smarter, to be more efficient and not to waste their true exploration potential. Mining companies need to deliver the planned metres within the exploration budget to secure the next stages of approval and investment- the only way to do this is to find ways of optimising your drilling operations,” she says. 

Krux Analytics leverages deep expertise in field data management to deliver innovative software solutions tailored to the metals and mining industry. The company was founded in 2016 and is active with drilling and mining companies in over 15 countries. Some firms are among the world's largest in the sector, including Barrick Gold, Newmont, and Rio Tinto.

“When we first attended Mining Indaba three years ago, we had zero business on the African continent. We have seen great growth over that period and the continent now makes up about 30% of our global business activity with the rest spread across North and South America and Australia,” says Conrad.

The real power of data, she adds, lies in the fact that it can answer the questions you ask of it but at the same time, it can help you better understand how to ask the right questions. 

“We met with several current and new clients this week. Some of our new clients were very excited to see the data and what they could achieve by implementing data into their drilling operations. I also spent time with existing clients who were not sure whether they were using data to its fullest potential. I showed them how they can dig deeper into what they have,” explains Conrad. 

It is a continuous mission to educate the industry on the power of data and how to best adopt it. 

“Change management is not easy, as people often don’t understand the full lifecycle of data. Too often we see people who just fill out a spreadsheet with no understanding of what the numbers will be used for down the line. The lightbulb moment however happens when they see the positive impact those data sets can have on better invoicing and a firmer control over operational costs,” says Conrad. 

Looking at the adoption of data into drilling operations, she says the needle is moving in the right direction on the African continent. 

“Most of the mining companies have shown themselves to be tech-forward and extremely nimble. They were creative enough to work around potential roadblocks, such as appointing drilling supervisors to enter data on behalf of drillers.”

Conrad says a key message from Mining Indaba this year was for mining companies to understand that embracing technology will help them grow and evolve.

“The theme chosen for this event was about the industry futureproofing itself and this is exactly where technology and data come to the rescue. New drillers will soon join our ranks who don’t have the experience of driving a rig or knowing how to listen to the ground. They were born into a digital world with an expectation of open data and leveraging AI and company owners will need to innovate and evolve if they want to attract this new generation,” she says.

If there was one lesson to take from Mining Indaba this year, Conrad believes competition is a good thing to foster innovation. Companies are competing with one another to work smarter, more efficiently, and in a way that is more attractive to a new workforce and better to the environment in which they operate.

“Competition in the market keeps everyone on their toes, they keep you sharp and it drives innovation, but only in relation to your competitors. True innovation comes from having a future state vision.  You need to build for the future. You can't just build for today.”