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Mining Sector in Australia

The Mining sector holds a vital role in the economy, being the lifeblood of numerous industries by supplying indispensable raw materials. While mining is as old as civilization itself, it is a continuously evolving field. Increased operational expenses and societal demands for lesser environmental damage are the primary challenges facing mining corporations. Political volatility and economic instability also represent significant obstacles for companies operating in this landscape. New issues, such as securing energy and capital, present unprecedented challenges for modern miners. For mining companies to mitigate risks and threats, they need to be prepared to change and evolve. Progressive mining operators are turning to technology and flexible staffing options to maintain their competitiveness, services that we are proud to provide to the mining industry.

Importance of Mining for Australia and the World

Mining is a significant contributor to economic growth, supplying many job opportunities, particularly in countries rich in natural resources. The employment generated from mining plays a crucial role in local economies, developing a sturdy workforce and promoting economic prosperity. Besides creating jobs, mining greatly enriches the export revenues of resource-rich countries by selling valuable minerals and other resources in the global marketplace. This trade generates a large foreign income, reinforcing the national economy and allowing the import of essential goods and services. Furthermore, the mining industry often leads to the creation of crucial infrastructure, such as roads, railways, and ports. This infrastructure development enhances broader economic growth and supports other sectors, especially in regions where such infrastructure is sparse.

Valenta and the Australian Mining Sector

Mining

Mining corporations, including Fortune 1000 companies and multinationals, have traditionally leveraged consulting services, digital transformation entities, and staffing providers. Large mining firms in the sector are no exception to this trend. However, the adaptation of external resources has been relatively slow for mid-sized companies and regional players in this sector, a scenario which is presently undergoing rapid change. At Valenta, we’re equipped with all the technology and innovative solutions needed in the rapidly transforming mining industry. We boast a team of Managing Partners located in major regions including the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, and Australia, many of whom have a deep-rooted connection to the mining industry. Alongside local consultants, our offshore experts, developers, and outsourced staffing managers, our Managing Partners strive to deliver the best possible services to our clients.

The Top Challenges for the Mining Sector

Based on our experience and conversations with clients.

the below are the top challenges faced by today’s Mining sector.  Valenta can assist with all of these challenges through a combination of Process Consulting, Digital Transformation and Staff Augmentation :

Top-challenges in Mining
  • Operational costs
  • Productivity challenges
  • Environmental concerns
  • Volatility of commodity prices
  • Demand uncertainty
  • Scarcity of high quality deposits
  • Geopolitical risks
  • Health and safety
  • Access to energy
  • Access to capital
  • Business intelligence and data analysis
  • Process improvement
  • Staffing and labor shortagesTechnology innovation
  • Skills gaps
  • Staffing

How Valenta Assists the Mining Sector?

At Valenta we can aid with today’s challenges and provide services that address rising operational costs and productivity challenges. We can also help miners smartly address environmental concerns. We can apply AI and ML to costing and procurement and provide data analysis and business intelligence solutions and services to our clients in the Mining space. These actions can go a long way towards addressing the volatility of prices. Our consulting services can standardize processes for health, safety and ESG. We can also assist Mining companies when it comes to staffing.  We provide new economy and information economy roles like Big Data Specialists, Cloud Engineers, RPA Developers, DevOps Engineers, Data Security Analysts, and more. Valenta also provides traditional BPO services like accounting, bookkeeping, administration, billing staff, digital marketers, IT staff, software administrators and more.

Valenta can help Mining companies in the following ways :

Process, build

Process

Mining companies cannot afford to waste time or have inefficiencies in their organizations. Process issues appear frequently in companies who are undergoing change like the ones in Mining. We look for waste in all processes and have staff available for process mapping, task mapping and business optimization.

Repeatability, Execution

Execution

Excellence in execution is essential. Great ideas and goals are only the beginning. Successfully implementing new strategies, projects, and plans is the difference between success and failure. We help our Mining clients flawlessly execute.

innovation, discover, BUILDING

Innovation

Innovation is a key to success for all businesses. The competition, customers, and the business environment are always changing. Innovation is how Mining companies can stay ahead of the competition and be where their customers will be. We help our clients to be nimble and agile.

strategy

Strategy

Developing and executing the right growth strategies is critical. Our clients benefit from bringing in our expertise for hire. We can provide actionable strategies for our Mining clients plus detailed plans for how to get desired outcomes and results.

Digital-Transformation

Digital Transformation

There is a tremendous need for all companies to automate and adapt to new technologies and ways of doing business. Mining companies are no different. Having skill sets inhouse to pull this off can be challenging.  Valenta implements solutions such as RPA and Conversational-AI for businesses of all sizes at competitive pricing. Offloading this important function to us, helps Mining companies focus on their core business.

Growth

Growth

In today’s environment, a business must grow or die.  One of the most painful challenges is sustainable and profitable growth. Our team of partners, consultants, developers, and back office staff can implement a myriad of growth strategies for Mining companies to strike the right balance of growth and profits.

Profits

Profits

The bottom line is crucial. Maintaining profitability and healthy cash flow is something every business must pay close attention to. Mining companies are no different. Valenta can identify opportunities for efficiency gains and can provide ROIs for all client projects.

Support. Staffing

Staffing

If current employees are under-skilled or not able to fulfill the requirements of positions, Valenta’s team of skilled and fully trained individuals can meet requirements. Hiring is time consuming and there are not always skills available within budget.  Staff Augmentation can bridge the gap of competencies and economics.

Services Valenta Provides for the Mining Sector

Consulting

Consulting

An end-to-end solution, from strategy to implementation. Specializing in turning strategies into measurable and sustainable results.

Valenta provides Consulting services that can be of great value to the Mining segment. We can assist companies in this space streamline their back office, supply chains, order entry, billing, accounting, finance and HR processes for peak efficiency and lowest cost.  Savings generated can be devoted to prospecting, enhancing infrastructure, or upgrading legacy software platforms. Valenta can also look for ways to use AI and ML to streamline procurement, billing, order intake, and customer interactions.

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Digital-Transformation

Digital Transformation

Streamline workflows and improve productivity across business units. Implementing powerful tools to provide businesses with an unparalleled competitive edge.

Valenta Digital Transformation services can streamline back office processes by leveraging RPA for Mining companies.  We can also leverage RPA and AI for critical procurement, finance, and accounting workflows. ML and AI can be deployed as a service with flexible SaaS models.  Conversational AI solutions can be deployed to make Mining customer support staff more efficient and better informed. All Valenta services are easy to scale up and ramp down which can be of great value to Mining companies.

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Support. Staffing

Staff Augmentation

Focus on growing your business, let us take care of the rest and save up to 60% on staffing costs.

Mining companies can also benefit from Valenta Staff Augmentation services. Hard to fill Data Analysts and Big Data Specialists can be supplied for better operations and decision-making. Back office roles like accountants, bookkeepers, IT staff, and more can be filled quickly and cost-effectively so that the maximum amount of resources can be dedicated to frontline positions and other strategic roles.

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Heat Maps for Mining Sector Processes

Many processes lend themselves to automation in the Mining space.  Please find the following Heat Maps highlighting the Supply Chain Management area that is the best places to start with automation and digital transformation in the Mining segment.

Supply Chain Management

Automation and AI in the Mining Sector

Mining-Automation

54% OF AN INDIVIDUAL’S WORK HAS THE POTENTIAL to be automated in the Mining industry *McKinsey, A Future That Works

The Mining industry has several use cases for robotic process automation. Back-office processes such as Finance and Accounting, HR, IT and administration and procurement can easily be automated using RPA technology to eliminate human error and increase efficiencies.

In addition to the various back-office processes, BOTS can also assist with various other processes such as :

  • The conversion of Life of Mine Plan to Business Plan including ore estimation and validation processes
  • Data aggregation from multiple production units to deliver production reporting and reconciliation on tonnage
  • Data aggregation and analysis in the maintenance planning and enabling workflow from production information systems to enterprise asset management systems
  • Metals balancing calculations using data aggregation from production systems and lab information to subsequent integrations and workflows into metals accounting
  • Chatbots are also being used for searching equipment manuals for maintenance procedures, safety procedures, material safety data sheets, travel, leave, contractor policies and more. In addition to this, RPA Bots can also be used to integrate with Drone Mapping Software’s and other ERP applications to generate various real-time reports.
mining Automation

The top 3 activities for AI in order of ability to automate include:
1. Data Collection
2. Predictable Physical Activities
3. Data Processing
*McKinsey, A Future That Works

Why Mining Automation is the Way of the Future

The importance of automation in Mining has become increasingly important given there are so many external forces that can impact the industry, and ultimately increase or decrease profit margins dramatically including :

  • Rising cost of operational expenditure
  • Workforce skill shortages
  • Market volatility
  • Increasing regulatory compliance

End-To-End Adoption of AI in Mining Includes

mining-prospecting, QUANTIFIED BUSINESS BENEFIT ANALYSIS TOOL

Prospecting

Apply machine learning to determine the best locations to explore from classifying rock faces and leveraging satellite imagery to predicting mineral prosperity.

Advanced Exploration

Advanced Exploration

Predictive modelling can be applied for drilling targets as well as classifying subsurface materials.

Construction Project Management, solutions

Construction Project Management

Use predictive modelling to determine construction phases and tap into data sets that will dictate timeframes, such as previous site designs and aerial imagery.

Assisted Monitoring

Assisted Monitoring

Monitor daily operations including site safety, and the extraction of resources. Review and analyze key data points including equipment, materials, people, and the surrounding environment.

Autonomous Mining Vehicles

Autonomous Mining Vehicles

Self-driving trucks and autonomous loaders are just two examples of autonomous vehicles that will improve site safety and increase operational efficiency.

Environmental Management

Manage risk with AI and machine learning in real-time and using predictive modelling to assess environmental impact, largely through satellite imagery.

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Find a Partner

Mining businesses can benefit from Valenta services. We have partners and staff onboard who understand this sector and who have experience with Mining. Everything we do at Valenta is about helping companies focus on and have time for what they do best and their core mission. We do this through process consulting, digital transformation, the automation of tasks, and by providing staff augmentation. Valenta is focused exclusively on SMB clients, typically enterprise customers with 10-1,000 employees. We have Managing Partners located in cities across the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, and Australia. Our Managing Partners work with other onshore consultants, plus offshore consultants, developers, and managers of outsourced staff to deliver the best services to our clients. Please reach out here to locate a Managing Partner in your area.

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