Santiago/London — Mining companies chasing the kind of technological breakthroughs made long ago in the manufacture of cars and mobile phones have unveiled eye-catching innovations ranging from vast drills and remote-controlled trucks to second-by-second data analysis. Behind the scenes, however, there has so far been limited progress towards a transformation the companies say is more and more vital to their survival. They are being jolted into action by volatile commodity prices and the increasing difficulty and danger of accessing remaining reserves in hot, narrow seams several kilometres below ground. "There’s a big awakening in mining. The time is ripe for things to begin to change," Anglo American’s head of technology development, Donovan Waller, said. A major obstacle is the huge upfront cost for innovation that firms such as Anglo, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto must pay off over the life of a mine in contrast to incremental upgrades common to mobile phones. Sandvik, one of the w...
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