Sygnology

The major problem facing the mining industry as a whole is productivity. Due to a surge in demand and thus higher profitability in the early 2000’s, production volume became the top priority to the detriment of true productivity. The industry is now interested in reversing this excess.

Drilling represents the largest single cost associated with mineral exploration, so methods to detect damage and predict failure in drilling equipment will increase the drilling rate, having a substantial impact on exploration and development costs.

Modern mechanized rock cutting & loading equipment is very capital intensive, so any methods that allow for damage diagnostics or minimize downtime will significantly increase overall productivity and profit.

Some sources have measured the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) performance at as low as 27% for underground mining. The highest OEE performance metric is a mere 69% for crushing and grinding.

We can work to address the OEE in all segments of the industry via automated monitoring to help eliminate variability, optimize availability, and minimize unexpected maintenance or replacement.