Interview with GEOVIA CEO Raoul Jacquand & Clem Sunter at Natural Resources Forum

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At our recent Natural Resources Forum in Johannesburg, all discussions and presentations were centered on the theme of “Mine of Tomorrow”. Dassault Systèmes GEOVIA CEO, Raoul Jacquand, talks to Clem Sunter, keynote speaker and author, about digital transformation of mining and what the mining sector needs to do to play catch up.

They start by answering the question (and theme of the Forum), “How will technology drive the industry to the Mine of Tomorrow?”

Raoul Jacquand (RJ): Technology is a fundamental enabler to bring safety and efficiency to the levels this industry deserves. In comparison to other industries, mining has a lot of catching up to do, but there are a number of technology trends out there we can leverage. These include the Internet of Things, Big Data, Immersive Visualisation Techniques and the fact that everything will be delivered through a Digital Platform, a concept we fundamentally believe in (having seen it in practice in other industries).

Clem Sunter (CS): I’d like to add two points – yes, automation takes place underground to try and remove workers from the mining face so that there are less accidents, which is the most obvious advantage about new technologies. But the other real point about technology is that it can help people make smarter decisions by playing scenarios before work actually occurs. For me, that is one of the most exciting developments – we can play a whole round of possibilities and choose what the best option is.

RJ: I think we share the same belief that the digital world extends and improves the physical world. In order to make that happen in mining what do you see as the fundamental challenges we need to overcome? Have we reached now a crucial moment in our trajectory or a burning platform where we need to inject new technology digitally enabled into this sector to gain the safety and efficiency you mentioned?

CS: Yes, you’ve put your finger on the real issue to get across to mining professionals now. The world has changed. It was a relatively “easy” activity to perform in the last century, we had the superboom with China and around about 2012 the game changed. Mining is now much more complex and tougher, and therefore one’s got to get the message across to all people just how much that game has changed. One of keys to the new game is to be much smarter in one’s approach – five years ago the adoption of smarter technology was seen as voluntary but now, it’s a necessity.

RJ: Absolutely, technology is one thing we have to change and it’s often said we have to assemble the triptych: Technology, People and Process. What is the most challenging obstacle for change management across these three spheres, in a mining context?

CS: It’s the integration of the three. I remember a time when at the mine site – computers were parked in one spot, process engineers in another and management in yet another spot. The challenge now is to get all three into one person’s head.

RJ: And for that we need innovation for sure, and it’s Dassault Systèmes proposal to the industry that with the platform approach we can bring these 3 spheres together. Technology is the foundation, but it will be at the service of people, and it is those people whom we want to leverage their brainpower to apply to processes.

Watch the full interview below!

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Mellischa Rautenbach

Mellischa Rautenbach

User Advocacy Marketing Specialist, GEOVIA at Dassault Systèmes
Mellischa Rautenbach is the GEOVIA User Advocacy Marketing Specialist for Africa, part of the EMEAR region (Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Russia). She is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.