Smart Stockyards for Seamless Pit-To-Port Experience

Historically, mining is viewed as an industry that thrives on ‘boots-on-the-ground’ experience and supervision. But as mines catch up with ‘digital transformation’, there is a transition in that perception. Today, by leveraging cutting edge digital technologies, you can get a 3D, real time visualization of the material at the stocking yards, check its quality, keep tabs on its movement and track the performance of mining equipment- all remotely. Such remotely managed, automated stockyard solutions operate by creating ‘Digital Twins’ of plants and processes which are today increasingly driven by Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) having access to large operational data sets. Here, technology is playing the role of a disruptor cum enabler in running stockyards that act as key buffers in the mineral transportation chain.

The Need to Automate Stockyards

Stockyards installed at mines, coal-fired power plants and ports connect consecutive steps across the mineral value chain. However, this value chain can be prone to material leakages if the processes are not interconnected. Worldwide, around 15 per cent the minerals is lost in transit due to pilferage and inefficient management. There are instances when the stockyard is well guarded but the other touchpoints in the mineral transportation chain could be vulnerable. Besides combating theft, today provenance of the ore is another key factor. For example in some African countries which are endowed with rich mineral wealth but are marred by sporadic incidents of conflict, the mineral needs to be certified as ‘non-conflict’ for suitability of use. In many countries, both stockyard management and providing ‘certificate of origin’ is done manually. And, there are other challenges to navigate like:-

• Ensuring the highest quality requirement
• Keeping the inventory updated
• Connecting different steps in the value chain of materials handling
• Striking a balance between quality flexibility and performance of operations
• Mixing and blending material in a certain range
• Preparing one or multiple outputs of different material qualities
• Manage and coordinate the high handling effort between planning, quality control, mines developers and operators

Mining the Benefits

Unmanned operations of the stockyard can help achieve higher performance, increased precision and accuracy, optimized utilization of the stockpile area, and reduced energy consumption compared to manned operations. Stockyard Management System is a configurable system that can be used to digitalize the complete material handling chain, acting as its ‘digital twin’. An end-to-end Stockyard Management System uses a confluence of RFID Readers, boom barriers, traffic lights and CCTV Cameras for improved facility control, enhanced security & effective management of inbound and outbound traffic, Weighbridge digitizers for real-time weight capture, an inbuilt ERP for billing & inventory control and uses the Mineral Management System for e-transit pass generation. This system can be managed by an intuitive dashboard that remotely enables management of material moving in and out of the stockyard and vehicles entering and exiting the zone.

You have a system that can optimally manage and automate the inbound receipts and outbound delivery of mined mineral by tapping niche technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Hosted on the cloud platform, the system offers real time visibility of ground level mining operations. It can also be easily integrated with other technology powered solutions and legacy systems.

With an automated Stockyard Management System, you mine benefits galore like:-

• Detailed, real time inventory information of the material stock
• Ramp up in storage capacity without huge investment
• Closing in the gap between theoretical and actual capacity
• Improvement in operational execution
• Enabling fully automated operations with unmanned machine control
• Reducing manual handling efforts through data interfaces
• Energy savings through automated mining processes
• Maximize uptime and minimize unplanned downtime through performance analytics of mining equipment

Smart stockyards promise a complete optimization of the mine-to-port chain. They are a crucial step on the Industry 4.0 trajectory. The future rests on a technology aided autonomous stockyard management system that promises an aura of higher productivity and performance without losing sight of the two other Ps- people and planet.