Under the theme “Navigating the Journey Toward Sustainable and Responsible Mining,” the technical conference of the Egypt Mining Forum was held on July 16-17. In its third edition, the conference featured seven sessions, with approximately 25 presentations delivered by experts and leaders from international and national companies in the mining sector.

In one of the sessions titled “Decarbonizing with Sustainable and Responsible Mining Practices,” Ahmed Saad, General Manager of Investment and Planning in the Mining Sector at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, emphasized the critical role of mining in the decarbonization path.

“When we talk about decarbonization, we talk about transitional minerals and operations in mines utilizing green mining techniques such as electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels, and sustainable energy,” said Saad as he chaired the session.

During this session, Murat Danisman, Deputy General Manager of Mining & Product Support at Hitachi Construction Machinery Middle East Corporation FZE, presented the company’s pioneering zero-emissions construction machinery, specifically designed for mining operations. He highlighted the impact of these innovations in the Middle East and North Africa region, showcasing how they contribute to sustainable mining practices.

Since early 2020, the company has focused on controlling diesel engines but is now transitioning to electrifying its excavation machines to meet its net zero goals. Danisman illustrated the financial benefits of switching from diesel to electric power.

“Imagine having a 200-ton excavator, for instance. Over the course of a year, it operates for 6,000 hours. Now, consider the fuel price in your country is $1 per liter, and the electricity price is 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. The savings you would achieve in just one year by transitioning to electric power could be close to half a million dollars. That’s quite a huge number,” Danisman explained.

In a session titled “Transforming Mining with AI and Digital Technologies,” Amr Fawzy, the Owner of Amr Lifescience, highlighted the immense value of black sands in Egypt, particularly those found in the Red Sea reservoirs, and the potential of zirconium oxide metal in the energy industry. In his presentation titled “Black Sand Minerals and Opportunity to Transform and Shape Egypt’s Economy,” Fawzy emphasized the importance of cost management and innovation in the mining sector, stating, “When you are dealing with national mining companies in developing countries, they always try to secure the cost of mining. Therefore, they tie it to the process of innovation and profit because this is a long-term business.”

According to Fawzy, the geological reserve of black sands along the Egyptian coasts is estimated to be about 1.3 billion cubic meters. Currently, the north Sinai region holds 200 million cubic meters of black sands. Although the quantity is less than that in the North Nile Delta region, the Red Sea boasts a unique composition of black sand, which dates back to 25 million years ago since great pressure from the core of the earth has exerted force on the African plate, pushing against the Arabian plate and forming a linear great volcano with lava from the deepest part of the earth’s core including metals of iron and zirconium.

Zirconium is a versatile metal used in over 50 industries, including electric cars, new sea vessel technologies, and new hydrogen engine technologies. Thus, demand for this metal is expected to be doubled or even tripled in the future as Fawzy predicted.

In respect of technology and innovations, Ezzat Sabry, Founder of Geomatex Integrated Solutions gave a presentation about “Leveraging Drones And 3D Lasers Scanners for Creating Intelligent Digital Twin”. He reviewed the company’s integrated solutions throughout a mining project lifecycle such as digital twins, drones, clouds, and Laser scanning engineering programs.

“I am obsessed about capturing reality, this is what I do and what Geomatex does today. Because we are gathering today to discuss different innovative solutions for mining, it would be my pleasure to discuss the role of new sensors such as 3D reality models, drones, and laser scanners to help us do more with our assets,” said Sabry.

Sabry reviewed some case studies in Egypt in which he applied digital technologies such as reality modeling to enhance mining operations.

“The process starts with reality capturing then we start to design, take some decisions, get back to the office, and engage our stakeholders as they interpret the data with different software” he explained while showing a slide about reality modeling toward industry 4.0 transformation.

In the same session, Osama Mohamed, a Consultant at Federal Arab Transport Corporation, discussed the critical role of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software in managing day-to-day operations, especially within the mining sector.

“ERP refers to the type of software that organizations use to manage day-to-day business activities, such as accounting, procurement, project management, risk management and compliance, and supply chain operations. The complete ERP suite also includes enterprise performance management, which is software that helps plan, budget, forecast, and report on an organization’s financial results,” Mohamed explained.

“According to G2, the global market for ERP software is projected to reach $78.40 billion by 2026, representing a 10.2% CAGR increase from 2019 to 2026,” Mohamed added, highlighting the growing importance and investment in ERP systems as companies seek to optimize their operations and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving industry landscape.

Meanwhile, during a session about “Mine Operations-Efficiency and Optimization” Lebogang Gwala a Senior Design Researcher at Co Open Innovation Studios underscored the significance of understanding the imperative of a human-centric approach in mining for better performance, safety, and sustainability.

In her presentation titled “Operator-Driven Mining Productivity”, she noted that mining efficiency is affected greatly by the gap created between human factors and technological advancements. “We found that as the nature of the work changed, the requirement from the operators also changed.”

During the company’s work in South Africa, Gwala and her team did a case study to understand and uncover the daily experiences and challenges of the mining operators. They found some key factors such as fatigue, environmental hazards, and inadequate training.

Addressing human factors in mining, Gwala recommended: “We need to engage the operators to understand how we can base support and help them deal with non-working needs and factors that affect them, such as their health and living conditions, and social justice because ultimately, the operator is a holistic human being who affects work efficiency.”

This year’s technical conference underscored the critical role of mining in the path to decarbonization and highlighted various technological advancements and innovations aimed at making mining operations more sustainable, efficient, and safe.