2024 AGENDA

DAY 1 - MAY 29

Wednesday, May 29, 2024
8:00 AM - 8:55 AM
 
 
8:55 AM - 9:00 AM
 
Giulia Jalmerot-Timarco
9:00 AM - 9:10 AM
 
Roussos Dimitrakopoulos
9:10 AM - 9:40 AM

•    Discovering the provincial government plan to Build Ontario, attract global investment, and create economic prosperity across the North, making reconciliation real for Indigenous communities
•    Discussing the economic opportunity for Ontario’s northern and Indigenous communities, as Ontario strengthens its position as a global leader of responsibly sourced critical minerals, from earth to electric vehicle and mines to motors, 
•    Looking at how exploration, production and innovation efforts are bringing good jobs and prosperity to the people and communities of Northern Ontario
 
 

Greg Rickford
9:40 AM - 10:40 AM

•    The importance of strategic partnerships and collaborations for the industry 
•    Discussing the challenges and opportunities facing the industry and how to tackle them
•    Debating the importance of digital transformation in the regional mining industry   
•    Understanding and improving the level of technology deployment – challenges and opportunities  
•    Examining what technologies the industry needs, what is currently available and in development 
•    The role of technology for the future of safe and sustainable mining operations 

Ash Agarwal Joseph Amankwah Mariana Sandin Cedric Laney
10:40 AM - 11:10 AM
 
 

Harnessing the Power of AI & Data for Increased Productivity 

Wednesday, May 29, 2024
11:10 AM - 11:20 AM
 
Roussos Dimitrakopoulos
11:20 AM - 11:55 AM

•    Exploring the journey taken by Compass Minerals Goderich Mine to identify, select and implement a downtime tracking tool
•    Understanding how the structured and automated approach to downtime tracking has revealed tangible benefits
•    Reviewing the main features and functionality of RtDUET and how it can facilitate digital transformation
 

Matt Lindsay Lane Pitblado
11:55 AM - 12:40 PM

•    Deploying machine learning models and AI across the mining value chain 
•    Understanding the concerns and fears of AI within your organisation
•    Addressing how individuals can adapt to changes in their roles due to AI deployment
•    Fostering a positive mindset towards AI integration
•    Debating strategies to make AI more accessible and understandable 
 

Dr. Naveed Qureshi George Pavlou Nermina Harambasic Vinay Poojary
12:40 PM - 1:50 PM
 
 
1:50 PM - 2:20 PM

•    Exploring the synergy and integration for optimizing plant operations in the mineral processing industry 
•    Utilize AI for predictive analytics to analyze real-time data and historical records for accurate predictions and improved production scheduling 
•    Leveraging AI-driven fault detection to identify anomalies, detect potential faults, and prevent equipment failures in mineral processing plants 
•    Developing AI-based decision support systems that provide real-time insights and recommendations for optimizing operational decisions and enhancing productivity and profitability 
•    Highlight the importance of seamless integration and collaboration between Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) systems 

David Armstrong
2:20 PM - 2:50 PM

•    Understanding the concept and its functionality
•    Exploring possible application areas in mining
•    Addressing privacy concerns in the industry 
•    Learning from lessons in other industries and looking towards to future  

Marcelo Lotif
2:50 PM - 3:20 PM

A retrospective journey through our collective technological transformation.  From our analog origins, through the digital revolution and beyond to autonomous technology: exploring how our technological present and future can aid heavy industry with enhancing business operations and maximizing resiliency. 

Carsten Baumann
3:20 PM - 3:50 PM
 
 
3:50 PM - 4:20 PM

•    Powerful external factors will force change.
•    The decarbonization snowball – Producing more with less, especially less GHG.
•    New technologies will address the changing workspace.
•    Building a technology foundation that will ensure miners are ready for the change.
•    The Mining & Metals digital thread – integration across the value chain and across the lifecycle.
•    Mining & Metals in the 22nd century – driven by advanced data and technology, not brute force.

Glenn Kerkhoff
4:20 PM - 5:00 PM

•    Assessing challenges in data collection and transmission and effective strategies to overcome them 
•    Debating data sharing hurdles
•    Examining data transmission costs and discussing methods to reduce them
•    Exploring techniques to filter and make the most of your data
•    Understanding the optimal timing for data collection

Roussos Dimitrakopoulos George Pavlou Sabrina Dias

ESG Tech and Robotics & Automation

 

Wednesday, May 29, 2024
11:15 AM - 11:30 AM
 
Mélanie LaRoche-Boisvert
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM

•    Understanding the challenges that the industry is facing and strategies to address them
•    Looking at the financial aspect and assessing the role and importance of investors in this process
•    Exploring the intersection of technology and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) requirements 
•    Debating the maturation timeline for technology adoption
•    Understanding how technology can enhance transparency in the supply and value chain   
•    Discussing the mining industry’s role in the decarbonization ecosystem
•    Utilizing technology to accelerate positive outcomes  
•    Harnessing the potential of a circular economy in the mining ecosystem  

Mélanie LaRoche-Boisvert Peter Nowicki
12:00 PM - 12:40 PM

•    Discovering the background and scope of the project 
•    Understanding the challenges and how they were tackled 
•    Next steps and lessons learned

John Thomson Philip de Weerdt
12:40 PM - 1:50 PM
 
 
1:50 PM - 2:20 PM

•    Discussing the convergence of decarbonization and digitization
•    Exploring the digital tools available on the market
•    Looking at disclosure by explaining upcoming mandator Canadian Sustainability Disclosure Standards 1 & 2
 

Emily Thorn Corthay

Robotics & Automation – Building the Mine of the Future 

Wednesday, May 29, 2024
2:20 PM - 2:40 PM

•    Rising labour costs, increasing safety and efficiency requirements
•    Digital transformation of video-enabled communications, remote operations, asset and worker safety applications, HVAC control and monitoring
•    Scalability, flexibility and reliability
•    Private connectivity (IOT/OT) and Public connectivity (IT/tablets/smartphones)

Kent Kawasaki
2:40 PM - 3:20 PM

•    A stochastic optimization framework has been developed that simultaneously optimizes long-term production schedules in mining complexes
•    The optimization framework integrates waste management and progressive reclamation considerations into the mine planning process, leading to improved ESG performance.
•    A case study demonstrates a significant 52.5% reduction in the risk of acid rock drainage in waste dump facilities, showcasing the framework's effectiveness in mitigating environmental hazards.

Zach Levinson
3:20 PM - 3:50 PM
 
 
3:50 PM - 4:20 PM

•    Improving cyber resilience across the mining value chain 
•    Understanding the application and added value of AI in cybersecurity 
•    Debating potential risks and how to avoid them 
•    Discussing how to prepare your team for a potential attack

Rob Labbé
4:20 PM - 5:00 PM

•    Understanding the challenges and how to tackle them  
•    Discussing modernization and digitization strategies in depth
•    Examining the underlying technology
•    Discussing smaller fleet sizes and the efficiency gains
•    Debating the next steps and future directions
•    Addressing data sharing issues 
•    Improving interoperability and technology integration

Patrice Corneau Lorelei Ratushniak Charles Nyabeze
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
 
 

DAY 2 - MAY 30

Thursday, May 30, 2024
8:00 AM - 8:50 AM
 
 
8:50 AM - 8:55 AM
 
Giulia Jalmerot-Timarco
8:55 AM - 9:00 AM
 
Alexandrea Potter
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM

•    Closing the gap between the problem and the solution offered
•    Highlighting the importance of strategic partnerships to close the technology gap
•    Discussing which technologies can help optimize mining operations

Gordana Slepcev
9:30 AM - 10:10 AM

•    The importance of digitalization and leadership across the organization
•    Discussing how innovation and technology can push towards a more sustainable and diverse mining industry
•    Looking at best practices and lessons learned from other industries 
•    Debating the next steps for the industry
 

Alina Antonie Peggy Bell Lorelei Ratushniak
10:10 AM - 10:40 AM

•    What do we need to construct the AI revolution
•    Understanding all the processes behind
•    Discovering how to scale it up from a pilot project
•    Discussing what kind of incentives we need to build

Vinay Poojary
10:40 AM - 11:10 AM
 
 

Harnessing the Power of AI & Data for Increased Productivity 

Thursday, May 30, 2024
11:10 AM - 11:15 AM
 
Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy
11:15 AM - 11:30 AM

•    Understand how digitization disrupts and shapes the future of the mining sector. 
•    Learn about the possibilities of IoT technologies and their implications. 
•    Explore how digitization can be achieved on complex mining and underground sites through the use of basic prerequisite – lights. 
•    Discover a wide range of hypothetical IoT solutions for the mine site of the future if the barrier to IIOT technologies could be removed:
     o    Personnel locating to send help directly to those in need 
     o    Weather / Critical Alerts 
     o     Asset tracking to instantly locate equipment on-site
     o     Machine condition monitoring 
     o    An array of sensors to monitor noise, pollution, air quality, and other conditions in real-time

Andrew Orkin
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM

•    Siemens-Innomotics: One stop shop for digitalization across the mining process lifecycle
•    Combining state-of-the-art automation and digitalization portfolio with technology and process expertise to deliver value
•    Validated use cases for digitalization in Greenfield as well as Brownfield facilities
•    Customer references from the mining industry including the objectives and delivered benefits
 

Thiago Amaral Johannes Burkard
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

•    Discussing the practical importance of stochastic optimization in mineral supply/value chains
•    Presenting mining complexes, recent advances, and future developments
•    Integrating machine learning with optimization in mining
•    Introducing data-driven hyper-heuristics for decision-making
•    Demonstrated significant improvements in efficiency and value 

Yassine Yaakoubi
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
 
 
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM

•    Overviewing the project and understanding the background and problem statement
•    Looking at the methodology
•    Understanding the system implementation
•    Examining the applied technologies, trial and optimization
•    Debating the outcome and discussing future developments
 

Harvey Li
2:00 PM - 2:15 PM

•    Digitizing & georeferencing maps into searchable GIS data with novel AI
•    Extracting critical data from report and press release tables and text with NLP
•    Leveraging public data for customized proprietary solutions
•    Exploring the US GeoFramework and other project drivers
•    Potential impact for mineral exploration and the mining industry

David Abbondanzio
2:15 PM - 3:00 PM

The roundtable discussions will give you greater networking opportunities and the chance to take a deep dive into topics that concern you the most.   
 

  1. Implementation of digital technologies in mining – Lessons Learned
    David Armstrong, Cohesive
  2. Factory Designed & Assembled: Leveraging efficiencies to boost resiliency and reduce cost
    Carsten Baumann, Schneider Electric
  3. The value of a data ecosystem to the future of mining
    Glenn Kerkhoff, AVEVA
  4. Building data quality into your operations, advanced analytics, and AI 
    Brian Crandall, Aperio    
David Armstrong Carsten Baumann Glenn Kerkhoff Brian Crandall
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
 
 

Robotics & Automation – Building the Mine of the Future 

 

Thursday, May 30, 2024
11:10 AM - 11:20 AM
 
Alexandrea Potter
11:20 AM - 12:00 PM

•    Highlighting the importance of strategic partnerships 
•    Exploring mixed fleet operations – Challenges and Opportunities  
•    Going beyond mobile equipment 
•    Discussing safety, access control, integrated operations, and other types of interoperability
•    Understanding how to tackle the challenges   
•    Defying data requirements and looking at the technology behind    
•    Debating the next steps and where the industry in heading  
 

Patrice Corneau Jean-Pierre Desmarais
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

•    Overviewing collision avoidance system technology
•    Understanding the limitations of technology in the mining environment
•    Exploring vehicle interaction safety best practices in mining
•    Leveraging technology to improve vehicle interactions

Kelly Melnek Chris Bertrand
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
 
 

ESG Tech and Robotics & Automation

Thursday, May 30, 2024
1:30 PM - 2:10 PM

•    Debating how to change the mindset for real change 
•    Discussing the other spectrum of diversity 
•    Integrating technology and innovation to boost D&I efforts  
 

Alina Antonie Alexandrea Potter Jhoanna Gonzales Miners Joseph Amankwah
2:10 PM - 2:40 PM

•    Mining industry outlook and trends: the all-electric mine
•    From Electrification to Digitalization
•    Use Case: Energy Management System
•    Energy Management Systems as an enabler of Transparency

Rosana Reyes
Thursday, May 30, 2024
3:30 PM