Our Insights
Commentary
Advanced analytics can help achieve fuel optimization in open-pit mining
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Fuel efficiency and reduction of carbon emissions in mining have become much more distinct possibilities as data collection and advanced analytics have evolved.
Commentary
Digging deeper: Trends in underground hard-rock mining for gold and base metals
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While underground mining methods show higher cost than open pit, their complexity almost always means that there is opportunity...
Commentary
Refractory gold ores: Challenges and opportunities for a key source of growth
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High-grade refractory gold reserves offer the potential for lower costs per ounce despite higher capital and operational costs....
Article
Gold industry M&A: Riding the new wave buoyed by lessons from the past
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While M&A trends may be poised to accelerate, gold industry players will need to keep past lessons in mind or else risk repeating...
Article
The right tools for every job: Lean and agile in maintenance
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Why tomorrow’s maintenance function will combine the strengths of lean and agile organizations.
Article
The potential of advanced process controls in energy and materials
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Optimizing advanced process controls can create significant value for critical industrial processes. Maximizing that value requires...
Article
Optimizing water treatment with online sensing and advanced analytics
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Overlaying real-time advanced analytics on data from online sensing can help to stabilize operations and increase capacity in...
Article
Remote operating centers in mining: Unlocking their full potential
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As the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates innovative working practices, mining companies are reimagining their operating models to...
Article
The mine-to-market value chain: A hidden gem
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Enhancing end-to-end performance of the mine-to-market value chain can be a major source of value creation—yet fragmented...
Commentary
COVID-19’s impact on the global gold industry: Implications for the next normal and beyond
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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the gold-mining industry and its workers. Production and costs could hinder what should be...
Interview
Buckets of innovation: How digital has transformed a mining company in Indonesia
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Hanifa Indradjaya, the president director of PT Petrosea, discusses how digital can drive sustainability, efficiency, and operational...
Commentary
How clean can the nickel industry become?
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Global demand for Class 1 nickel could skyrocket, especially for use in electric vehicles. Can the industry meet these needs—and...
Commentary
Desalination is not the only answer to Chile’s water problems
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Understand the implications for copper mines in the region.
Article
Engaging employees to use analytics: How mining companies solve the adoption challenge
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Advanced analytics can drive value only if employees use them to make decisions. But adoption is often the biggest stumbling...
Commentary
MineLens survey confirms the significant impact of COVID-19 on mining operations
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New findings from a survey of mining operators offer an early indication of how the pandemic is reshaping the industry’s next...
Article
Lessons from the past: Informing the mining industry’s trajectory to the next normal
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What can previous crisis periods teach us about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mining sector, and what can we expect...
Article
Through-cycle investment in mining
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Mining is notoriously cyclical, with volatile equity prices and investment patterns as a result. As the COVID-19 crisis affects...
Article
How artificial intelligence can improve resilience in mineral processing during uncertain times
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Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, mineral-processing companies were grappling with profound uncertainty. Those that took steps...
Commentary
Mining companies’ response to coronavirus
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Mining companies enduring the first wave of COVID-19 effects on their operating models need to think about responding across...
Article
How procurement leaders can bring metals and mining up to speed
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Procurement is critical to manage the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. Assertive and resourceful leaders can help mining companies...
Commentary
Has global mining productivity reversed course?
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New analysis of the Mining Productivity Index shows a gradual increase in mining productivity since 2013.
Case Study
Inside a mining company’s AI transformation
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How copper-mining giant Freeport-McMoRan unlocked next-level performance with help from McKinsey data scientists and agile coaches....
Article
Optimizing mining feasibility studies: The $100 billion opportunity
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With mining and metals projects becoming increasingly complex, more rigorous feasibility studies help prevent cost and schedule...
Article
Avoiding mistakes of the past: A CEO’s checklist in a commodity upswing
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Having recovered from a downturn, miners are ready to build again. These nine core actions can improve the industry’s poor...
Article
Building a great data platform
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Five insights into building a great data platform can help energy, chemical, utility, and basic-materials companies get it right....
Article
Productivity across the global mining sector is starting to improve
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Our latest data show an upward trend—from a low base.
Article
The missing link in mining-company productivity: People
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To address its productivity challenge, the mining industry has invested heavily in technology. New evidence shows that it also...
Interview
Mining for leadership with lean management
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Three executives at one of the world’s most unusual mining operations describe how even in a highly unpredictable context,...
Report - MGI Research
How technology is reshaping supply and demand for natural resources
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The ways we consume energy and produce commodities are changing. This transformation could benefit the global economy, but resource...
Article
Productivity at the mine face: Pointing the way forward
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Many mine operators could learn from industry leaders that are pursuing productivity-enhancing approaches.
INFOGRAPHICS
January 2020
Better measurement leads to better operating performance
June 2019
Improving spot time
February 2019
Reducing the 5-15 percentage point gap
January 2019
Improving tire life
September 2018
Ultra-class haul trucks efficiency
June 2018
Boosting process stability and output
March 2018
Cost reduction through static benchmarking
January 2018
Worldwide mining performance at a glance
September 2017
Improving five major delays
June 2017
China steel scrap supply
April 2017
Imbalance in the mining industry
March 2017
Equipment uptime
May 2016
