2002 STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY MANGEMENT IN CRITICAL INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR MINING OPERATIONS *O. Mejías1 1Asset Optimization South America, Ausenco, Santiago, Chile, (*Presenting author: omar.mejias@ausenco.com) ABSTRACT Mining operations increasingly rely on industrial infrastructure that must sustain higher performance demands under ageing conditions. Without structured lifecycle oversight, progressive degradation can compromise safety, operational continuity, and capital efficiency. In many contexts, structural integrity practices remain fragmented, limiting transparency and institutional control over infrastructure risk. This paper presents a Structural Integrity Management (SIM) framework conceived as a governance-driven and risk-informed methodological model to systematically manage structural risk across the infrastructure lifecycle. The framework integrates three interdependent layers: Governance, Technical Integrity and Digital Enablement, operating from design and construction through operation, life extension, and end-of-life decision processes. Through risk-based prioritization, residual capacity assessment, and structured remaining useful life evaluation, SIM transforms structural integrity from isolated inspection activities into a coordinated lifecycle discipline. Digital traceability and assisted inspection technologies, including drone-based surveys, AI-supported defect recognition, and condition monitoring systems, are embedded within enterprise asset management environments to strengthen decision transparency and reduce lifecycle uncertainty. The framework also incorporates a maturity pathway to support progressive institutionalization of structural risk governance within mining organizations. By embedding structural oversight within institutional processes, the proposed approach enhances safety, infrastructure resilience, and confidence in life extension and end-of-life strategies, positioning structural integrity management as a strategic enabler of sustainable mining performance. KEYWORDS Structural integrity management, mining infrastructure, lifecycle governance, risk-based methodology, sustainable infrastructure 1. INTRODUCTION The mining industry is undergoing a period of accelerated transformation driven by rising demand for critical minerals, increasing environmental expectations, and growing pressure to deliver projects and operations with greater capital efficiency. While innovative efforts often focus on new technologies, automation, and expansion projects, a significant portion of global mineral supply depends on mature operations supported by industrial infrastructure that has been in service for decades. Process plants, equipment support structures, foundations, industrial buildings, and auxiliary facilities are increasingly operating beyond their original design assumptions. Higher throughput targets, evolving ore characteristics, and more demanding environmental conditions subject these assets to intensified degradation mechanisms, including corrosion, fatigue, cracking, settlement, and dynamic amplification effects. As infrastructure ages, uncertainty regarding structural performance increases, elevating not only safety exposure, which remains a non-negotiable priority in mining, but also operational, environmental, financial, and strategic risks. In many operations, structural integrity is still addressed through periodic inspections and corrective
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