2545 ● Orebody Knowledge enables more robust design and planning. The risk associated with deeper mining will require better knowledge of the orebody and surrounding rock mass including geology grade, geotechnical and metallurgical characteristics (e.g. Geometallurgy). ● Automation has been introduced in mining most notably the processing plant. Adoption must continue at a pace not just to improve safety but to increase overall productivity. ● Real time Measurement is central to system thinking. Data provides the foundation for informed decision making that is necessary to break down silos and to develop an integrated systematic approach. ● Communication is the enabler of automation and real time measurement. The introduction of 5G networks further extends the reach of communications for robust transmittal of information on operational performance, making it possible to understand not just where material is, but what it is chemically, mineralogically, and economically at every stage of the value chain. ● Advanced leaching and flotation enable recovery from lower-grade material once considered uneconomic. ● In situ recovery (ISR) is advancing, with pilots such as Florence demonstrating progress toward viability, including early work on copper sulphide systems (Dessart, S. 2025). ● Bioleaching of sulphide concentrates offers a pathway to compete with traditional smelters while producing less residue (Winarko, R. 2025). ● Chalcopyrite leaching, including processes such as Jetti (based on crushed ore), demonstrates the potential to unlock copper from refractory ores at scale (Ren, Z. 2025). ● Preconcentration removes waste before grinding and flotation, cutting energy, water, and operating costs while enabling higher throughput or upgrading low-grade feed. Use screening when valuable minerals preferentially report to fine fractions; otherwise, deploy sensor-based sorting (photometric, electromagnetic, radiometric, X-ray). For large open pit operations, develop bulk ore sorting with integrated sensors, controls, and diversion mechanisms, ideally at the mine face where variability is highest (Valery et al., 2022). As yet caving operations have not proven amenable to bulk sorting due to the ore mixing inherent in the method. ● Circular recovery systems further extend value by enabling the re-mining, reprocessing, and reuse of tailings and residues, including opportunities for multi-metal recovery (Potts, E. 2023). 5. ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE: MINDSET, TRUST AND COLLABORATION Addressing looming copper shortages will require profound change across the industry. While technology and innovation have advanced rapidly, they are not, on their own, robust solutions. Without appropriate organisational structures, leadership behaviours, and cultural foundations, even the most sophisticated technologies fail to deliver their full value. Automation and digital systems are increasingly adopted, yet resistance persists, often driven by concerns around job security, loss of agency, and distrust of top-down change. In practice, the central constraints are rarely technical (e.g., ground conditions) or operational (e.g., equipment capability). More often, they are human: perceptions, fixed ideas, and organisational arrangements that no longer serve the system. Silos within mining organisations tend to amplify familiar behaviours, including information hoarding, reluctance to surface bad news, and unmanaged information churn (Pitzer, 2006). These dynamics distort decision-making, increase operational risk, and ultimately undermine safety and business performance. Human systems are typically slow to accept change, whether that change involves new ways of working or new concepts. Too often, transformation occurs only in response to a visible “burning platform.” Yet the scale and urgency of today’s supply challenges leave little room for reactive change. Two fundamental questions, therefore, demand attention: ● How are decisions made when complex, interconnected processes span geology, mining, processing, logistics, and markets? ● How is the ‘silver bullet’ belief managed, the assumption that technology alone will resolve deeply systemic challenges?
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0Mzk2