Robotics in Mining - Thematic Research
Summary
With the industry under pressure to cut costs and enhance efficiency and safety, automation has emerged as a solution. Mining companies benefit from enhanced efficiency and safety as more original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) invest in automation technology for the mining industry. Robots are used across various mining operations, from surface mining to underground excavation and mineral processing. The integration of robots, including drones, autonomous haulage systems (AHSs), and remote-controlled machines, has revolutionized the sector.
The global robotics market will be worth $218 billion by 2030
Robots are machines capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically and repeatedly. According to GlobalData forecasts, the robotics industry was worth $63 billion in 2022. By 2030, it will have grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% to $218 billion. Mining companies deploy robotics across various mining operations, from surface mining to underground excavation and mineral processing.
Robots benefit multiple segments of the mining value chain
The integration of robots, including drones, autonomous haulage systems (AHS), and remote-controlled machines, has revolutionized the mining sector. For example, drones help survey mining sites and collect data such as topography and mineral layer distribution, and remote-controlled machines undertake drilling and blasting.
Field robots in mining include AHSs, which transport minerals from the site to processing plants. These are valuable throughout the mining value chain, particularly in extraction and processing.
Robots help improve efficiency and safety
With the mining industry under pressure to cut costs and enhance efficiency and safety, automation is a potential solution. Automating repetitive tasks minimizes human error, and robots are precise and reliable, thus boosting the efficiency of operations.
Safety is improved by performing hazardous tasks without human presence. Therefore, it is unsurprising that GlobalData’s latest mine-site technology adoption survey highlights that the robotics theme is one of the investment areas the industry is prioritizing.
Key Highlights
According to GlobalData forecasts, the robotics industry was worth $63 billion in 2022. By 2030, it will have grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% to $218 billion. GlobalData’s latest mine-site technology adoption survey highlights that the robotics theme is one of the investment areas the industry is prioritizing.
Mining companies deploy robotics across various mining operations, from surface mining to underground excavation and mineral processing. The integration of robots, including drones, autonomous haulage systems (AHS), and remote-controlled machines, has revolutionized the mining sector.
Robots help improve efficiency and safety. Automating repetitive tasks minimizes human error, and robots are precise and reliable, thus boosting the efficiency of operations. Safety is improved by performing hazardous tasks without human presence.
Scope
This report provides an overview of the Robotics theme. The detailed value chain comprises four layers: hardware, software, robotic manufacturing, and robotics as a service. Leading and challenging vendors are identified across both segments.
It identifies mining challenges, such as ESG, safety, productivity, and resource development, and an impact assessment of robotics on the mining industry, addressing these challenges.
Several case studies are included to analyze the multiple ways countries and companies have responded to the impact of this theme’s growth and what they are doing to grow with this theme.
Reasons to Buy
- This report will help you to understand robotics and its potential impact on the mining sector.
- Benchmark your company against your competitors and assess how mining companies are utilizing robotics to drive revenues.
- Identify attractive investment targets by understanding which companies are most advanced in the themes that will determine future success in the mining industry.
- Understand key industry challenges and where robotics use cases are most useful.
- Develop and design your corporate strategies through an in-house expert analysis of robotics by understanding the primary ways in which this theme is impacting the mining industry.
- Position yourself for future success by investing in the right robotics technologies.
- Executive Summary
- Players
- Mining Challenges
- The Impact of Robotics on Mining
- How robotics helps tackle the challenge of ESG
- How robotics helps tackle the challenge of safety
- How robotics helps tackle the challenge of productivity
- How robotics helps tackle the challenge of resource development
- Case Studies
- Sustainable deep-sea mining enabled by autonomous AI-driven systems
- Rio Tinto’s first fully autonomous, long-distance, heavy-haul rail network
- Vale partners with ANYbotics for autonomous mine inspections
- BHP is the largest adopter of autonomous surface haul trucks
- Robotics Timeline
- Market Size and Growth Forecasts
- Industrial robots will grow at a CAGR of 10% between 2022 and 2030
- Service robots will be the growth engine of robotics
- An increasingly varied landscape
- Signals
- M&A trends
- Patent trends
- Company filing trends
- Hiring trends
- Robotics Value Chain
- Robot manufacturing
- Caged industrial robots
- Industrial co-bots
- Logistics robots (excluding drones)
- Medical robots
- Exoskeletons
- Consumer robots
- Drones
- Inspection, cleaning, and maintenance robots
- Field robots
- Defense and security robots (excluding drones)
- Hardware components
- Precision mechanical parts
- Semiconductors
- Software components
- Robotic intelligence
- Robotics as a service
- Cloud robotics
- Companies
- Leading robotics adopters in mining
- Leading robotics vendors
- Specialist robotics vendors in mining
- Sector Scorecard
- Mining sector scorecard
- Who’s who
- Thematic screen
- Valuation screen
- Risk screen
- Glossary
- Further Reading
- GlobalData reports
- Our Thematic Research Methodology
- About GlobalData
- Contact Us
- List of Tables
- Table 1: Key challenges currently facing the mining sector.
- Table 2: M&A trends
- Table 3: Leading robotics adopters in mining
- Table 4: Leading robotics vendors
- Table 5: Specialist robotics vendors in mining
- Table 6: Glossary
- Table 7: GlobalData reports
- List of Figures
- Figure 1: Key players in robotics
- Figure 2: Inflationary pressures and a tight labor market are driving workplace automation worldwide
- Figure 3: Thematic impact assessment
- Figure 4: Eureka I is the first AUV for selective harvesting of seabed minerals
- Figure 5: Eureka 1 avoids serious harm to the seabed by replacing conventional dredging technology
- Figure 6: Rio Tinto’s AutoHaul: autonomous train in the Pilbara
- Figure 7: Vale deploys inspection robots to improve workers’ safety and reporting accuracy
- Figure 8: BHP accounts for the largest number of autonomous trucks
- Figure 9: The robotics story
- Figure 10: The robotics industry will grow at a CAGR of 17% between 2022 and 2030
- Figure 11: The industrial robotics market will be worth $45.1 billion by 2030
- Figure 12: The service robots market will be worth $172.4 billion in 2030
- Figure 13: Exoskeletons are the fastest-growing robotics category
- Figure 14: Robotic patents grew until 2021, and then started to decrease
- Figure 15: China features heavily in robotics patent activity
- Figure 16: Robotics filing activity in the mining sector
- Figure 17: There has been an upward trend in job postings related to robotics over the last few years
- Figure 18: The robotics value chain
- Figure 19: Caged industrial robots
- Figure 20: Industrial co-bots
- Figure 21: Delivery robots & Warehouse robots
- Figure 22: Logistics robots
- Figure 23: Medical robots
- Figure 24: An example of a surgical robot
- Figure 25: An example of a care robot
- Figure 26: Medical exoskeleton & Walking assist devices
- Figure 27: Exoskeletons
- Figure 28: Consumer robots
- Figure 29: Drones
- Figure 30: Consumer drone & Military drone
- Figure 31: Inspection robot
- Figure 32: Inspection, cleaning, and maintenance robots
- Figure 33: An agribot: a field robot used in agriculture & Field robots in space exploration
- Figure 34: Field robots
- Figure 35: Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) robot & Unmanned surface vessel (USV)
- Figure 36: Defense and security robots (excluding drones)
- Figure 37: Precision mechanical parts
- Figure 38: Semiconductors
- Figure 39: Robotic intelligence
- Figure 40: Cloud robotics
- Figure 41: Who does what in the mining space?
- Figure 42: Thematic screen
- Figure 43: Valuation screen
- Figure 44: Risk screen
- Figure 45: Our five-step approach for generating a sector scorecard
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