Mining engineers in Africa can monitor and control operations at mining sites in real-time via mobile phones or laptops.
Advanced information technology enables China to access production data instantly, ensuring a steady supply of cobalt, a crucial element in the electric vehicle industry that enhances energy storage density, lifecycle, and safety of lithium-ion batteries, South China Morning Post reported on December 7. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) produces 70% of the world’s cobalt. It is estimated that over 80% of cobalt mines in the DRC are owned by Chinese companies.
Raw cobalt being transported on a conveyor belt at a factory in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Photo: AFP)
In recent years, China has gained direct access to operational data from nearly all equipment in the mining area, primarily located in remote regions, thanks to large-scale smart sensor applications and high-speed communication technology. For instance, a manager can know the location, speed, and load of each truck while in Beijing, using just a smartphone.
In an article published in the Mining Technology journal last month, Cui Bing, an infrastructure management engineer at North Mining (also known as Norine), stated that the live video transmission system provided by cameras at key locations allows headquarters to send directives to local managers based on real-time conditions.
In the past, information systems at mines in Africa were largely isolated from the management headquarters in China. Most data was collected by local staff and processed manually before being sent back to Beijing. Many mines are now adopting new technologies such as AI and 5G to automate production. In the cobalt mines, a variety of equipment including ore excavators and automated sorting and processing machines are utilized. Chinese engineers have installed about 1,000 monitoring and data collection gateways at each mine in the DRC. These gateways report work status data to Beijing ten times per second.
The mining systems in Africa can be accessed through various platforms from China, including computers, smartphones, and tablets. The real-time tracking system significantly improves work efficiency and increases productivity at the mines. The total cobalt output of the DRC has increased by over 20% per year, exceeding 120,000 tons last year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
