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Newcrest Mining’s AI and IoT transformation; 3-month ROI.

Insight helps revolutionise Australia’s largest underground mine, that promises global impact.

29/10/2019

Sydney, Australia, October 29, 2019 -- Insight Enterprises (NASDAQ:NSIT), today announced that it has supported Newcrest Mining deploy Microsoft cloud, AI and IoT technologies at Australia’s largest underground mine to monitor and manage crushed ore levels, achieving a return on investment within three months.

The technology, developed by Newcrest in association with Microsoft and its technology partner Insight, has been rolled out first at Newcrest’s Cadia Valley gold mine in NSW.

The challenge facing Newcrest at Cadia was managing the levels in the underground crushed ore bins. If the bins overfill, they have to be manually emptied introducing lengthy and expensive production delays.

Newcrest had people watching the bins to ensure they didn’t overfill – but it was an unpleasant job.

Now, using Microsoft Azure, Newcrest takes data from its crushed ore bin soft sensor, then uses intelligent edge AI and data science techniques leveraging a machine learning algorithm that predicts the level of crushed ore in the bin. This has allowed Newcrest to automate bin monitoring and the solution is achieving 85% accuracy.

As a result Newcrest workers face fewer risks, and AI-fueled predictive maintenance allows early intervention to keep production on track.

Gavin Wood, CIO at Newcrest Mining, says the solution is delivering; “Higher productivity, less downtime, more throughput. With Azure’s AI machine learning and IoT capabilities we see a future where our mines are automated - making our mines safer and more productive.”

Global opportunity

Mining transformation is taking place globally. According to Transparency Market Research, the global smart-mining market is expected to grow from US$6.80 billion in 2016 to US$16.25 billion by 2025, at a compound annual growth rate of 10.2 per cent.

Working together, Insight, Microsoft and Newcrest created the smart-mining IoT solution which has global potential for the business. One of the world’s largest gold producers, Newcrest operates gold and copper mines in Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Canada many of which face challenges similar to those at Cadia Valley.

Richard Lee, Data & AI Principal Consultant at Insight Enterprises, said that using Azure Intelligent Edge, combined with a microservices architecture approach allowed Newcrest to build and deploy new machine learning models to the edge in a matter of days instead of months.

“The model pulls data from other upstream sensors: tons tipped, apron feeder speeds, weightometers, and so on. The model then analyses the data to predict the level of crushed ore in the bin and uses that information to control the flow of ore to the crusher, keeping the ore moving at an optimal level of productivity and preventing the bins from overfilling,” said Lee.

The solution reduces operational downtime for Newcrest’s heavy assets, and improves mineral recovery performance by pushing the computational AI models closer to the edge and connecting them to Newcrest’s control systems.

Data science platform

Leveraging Azure Industrial IoT and Big Data Platform, Newcrest has implemented an open data science platform that ingests data feeds from 100,000 machinery sensors, and approximately 40 billion records, from across its international mine sites, through Azure IoT hub.

This is an important foundation for Newcrest as it seeks to pursue open data science initiatives internally and with its partner ecosystem.

“Newcrest is a leading customer of ours who has matured their data science initiatives through data-driven technologies on an Azure-based solution. We have been strategic partners with Microsoft, Newcrest and their partners to help solve real mining challenges to drive operational improvements and worker safety. We are thrilled to continue supporting Newcrest in pursuing emerging technology solutions with Intelligent Edge, IoT and AI”, said Phil Rickson, Executive General Manager, Services APAC, Insight

Steven Worrall, managing director, Microsoft Australia said; “This is a leading example of how Microsoft Azure, AI and our intelligent edge IoT technologies can transform a process in even the harshest environment.

“Working with our partner Insight and with Newcrest we have delivered a solution generating massive human and economic benefits. The global reach of Microsoft Azure also means that the investment Newcrest has made in its Cadia mine solution can be leveraged at its mines all over the world.

“This is intelligent digital transformation delivered at scale and with immediate measurable results.”

Insight will be showcasing the Newcrest story alongside Gary Slater, Digital and Data Science Solution Architect at Newcrest Mining, on Wednesday 30 October at 2:45pm during Insight’s session at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2019, Create Business Value With Data & AI Now. During this session Insight will also be joined by the University of Canberra and Perpetual Limited.

ENDS

For more information on Insight, visit au.insight.com or call 1800 189 888.

About Insight

Today, every business is a technology business. Insight Enterprises, Inc. empowers organisations of all sizes with Insight Intelligent Technology Solutions™ and services to maximise the business value of IT. As a Fortune 500-ranked global provider of digital innovation, cloud and data centre transformation, connected workforce, and supply chain optimisation solutions and services, we help clients successfully manage their IT today while transforming for tomorrow. From IT strategy and design to implementation and management, our 11,000 employees help clients innovate and optimise their operations to run smarter.

Newcrest Mining

Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, Newcrest is the largest gold producer listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and one of the world's largest gold mining companies. Their mission is to safely deliver superior returns from finding, developing and operating gold/copper mines. Newcrest’s vision is to be the Miner of Choice™. Newcrest is leading the way in safe, responsible, efficient and profitable mining. Newcrest owns and operates a portfolio of predominantly low cost, long life mines located in Australia, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Indonesia, and a strong pipeline of brownfield and greenfield exploration projects.