Industrial applications of digital twin technology in the mining sector: An overview

In recent years, digital twin (DT) technology has received much interest from the mining community. Despite the potential to revolutionize mining processes in the long-term, this technology is still nascent, and many companies are unsure how to leverage it for their industry-specific applications. For successful integration in the field and to meet user expectations, the roles, capabilities, and potential applications of this evolving technology need to be demystified. This paper provides an overview of industrial applications of DTs in the mining sector. To identify relevant industry examples, we performed a systematic search of electronic resources. Thirty-two real-life examples of early adopters in the field were analyzed based on the application purpose and classified into eight categories: (1) collaborative decision-making; (2) data analysis and visualization; (3) design; (4) management and coordination; (5) monitoring and maintenance; (6) operational efficiency and production; (7) optimization of the mine value chain; and (8) safety and reliability. It was found that application categories that provided immediate and profitable benefits for companies contained the most case studies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to showcase the opportunities that DTs hold for the mining sector. This summary of state-of-the-art industry applications is the first step to demonstrate the opportunities of DTs for mining operations and support the development of this emerging field.