Most mining “digital twins” fail and this isn’t because the tech sucks—it’s because too few people see them as living systems. I got asked recently: “What is a digital twin in the mining context?” and it compelled me to think: the problem isn’t the concept—it’s the execution and maintenance. In mining, a digital twin is (or at least should be) a real-time, dynamic replica of your compressed air, service water, ventilation network (or other simulatable processes) — from surface all the way to where it matters most, the reef horizon. It is supposed to enable us to run as many "what if" scenarios about your infrastructure as you want, without spending a cent on CAPex (this doesn't include the cost of the consultant who builds the simulation of course ;) ) Want to change your compressed air pipes in the haulage from an 8" to a 10"? Got it, that will increase your reef horizon pressures at peak drilling shift by 1.5 bar and should lead to a 50% reduction in lost blasts. Did you need to deploy any capital to figure that out? No... But here’s where most trip up: They build the twin and walk away. No updates and no live sensors which tie into the digital twin to keep it up to date... Underground changes happen—valves shift, new pipes get added—but nobody tells the model. The twin quickly becomes a snapshot of a past reality. A mine that once was... Not actionable. Not reliable. Just digital dust. A real digital twin lives off live data. It stays accurate, useful—and gives you answers without sending countless engineering consultants underground to audit for months on end or burning CapEx. The life of a true digital twin starts with digitization... and ends with informed decisions. are you running a living twin, or just something gathering digital dust?
Brilliant Josh!
Interesting stuff
Goat 🐐
The real gap for any reliable digital twin is ore body knowledge
Software Engineer, Founder
3wGood metaphor is like a real-time monte-carlo simulation of your mine's efficiency 💯