Mining Digitalization in 2025: Current Landscape, Trends and Outlook

By Abdul Ahad NazakatReviewed by Frances BriggsNov 11 2025

Mining’s digital overhaul is revealing a deeper shift: one where algorithms, sensors, and people learn to operate as one integrated system.

Image Credit: Parilov/Shutterstock.com

Digital technology is no longer sitting on the edge of the mining sector. It has moved into daily operations, whether through autonomous haulage fleets, IoT-connected equipment, or AI-based process optimization. This push is coming from pressure on costs, safety targets, ESG reporting, and labour shortages. 

Mines that started with stand-alone pilots are now being forced to build connected systems that can actually scale across the full value chain.¹

This article examines the current state of digital mining, the factors driving its adoption, and how the next decade is likely to unfold.

What is Digital Mining Technology?

Digital mining refers to the use of connected sensors, data analytics, automation, cloud platforms, AI, and robotics across the mine lifecycle. Instead of relying solely on operator judgment, equipment performance, environmental conditions, and production data can be monitored and acted upon in real-time. 

Examples include:

• IoT sensor networks on trucks, mills, and conveyors
• Predictive maintenance based on vibration and wear data
• AI-assisted decision systems for ore processing
• Digital twins for simulating equipment upgrades without stopping production
• Remote-operated or fully autonomous drilling and haulage fleets.

Aspermont Media's 2025 Digitalisation in Mining whitepaper demonstrates that the shift is no longer about testing tools, but about embedding digital thinking into core business processes.¹

Benefits of Digital Mining

Table: Benefits of digital mining and examples of how they are applied in real operations.

Weir’s Intelligent Assistant for mill circuits is one of the more mature examples. It uses AI and simulation to recommend plant settings in real time and stabilise throughput, something that normally takes years of experience to tune manually.¹

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Application Areas in 2025

Predictive Maintenance and Asset Health

IoT-enabled monitoring is now common on crushers, pumps, and mill liners. Weir’s NEXT: Uptime platform uses digital twins to forecast wear so shutdowns can be planned instead of reacted to.¹

Energy and Carbon Reduction

Schneider Electric links AI, process data, and energy monitoring under its Electricity 4.0 approach, helping mines reduce power consumption and integrate renewables without destabilizing production.¹

Autonomous and Remote Operations

Autonomous haulage systems are operating at Rio Tinto, BHP, and Anglo American sites, running continuously for 24 hours without requiring driver changeovers. Drone-based inspections, remote excavator cabins, and automated drilling are now commercially available, not experimental.

Process Optimisation Using AI

AI models are increasingly used for grinding circuits, flotation chemistry, and ore sorting. The value is not just higher throughput, but lower energy use per tonne.

Current Global Market

Market size

Estimates vary by scope.

Smart mining is projected at USD 15.68B in 2025, and predicted to almost double by 2032 to USD 29.40B.²

Another cut of the market, digital mining, is estimated at USD 37.53B in 2025 with growth toward USD 62.28B by 2032.³ A third view pegs smart mining at USD 18.5B in 2025, reaching USD 52.8B by 2035.⁴

Together, these signals indicate a double-digit growth trend for connected equipment, software, and services.

US snapshot

Autonomous and digital pilots are now production tools. In Alaska, independent results at Northern Star’s Pogo mine showed Exyn’s autonomous drone mapping collected safer, higher-quality underground survey data in roughly half the time, a sign of how US sites are shifting critical tasks to robotics and AI.⁵

Europe snapshot

Boliden, Ericsson, and Telia operate what is often referred to as the world's first underground 5G network at Kankberg, Sweden, enabling low-latency control and high-bandwidth sensing for automated operations.^{6, 7}

Image Credit: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock.com

Key companies active in 2025

Table: Leading companies shaping digital mining technologies and solutions. ^7,8,9

Start-ups are entering areas such as satellite-based tailings monitoring, AI geology modeling, and low-cost IoT retrofits for older equipment.

Recent Developments and Hot Topics

The focus in 2025 is integration. Many mines use drones, IoT kits, dispatch software, and AI, yet these systems still operate independently.

Value appears when data flows across departments into a single operational picture. This is driving interest in shared data layers and IT-OT convergence, so planning, plant, fleet, and ESG reporting all point to the same source.¹

Cybersecurity has moved up the agenda as more operational technology connects to outside networks. Generative AI is shifting from hype to practicality, serving as assistants that surface procedures and likely fault paths during breakdowns.

For decarbonization, the Pilbara truck trials are a clear signal, with Rio Tinto’s Simon Trott noting, “collaborations like this move us closer to decarbonising our operations.” ¹⁰

Start-ups are adding sharp tools around geology, sensing, and robotics.

MineSense places sensors in the shovel bucket to classify ore versus waste in real time, with a published case study at Copper Mountain reporting recovered ore and lower energy intensity, saving more than USD 4M within months.¹¹

Plotlogic uses hyperspectral imaging in OreSense® to characterise ore at the face, with reported gains in ore recovery and lower processing costs in Australian deployments. ^{12, 13}

Exyn Technologies provides Level-4A autonomous drones for underground mapping that can free-fly complex stopes without a pilot, cutting survey times and improving safety.^{14, 15}

From the leadership side, Schneider Electric frames digital winners as those that integrate strategy and culture, not just new software. As global mining consultant Ella Kashi puts it, digital leaders “integrating digital strategies company-wide” and move quickly on aligned solutions.¹

Future Directions

Autonomous, connected sites

Full-site autonomy is getting closer. Expect more remote operations centres that run trucks, drills and processing lines from a single pane, supported by private 5G underground networks for low-latency control.^{7, 8}

The “green” digital mine

Digital twins and AI will be tied directly to Scope-1 and 2 emissions, water balance and tailings stability, not just throughput. Battery-electric haulage trials in Western Australia are early signs, and similar evaluations will expand in North America and Europe as grid and charging improve.

Human-digital workflows and Platform ecosystems

New hires expect live dashboards, remote access, and AR guidance, while experienced operators provide the domain logic. Change management and skills investment decide who gets value from the same tools.¹

However, mines are moving away from ten dashboards, toward shared data models that link planning, plant, fleet, ESG, and finance, with vendors competing to offer end-to-end stacks rather than point tools.¹

What Will Digital Mining Look Like Next?

The next phase of digital mining won’t be defined by new gadgets or dashboards, but by how intelligently the system learns to run itself. As AI, automation, and connectivity converge, mines are beginning to resemble living networks: systems that sense, predict, and adapt in real-time. The challenge now isn’t collecting data; it’s trusting it enough to act.¹

References and Further Reading

1. Aspermont Media. (2025). Digitalisation in mining 2025. Mining Magazine. https://www.miningmagazine.com/digitalisation-in-mining-2025
2. TeckNexus. (n.d.). Boliden private 5G network with Ericsson and Telia at Kankberg mine. https://tecknexus.com/5gusecase/bolidens-private-5g-network-at-kankberg-mine-with-ericsson-and-telia/13/
3. Research and Markets. (2024). Digital mining market – global forecast report. https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/6083713/digital-mining-market-global-forecast
4. Future Market Insights. (2025). Smart mining market outlook 2025–2035. https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/smart-mining-market
5. Anderson, S. (2024, March 8). Exyn mapping tech put to the test at Pogo. Mining News North. https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/story/2024/03/08/news/exyn-mapping-tech-put-to-the-test-at-pogo/8428.html
6. Boliden. (2023). World’s first underground 5G network at Kankberg. https://www.boliden.com/news/5g-kankberg/
7. Schneider Electric. (2024). EcoStruxure for mining – digital energy and automation platform. https://www.se.com/ww/en/work/solutions/for-business/mining-metals-minerals/
8. Weir Group. (2024). NEXT intelligent solutions – digital optimisation for process plants. https://www.global.weir/products/weir-intelligent-solutions
9. Caterpillar. (2024). MineStar™ mining technology platform. https://www.cat.com/en_US/products/new/technology/mining-technology/minestar-system.html
10. Reuters. (2024, May 27). Rio Tinto and BHP to trial battery-electric haul trucks in Pilbara. https://www.reuters.com/technology/rio-tinto-bhp-collaborate-electric-haul-truck-trials-pilbara-2024-05-27/
11. MineSense. (2024). Copper Mountain case study: Real-time ore classification results. https://minesense.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/MineSense-Copper-Mountain-Case-Study-2-2.pdf
12. Seequent. (2024). Hyperspectral ore sorting performance: Plotlogic OreSense® analysis. https://www.seequent.com/mission-critical-control-for-mining-engineering-mining-journal/
13. Stockhead. (2024). How startup tech companies power big gains for major miners: Plotlogic OreSense®. https://stockhead.com.au/tech/how-startup-tech-companies-power-big-gains-for-major-miners/
14. International Mining. (2021, April 27). Exyn achieves Level-4A autonomy underground. https://im-mining.com/2021/04/27/underground-mine-drone-survey-takes-another-step-exyn-achieves-level-4a-autonomy/
15. Exyn Technologies. (2024). Underground autonomous drone mapping solutions. https://www.exyn.com/underground-drone-mapping

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