The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) said it has signed a strategic agreement with technology giant GE to explore opportunities to deploy its industry leading digital solutions across the company’s diverse mining operations, including sites focused on gold, copper, aluminium, and phosphate.

As per the deal, GE will provide Ma’aden with digital transformation advisory and applications, as well as leadership and training opportunities for its employees across the kingdom.

To maintain its world leading competitive position across a number of commodities, Ma’aden is pursuing a number of partnerships in order to capture the opportunities found in digitization and innovation, and will invest in the application of pioneering technologies in its operations in the kingdom in order to remain ahead of the competition and reinforce the company as a global mining leader.

The move is aimed at bringing digital transformation to the Saudi mining industry, it stated.

GE’s digital mining solutions will look at specific areas within Ma’aden including solutions that make adaptations for improving ore grades; reduce fuel and energy costs and usage; improve equipment reliability and availability; reduce maintenance costs; and increase productivity and efficiency across operations.

On the tie-up, Darren Davis, the acting president and chief executive at Ma’aden, said: "Saudi Arabia has high aspirations for the deployment of new technology and the digitisation of industrial landscape in the country."

"Ma’aden is committed to championing the responsible development of the mining sector as a major pillar of the Saudi economy and digitalization and as part of the fourth industrial revolution, will be key to ensuring we achieve our goal of becoming a ‘sustainable mining champion’," stated Davis.

"This initiative will unlock the next wave of significant value creation and increase our competitiveness and sustainability. Our partnership with GE is an important step and we look forward to working together to develop and utilise new digital solutions for our industry," he added.

Bill Ruh, the digital president and chief executive at GE, said: "We are partnering with organizations across heavy industries around the world to bring digital solutions to their operations. The scale and impact of organizations such as Ma’aden is enormous, and we know that the optimization and increases in efficiency will have a major impact on the company and the country."

"By working together to develop solutions that are tailored for the sector and environment in which they will operate, we can ensure truly positive outcomes," he added.-TradeArabia News Service