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05 juin 2019
Will Solar Power Change Mining and METS Companies?
Solar power finds its technological origins in the late 19th century, and the first solar cells were brought to market in 1953. It’s only in recent years, however, that solar has become a viable investment for commercial mining and other energy-intensive industries.The facts speak for themselves:...
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29 mai 2019
The Power of the Board: How Mining Leaders Are Changing
An old proverb says that vision without action is a daydream, while action without vision is a nightmare. For so many METS and mining companies, this relationship between action and vision is driven in large part by a board of directors. These are the folks who provide executive oversight, making...
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25 février 2019
Areas of the Mine Where Partnership Matters Most
The role of partnership in the mining industry has changed through time. Great collaborations have been responsible for some of the biggest breakthroughs of the past, but the value of proprietary knowledge has led many mining and METS companies to keep collaborative efforts at arms’ length. Shari...
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16 janvier 2019
5 Problems Electronic Blasting Experts Can Solve
In a new landscape where efficiency is the gold standard, mining leaders across the world are looking to decrease inputs, increase outputs, and raise the level on safety. Questions are also swirling around social license and the environment. Taken together, these challenges can seem overwhelming ...
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09 janvier 2019
Innovation Isn’t Just About Technology
The word “innovation” comes from two simple linguistic roots meaning “into” and “new.” But if you dig deeper into the etymology of that word, you’ll find it’s not actually about creating something new. It’s more about changing something that was already there. Most of the recent conversation in t...
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02 janvier 2019
5 Fears of the Modern Mining Professional
No industry is altogether free from uncertainty, but mining professionals are challenged with a unique set of concerns. Some of these are related to growing pains of the past. Some are linked to radical projections for the future. The industry itself is composed of organisations, teams, and indiv...
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29 août 2018
Mining Supply Chains Can and Will Be Tightened: Here’s How
Our work at Davey Bickford Enaex is ultimately centered on the optimisation of workflows. When our Global Technical Solutions (GTS) experts configure next-generation blasting designs to individual mining sites, the immediate result is smarter and more controlled shots. The real benefit comes late...
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15 août 2018
A.I. Metals Mining, What Does the Future Hold?
There are perfectly good reasons why the forward march of technology draws a mixed reaction from the Australian mining community. What is 3-D modeling but the effort toward decreased human input? What are automatous vehicles but the obsolescence of human drivers? Will skilled human workers be pus...
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08 août 2018
Why Mining Needs Cross-Pollination of Technology
When the North American Space Agency (NASA) began using microelectronic transistors to develop tiny cameras in the 1990s, they were looking for lighter and cheaper ways to take pictures in outer space. There weren’t thinking about dental health, or about the discomfort and limitations of traditio...
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01 août 2018
Inspired By the FIFA World Cup: What Football and the Mining Industry Have in Common
“Perfect partners don’t exist. Perfect conditions exist for a limited time in which partnerships express themselves best.” These are the words of Wayne Rooney, former captain of England’s national football team. In his line of work, the smallest mechanical details of attack and defence can have a...
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01 août 2018
After The Conference: Your How-To Guide on Making the Most of Your Conference Experience
For three days, some of the brightest leaders in the Australian mining industry converged on Mackay Showground for the Queensland Mining and Events Expo (QME) with a mandate to share knowledge, establish personal connections, and explore solutions to some of the industry’s toughest problems. The ...
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25 juillet 2018
Why Networking Will Be Your Key to Success at QME 2018
As we embark on day two of the Queensland Mining Expo (QME) in Mackay this week, we’re putting a fair amount of thought into networking. Rarely does so much expertise – and so much potential for collaboration – converge on a single location. The event also comes at a dramatic moment for Australia...
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17 juillet 2018
Why Preparation is Key: Making the Most of Your Industry Conference Experience
It’s no secret that professional conferences can benefit your company and your career. Nor is it a secret that they can, in some cases, be a waste of time and money. Measuring ROI for attendance is a hot topic, and detailed formulas have been proposed – but to get the most out of the forthcoming ...
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13 juillet 2018
Mining’s Next Horizon: Why We All Need to be Looking Ahead
The mining industry has a long and colourful history; but we have never seen a moment like this. Economic and environmental pressures have clarified the need for greater efficiency – and better stewardship – in mining the world’s ore. Meanwhile, quantum leaps in technology have brought previously...
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05 juillet 2018
Why Finding the Community-Oriented Approach to Mining Ore is Vital to Business
The mining boom that came at the turn of the millennium was good for the Australian economy – that much is obvious. By 2013, mining activities had increased per capita income by 13% according to a report from Minerals Council of Australia. Wages increased. Unemployment fell. Communities thrived.T...
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29 juin 2018
Why Mental Health Matters in Mining
Back in 2007, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being. According to the data collected, one out of every five Australian adults experience a mental health challenge in a given twelve-month period. Three categories of mental illness were inc...
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20 juin 2018
How Far Has Blasting in Mining Really Come in 400 Years?
It was nearly four centuries ago, in a small Hungarian town, that gunpowder was first used to break rocks for the express purpose of mining ore. Not much is known about the logistics of the operation, or how successful it was. Up until that point, gunpowder was used mostly in warfare. Its applica...
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13 juin 2018
In Modern Mining, Sustainability is More Than Just a Word
In the past, sustainability in mining was a game of minimum requirements. Operators did what was necessary to satisfy government regulations and retain a license to mine ore. Beyond that, sustainability and profit were two different animals. One sounded nice; the other got results.In the present,...
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06 juin 2018
Where do you sit on the Hierarchy of Hazard Controls? Let’s Talk About Safety in Commercial Mining
For anyone who works in a mine, or has a loved one in the field, it’s obvious that productivity should never come at the cost of safety. Finding innovative ways to boost productivity while decreasing risk – that’s how true progress is made.The evolution of safety in mining is long and storied. So...
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30 mai 2018
In the Global Mining Industry, What Is Expertise Worth?
General medical practitioners solve an awful lot of problems, and we can all be grateful for them. But when a specific issue needs to be addressed, it makes more sense to see an osteopath, or a dermatologist, or whatever it is. That’s because specialists have spent a lot more time and energy on t...
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24 mai 2018
Why Productivity Has Fallen in the Global Mining Industry
Steve Jobs liked to remind people that when the first Mac was released, IBM was spending a hundred times more than Apple on research and development. His point was that innovation isn’t driven by money. It’s driven by people, leadership and vision. When those colorful iMac G3 computers came along...
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16 mai 2018
Fully-Automated Mines: Science Fiction or Reality?
One of the most interesting things about a film like Terminator is that we can sort of imagine it happening in real life. Given how quickly technology has progressed over the last few decades, the idea of robots becoming self-aware and malignant is not impossible. In fact, prominent scientists (i...
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09 mai 2018
Should Mining Companies Diversify? The Case For and Against.
How would the world change if mining industry came to a halt? Who would be affected? Would certain industries be turned upside down? The answers to these questions are too elaborate and far-reaching to cover in a single blog post – but the short version is that everything would change. Ore is one...
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02 mai 2018
How Digital Solutions will Change Mining as We Know It
“Knowledge,” said the British mathematician Jacob Bronowski, “is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty.” It’s a good-looking quote, but does it apply to commercial mining?Let’s see. The entire evolution of our industry has centered on addressing uncertainty and trying to make the unkno...
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25 avril 2018
Welcome to the Age of Super-efficient Mines
Historically speaking, the biggest innovations in our industry were multi-dimensional. They allowed for increased output, sure – but they also made operations safer and more sustainable. The first modern safety fuse, invented by William Bickford in 1831, is a prime example. He witnessed not only ...
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18 avril 2018
The Cost Savings Metrics of Electronic Blasting
Charles Darwin once said it’s “not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change.”One glance at the modern world is enough to see how right he was — but the rules of biology and the rules of industry are not exactly the same. In biology, yo...
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11 avril 2018
Where Do Mines Lose the Most Money?
If mainstream news is all you’ve got to go on, the last several years have not been kind to the mining industry. Most of the stories have been about tragic accidents, the falling price of commodities, the end of a boom cycle, the slashing of jobs and restructuring of operations. Many of the mines...
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04 avril 2018
Underground Mining: What Does the Future Hold?
Underground mines have been around since ancient Egypt, and they continue to challenge many a mining engineer. The process can be slow and constrained, with a litany of unique safety and environmental concerns.In 2018, open cut mines are still the most abundant on earth – but the scales are slowl...
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28 mars 2018
Why Communication and Ethical Practice Go Beyond the Brand
The historical rap sheet against captains of industry is long and unsavory. There was a time when you get could away with just about anything. At times, companies didn’t know what they were doing wrong (lead paint is a perfect example) — but more often, there was a lack of oversight and standards...
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21 mars 2018
How Modern Mining Feeds Technological Growth
The fruits of commercial mining are all around us. You can walk down the street and point to hundreds – even thousands – of examples. The cars we drive, the smartphones we use, even the zips on our pants. All of it came from a mine somewhere. Try to cook a meal, take a vacation, or get your work ...
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13 mars 2018
Pyrotechnics are the Past: Here's Why
The first historical record of black powder being used to blast rocks dates back to the 17th century in Hungary. In the two centuries that followed, some of the most talented scientific minds devoted their energies to refining and improving the use of powder in mining and construction application...
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07 mars 2018
Changing the Stigma of Modern Mining
Back in 2014, the Bloomberg News Agency ran an article on International Women in Mining (IWIM), an organization aimed at networking and advocacy for women in the mining industry. It talked about the impressive strides in doing away with the “boys club” mentality, building a more updated and inclu...
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28 février 2018
Simple Do’s and Dont’s for blasting in Modern Mining
If you sit down with someone who knows nothing at all about commercial mining, and ask whether they think the job is simple or complex, what do you think the answer will be? A few might say it’s not so hard, but the majority will err on the side of complexity. That majority — as those of us who w...
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21 février 2018
Can You Save $10m Per Year with Smart Drilling and Blasting?
At first it was smart phones and televisions. Then came thermostats, lighting systems, watches. Now we’re hearing about cars, buildings and even clothing. Everything is getting ‘smart’ these days — technology is hard at work to make life easier. But these innovations aren’t just about convenience...
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14 février 2018
Accidents Happen - But Do They Have To?
When you think about innovations that made the world a safer place, what comes to mind? You could mention automotive inventions like seatbelts, airbags and anti-lock brakes. Or you could look to the world of medicine, where landmark discoveries like penicillin altered the course of history. You c...
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07 février 2018
Will Ore Become More Difficult to Mine Than Bitcoins?
The idea that virtual materials could be mined in the virtual world — and that these materials could hold real value — sounds like something out of a science fiction story. Mining has always been a material pursuit, wherein raw materials are taken out of the earth and used to drive countless sect...
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31 janvier 2018
Why the Right People are Key to Mining Strategy
The history of commercial mining is one of innovation, creativity and necessity. It’s a history of tough lessons and breakthrough moments. We can point to a few of the most exciting and meaningful inventions that changed the industry — such as the invention of dynamite by Alfred Nobel in 1866, or...
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18 décembre 2017
Connecting the Blast with Downstream Operations: Why Communication is Key
At what point during the average mining operation is the greatest amount of money lost? For those of us who work in the industry, the importance of this question can never be overstated. If you ask around, you’ll hear a few different opinions — but the discussion around drilling and blasting will...
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13 novembre 2017
Real World Minecraft: This is No Videogame
Minecraft is a globally popular video game in which players gather resources and build things. It sounds simplistic, but millions of users spend countless hours mining virtual materials and making things out of them. There’s something called creative mode, where you have endless resources and the...
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06 novembre 2017
What Can Geological Mining Learn from Data Mining?
The world’s data supply is growing all the time, and that’s putting it lightly. The truth is, it’s a data deluge. Individuals are looking for ways to mitigate their digital habits and get back to real world interactions. Businesses, too, are feeling the effects of too much information. As compani...
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30 octobre 2017
The Prodigal Client
The Prodigal Client is a common story, regardless of the trade you’re in. You might already know it by heart. Your business relationship with a client is humming along like a well-oiled machine. Established, stable, productive. Goals are met, results delivered. You think your offerings are right ...
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01 mai 2017
Winner at 2013 Rio Tinto Best Suppliers Awards
In 2013 Davey Bickford Australia won the award for Rio Tinto Iron Ore’s Supplier Recognition Programme 2013 within the Goods Category. This is an exceptional achievement we are still very proud of today.The awards are now in their 18th Year and seek to motivate a joint effort to improve the suppl...
