…Realtime surface-to-underground calls now possible
From two kilometers deep in the bowels of an underground mine in Kitwe, miners conducted a live video call with President Hakainde Hichilema at State House as International Resources Holding (IRH) demonstrated its ongoing technological transformation of Mopani Copper Mines (Mopani) during an update briefing yesterday.
Shashank Sharma, IRH’s Head of Technology, told Hichilema and his contingent that the digital and technological transformation was being led by a team comprising 99% Zambians.
“This knowledge, this hunger to innovate was always there. All we did was create the right environment for them to be able to innovate and push through their ideas and see them to realization,” he commended.
Sharma explained that IRH’s main objective for the digital transformation at Mopani is to make Zambia a leader in innovation and mining technology and really unlock human potential.
“All our technology initiatives are not focused on automation but much more on how to give the folks on the ground the tools to succeed and be part of our transformation journey. We are working on extending connectivity throughout the mine site. We have commenced over 50km of network expansion to the point where you can have a video call right from the surface to the underground mine and get real-time view of what’s going on.”
At that point, President Hichilema’s Economic Jito Kayumba demonstrated the transformation by getting on a call with some miners underground at Mopani and taking his phone to the head of state for a short conversation with the miners.
Sib Ali, the IRH chief operating officer described their Mopani agenda as a high-level impact transformation they want to build on.
“Before, we were talking about a paradigm shift. Today, we bring you a quantum leap. It’s something totally transformative and the team here has done remarkably in the last 8 months,” enthused Ali.
Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe promised Hichilema that having looked at the numbers and interacted with IRH on the transformation program it was implementing, the President would be excited with what he was going to see.
“What they are going to present in terms of technology, what they have done to automate the mine, also what they have done in terms of employment for our people, how they are increasing productivity, the ramping up that is happening…it’s quite exciting.”
IRH Chief Executive Officer Ali Alrashdi said they were there to present the performance and outline their strategic vision moving forward to President Hichilema, whose “insights and support are critical” as they “strive to enhance productivity and create lasting benefits for the community and nation.”
President Hichilema described Mopani as a critical business to Zambia’s mining sector, the economy, and the 3 million tons copper production target.
“We want to hear the story today and where support is needed, we will render that support because we want this business to succeed…this government will be expecting specifics of what each mine, each business is able to do towards our vision of 3 million tons,” stated Hichilema.
He said the government was happy about the additional jobs that have been created and knows that when the business succeeds and expands, opportunities exist for more employment and more contribution to the treasury envelope.
“It’s very important that we connect things correctly. [When] A business succeeds, we are a happy treasury. If businesses don’t succeed or underperform, we have challenges to deal with small issues and I think this is why it’s a partnership and we all have a vested interest in making these businesses and partnerships,” he said.
He said there should be a chart or screen showing what each mine would deliver by a particular time towards the 3 million tons target. “That’s the sort of thing we are looking forward to. So, if it’s not in today’s presentation, we expect that to come through.”
