Economic effects of using digital solutions in the mining industry (western Arctic case study)

Abstract

Mining activities in the western part of Arctic is currently experiencing significant challenges caused by the increased mining depth, a decrease in the grades of the mined ore and the complicated mining and geological conditions. The use of digital solutions, as the experience of the main mining enterprises of the Kola region shows, can mitigate these challenges to a certain extent. The intensive introduction of digital technologies into the main business processes of mining production allows obtaining both direct and indirect economic effects. The direct effects include generation of additional profits, reducing costs and increasing labor productivity. The indirect ones can be of scientific, technical and social nature, as well as those concerned with improving the safety of mining operations. The objective of the study was to justify a scientific and technical approach to assessing the economic effects of digital solutions in the mining industry based on parametric and scenario modeling of the discounted cash flows. The result was to develop a graphical algorithm and disclose its step-by-step description for evaluating the economic effects of digital solutions for the mining industry in the Western part of Arctic. The use of digital solutions is estimated as an effective tool that meets the requirement to obtain positive direct and indirect economic effects. The proposed scientific and technical approach was tested using the case of one of the promising ore deposits in the Western part of Arctic.