Asked About the Future of Mining, Dany Highlights Technology and Data
Digitalisation is having a major impact on the future of many sectors, including mining. Artificial intelligence (AI) is now impossible to ignore.
Asked about the future of mining amid rapid AI development, MIND ID Deputy Chief Executive Dany Amrul Ichdan said the industry’s prospects would no longer be determined solely by the size of a company’s mineral reserves. Companies’ ability to use technology and data to improve operational performance would also be decisive.
“The value of AI is not in the model. Its value lies in safer decisions, more reliable assets, better resource discovery and lower operational impacts,” Dany said, as quoted on Monday (12 September 2026).
He said the state-owned MIND ID group was already using AI to strengthen workplace safety through an AI-enabled fatigue management system. The system can issue early warnings of signs of fatigue and microsleep among operators.
The technology helps reduce the risk of workplace accidents while improving operational safety in the field, he said.
Operationally, the group is developing AI vision technology to monitor conveyor systems and detect potential problems earlier, including belt damage, incorrectly sized materials and contamination that could disrupt production.
“The company is also developing machine-learning technology to help optimise smelter operations, including the management of FeNi rotary kilns, to improve operational stability and mineral-processing efficiency. The use of AI has also produced positive results at several MIND ID group members,” he said.
As an example, he cited PT Bukit Asam (PTBA), where integrating digital systems that connect operational data in real time has helped improve work-process efficiency and support the company’s operational productivity.
Beyond operations, AI is being used to accelerate the analysis of exploration data through AI-enabled geologging.
“This technology helps improve the quality of drilling data, accelerate core sample analysis and support more precise investment decisions,” he said.