Implementation of Technology in Mining

Organizations
Jake Davis
OGL 365: Leadership, Technological Innovation & Development
Paul Emeka
Abstract
Abstract Freeport-McMoRan is a North American mining
company based out of Phoenix, Arizona. This company
is a front runner when it comes to the integration of AI
into mining. After implementing AI into their mining
strategies they began to see how to optimize the plant
and raise the speed of processing by ten percent. This
paper shows how Freeport is able to combine the
advancements of AI with the company's workforce.
This will identify the ideals of Freeport and how they
stay true to their ideals while being innovators. Their
principles reflect the core values of safety, respect, and
excellence. The paper shows the leadership qualities
that have led the Freeport organization to where it is
today. This paper shows the way that Freeport went
about adapting AI into the on site operations as well as
how they are not the only ones that continue to adapt
AI into industrial organizations.
Introduction
Introduction Freeport-McMoRan is a leading international mining
company with headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. It is their
belief that their greatest strength are the people. At
Freeport they strive for, promote and foster a workplace
where everyone feels a sense of belonging, is treated with
respect and their opinions are valued. According to Harry
“Red” Conger, chief operating officer, “A learn-fast culture
means we put things into action, we don’t sit around
thinking about it” (Overview: Freeport-mcmoran). Due to the
fact that Freeport is a mining company there is a numerous
amount of equipment that have computer systems that are
needed to run. Almost every company’s goal is to become
the most profitable they can be. Freeport on the other hand
strives to provide a place of belonging and respect within
the workplace. In order for this to happen it is important to
understand AI, understand the essentials of mining, and
most importantly how everything will either be a benefit or
a hindrance to the company.
Research
Research Freeport-McMoran is an international
mining company that was incorporated in
Freeport Introduction
November of 1987. They operate many long
standing assets with reserves of copper,
molybdenum, and gold, including a mining
operation in one of the worlds largest
deposits of gold and copper located in
Indonesia. From this operation alone it
produced 33 billion pounds of copper and
53 million ounces of gold. However this is
not the only operation, Freeport has
operations all over North and South America
as well as Indonesia.
Research cont. Due to its ever expanding nature it is important
to have loyal and dedicated team members.
Freeport Introduction
Those members are the core of its business,
Freeport has even taken the initiative to not
only support the employees but their families
as well. A quote from The Leadership
Challenge helps to clarify their way of thinking
and it says “The evidence is clear: to be the
most effective, every leader must learn to find
the voice that represents who he or she is”
(Kouzes and Posner 2017, pg. 50). The leaders
know what they want from their organization.
They have implemented policies to allow
employees to work remotely and even
adjusting pay policies and sick leave.
 However in 2018 Freeport began to experiment

Research cont. with Artificial Intelligence. In Bagdad, Arizona

is a Freeport mining facility as well as the
Freeport Introduction
world’s first commercial-scale concentrate
leach facility. On Freeport’s site it states, “The
Bagdad operation consists of an 77,100 metric
ton-per-day concentrator that produces copper
and molybdenum concentrate, an SX/EW plant
that will produce approximately 6 million
pounds per year” (Overview: Freeport-
mcmoran) making it one of the highest
producing plants in Arizona. Originally Freeport
had a $200 million expansion plan for this
Arizona mine, unfortunately the price of copper
dropped and along with it the expansion plan.
It was at this point when they turned to AI.

Research cont.
Artificial Intelligence Involvement
The first thing that pops into people's minds is
that AI is about building robots that could think
like a human would, however this is just a small
part of AI. The truth is that AI is a part of
everything we do. Our phones, our cars, and even
the machines in the factory are AI. The low level of
acceptance is due to the media identifying AI as
evil and that is enforced by the fact that AI
continues to take over routine industries.
According to Andrew Yang, in The War on Normal
People, “The real distinction is routine vs.
nonroutine. Routine jobs of all stripes are those
most under threat from AI and automation”(Yang,
pg. 50). There are about 62 million jobs
(approximately 44% of total jobs) that are
considered routine, among these are factory
workers, doctors, accountants, and even lawyers,
all of which perform a routine task. It is
acceptable to say that as AI advances the
Research cont. In Freeport there are a total of 24,500
employees and about 34,000 contractors that
Artificial Intelligence Involvement
work full time with the company. Out of that
59,000 total employees it is likely that 12,000
of those employees could potentially lose their
jobs to AI. For a company that prioritizes their
people, this possibility is mentaly draining.
Employees who know that they could be
replaced by technology that can do their job
quicker and more efficiently than you can
cause a giant strain on them. In order to get in
front of the situation freeport must prepare
their employees for this very real possibility.
Research cont. In The Leadership Challenge, it states “Deeds
are far more important than words when
Artificial Intelligence Involvement
constituents want to determine how serious
leaders really are about what they say” (Kouzes
and Posner 2017, p. 14). Leaders must set an
example for their followers. In order for the
teams to become stronger and to perform
better, leaders must be willing to do what
needs done and say what needs to be said if
they expect their teams to perform.
Research cont. The implementation of artificial intelligence, machine
learning, and autonomous technologies in the mining
Artificial Intelligence industry started about ten years ago with the
Implementation
implementation of autonomous trucks. AI and
autonomous innovations and technologies pave a way
for many economic benefits for the mining industry
including cost reduction, efficiency, and improvement
of productivity. AI can also help to reduce the
exposure of employees to hazardous conditions, and
help to improve their overall safety. However, in the
article Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and
autonomous technologies in mining industry, it states
“the implementation of these technologies has faced
economic, financial, technological, workforce, and
social challenges” (Hyder, Zeshan, Keng Siau, and
Fiona Nah).
Research cont. Mining organizations across the globe are adopting AI
technologies at an incredible rate, not just Freeport
Artificial Intelligence but other companies as well. Companies are taking
Implementation
this chance to reorganize their product and services in
order to support that trend. According to Engineering
and Mining Journal it states, “various social and
technological trends are funneling the industry’s future
format toward a mostly automated, robot-assisted
scenario in which AI’s predictive algorithms control
where to drill for, how to process and where to ship
mineral products” (Carter, Engineering and Mining
Journal). This advancement could collide with the
hands on employees at the sites, if AI is able to
advance to a point where it could be set and forgotten
about, it would eliminate the need for hands on
employees.
Research cont.
Artificial Intelligence at Freeport
At Freeport they are taking a different approach to
solving this problem. Instead of using AI to replace
workers on site, they want to use AI alongside the
workers. They brought in data scientists whose job is
to analyze years of data and implement them into
programs that could identify where to mine, how long,
and even when to move onto a new point. Harry
Conger, President of Freeport says, “Our engineers
thought that it was blasphemy that data scientists,
who don’t know anything about metallurgy, were
proposing that they knew how to run the plant better
than they did… The AI model was telling us how much
faster the equipment could be run and its maximum
capacity”(McKinsey, How six companies are using
technology).
Research cont.
Artificial Intelligence at Freeport
These engineers used AI and began to trust in its
recommendations which allowed the Bagdad plant (the
site of the new expansion plan) to optimize its production.
“The AI model was telling us how much faster the
equipment could be run and its maximum capacity, by
analyzing every aspect of the mining process, the AI
models were showing what was possible.” Conger adds.
As a result of this the Bagdad mine’s processing rate is 10
percent higher than it was before and has led to AI being
used at eight of the company’s other mines. In the
Engineering and Mining Journal it states, “Freeport
McMoRan is now using drones to establish higher
gradient slope angles to reduce stripping ratios before
extracting ore” (Anonymous. Engineering and Mining
Journal). The drones gather data and provide an analysis
of slopes, provide safety and surveillance, and can enter
dangerous environments that could have caused harm to
employees if they had gone.
Research cont.
Artificial Intelligence at Freeport
Further on the article mentions that “Technological
innovations from AI and automated drones … will not
only work to deliver modern, safe and productive
mines, but have the capacity to significantly improve
maintenance practices and planning across the mine”,
this allows for the company to cut down on operating
costs by about 40%, all while increasing overall
efficiency.
Research cont. By putting their trust into AI as well as their leaders,
the employees at Freeport are able to see substantial
Result of AI Integration growth all while keeping their jobs safe. In The
Leadership Challenge it says, “Trust is the central
issue in human relationships. Without trust, you can't
lead. Without trust, you can't get people to believe in
you or each other” (Kouzes and Posner 2017, pg. 198).
Losing trust in someone can have a huge negative
impact on that relationship. It can cause them to never
trust again as well as cause a hindrance when trying
to trust another. This challenge is one that both the
leader and team member are a part of. To put into an
example, it is like moving uphill and having gravity and
resistance pushing against you, this will not stop until
you reach your goal, until you reach the summit.
Research cont. It's common to want to achieve something, to have
that drive and desire, it is because we want to do the
Result of AI Integration best that we can do. Freeport leadership realized this
which is why they turned towards artificial intelligence
in order to improve. They became innovators in their
fields and paved a way for other mining organizations
to follow. Russel Carter supports this idea with the
results of a survey given to 200 international
organizations within the industrial sector. These
results showed that “79% said they either have an
Industrial AI project live right now or are piloting one.
Only 1% of respondents said they have either no
initiatives for Industrial AI in place, or no plans to
develop one”(Carter, Engineering and Mining Journal).
Research cont. Out of those 200 companies almost 80% of them
have/are planning to have an AI project in the works.
Result of AI Integration Further on it states that 8 out of 10 of these
companies say that AI has had a major part in the
strategy for the past three years. Later on he mentions
that the AI is based around an object detection
system, “using a patented sensor array. The detection
system can be fitted to both moving vehicles and to
stationary locations”(Carter, Engineering and Mining
Journal). Not only does this allow for companies to
incorporate AI into their strategy but it also allows
them to accurately identify any potential areas that
could prove troublesome.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Freeport-McMoRan is not only a leading international mining
company but they are devoted leaders to their team
members as well as to their field. It is the belief that people
are the heart of the company that has gotten them to where
they are today. Leaders often don’t start as leaders, they
overcome challenges, they are faced with impossible
decisions, and it is only after all the work when they become
leaders. The innovation of the Freeport leaders is shown
through the steps that they took to implement artificial
intelligence into their organization. Freeport began with
combining the advancements of AI with the knowledge of its
senior members/engineers in order to improve overall
performance, by doing so they allowed for AI to integrate with
the company. This increased their efficiency and allowed
their employees to hold onto their jobs. This only happened
because Freeport understood the value of AI, and how it
would be a positive thing for the company. This innovation
allowed them to keep 12,000 jobs, increase productivity by
10%, and provided an example to other organizations.
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