Leading mining companies in the cloud computing theme

The future of the mining industry will be shaped by a range of disruptive themes, with cloud one of the themes that will have a significant impact on packaging companies. 

Cloud’s value for mining companies comes directly from using it as a more sophisticated technological option for existing production and management functions and from the new resources, technologies, and services that can be established on an underlying organizational cloud architecture.

Both are significant, but the latter is more so. A cloud-integrated mining company can have stronger data resources, digital technologies, personnel pools, internal operational procedures, and cooperation with other parties. 

However, not all companies are equal when it comes to their capabilities and investments in the key themes that matter most to their industry. Understanding how companies are positioned and ranked in the most important themes can be a key leading indicator of their future earnings potential and relative competitive position.  

According to GlobalData’s report Cloud Computing in Mining, leading adopters of cloud computing include: BHP, Newcrest, Rio Tinto, Vale, Anglo American, Boliden, Fortescue, Newmont, Resolute Mining, Komatsu, Freeport-McMoRan, South32 and AngloGold Ashanti.

Anglo American 

Since 2013, Anglo American has worked with IT services company HCL to shift its IT infrastructure to a hybrid on-premise and cloud delivery model. The company currently runs IaaS, PaaS infrastructure, and containers on AWS’s Amazon EC2 while deploying Box, a cloud content-sharing and collaboration service, across its organization. Anglo American has established a remote operation control center in Perth. 

BHP 

Until 2012 BHP ran a no-cloud policy, but by 2014 the company had stated its intentions to build a hybrid cloud architecture for automated scaling and management. The company hosts data on AWS infrastructure and employs RedEye to manage its cloud environment. BHP has also developed a web and mobile blockchain application with BlockApps and ConsenSys within the Microsoft Azure development environment to improve the efficiency of its global supply chain. In 2015 BHP selected Loc8's cloud-based asset maintenance, service, and job-management platform at its Mooka, Western Australia vehicle maintenance facility. 

In June 2021, BHP selected AWS as its long-term cloud provider. AWS provides analytics and machine learning to improve agility, safety, and decision-making. BHP employs the full scope of AWS’s capabilities. At the same time, BHP announced a partnership with Microsoft Azure to host its applications portfolio. Over 17,500TB of data was transferred to Azure. These two cloud deals were made to reduce on-site hardware and enable new sophisticated analytics. 

Rio Tinto 

In 2015, Rio Tinto partnered with Accenture to move to the cloud. The move included modernizing the company's existing ERP and information management (IM) platforms and consolidating and hosting these applications in the public cloud. In 2018, Rio Tinto migrated its entire SAP estate, 24 SAP modules, and 35TB of data onto Microsoft's Azure platform. This was a commitment by Rio Tinto to deploy Microsoft's Azure Stack for on-premises cloud appliances, while Accenture manages the multi-cloud estate using its cloud platform and enables provisioning and management of services across the hybrid cloud landscape. Rio Tinto has used Fatigue Science’s tools to monitor personnel health on the cloud.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the mining industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Cloud Computing in Mining. The mining companies featured in our thematic scorecard are listed below.

• Fortescue Metals 
• Freeport-McMoRan 
• POSCO 
• Boliden 
• China Molybdenum 
• Sibanye-Stillwater 
• Rio Tinto 
• Newmont 
• Saudi Arabian Mining 
• Newcrest Mining 
• Polyus 
• Zijin Mining 
• Teck Resources 
• Glencore 
• Grupo Mexico 
• Anglo American 
• Sumitomo Metal Mining 
• Nippon Steel 
• Gold Fields 
• Barrick Gold 
• Tianqi Lithium 
• BHP 
• Agnico Eagle Mines 
• AngloGold Ashanti 
• Antofagasta 
• South32 
• First Quantum Minerals 
• Vale 
• Polymetal International 
• Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium 
• Vedanta 
• ArcelorMittal 
• Severstal 
• Alrosa 
• Nornickel 
• Northern Star 
• Jiangxi Copper 
• Tata Steel 
• Shaanxi Coal Industry 
• Impala Platinum 
• RUSAL 
• Yanzhou Coal Mining 
• Kinross Gold 
• EVRAZ 
• China Shenhua Energy 
• Hindalco Industries 
• Shandong Gold Mining  
• China Coal Energy 
• Coal India