Siphiwe Matore, Senior Cloud Solutions Architect, Huawei Cloud and Shalin Naidoo, Chief Information and Technology Officer, DRDGOLD

Mining companies are realising that by centralising data in the cloud, they are able to ensure better collaboration, real-time insights, and improved project management. By integrating operations and management into the cloud, these businesses are able to become safer, more productive, more sustainable, and more efficient.

When mining entity DRDGOLD needed to modernise and scale up as its business grew, the organisation chose to migrate its systems to the cloud, recognising the many benefits such a move could offer.

According to Shalin Naidoo, Chief Information and Technology Officer at DRD, the company chose to migrate its entire infrastructure two years ago, to the Huawei Cloud.

“We faced several challenges in our organisation , notably ageing infrastructure and excessive on-premise maintenance costs, alongside the need for more agility and scalability. Another critical factor was the need for enhanced data recovery - to avoid any data loss - especially in the modern digital world of cyber threats and online dangers,” he says.

“Our existing on-premise architecture was quite clunky and decentralised, and the storage arrays that were required significantly added to our costs, as we collect increasing amounts of data from our mines and operations. Moreover, we’re not an IT house, so we didn’t really want to hire additional IT resources that would add to our costs; ultimately, we’re a a mining shop and simply view IT as an enabler to improve what we do, which is to produce gold.”

That’s why, adds Naidoo, DRDGOLD chose to migrate to Huawei Cloud, which is a leading specialist in the field. He says the move offered DRD-improved scalability, increased optimisation, and enhanced decision-making, alongside significant cost-efficiencies.

“The last was in large part due to having a more predictable pay-as-you- go model, while the protection offered by Huawei Cloud’s own security framework delivered advanced encryption, along with compliance to international standards. They also offered disaster recovery and redundancy all within South Africa’s boarders, thus ensuring minimal downtime and rapid recovery from disruptions.”

The foundational stability offered by the cloud leads directly to agility and scalability, he says. In addition, being in the cloud gives DRDGOLD access to new tools and technologies, allowing the company to optimise processes like tailings management and resource application, and to implement beneficial solutions like real-time analytics.

“We aim to continue developing this partnership by adopting more cloud-native technologies, and focusing on increasing our sustainability, something that will be good both for our business and for the environment itself, as our strategic vision is to reverse the environmental legacy of mining,” he says.

“Tailings management is a huge part of our operations, and, as we work with very fine margins here, real-time analytics are key. Not only is this important from a cost savings perspective, but also from the point of view of safety standards around tailings management.” Naidoo indicates that what differentiates Huawei Cloud is its tailored service and ability to deliver on its customer requirements. He notes that a key metric for DRDGOLD was reducing costs, and that Huawei delivered approximately a 40% cost saving and an increase in throughput of round about 400%.

“In addition, they offered us access to services we were already planning to use, notably artificial intelligence (AI). This technology has enabled us to analyse operational data to, for example, predict equipment failures and move from a position of reactive to one of prescriptive analytics. Furthermore, it enabled us to optimise and enhance our operations, allowing us to extract the most amount of gold from each tonne of tailings we process.

“Moreover, we are also able to leverage big data analytics, as Huawei Cloud allows us to store and process large volumes of data at a reasonable market cost. This is crucial, as generally the faster the processing, the more it costs, and this is an area where Huawei is very competitive.”

The biggest challenge most organisations face globally in remaining competitive in the fourth industrial revolution, with new technologies like AI, Blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) coming to the fore, is that of skills. This is where Huawei once again holds an edge on its competitors, states Naidoo, as it not only has the relevant 4IR skills, but also makes efforts to transfer these skills to its clients.

Siphiwe Matore, Senior Cloud Solutions Architect and Presales Manager at Huawei Cloud, notes that the company believes in skills transfer, and makes efforts from the outset to understand its clients’ pain points, and to propose a fit-for-purpose solution that helps them overcome challenges. This is done via a continuous focus on improving the client’s ICT environment and by applying learnings gained from other regions in which Huawei operates, which can be applied to the mining sector in SA.

“This global expertise is one of our key offerings to the mining sector, alongside local support, and this is an ongoing process. Just because we have delivered a solution, doesn’t mean our offering stops there; we are continuously working with our clients throughout the lifecycle of their partnership with Huawei,” she says.

“Our next step with DRD is to see what other leading technologies we can introduce to them. We are discussing solutions like autonomous vehicles, which talks directly to safety, as well as drone technologies, to help reduce the number of humans working in dangerous places. Huawei Cloud is undoubtedly looking forward to not only continuing, but growing our relationship with them.” Naidoo points out that cloud adoption is reshaping the mining industry in SA, as it offers organisations in the sector the opportunity to enhance their data-driven decision-making, while improving sustainability management and optimising processes.

“DRDGOLD’s specific needs, combined with Huawei Cloud’s tailored solutions, highlights how the cloud is vital in delivering the benefits of automation, predictive analytics and sustainability. DRD’s access to such solutions has, ultimately, enabled our organisation to both set the technological pace, and serve as a shining example to other mining companies in the sector,” he concludes.

Connect with DRDGOLD: www.drdgold.com

Connect with HUAWEI CLOUD: www.huaweicloud.com/intl/en-us/

Email: huaweicloudsa@huawei.com