Abstract
The mining sector is considered as one of the last sectors to implement digitalization of operations (Young & Rogers, 2019). Indeed, mining companies face several challenges in integrating digital technologies, such as diffuse digital transformation terminology, lack of agility, data abundance, security, productivity, and the unique mine environment (Ali & Frimpong, 2020) but most are related to the execution of technology integration. Mines also face an aging workforce and a lack of digitally literate staff and leaders (Dragičević & Bošnjak, 2019).
The lifespan of the mine, its residual value, and the return on investment are extremely decisive in guiding digital investments (INMQ, 2019) in a context where the mining operation is a more or less ephemeral organization, "the first day of the operation of a mining complex and also the first day of its closure". Mining companies would benefit from being supported in their digital planning by prioritizing digital projects before proceeding with the selection of technological solutions to be implemented (INMQ,2019).
However, before proceeding with the implementation of technological solutions, it would be valuable to know concretely where the mining industry is heading. The mining industry is moving towards the intelligent mine. Industry publications are full of key concepts about the smart mine, however this information is scattered and also touches on a wide variety of topics, there are many different views and ways to describe the smart mine concept. Smart mining has several key concepts, some of which have yet to be defined and developed.
The purpose of this resaerch is to clarify the concept of smart mining as defined by mining practitioners in terms of objectives, means and targeted business processes, and then to position the scientific literature according to these key concepts. To do this, we establish a state of the art of industrial literature to clarify the concepts of the smart mine as defined by the industry by summarizing all their expectations, identifying the means and targeted management processes and then making a state of the art of current academic research in achieving the concept of smart mine.