BHP Billiton announces cooperation with Microsoft to increase copper recovery from the world's largest copper mine with AI

CTOnews.com, May 30 (Reuters)-BHP Billiton said on Tuesday that it had reached a partnership with Microsoft to improve copper recovery at its Escondida copper mine in Chile, the world's largest copper mine, through the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence.

BHP estimates that global copper production will have to double over the next 30 years to keep pace with decarbonization technologies such as electric cars, offshore wind and solar power stations.

Finding and building new mines is costly and difficult, and usually takes more than a decade. As a result, the mining industry is looking for advanced technologies to obtain more effective metals from existing mines and mining processes.

"We expect the next boom in the mining industry to come from the effective use of digital technology," Laura Tyler, BHP's chief technology officer, said in a company statement.

BHP said that real-time data from ore processing plants, combined with artificial intelligence-based advice from Microsoft's Azure platform, would enable operators to effectively adjust variables that affect ore processing and grade recovery.

CTOnews.com Note: BHP Billiton is the world's largest mining company and a major shareholder in the Escondida copper mine. The mine has produced more than 1 million tons of copper in the last fiscal year ending in June.