Rio Tinto – Mining Data like Diamond

When surviving competitively afloat the mining industry’s ocean of high and low tides seemed impossible, Rio Tinto leveraged Big Data and Machine Learning to revolutionize the mining industry over the past decade, through its state-of-the-art autonomous operations.

Rio Tinto: Be Prepared for the Flood

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Due to the wide geographic distribution of mining operations, climate change will have complex impacts on the sector. In 2010, 40 mines in Australia were affected by floods, including disruptions in transporting coal from mines to coastal ports for exports.

The Sustainability Paradox: How Vale S.A. is Operating in the Heart of the Amazon Rainforest the New World´s Largest Iron Ore Mine

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Is it possible to sustainably operate a large-scale iron ore exploitation project without causing significant environmental disturbs in one of the most sensitive biomes on Earth? Vale claims to have found the solution in its new S11D complex with the application of cutting-edge technologies that are considered generations ahead of common practices in the mining industry.

Elon’s missing ingredient: the human and political challenges of Tesla’s supply of Cobalt

In the Fall of 2017, as Tesla prepares its ambitious rollout of the Model 3, the reality of mass market electric vehicles (EVs) seems closer than ever. To tackle climate change –and pollution—many countries (e.g., France, UK, India, Norway, China) have adopted bans on fossil fuel cars in the coming decades1. Although these policies changes are promising for EVs, the sudden rush for the metals used in lithium-based batteries is, paradoxically, threatening the viability of Tesla’s supply chain and its dream to deliver a mass market EV car. The sourcing and supply of Cobalt –a crucial component of Tesla’s batteries—is a particular area of concern and could stop Elon's dream in its track.