Digitalization leaders: who changed the mining industry in 2026
More than 30 projects reached the final voting of the jury. This year, the competition recorded a steady trend for end-to-end management technologies. At the same time, the maturity of projects in robotization has increased and the practical application of artificial intelligence has expanded.
In the nomination "Digitalization of open-pit mining", the project for the implementation of the basic functionality of the automated control system of the GTK at Volkovsky GOK (Svyatogor) won. The solution made it possible to equip all mining equipment with complexes for monitoring fuel level, weight, positioning systems, and driver card readers.
In the category "Digitalisation of Underground Mining", the award was given to Norilsk Nickel for an assistant in the face drilling of self-propelled drilling rigs (SBU). The prize also went to ALROSA for the implementation of an automated system at the Internatsionalny mine.
ALROSA also won the award in the category "Digitalization of the Processing Stage" - for increasing the productivity of the processing process of NGOK by optimizing the supply of raw materials. Thanks to the new approach, the average actual productivity of the factory increased by 5.2%, and downtime was reduced by about 2 times. The company shared first place with the Kirovsk branch of PhosAgro Group's Apatit for the digital assistant of the flotation unit.
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In the category "Industrial Safety and Labor Protection", Severstal and its plant "Karelsky Okatysh" won with a project for video analytics of the actions of a dump truck driver. The main goal is to reduce injuries and increase industrial safety. The number of accidents in the quarry involving mining dump trucks decreased by an average of 50%, and violations by drivers fell by an average of 75%.
The Novo-Shirokinsky Mine was awarded the Digital Projects in ESG award for its MR simulator project. Mixed reality turned out to be the best solution due to complex mechanical mechanisms and a high degree of risk with insufficient development of the correct sequence of actions.
In the Practical Import Substitution category, the sampling system from Polyus Aldan won. The solution from the InterMash plant at the start showed a reduction in manual labor by more than 70%, increased the sampling accuracy by at least 95% and reduced the time for analysis by 30%-50%.
MTS won in the nomination "Intelligent Communication Infrastructure for Mining Operations". As a result of the implementation, a unified transport environment was introduced on one platform.
Among the AI Solutions for Mining, the winners were Norilsk Nickel and Reksoft with an autonomous AI-controlled rock breaker, which increased the equipment utilization rate by 10% at the Komsomolsky mine. A special prize went to PAVLIK for an advanced grinding control system at a gold recovery plant.
Norilsk Nickel won the prize in the Robotics and Autonomous Technologies category for the project of an autonomous mining dump truck at the Skalisty mine.
There are two winners in the category "Digital Technologies for End-to-End Management of a Mining Enterprise": Norilsk Nickel and Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine. The first company implemented a project to improve the efficiency of production and economic planning processes. ZCMC was awarded for the implementation of the Mining MES integrated solution for the management of the plant.
The statuette "Woman in the digitalization of the mining and metallurgy sector" was taken by Irina Kamdina, Head of the Department of Planning and Implementation of Social Programs of the Raspadskaya Coal Company, for the implementation of the project "RUK ECO: Rest in One Click!". This is a mobile application that has transformed the issuance of vouchers to employees, simplifying the process at all stages. A special prize in this category was awarded to Liana Ermishina, Vice President for Transformation Technologies at Norilsk Nickel, for her many years of work on automation, digitalization and the introduction of advanced technologies.
"In the face of modern challenges, it is especially valuable that the leading companies in the industry do not stop developing and actively share their best practices. The Mining Industry 4.0 Award has become a real platform for the exchange of experience and demonstration of best practices. Each submitted project is not just an innovative solution, but a real contribution to the development of the domestic mining and metallurgical complex. It is especially important that the participants of the award show how, even in difficult conditions, it is possible to find effective ways to modernize production and improve labor safety," said Mikhail Verzilov, Deputy Director of the Coal Industry Department of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation.
"Watching the projects participating in the award, I am especially pleased with how rapidly the digital transformation of the mining industry is developing. Technological solutions presented at the competition demonstrate a high level of integration of IT solutions into production processes. It is especially important that the introduction of innovations goes hand in hand with improving labor safety and production efficiency. As a specialist in the field of geological support for subsoil use and mining and geological information systems, I can note that the presented projects are in line with modern trends in the digitalization of the industry, and the results obtained can become a solid basis for training a new generation of mining engineers capable of working with advanced technologies," said Vasily Cheskidov, Candidate of Technical Sciences and Deputy Director of the NUST MISIS Institute of Mining.
The Mining Industry 4.0 Award is held annually on the sidelines of the Mining Industry Leaders Forum at the MiningWorld Russia exhibition.
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