Pragmatic digitalization: 68% of mining companies are not ready to invest in new projects, while 74% have not reduced IT budgets
At the same time, market participants emphasize a much greater effect from end-to-end integration than from a targeted increase in efficiency. This conclusion was reached by the audit and consulting company Kept and Zyfra Group. Experts interviewed representatives of the sector and found out how companies are implementing digitalization projects, how much they are ready to invest in technology, what solutions are already working and what projects are planned until 2030. The results of the study were presented as part of the business program of the international exhibition of machinery and equipment for mining, processing and transportation of minerals MiningWorld Russia.
Among the most popular solutions are dispatching (81%), AI advisers (76%), integration platforms (75%), GIS (68%) and predictive equipment maintenance technologies (65%).
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Despite the fact that in-house development is often more expensive, 46% of companies deploy digital solutions with the help of internal IT departments, and only 24% of organizations entrust the implementation to external integrators. Most industry players note that digital solutions created in their own companies are used only for internal purposes. This is due to the fact that their introduction to the market requires significant investment and time. The developments themselves are often deeply adapted to specific production processes and therefore are poorly replicated, and may also contain unique models and developments that form a competitive advantage.
In a difficult period for the mining industry, almost half of the surveyed companies (49%) kept the volume of investments in digital projects at the level of 2025 in 2026, 25% of organizations increased the budget, and the rest decreased. The main limitation is the lack of free financial resources for the implementation of new projects.
68% of respondents do not plan to invest in new digital projects, concentrating on supporting existing ones. Only 5% intend to develop new expensive initiatives.
56% of industry players spend less than 2% of their revenue on digitalization, and only 12% of companies invest more than 5%. With limited resources, enterprises do not choose strategic innovations, but relatively inexpensive projects to solve current problems. The main drivers of digitalization are the presence of direct problems and successful implementation experience with a proven effect among competitors.
Almost half of the surveyed mining companies (46%) finance the implementation of digital technologies through an investment program. The share of OPEX financing is 27%. Another 17% of respondents are not ready to invest in solutions without proven effectiveness and use the success fee calculation model.
53% of projects pay off from six months to two years. Enterprises often prefer the strategy of "quick wins" and projects with a measurable effect in a short time. Only a fifth of companies implement strategic initiatives with a payback period of more than three years.
"In the course of digitalization, companies strive to meet the current needs of the enterprise, eliminate the risks of production shutdown, meet the budget, and ensure the long-term development of assets and their profitability. The priority is made to affordable, mature technologies that have already proven their effectiveness and safety at the operation stage," said Igor Korotetsky, Partner at Kept, Head of the Engineering Department.
"The results of our research show that, in general, the market is moving towards a more pragmatic digitalization: priority is given to projects with a clear economy, a short payback period and the possibility of replication. As a rule, the incentive to launch such initiatives is either specific production tasks that require increased efficiency, or successful experience in implementing technologies with other market players with a proven economic effect. It is these decisions that will determine the pace and quality of the industry's transformation in the coming years," said Mikhail Aronson, CEO of Zyfra Group.
See you at the 31st International Exhibition MiningWorld Russia: from April 27 to April 29, 2027 in Moscow, Crocus Expo IEC
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