Artificial intelligence (AI) is more than a technological leap – for power and thermal management solutions provider, Delta Electronics, it is a seismic shift that could redefine the future of the mining industry.
Delta sees AI as northing short of a small industrial revolution – one that will reshape how mining companies operate, optimise, and electrify.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, Vice President of Business for Southeast Asia David Leal compares the evolution of AI as being similar to the creation of the internet.
“Data centres overall, especially with artificial intelligence, are really focused on liquid cooling now,” Leal tells this news service.
Leal points to NVIDIA – a large global semiconductor company – as a prime example.
“NVIDIA, the biggest company in the world, they basically create these graphic processing unit chips that are used for artificial intelligence because they’re able to do a lot of parallel operations which is basically what creates machine learning so that these AI setups are able to learn quickly,” he says.
“The amount of heat generated by these chips is 10 times what we used to use chips for in data centres. So, liquid cooling basically finds a way of taking the heat that is generated in these chips that are working really, really hard removing the heat in the most efficient manner.”
According to Flexential, liquid cooling uses a liquid coolant to absorb and dissipate heat from data centre components. Unlike air, liquid can carry away more heat more efficiently due to their higher heat capacity.
In mining, where remote operations face tough conditions, such as places like Western Australia, edge computing and containerised data centres are becoming essential.
These mobile, onsite units process data locally to increase speed and reduce latency, supporting tasks like real-time environmental monitoring, autonomous vehicle control, and predictive maintenance.
Leal says power efficiency is an important part of these data centres because “data centre servers need power — when those servers are operating, heat is generated”.
As such, Delta is focusing on solutions to provide power systems that increase efficiency so there is less heat and less cooling that is required.
The mining industry’s electrification
As the mining sector pushes toward electrification, especially in heavy transport, Delta is designing custom EV charging solutions for mine fleets – including high-capacity systems to handle megawatt-scale loads.
According to IDTechEx, the mining industry is responsible for 2-3% of all global CO2 emissions, with 40-50% of this coming from diesel combustion engines of mining vehicles.
IDTechEx’s report ‘Electric Vehicles in Mining 2024-2033: Technologies, Players, and Forecasts’ reveals that the growth of the EV industry will be driven by complementary sectors being at further development stages, such as batteries, power electronics, and charging.
“All of this is finding ways for mining companies to decrease their carbon footprint”
The report forecasts the EV mining vehicle market to grow to over US$23 billion by 2044, representing a 32% compound annual growth rate.
“Fortescue (ASX:FMG) is probably the one that communicates the most about EV trucks,” Leal says.
Fortescue’s Project Roadrunner is a 240-tonne battery-electric haul truck prototype powered by a 1.4 megawatt per hour battery and can be charged in 30 minutes using a 3 megawatt per hour fast charger. The truck features regenerative braking technology, enabling it to recharge while driving downhill.
Haul trucks are among the most critical assets on any mine. IDTechEx reports that the current global haul truck population emits 174 megatonnes of CO2 per year.
As such, the electrification of haul trucks will be key to achieving meaningful emissions reductions in the industry and assisting mining companies to meet their sustainability objectives.
“For mining applications, its design of chargers often are customised charging solutions to support the trucks,” Leal says.
“All of this is finding ways for mining companies to decrease their carbon footprint and to continue to be able to show that they’re supporting the government and the country in terms of hitting net zero areas.”
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Delta Electronics, Fortescue
