Barrick Mining (NYSE:B) has selected Avathon as a technology partner to integrate AI across its North American operations.
The strategic partnership connects data and operational knowledge from exploration and mine planning through safety, production, processing, maintenance, and supply chain operations. Avathon’s physical AI provides continuous analysis, risk identification, decision support, and operational action.
Barrick President and CEO Mark Hill says AI has the potential “to change how a mining company safely operates at its core”.
“Our ambition is to connect the entire value chain, from exploration through production, unlocking the full potential of our people to make better decisions, more safely,” Hill says.
Avathon’s platform utilises a proprietary Computational Knowledge Graph to aggregate operational data across assets, processes, and personnel, while AI agents reason across context to coordinate workflows. The system provides continuous analysis and predictive insights, operating alongside human oversight to retain operational control.
Initial applications of the platform focus on a number of operational areas. For safety, computer vision and AI monitoring will track conditions and behaviours to identify hazards and enable earlier intervention.
To boost production and recovery, the platform connects ore flow, processing decisions, maintenance, and operational constraints to increase throughput from mine to mill. It also monitors asset health to predict potential failures, schedule repairs, and reduce unplanned downtime.
Additionally, the system aligns asset health, inventory, demand forecasts, and supplier performance to optimise working capital. In mine planning and exploration, machine learning is applied to geological and operational data to improve scheduling decisions and speed up project conversion.
Avathon chief executive Pervinder Johar says mining operations have historically functioned in isolated silos.
“Barrick’s North American business is taking a fundamentally different approach by putting AI at the center of how the enterprise understands its operations, makes decisions, and acts,” Johar says.
Hill concludes:“By combining ‘world-class’ mining expertise with AI, we can improve safety, increase recovery and productivity, strengthen reliability and supply chain performance, and create a more resilient and disciplined operating model.”
Barrick Mining is a global mining, exploration, and development company. In North America, it holds a portfolio of long-life gold assets including major operating mines, as well as growth projects across the region.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Main image: Barrick Mining
