Shaping progress
Ma’aden and Hexagon at-a-glance
Fuel efficiency improvement
Waste dilution improvement
Less ore loss
Fuel efficiency improvement
Waste dilution improvement
Less ore loss
Mining’s new landscape
Beneath Saudi Arabia’s sand and dunes lies the promise of opportunity. Ma’aden, the country’s most prominent mining company, is determined to harness it.
The world continues to run on mining resources. Industries like automotive and aerospace, electronics, farming, banking and more all depend heavily on mining. Expanding megatrends like AI and robotics also rely on mining’s expansion to keep growing.
Experts estimate the world will need to produce six times the amount of copper in the next decade to keep up with energy transitions, urbanisation and electrification of rural areas. At the same time, mining resources are getting harder to find. Bob Wilt, Ma’aden’s CEO, knows that better than anyone.
“A lot of the world’s great deposits have already been discovered,” Wilt says. “Today, it takes about 20 years to discover and build a new mine.”
“We’ve got to discover new resources faster, but we’ve also got to learn how to process our lower grade ore bodies more effectively and efficiently,” Wilt says. “We've got to do it better and at a higher quality. The world is dependent on us. That's where the technology from Hexagon comes in.”
Ma’aden produces up to
of gold per year
The full gold lifecycle includes drilling, blasting, collecting, dumping, processing, refining and smelting at the Mansourah-Massarah mine.
The time it takes to build a mine needs to shrink to under 10 years to keep up with the world’s demand.
How can it be done?
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The world is dependent on us. That’s where the technology from Hexagon comes in ... Hexagon is helping us become the mining champion of the future."
Bob Wilt CEO of Ma’aden
All vehicles are equipped with Hexagon’s systems and monitored from Ma’aden’s control centre.
All vehicles are equipped with Hexagon’s systems and monitored from Ma’aden’s control centre.
Digital transformation
In the heart of the Saudi Arabian desert lies Ma’aden’s Mansourah-Massarah gold mine. When planning how to mine the area’s gold, Ma’aden decided to take a new approach: integrate digital technology throughout the lifecycle, creating the first digital mine in the Middle East.
Anwar Al Ghamdi, the mine’s director, says Hexagon’s fleet management has made a huge difference in the mine’s annual output of 250-300k gold ounces. “We are much better than ever before,” he says. “Before the technology, knowing where our ore was coming from and where it was going was a challenge. Now, every load is tracked with precision, saving us massive time and energy.”
The fleet management team’s instant access to continuous data makes manual documentation and human error much less common. Everything from blasting, drilling, hauling and transferring gold ore is controlled and optimised with real-time data.
reduction in cost
reduction in time
The benefits of operating mines through Hexagon's digital twin technology
Duncan Bradford, Ma’aden’s Executive Vice President of Base Metals and New Minerals Business Unit, oversaw the strategy. An engineer who grew up in an Australian coal mining town, Bradford has experience in leading underground and open pit mines all over the world.
“The partnership with Hexagon is unlike many I’ve seen in my operations,” Bradford says. “We wanted Hexagon to help us manage and monitor our entire fleet, ore dilution, blasting and our operator fatigue.”
Ma’aden integrated Hexagon’s fleet management technology, OP Pro, to its 60+ vehicles on-site. Digitalisation allows Ma’aden to track its transportation process, remove bottlenecks and keep its drivers safe while transporting more ore.
reduction in cost
reduction in time
The benefits of operating mines through Hexagon’s digital twin technology
Duncan Bradford, Ma’aden’s Executive Vice President of Base Metals and New Minerals Business Unit, oversaw the strategy. An engineer who grew up in an Australian coal mining town, Bradford has experience in leading underground and open pit mines all over the world.
“The partnership with Hexagon is unlike many I’ve seen in my operations,” Bradford says. “We wanted Hexagon to help us manage and monitor our entire fleet, ore dilution, blasting and our operator fatigue.”
Ma’aden integrated Hexagon’s fleet management technology, OP Pro, to its 60+ vehicles on-site. Digitalisation allows Ma’aden to track its transportation process, remove bottlenecks and keep its drivers safe while transporting more ore.
4 - 8% reduction in cost
12 - 15% reduction in time
The benefits of operating mines through Hexagon's digital twin technology
Duncan Bradford, Ma’aden’s Executive Vice President of Base Metals and New Minerals Business Unit, oversaw the strategy. An engineer who grew up in an Australian coal mining town, Bradford has experience in leading underground and open pit mines all over the world.
“The partnership with Hexagon is unlike many I’ve seen in my operations,” Bradford says. “We wanted Hexagon to help us manage and monitor our entire fleet, ore dilution, blasting and our operator fatigue.”
Ma’aden integrated Hexagon’s fleet management technology, OP Pro, to its 60+ vehicles on-site. Digitalisation allows Ma’aden to track its transportation process, remove bottlenecks and keep its drivers safe while transporting more ore.
‟
Every load is tracked with precision, saving us massive time and energy."
Anwar Al Ghamdi Mansourah-Massarah Mine Director
Focusing on safety
Despite the production gains, Bradford says production is the second priority behind safety in the mine. “Everyone should be able to go home to their families at night,” he says. “Hexagon is allowing us to digitise and automate our process so we can take people out of the situations that could put them at risk.”
As the mine operates around the clock, Hexagon’s Operator Alertness System boosts safety by monitoring driver fatigue and alerting the control centre when a driver needs a break.
Imansah Rustam Effendi, Lead Dispatch Engineer in the control centre, says they use the solution to detect microsleep. “It helps save our drivers from accidents and our equipment from failure,” he says. “Hexagon is playing a vital role in advancing the mining industry through innovative technology and efficiency, safety and sustainability.”
A more efficient process
Bradford says the digitalisation of Mansourah-Massarah, through Hexagon’s solutions, has empowered the mine to be more resource efficient. “It’s helping us reduce our consumption of diesel and do things faster,” Bradford says. “The technology helps us ensure our trucking of the ore is going to the right location and dumping exactly where we want to.”
That is also true for reducing the number of explosives used in blasts. Ma’aden uses Hexagon Blast Movement Monitors to reduce the number of blasts and get them right first time, every time.
A partnership for the future
Mansourah-Massarah’s digitalisation means Ma’aden can replicate its faster gold production and higher safety standards at its other mines. As Bradford puts it, “I see the relationship between Ma’aden and Hexagon really benefiting both parties. We're using Hexagon as a blueprint for this mine and all our future mines.”
As Ma’aden plans its next big mine for 2028 – double the size and production of Mansourah-Massarah – Bradford plans to digitally optimise the mine from day one.
“As we grow, Hexagon will absolutely be part of it,” Al Ghamdi says. “We look at Hexagon as a true partner in our growth. The data we get from the technology is helping us improve and expand in so many ways.”
Wilt says Hexagon is helping Ma’aden become the mining champion of the future. “We’ve got ambitious goals for the future and we can’t do it without great partners. Our partnership with Hexagon is integral in our gold mining business and other parts of the business as well. The technology, the people, the talent – it’s a great combination that will fuel our growth.”
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We’re using Hexagon as a blueprint for this mine and all our future mines."
Duncan Bradford Executive Vice President of Base Metals and New Materials Business Unit
