BHP taps Microsoft, AI, to improve recovery at top copper mine

MELBOURNE: BHP Group has teamed up with Microsoft Corp to improve copper recovery from its Escondida mine in Chile, the world’s biggest copper mine, by using machine learning and artificial intelligence, it said on Tuesday.

BHP estimates the world needs to double the amount of copper produced over the next 30 years to keep pace with the development of decarbonisation technology such as electric vehicles, offshore wind and solar farms.

Finding and building new mines is costly, difficult and can take upwards of a decade so miners are looking to next generation technologies to reap more metal out of existing mines and processes.