February 2023

The Executive Director of Geotechmin OOD Mr Dominic Hamers took part in the forum Before Tomorrow - The Beginning organised by BGlobal magazine. The forum united successful businessmen and entrepreneurs who presented their visions for the next 3, 5 and 10 years in the context of rapid digital transformation. The event comprised three panels - Technologies, Business, Man and Society. Mr Hamers participated in the Business panel by giving a presentation titled Adapting Business to the Age of Technological Change.

‘We live in an era of dynamic and profound changes that occur rapidly. The companies must embrace the latest technology trends, including those related to AI developments and European Green Deal regulations. GEOTECHMIN GROUP evolves in sync with these trends, sticking to its core principles: innovative approach, business ethics and social commitment,’ said Mr Dominic Hamers.

‘As you all know, mining of metal ores is at the start of the supply chain of many objects around us and without it, many of these objects would simply not exist. That’s why mining will remain an essential contributor to the development of civilization on our planet,’ said Mr Hamers. According to him, three significant trends are shaping the future of the mining industry: electrification, digitalisation and automation.

Electrification is carried out by switching from diesel-powered machines to electric mining equipment as well as moving at least partly to RES-generated electricity. Ellatzite-Med AD, one of the major investors in the mining sector, creates on average 6.8 times more added value per employee than the general economy, according to an analysis by the Institute of Market Economy for 2022. To a great extent, the high productivity is due to technological innovation – industrial automation systems; mine planning systems; modern mining equipment, etc. Digitalisation has been the main goal of GEOTECHMIN GROUP for more than 30 years. ‘Nowadays, we cover all technological processes at Ellatzite-Med by adopting advanced process automation systems. They handle, amongst others, the real time monitoring of the production fleet or efficiently control the quality of the extracted ore, and many more. In Ellatzite-Med, some systems offer customised solutions based on partial artificial intelligence,’ added the Executive Director of Geotechmin OOD. Automation is another major process and a target that have been integrated in GEOTECHMIN GROUP for nearly 30 years. Ellatzite-Med has been constantly investing in modern low-emission mining fleet. Electric drill rigs and excavators are used along with diesel-powered ones. Last year the latest generation Hitachi EX2600E-6 LD electric drive hydraulic excavator was put into operation in Ellatzite Mine. It delivers maximum performance at lower operating costs and zero CO2 emissions.

‘In GEOTECHMIN GROUP, we have completed 3 projects for electricity generation by photovoltaic power plants. The investor of two of these projects was Geotrading, and one of them was fully funded by Ellatzite-Med. A fourth green energy project is also being developed, which will enable us to reduce carbon emissions by five times,’ said Mr Hamers.

The Executive Director of Geotechmin OOD outlined two major trends in the construction sector. The first one is towards sustainability – the interest in green construction will continue to grow. ‘GEOTECHMIN GROUP’s portfolio boasts two green multifunctional complexes designed and built according to the international standard for sustainable buildings BREEAM 2013,’ emphasised Mr Hamers. In construction, artificial intelligence and machine learning can help find more efficient construction solutions, increase project productivity, reduce risks for field workers and identify errors in construction design before commencing the construction process itself. One of the companies in GEOTECHMIN GROUP – Geostroy, together with other construction companies, is among the founders of the European Digital Innovation Hub in Construction Sector, which aims to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the process of digital transformation of the construction industry.

‘To face the new technologies, there must be people. For GEOTECHMIN GROUP, social responsibility and employee wellbeing are of utmost importance. But we are also aware that the skills our people will need in the future will be different from nowadays. Let’s hope that in the next decade we will not say that robots have replaced humans – but say that they will help humans to be more efficient!’ concluded Mr Hamers.