The first NEDRA 4.0 Mining Industry Digitalization Congress has ended in St. Petersburg. The event, held on February 16-17, gathered more than 200 delegates and became a platform for demonstrating the transition from point-to-point digital solutions to the creation of integrated ecosystems in enterprises.
The forum was officially supported by industry leaders: MMC Norilsk Nickel, Alrosa and Severstal Management. Over two days, experts discussed key trends, from precision drilling assistants and MES platforms to AI production optimization circuits.
Opening the business program, Alexander Smolensky outlined two vectors that will determine the development of the industry in the coming years:
• Economic efficiency: maintaining profitability in difficult market conditions.
• Innovative development: the inevitability of the introduction of industrial AI and robotics while maintaining a balance with current profitability.
The business program of the congress clearly demonstrated the evolution of digitalization — from simple monitoring to predictive analytics and risk management.
• Revolution in procurement: Alexander Antropov (Qarmet) introduced the transition from Excel to a single digital contour with AI analysis of total cost of ownership (TCO). The result is a 30% reduction in the procurement cycle and savings of tens of millions of rubles due to transparency and risk control of suppliers.
• Modeling of blasting operations: Evgeny Yashchenko (MMC Norilsk Nickel) He shared his experience in modeling drilling and blasting operations at the mines of the Polar Branch. The introduction of digital twins has made it possible to reduce dilution and improve the quality of rock crushing.
A separate set of issues was devoted to reducing dependence on foreign vendors and improving industrial safety.
• Independence from suppliers: Sergey Lukichev (Mining Institute of the KSC RAS), using the example of ALROSA, showed how competent import substitution increases the manageability of key processes in the long term.
• Mine safety: Andrey Shirokov (NPP Sensor Technologies) presented the SIGMA system, a domestic development by a Skolkovo resident that provides voice communication, personnel positioning and data transmission in underground workings.
The second day of the congress opened with a panel discussion on import substitution strategies. Alexey Dushin (St. Petersburg Mining University of Empress Catherine II) drew attention to the acute shortage of qualified engineers. According to him, technological independence is impossible without education reform: despite the graduation of 4,000 mining engineers annually, poor practical training and lack of mentoring hinder the development of the industry.
The participants also discussed comprehensive risk management:
• Preventive safety: Viktor Zhirinas (Uraltechnis) presented Norilsk Nickel’s experience in detecting dangerous situations at an early stage using digital systems.
• Digital modeling: Andrey Sidorenko (SUEK) explained how to calculate risks at the mining planning stage.
A focus exhibition was held within the framework of the congress, where leading Russian vendors, including Kaspersky Lab, TiGeo, Uraltechis, and Teknow, presented solutions for BIM modeling, industrial safety, and mining automation.