CMA

62 On the other hand, electric-powered equipment usually presents higher Capex, and an integral techno-economic evaluation must be conducted on case-to-case basis. Effort is currently being put in R&D regarding electric powered equipment, especially battery and hydrogen fuel cell powered. Major mining equipment manufacturers already developed several models of battery-powered vehicles, but relatively the transition to electric mining equipment has been relatively slow, and future of mining industry will be less depending on fossil fuels. The shift to cleaner sources of energy is global: industries and governments across the world are implementing renewable energy sources, strategies and policies, regulations are becoming stricter and social scrutiny harder. Electromobility has arrived to stay, and the mining industry is not excluded from its influence. Conclusions The Green mining concept is gaining a thrust at all levels to take care of increasing environmental concerns. Mining industry being a responsible industry must play an important role in the success story of green concept. Innovation plays an important role in the mining industry as a tool to improve the efficiency of its processes, reduce costs, improvement of productivity but also to meet the increasing social and environmental concerns among communities and authorities. Though mining companies usually show low levels of R&D intensity, like mature industries and far from high-tech sectors. The tendency to vertical disintegration has led firms to focus on their core business, relying mainly on equipment manufacturers and suppliers for the development of innovative solutions. Also, collaborative alliances between mining companies, suppliers, and research centres share a significant participation in the development of new technologies. Parallelly, several technological trends can be identified as main factors that will shape the mining of the future. The first and most relevant one is the IT application (digital transformation), as the process of adoption and incorporation of a set of tools, into the mining business. Automation, robotics, remote operations, internet of things, analytics, and digital twinning, among others, have the potential to enhance processes along the whole value chain of mining. The major challenges that firms must face to achieve a successful digitization are the commitment and joint-task coordination between the different business units, implementing proper organizational structure changes, and promoting a new cultural mindset regarding cybersecurity strategies and their continuous improvement. Another important trend is electromobility, invisible zero-waste mining, and continuous mining. These concepts answer the necessity of building a more sustainable and efficient industry, reducing the environmental footprint, and enhancing safety of mining operations. The replacement of fossil fuel- powered vehicles is a “must” in a world moving away from such energy sources to cleaner ones, and stricter safety and environmental regulations being implemented all around the world reflect that. Every day more companies are evaluating the incorporation of electric-powered fleets into their operations, as existing technologies can already offer economic alternatives, while R&D keeps advancing in this matter.