AI the next giant leap in innovation

Recent advances in artificial intelligence are transforming industrial operations by enabling deeper integration between engineering knowledge, real-time data, and decision-making processes. MEI's inaugural AI in Mineral Processing '27 will examine the latest developments in AI technologies, and the keynote lecture from Dr. Osvaldo Bascur, who I interviewed in 2017, will review Digital Twins, Large Language Models, machine learning tools, agentic AI embedded in web browsers, and advanced big data visualisation platforms, with a focus on industrial applications. The proposed framework will integrate data from field instrumentation, edge devices, cloud platforms, and enterprise business systems to support asset performance, sustainability, autonomous operations, operational excellence, and operational resilience.

A central case study will be the AI-driven Digital Twin for mineral processing plants, which represents a significant step forward in hybrid intelligence by combining physics-based process models with data-driven learning. This approach enables integrated optimisation across rock, mineral, and water sub-systems, overcoming traditional operational silos. Real-world implementations, including a deployment at a copper operation in Chile, will be introduced to demonstrate measurable benefits such as increased water recovery, higher metal production, and improved process stability without capital investment. Beyond technical performance, the Digital Twin fosters organisational transformation by empowering operators and engineers with predictive insights, natural-language AI copilots, and a shared, real-time view of plant performance aligned with sustainability and ESG objectives.

With Gaudin Award, 2014

Osvaldo A. Bascur is Principal and Consultant Fellow at OSB Digital, LLC, USA. He is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, USA, for applying phenomenological and artificial intelligence modeling techniques in mineral and industrial plant performance optimisation. He is a Member of the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology, USA, and in 2014 was the recipient of the  SME Antoine Gaudin Award. 

He is co-author, with Dr. Fernando Concha of The Engineering Science in Mineral Processing: A Fundamental and Practical Approach, and author of Digital Transformation in the Process Industries: A Road Map.

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