Artificial intelligence and digitalisation are no longer future topics for the African mining industry. At Mining Indaba 2026, Sabine Dall'Omo, CEO of Siemens Sub-Saharan Africa, spoke on 10 February on a panel entitled “AI in Mining – Separating Hype from Reality”.
Three complementary levers
- Electrification : reducing the energy intensity of operations and supporting decarbonisation;
- Automation : handing complex or repetitive tasks to advanced control systems and reducing worker exposure in hazardous roles;
- Digitalisation : connecting data across the entire value chain — from geology to planning, processing and energy systems — for real-time analysis.
Practical use cases
Applications mentioned include digital twins to simulate scenarios, optimise production and anticipate failures; equipment condition monitoring for smarter maintenance; and AI assistants for decision support, protected by industrial-grade cybersecurity. According to Siemens, the challenge now is to move from pilot projects to measurable results.
“These technologies don't replace people; they empower them,” sums up Sabine Dall'Omo.
The prerequisite: reliable installations
No digitalisation project holds up without a solid foundation: reliable instrumentation, well-programmed PLCs, robust industrial networks and a quality power supply. This is precisely where the teams Instrumentation & automation of STARK COMPANY come in.
Featured image: STARK COMPANY
Sources: Creamer Media – Siemens sets out Africa's mining future (30 January 2026)
