What have been the main developments for Maestro Digital Mine, and how has the company performed in 2024?

Maestro has continued to experience rapid growth in 2024, and we have been internally improving our systems to take advantage of that growth and reallocate it back into new innovations. Our focus this year is the release of Duetto Analytics, an on-premises software that addresses the maintenance elements for mining equipment to keep up with efficiency, productivity, and safety standards. Duetto Analytics acts as a bridge between Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices and critical decision-making processes addressing the health of the underground devices without going underground. Utilizing proactive and predictive maintenance strategies ensures that only accurate and relevant data informs maintenance schedules and operational decisions, and the proactive approach minimizes unplanned downtimes, extends equipment life, and enhances overall efficiency. We expect to officially launch the Duetto Analytics product in Q1 2025; whereafter we will focus on designing new sensor technologies to extend the life and accuracy for the hostile underground environment.

Have you seen any cases where AI is successfully being used in the mining sector, and is Maestro considering incorporating AI into its products?

AI presents great opportunities, especially in the analytics space, as when you train a model, it can provide significant value. The challenge is obtaining wide sets of data since the process control network (PCN) is isolated from the business network for security reasons. This network segregation reduces the opportunity to deploy cloud-based solutions from multiple mines without the full cooperation of mining companies. Duetto Analytics solves this concern by sitting on the PCN and will use a smaller, more focused dataset from a single mining company, thereby still providing AI actionable insights in addition to real-time diagnostic functions.

What have been the impacts of the DPM limits introduced in 2023, and what role does ventilation play in ESG compliance?  

Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) is an environmental toxicant known to be a carcinogen. Recent studies have confirmed that DPM will enter your bloodstream and react at the cellular level. From a technical measurement perspective, diesel particulate monitoring is difficult as these are extremely small particles, less than 1 µm in diameter or the equivalent of 1/70th the diameter of a human hair. The current underground monitors, using optical particle counters, will not accurately measure these particle sizes and will not differentiate a diesel particle from any other particle type. The sensor technology simply has not kept up with the regulatory changes, making continuous monitoring of DPM a challenge. Ontario's allowable level of exposure to diesel particulates in underground mines will now be the most protective in North America, and we now have the challenge of developing more practical solutions to identify the hazardous particles with the main goal of keeping underground miners safe. 

Has the electrification trend increased or slowed down over the past few years? 

On the one side, some people understand the challenges of going electric and are trying to make diesel utilization safer and more efficient, and on the other side, people are exploring full electrification. The current status quo is focusing on how we mechanize mines to maintain or increase productivity while getting people out of the mines into safer working environments. 

What are the benefits clients can expect when implementing Maestro’s products and solutions?

Maestro’s products deliver worker safety, energy savings, and productivity improvements. Higher production rates are achieved by allowing safer and quicker re-entry times after blasting, and with many mines being ventilation-constrained, our products allow for directing ventilation air to the areas that require it and reducing it to the areas without miners or operating equipment. Mine ventilation is the second largest consumer of electricity after comminution, so improving ventilation systems can help reduce energy use and carbon emissions.

What is Maestro’s growth strategy moving forward?

Maestro has recently established a distribution network in Kazakhstan, and we are also looking to expand our footprint into Turkey and throughout Europe and Latin America.

Maestro will focus on commercially launching our Duetto Analytics system and then incorporating additional capabilities into our existing product lines so that they can support Duetto in being an overarching predictive and preventative maintenance system.