Technological advances and trends in the mining industry: a systematic review

Nowadays, in a competitive world, industries are faced with the urgent need to establish strategies for innovation, this is how the mining industry, a sector that contributes to the global economy, has been implementing digital technologies obtaining great results. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the most used technologies in the mining industry, determine in which mining processes these technologies are applied, assess their positive environmental impact, and analyze the benefits derived from their application to provide an integral view on the use and advantages of technology in the mining industry. The PRISMA methodology was applied, considering 63 manuscripts from databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, Taylor & Francis and ScienceDirect. As a result, it was found that the main digital technologies applied in the mining industry are Internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). The main benefits of the application of digital technologies in the mining industry are increased productivity, cost reduction, occupational safety, better working conditions, improved operational efficiency and reliability of information. It is concluded that digital technologies achieve economic benefits, but above all they contribute to the care of the environment and provide better working conditions. In other words, mining companies that adopt digital technologies will be well positioned to succeed in the future.