Ntsako Baloyi | Data & AI lead | Accenture in Africa | mail me |
South Africa’s mining industry has long been defined by what lies beneath the surface – vast mineral wealth that has shaped the country’s economy for more than a century. But as ore bodies become deeper, more complex and increasingly costly to access, the future of mining will no longer be determined by what we find underground alone. It will be defined by how intelligently we use the data above it.
A new frontier is emerging – one where data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital trust technologies are reshaping how mining companies discover, extract and validate resources. In this environment, competitive advantage will not come from access to minerals alone, but from the ability to interpret data more effectively and act on it faster.
From minerals to intelligence
One of the most immediate opportunities lies in exploration. Traditionally, identifying new mineral deposits has been a costly and time-intensive process, often with a high degree of uncertainty. Geological surveys, drilling programmes and decades of historical records generate vast amounts of data, yet much of it remains fragmented or underutilised…
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Read the full article by Ntsako Baloyi, Data & AI lead, Accenture in Africa, as well as a host of other topical management articles written by professionals, consultants and academics in the August/September 2026 edition of BusinessBrief.
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