Digital Twin in Mining Industry: A Study on Automation Commissioning Efficiency and Safety Implementation of a Stacker Machine in an Open-Pit Mine

Digital transformation has emerged as a crucial aspect in the mining industry to enhance productivity, efficiency, and availability of various machines and equipment. The integration of digital twin technology in the mining industry has demonstrated significant potential in addressing challenges pertaining to maintenance, production, and safety. This paper presents a comparative study of developed digital twins in various industrial applications, including building information modeling, energy management, manufacturing, healthcare, and optimization. The aim of this research is to design a digital twin of a Stacker Machine (SM) in the experimental open pit mine of OCP Benguerir, organized into four layers: physical and link layer, application layer, and control layer. The implementation study conducted on the SM used in mining demonstrates practical results through the simulation of the system’s automatism. The resulting digital twin can be employed to simulate critical scenarios and monitor the behavior of the SM to enhance safety, reliability, and availability.