Artificial intelligence is moving from a supporting tool to an operational management system in Kazakhstan’s mining sector, fundamentally changing how production is monitored, maintained and planned, according to the chairman of the MINEX Forum.
Speaking to Kazinform, Artur Polyakov, managing director of Advantix and executive chairman of the MINEX Forum, described a shift that is already underway on mine sites across the country. A single haul truck in an open-pit mine may carry between 300 and 1,000 sensors. Until recently, that data was collected manually by an engineer at the end of each shift and processed by hand. Today, the data flows continuously in real time and artificial intelligence processes it without human intervention.
The practical consequence, Polyakov said, is a fundamental change in how problems are managed — from reaction to prediction. “We are moving to a model where you can understand in advance what will break down and when — whether it is a light bulb, a conveyor belt or an entire piece of equipment. This makes it possible to plan maintenance before a breakdown occurs and significantly reduce costs,” he said.
The transition to predictive maintenance is enabling mining operations to become more stable and controllable, with decisions driven by a constant stream of live data rather than retrospective reporting. Polyakov noted that the most advanced systems are already beginning to incorporate external variables alongside technical parameters — including market conditions and macroeconomic risk factors — elevating AI from an analytical instrument to a component of strategic production planning.
The development reflects a broader transformation underway in Kazakhstan’s extractive sector, where the government is simultaneously pushing for deeper mineral processing, expanded geological exploration and a shift toward higher value-added industrial output — all of which depend on operational efficiency gains of the kind AI-driven systems are beginning to deliver.
