As we head into 2025 one thing that is certain is uncertainty itself, but with as much clarity as can be mustered, here are three trends we’re likely to see emerge or surge in mining in 2025. Dr Janina Elliott, Seequent Segment Director, Mining, writes.
The recent and imminent leadership changes in G7 countries such as the US, Canada, and Germany as well as the onset of China’s stimulus packages will see investors maintain their holding pattern in the months ahead.
While a strained geopolitical landscape promises a sustained rise of safe haven commodities such as gold and silver, the outlook for industrial metals is less certain.
Dr Janina Elliott is Seequent’s Segment Director, Mining.
1. CRITICAL MINERALS DEMAND
The demand for critical minerals is set to surge in 2025, driven by a universal push for a lower carbon economy, the electrification of the transportation sector, and the installation of large-scale data centres. Challenged by geopolitical tensions, increasing protectionism due to a fear of shortages and supply chain dependencies as well as inflation, the industry and investors alike must balance short-term volatility against long-term gain.
Driven by the demand, the global exploration market will experience a continued level of consolidation in which gold, copper, nickel, lithium, uranium, and rare earth elements players will dominate. The majors will engage in active divestiture and focus their efforts on improved exploration and optimised extraction at existing sites.
At the same time new players will enter the stage as the barriers between adjacent markets soften. Silicon Valley powerhouses such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Tesla are not the only examples to have entered the mining space in an effort to shortening the supply-chain for critical minerals. Multiple automotive companies such as General Motors have followed suit and are heavily investing in regional mining to counteract mineral scarcity and maintain competitiveness.
In turn, mining majors partner with established transportation manufacturers to address the need to power operations with green energy through fleet electrification or the use of hydrogen fuel cells. Driven by ESG in mining targets, houses such as Rio Tinto, Vale, and Fortescue have created venture capital funds to invest in clean energy, a trend likely to continue. Another example for a market cross-over closer to home derives from the oil and gas space that actively engages in lithium extraction from brines. Without a doubt, we will see a continuous emergence of new entries to reshape the competitors and investment landscape in mining.
2025 will likely see mining majors partner with transportation manufacturers to green their fleets through electrification or the use of hydrogen fuel cells.
2. ADVANCED DATA MANAGEMENT
While daunting, uncertainty can provide both challenges as well as opportunities for all, whether active in early greenfields exploration or advanced brownfields operations.
The key is to create true value from data, whether the drills are turning or not. Technology has a proven track record of unlocking potential by increasing the understanding of the existing datasets and optimising ore body knowledge to target or extract with higher accuracy, thereby reducing cost, and ultimately risk.
Effective mine data management will remain a significant challenge within the industry. The increasing volumes of data and the lack of standardisation are hurdles that companies must overcome at any stage in the value chain.
Data remains an area where true valued can be unlocked, whether drills are turning or not.
According to Seequent’s 2023 Data Management Report which surveyed more than 700 geo-professionals, more than 70% of those surveyed believed data management was of high or critical importance to their organisation. But 60% did not have the information to make data-driven decisions. In fact, most spent a vast amount of their time with data management versus in their capacity as an educated professional. This sentiment remains strong in 2025.
In addition to the large amount of unstructured information collected, much of the data is siloed and lacks version control, which inhibits not only the individual from drawing value but stops any form of efficient stakeholder collaboration in its tracks.
The mining sector’s future lies in dismantling data interoperability barriers and developing integrated workflows. Organisations of any scale that invest in easily navigable and intuitive data management tools as well as cloud-based technology reserve the right to win. The key is to get multi-disciplinary groups across the mining chain to actively communicate, utilise and visualise each other’s data, and coordinate their efforts for the best possible outcome to enhance ore body knowledge.
Technology makes it possible and in the era of Starlink, remote data access, and visual streaming the industry has all the building blocks to maximise the value of data and build the clearest ever digital view of the underground.
The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is well underway and we can expect it to continue to show up in innovations in the mining industry around mine data management in 2025.
3. INTEGRATION OF AI OR ‘THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION’
The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is well on its way and the mining industry is on a trajectory to revolutionise the value chain by fusing existing processes with artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and a variety of other technologies that are fast becoming indispensable.
There is no doubt AI in mining will speed up data analysis, improve workflows through controlled semi-automation and reduce manual errors for the geo-professionals we work with. AI will free up operationally critical teams to focus on more meaningful pursuits and deliver business efficiencies and better outcomes. Some may worry that this change will put jobs at risk, but really is this the case?
When Seequent introduced implicit modelling into the world of geoscience, the industry had similar concerns. Instead, what we saw was a revolution of the workspace. By improving the accuracy and speed in 3D modelling, a whole new generation of geoscientists was added to the workforce. What was done by one individual could now be accomplished in an efficient manner by global teams bringing a variety of geoscience expertise to the table, building integrated models. This in turn led to a perpetual increase in targets and a continued hiring of geologists fuelled by increasing demand for mineral resources.
Today is no different. In fact, the continuous increase in data volumes simply requires more hands as well as the technology to gain true insight and create value. While job titles may change, the increased need to deliver optimised data will always require skilled individuals from a tech-savvy graduate to veteran geologist with an eye on quality, learning and the big picture.
As well as having a Ph.D in Geology from The University of British Columbia, Dr Elliott has 18 years experience in mining, almost 12 of which have been dedicated to geoscience software and data management at Seequent.