BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares are edging lower today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant closed yesterday trading for $54.56. In late morning trade on Friday, shares are swapping hands for $54.11 each, down 0.8%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.5% at this same time.
That's today's price action for you.
Now, here's how the Aussie mining giant is tapping into the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution to help streamline its operations and boost annual revenue.
Image source: Getty Images
How AI is helping support BHP shares
The rapid advancement of AI is transforming businesses around the world.
And BHP is no exception.
Among the unique ways that the technology is helping to support BHP shares is by keeping a virtual eye on the feedstock zooming along BHP's conveyor belts and into the miner's crushers.
While cameras have long been employed to try to spot oversized or otherwise unsuitable rocks from breaking a conveyor belt of jamming a crusher, AI is taking things to the next level.
As The Australian Financial Review reports, BHP has already installed dozens of cameras to watch over its iron ore carrying conveyor belts and crushers, with around 50 intended to be in place by July.
"Tearing a conveyor or blocking a crusher, that is two of our highest consequence, highest risk things from a safety perspective," BHP chief technical officer Johan van Jaarsveld said.
According to van Jaarsveld (quoted by the AFR):
We try to run WA iron ore as close to 100% capacity as possible, so every time you break down, you are losing tonnes that could have been on a ship.
It is watching a video feed, and it can, in a split second, recognise when something is off. It takes about 40 metres or 50 metres to stop the conveyor belt, so the quicker you can make that decision to get the object off, or to intervene, [the better].
As for the impact on BHP shares, van Jaarsveld estimated that the improved early detection of unsuitable ore has already increased the miner's iron ore revenue by some $50 million over the past year.
And those saving are likely to increase over time.
He noted:
Over time, it can obviously get smarter as things get detected, and it learns what is working and what is not working. That recognition and decision time has been brought down significantly from what it was 10 or 15 years ago.
Van Jaarsveld added that this deployment of AI technology hasn't seen BHP reduce its workforce.
"We haven't seen this really reduce the number of people … and generally on the technology side, it tends to add some roles.," he said.
With today's intraday dip factored in, BHP shares remain up 50.5% since this time last year, not including dividends.
