Mipac’s Lead Systems and Automation Engineer, Daniel Qiao, recently represented the company at AVEVA World 2025 in San Francisco, delivering a detailed presentation on the remarkable digital transformation journey of Ok Tedi Mining Limited in Papua New Guinea.
This presentation highlighted how Mipac’s expertise and strategic technology upgrades contributed to significant operational improvements at one of the world’s most established open-pit copper and gold mines.
At the global AVEVA event, Daniel shared how Ok Tedi faced multiple challenges, including declining ore grades, unstable plant performance, and diminished confidence in their process control systems. These issues were affecting overall recovery rates and operational reliability. The partnership between Ok Tedi and Mipac focused on a comprehensive upgrade of the AVEVA PI System – a critical historian system for capturing and analysing operational data – alongside a broad optimisation of instrumentation and control systems.
The presentation detailed how Mipac helped Ok Tedi upgrade their AVEVA PI System, enabling real-time visibility of process data through custom dashboards. These dashboards support short-term interval controls, providing plant operators and engineers with actionable insights to improve stability and production performance. This shift towards enhanced data visibility and control allowed Ok Tedi’s operational teams to make informed, timely decisions, leading to measurable improvements in both copper and gold recovery.
Mipac’s solution went beyond technology, incorporating tailored training for plant staff to ensure sustainable improvements. By upskilling teams in process control and data interpretation, Ok Tedi strengthened its operational maturity and fostered a culture of continuous improvement. This holistic approach ensured the benefits of the digital transformation were fully realised and maintained over time.
The outcomes from this collaboration have been significant. Following the AVEVA PI System upgrade and process optimisations, Ok Tedi recorded a 2.4% increase in copper recovery and a 7.4% improvement in gold recovery.
These gains are particularly notable given the challenges posed by declining ore quality and complex processing conditions. Improved instrumentation reliability and control stability have also contributed to more consistent plant operations and reduced unplanned downtime.
Speaking about the experience of presenting at AVEVA World, Daniel Qiao said, “It was a valuable opportunity to showcase the achievements on an international stage that Mipac and Ok Tedi have accomplished together through the development and execution of a five-year automation roadmap.
The long digital journey began with establishing digital platforms, which led to operational insights that directly contributed to performance and recovery improvements at Ok Tedi. Sharing this progress at AVEVA World sparked insightful questions and discussions, inspiring new ideas for continued improvement.
Attending other sessions in the mining and minerals processing stream also provided a chance to benchmark our digital transformation efforts against others in the industry, offering valuable perspective and further opportunities for the road ahead.”
The success story of Ok Tedi, supported by Mipac’s technology and expertise, continues to set a benchmark for mining companies across the region and beyond. It underscores the importance of digital transformation in driving operational excellence, even in mature mining assets facing evolving challenges.
Watch Daniel’s AVEVA World presentation.
For more information on Mipac, please visit https://www.miningtechnology.com/contractors/controls/mipac