Crespo: Born Digital to Lead the Future
By MiningiDEAS | June 2025
When a mining operation has not yet started production but is already envisioning its digital maturity, an exceptional opportunity arises. This is the case of Mina Crespo, a project located in the heart of the Peruvian Andes, more than 5,000 meters above sea level, where technology is not an accessory but a strategic pillar from its inception.
During the first half of 2025, the teams from MiningiDEAS and Bytebration carried out a comprehensive diagnosis of the technological state across all functional areas of the operation: from geology, mine and plant operations, to environment, community relations, occupational health, and cost management. This work not only revealed Crespo’s technological starting point but also laid the foundation for a structured and scalable roadmap tailored to its operational context and growth outlook.
A methodology designed to drive transformation
The intervention by MiningiDEAS and Bytebration combined technical rigour with deep organisational insight. Through semi-structured interviews with over a dozen project leaders and supervisors, we applied a participatory and iterative methodology that enabled us to characterise critical processes, identify synergy opportunities, and establish strategic priorities.
Beyond the technical assessment, the process included a hybrid co-creation workshop, where preliminary results were shared with the mine’s leadership team and opportunities for short-, medium-, and long-term implementation were validated. This stage not only fostered organisational alignment but also consolidated a shared vision of the challenges and opportunities in mining’s digital transformation.
A modular roadmap with a future vision
The diagnosis concluded with a Technology Roadmap proposal structured in three phases:
- Short term: Prioritisation of critical connectivity, basic process digitalisation, systematisation of operational data, and document traceability.
- Medium term: Integration of production systems, automation, industrial sensors, and platforms for occupational health and community management.
- Long term: Deployment of advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, predictive models, and tools to support strategic decision-making.
This plan incorporates modular solution design, enabling scalability without compromising investments. The creation of a Mining Digital Transformation Office (MDTO) was also recommended, tasked with leading, coordinating, and monitoring the Roadmap’s implementation, ensuring continuity, governance, and technical alignment with the business vision.
What did we learn that other clients should know?
Mina Crespo exemplifies how a well-executed diagnosis can change the technological trajectory of a mining operation. What lessons do we highlight as valuable and transferable to other companies?
- A diagnosis is not a technology inventory: It’s a digital maturity strategy that aligns operational goals with real technological capabilities.
- Being born digital is a competitive advantage: Crespo isn’t fixing inherited inefficiencies; it’s building from a clean slate with an integrated vision from day one.
- Technology is not imposed; it is designed with people: The participatory process fosters ownership and accelerates cultural change.
- Every area matters: The potential for holistic digitalisation becomes visible beyond the core productive areas.
- The modular approach allows for growth without losing control: Advancing in stages with clearly defined business milestones is key to sustainable change.
Why choose MiningiDEAS?
In a context where operational, social, and environmental challenges are increasingly complex, MiningiDEAS offers a value proposition that combines technical expertise with strategic vision. We don’t deliver generic solutions but digital architectures tailored to each operation, focusing on:
- On-site assessments of digital maturity.
- Design of digital roadmaps aligned with business vision.
- Facilitation of workshops for organisational alignment.
- Support in the implementation of enabling technologies.
- Assistance in creating digital governance structures.
If you’re leading a mine in a construction, expansion, or transformation phase, we invite you to think like Crespo: with the ambition to be digital from the start, and with the backing of a team that turns vision into execution.
Want to learn more about our training and technology transfer activities? Write to us at contacto@miningideas.com or visit our Training section.
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