Minería Digital 2026 Brings 600 Mining Leaders to Santiago in August

More than 600 mining professionals from 14 countries are set to gather in Santiago next week for three days of technical sessions on the technologies actively shaping how mines operate and allocate capital. Minería Digital 2026 runs August 5 to 7 at the Sheraton Santiago Hotel and Convention Center, marking the 13th edition of the Gecamin-organised congress. The event arrives at a moment when AI, automation, and electrification have moved from pilot projects to board-level capital commitments across major Latin American mining companies. This preview covers the core agenda themes, the senior executives delivering plenary addresses, and the complimentary technical courses bundled with registration, giving mining-focused investors and operators a clear picture of what will be on the table in Santiago.

What Minería Digital is and why its 13th edition matters

Minería Digital is Gecamin’s flagship international congress on automation, digitalisation, AI, and electrification in mining. Now in its 13th year, the event draws institutional weight from a set of academic and research partners that co-organise the program:

• Advanced Mining Technology Center (AMTC) at Universidad de Chile
• Universidad de Tarapacá
• University of Arizona
• Instituto Tecnológico Vale

The 2026 edition expects 600+ delegates, 140+ presentations (including 60 from operating mines), and speakers from 14 countries. For scale, the 2025 edition recorded 637 participants, 143 presentations, and delegates from 18 countries.

Congress chair Priscila Guedes, Engineering Manager for Technology Projects at Vale Brazil, leads this year’s program.

Guedes has emphasised the congress’s role in accelerating the adoption of innovative solutions, fostering new industry-academia alliances, and advancing a more digital, automated, and sustainable mining sector.

For investors tracking capital allocation trends in mining technology, the scale and institutional backing of this forum offer a reliable signal of where operational priorities are heading across Latin American majors and their global technology partners.

The technical agenda: from AI pilots to electrification infrastructure

Core technology themes

The program spans a broad set of technology domains, each with dedicated sessions across the three days:

• Automation, robotics, and control systems
• AI and machine learning (including natural language processing, computer vision, and advanced robotics)
• Data analytics, IoT, and cloud computing
• Cybersecurity in digitised worksites
• Operational safety in digitalised mining environments

Electrification is a strengthened theme for the 2026 edition. Dedicated sessions address battery electric vehicles, energy efficiency, and grid integration challenges at an operational level, not as theoretical discussion.

Operational areas covered

The agenda maps these technologies across the mining value chain:

• Exploration, underground mining, and surface mining
• Mineral processing and hydrometallurgy
• Waste and tailings management
• Logistics, maintenance, and business integration

The participation of Metso and Molycop, both promoting applied AI for mineral processing and operational optimisation, signals that these technologies are moving beyond pilot stage. The explicit elevation of electrification infrastructure alongside AI reflects where major operators are directing capital right now, making the agenda a practical map of near-term mine technology investment.

Applied AI for mineral processing is already generating measurable production throughput gains at scale beyond the congress floor: Chrysos Corporation’s PhotonAssay technology surpassed one million monthly samples in March 2026, with 80% of the top 20 gold producers by production volume engaged, demonstrating how sensor-based and machine-learning-driven assay tools are becoming standard operational infrastructure across major mining companies.

The plenary lineup: senior operators from Codelco, Teck, GoldFields, and beyond

Seven plenary sessions form the event’s highest-profile platform for operators and technology leaders. The confirmed roster, according to Reporte Minero and event program materials as of 27 July 2026, places decision-makers from the world’s largest copper producer and major international gold and copper operators at the centre of the Latin American digital mining conversation.

Speaker details sourced from Reporte Minero, 27 July 2026, and subject to minor updates before the event.

The seniority of these roles, spanning technology, digitalisation, and IT transformation management at tier-one operators, indicates the congress is drawing the professionals who control or directly inform capital allocation on digital infrastructure, not attendees from research or communications functions alone.

Four free technical courses bundled with every registration

Four specialised online courses are available at no additional cost to registered participants, accessible via the congress streaming platform for three months following registration. The course bundle, consistent with past Gecamin congress practice, provides structured professional development anchored to the same applied-AI and electrification themes driving the live program.

1. University of Arizona: “AI-Driven Critical Mineral Processing,” spanning from mineralogy through digital simulation
2. AMTC at Universidad de Chile: “Advanced Tools for Battery Health Monitoring and Autonomy in Mining Electromobility”
3. Universidad de Tarapacá: “AI and Machine Learning Applied to Geomechanics,” covering both open-pit and underground mining contexts
4. Instituto Tecnológico Vale: “Machine Learning for Industrial Processes,” with emphasis on safety, reliability, and efficiency

Registered participants receive three months of streaming access to all four courses following registration, extending the congress’s value well beyond the three days in Santiago.

Registration is open at gecamin.com/mineriadigital/.

What the Santiago agenda signals for mining technology investment

The 2026 program’s thematic emphases, electrification infrastructure alongside AI, cybersecurity elevated as a standalone pillar, and applied machine learning moving from pilot to production, map directly onto the capital allocation decisions facing mining operators and their investors.

The congress agenda’s explicit elevation of electrification infrastructure sits within a broader reclassification now underway across institutional capital, where copper and battery metals are increasingly treated as strategic infrastructure inputs rather than cyclical commodities, a shift driven by AI data centre build-outs and grid-scale energy storage timelines that extend well beyond a single commodity cycle.

Vale’s appointment of a senior technology projects manager as congress chair signals that major Latin American operators are taking an active role in shaping digital mining standards rather than importing them. Chile’s hosting of this forum for the 13th consecutive year positions Santiago as a practical reference point for applied mine technology innovation in the region.

• Dates: August 5-7, 2026
• Venue: Sheraton Santiago Hotel and Convention Center, Avenida Santa María 1742, Providencia, Santiago
• Access: Approximately 20 km from Santiago International Airport, near Pedro de Valdivia metro station
• Registration: gecamin.com/mineriadigital/

Investors and operators tracking where automation and electrification commitments are materialising operationally, rather than at announcement stage alone, may find the congress program a useful leading indicator of which technologies are closest to wide-scale deployment.

The window to participate closes before the program begins

The August 5 to 7 program is approaching full release, and the registration window narrows as the congress draws closer. Registered participants gain access to 140+ technical presentations from operators across 14 countries, plus four complimentary courses covering applied AI, battery electromobility, geomechanics, and industrial machine learning.

The themes on the Santiago agenda, from AI deployment and electrification infrastructure to cybersecurity, are not event-specific conversations. They are active determinants of operational performance and cost structure across the mining sector. Registration remains open at gecamin.com/mineriadigital/.

Investors wanting to quantify the scale of capital now flowing into the infrastructure that makes events like Minería Digital strategically relevant will find our full explainer on AI-driven commodity demand, which covers S&P Global projections for data centre copper intensity through 2030, uranium spot price dynamics, and the valuation gap institutional analysts argue still exists between resource equities and the software sector benefiting from the same AI buildout.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Investors should conduct their own research and consult with financial professionals before making investment decisions.