The current drop in metal/coal prices requires that mine production (including washery/mill) be maximized. New machines and software aren't always the solution.  Under the current scenario, mine operators should probably look at optimizing their production capacities. See my interview in the July 2008 Issue (page 16) of Mining.Com magazine.

My core philosophy is for the mine operator to look at all data. This can be dynamic data (such as from sensors in a SAG milling process, GPS data from equipment or real-time machine health data) or static data (such as costing spreadsheets or time studies conducted by the summer interns).

Most mines have more data than they care to admit. They should utilize this data to the fullest, such as by simulating the production process, by developing various control/segregation algorithms or even just by developing a Microsoft Access database around the data and build basic analysis tools to examine it.