Russian Database Platforms Pass the Gold Standard Test
Russia's largest gold producer, PJSC Polyus, has successfully completed the first phase of migrating its core information systems to a domestic data management platform. The initiative marks a shift from isolated software import substitution toward building a fully sovereign data infrastructure.
The project, implemented by Polyus Digital, covers the entire information lifecycle, from capturing and integrating data streams from disparate sources, including process control systems, mining fleet management systems, and laboratory information management systems, to using that data in corporate digital services. The new infrastructure delivers high-speed analytical processing and architectural flexibility, enabling the company to significantly improve the efficiency of procurement and service management.
Horizontal Scalability Without Sacrificing Stability
The solution is built on products from Russian software vendor Arenadata. A massively parallel database management system (DBMS) serves as the foundation for consolidating and storing the company's full data estate. A separate high-performance processing layer handles operational analytics, modeling, and rapid data marts, providing the foundation for business intelligence applications. Those tools enable the company's staff to generate reports and interactive dashboards quickly. The platform follows a modular architecture, allowing individual components to scale independently without affecting overall system stability, while horizontal load distribution helps prevent disruptions even during peak query volumes.
A Foundation for Training Advanced AI Models
The analytics platform has already become the foundation for a range of industrial applications designed to improve productivity and operational efficiency. At the same time, the structured data environment it creates provides the basis for training and deploying artificial intelligence systems. The corporate data warehouse built on Arenadata DB (ADB) supports two core business functions by preparing data for analytics. The Arenadata QuickMarts (ADQM) environment now manages approximately 3 billion rows of data across more than 950 storage and processing objects. During the first half of 2026, corporate dashboards and reports generated more than 3 million analytical queries against ADQM. Average monthly query volume exceeded 500,000, five times higher than in the spring of 2025. That growth reflects both the expanding number of analytical applications and the platform's growing adoption across the company's business units.
Over time, the accumulated data environment is expected to support predictive analytics at a much larger scale, helping forecast equipment failures, optimize logistics, and improve planning accuracy. The unified digital environment will also serve as the foundation for training advanced AI models and building comprehensive digital twins of industrial assets, supporting a transition toward intelligent production management.
Industrial Applications Built on a Unified Digital Environment
To develop industry-specific digital products without relying on third-party software vendors, PJSC Polyus established its subsidiary Polyus Digital in 2022. That move accelerated the deployment of innovations directly at production sites, shifting the company from isolated pilot projects to systematic automation of critical production processes.
The company is also actively developing digital twins for its industrial facilities. In 2025, it launched a digital twin of the Verninskoye gold processing plant in Russia's Irkutsk Region, allowing engineers to test equipment operating modes without interrupting production. At the same time, AI-powered video analytics systems began adjusting flotation parameters in real time to improve metal recovery. Polyus is also deploying digital twins for hydraulic engineering facilities, including tailings storage sites, across its assets, from the Blagodatnoye deposit to its flagship Sukhoi Log project. A network of smart sensors continuously streams operational data to a central control center, creating a live digital model that supports predictive risk management.
The primary goal of PJSC Polyus' digital transformation strategy is to make ore mining and mineral processing as efficient, predictable, and safe as possible.
Advancing Toward Technological Sovereignty
Polyus reflects a broader trend across Russia's mining industry, one of the country's most digitally advanced industrial sectors and one with strong demand for next-generation technologies. According to industry data, 93% of mining companies prioritize investments in artificial intelligence, big data analytics, machine learning, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and next-generation networking technologies. Their technology stacks span every layer of operations, from dispatching systems, manufacturing execution systems (MES), and mining-geology information systems to AI advisory tools, advanced process control (APC), machine vision, and digital twins. At the equipment level, predictive maintenance and autonomous machinery are becoming key building blocks for end-to-end industrial automation.
Industry analysts estimate that Russia's industrial digitalization market exceeds 300 billion rubles (approximately $3.7 billion), with the mining sector accounting for more than 90 billion rubles (about $1.1 billion) annually. By 2030, the industrial automation segment in mining is expected to at least double, supporting a full transition to sovereign technology stacks.
