What is happening in the mining industry worldwide?
Mineral deposits depletion and declining grades are prompting two major shifts in the global mining industry. First, mining methods are steering from surface to underground and second, high-grade low-bulk ores have been exhausted so low-grade yet high-bulk ores are left in the game. In turn, these trends make exploitation of primary resources uneconomical and/or technologically challenging by conventional mining technologies and know-how. One good example is underground deep mining, where mining companies are forced to dig deeper and deeper in order to access the economic orebody, reaching depths of thousands of meters as is the case of some South African gold mines such as Mponeng mine, the deepest mine in the world accounting for approximately 4 km, and Pyhäsalmi mine in Finland, the deepest mine in Europe with almost 1,5 km of depth.
Luckily, digitization and automation in underground mines have a big potential, one could say even greater than in surface or open-cast mines, despite the technological and societal challenges that they pose.
Can you imagine digging up mineral thousands of meters deep underground, being exposed to extreme temperatures and harsh environmental conditions? How could digitalization and automation be useful in order to tackle this new trend?
Stay tuned! I will let you know in Part 3!
Hi Adriana, thanks for sharing your inside into modern mining methods! I'm curious to read the next part! :)
Thanks!
Wow! This is really interesting! I learned a lot reading this. I ended up looking up the mines you mentioned, for example. Good work!
Cool! I'm happy that you found it interesting! Thanks for the feedback!
In this mine in Finland there is the deepest sauna in the world (can you imagine?!)
Oh my goodness! I'm not sure if going to that sauna would be terrifying or exhilarating. I suppose a bit a both. :)