Mining is the source of extracted mineral commodities across the world. These minerals and mined materials are essential components of construction and infrastructure projects. On top of this, everything from automobiles, roads, homes, offices, computers and smartphones use the products or byproducts of mined materials in one way or another. In addition to that, mining is a major source of income for many countries, and important to support their economies through mined materials export.
What is underground mining?
Underground mining refers to the different underground techniques that are used to extract minerals, metals, ores, etc. from the earth’s surface. There are two types of underground mining technologies, namely hard rock underground mining and soft rock underground mining. The former refers to techniques used to extract hard minerals such as gold, silver, zinc and nickel, and the latter refers to techniques used to extract soft minerals such as salt and coal.
Within underground mining, there exists two principal phases: development and production mining. The former consists of the excavation of waste rock to gain entrance towards the valuable rocks, ores and minerals. Development mining has a number of steps which include blasting, scaling, installing reinforcement, and explosives. The latter, which is production mining, consists of two steps which are short hole mining and long hole mining. Short hole mining is similar to development mining and takes place with the actual ore. Long hole mining consists of multiple excavations within the ore and below its surface.
The future of underground mining and subsequent technologies
Ever since the rise of the digital era, no platform has been left untouched and underground mining is no different. Given the impact that mining has on the economies of counties and the livelihoods of millions of individuals, it was inevitable that researchers would come up with multiple ways in which traditional mining techniques can be optimised using technology, such as with companies like Newtrax. Here are some of the major technological advancements taking place in underground mining:
Mining and IoT
IoT or the Internet of Things is likely to optimise and make mining processes much more efficient than they are now. This is because IoT allows the collection of vast quantities of data that is generated in mining operations. Such data can be used to monitor operations remotely, make mining operations safer, productive and more sustainable. The data collected during mining operations can be used to assess the time mining trucks spend in waiting (which equals lost resources), the time spent in loading material onto the trucks, the maintenance required, etc.
Smart mines
The mining industry is likely to be transformed in the coming years with the occurrence of smart mines. Mining is dominated by a combination of force on the part of workers and mathematical calculations – smart mines are likely to take away the aspect of workers’ force in the mining process, hence optimising the entire mining process and making it cost and energy-efficient. Much of the often dangerous work that was undertaken by workers would now be done by machines that would work on a predetermined plan and be automated.
Mining and blockchain technology
Rising prices and efficiency concerns have led the mining industry to come up with efficient and sustainable methods that are either an alternative to or complementary to traditional methods of mining. A major chunk of that efficiency lies in optimising the supply chain of mining and blockchain technology is a stepping stone towards achieving this. By harnessing blockchain technology, one can create transparent supply chains and instil tracking and security by data sharing in the supply chain operations of mining processes.
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