One thing is indisputable about the mining industry in the 21st century: a new intelligent model must be constructed to achieve the digitalization of resources and mining environments, the intelligence of technical equipment, the visualization of production process control, the networking of information transmission, and the scientific management and decision-making of production. Intelligence has also become an inevitable path for the transformation and upgrading of the mining industry.
Currently, domestic mines are generally in the transition stage from automation to intelligence, and excellent mines serve as good examples for development! Today, let's take a look at some outstanding intelligent mines and exchange ideas together.
01
Kiruna Iron Mine in Sweden
The Kiruna Iron Mine is located in northern Sweden, 200 km inside the Arctic Circle, and is one of the highest latitude mineral bases in the world. At the same time, the Kiruna Iron Mine is currently the largest underground mine in the world and the only large-scale iron mine in Europe that is still being mined.
The Kiruna mine has basicallyachieved unmanned intelligent mining. In the underground working face, apart from seeing maintenance workers at work, there are almost no other workers; almost all operations are completed by a remote computer control system, with a very high degree of automation.
The intelligence of the Kiruna Iron Mine mainly benefits from the use of large machinery and intelligent remote control systems, as well as a modern management system. Highly automated and intelligent mining systems and equipment are key to ensuring safe and efficient mining.
1) Development:
The Kiruna Iron Mine adopts a combination of vertical shafts and inclined ramps for development. The mine has three vertical shafts for ventilation, ore, and waste rock hoisting, while personnel, equipment, and materials are mainly transported using trackless equipment from the inclined ramp. The main hoisting shaft is located at the lower part of the ore body, and so far, the mining face and main transportation system have been lowered six times, with the current main transportation level at 1045m.
2) Drilling, charging, and blasting:
The tunnel excavation uses a rock drilling rig equipped with a three-dimensional electronic measuring instrument for precise drilling location. The rock drilling in the mining area uses the Simbaw469 remote-controlled rock drilling rig produced by Atlas Copco in Sweden, which uses a laser system for accurate positioning and can operate continuously for 24 hours without a driver.
3) Remote loading, transportation, and hoisting of ore:
The rock drilling, loading, and hoisting at the Kiruna Iron Mine have all achieved intelligent and automated operations, with both the rock drilling rig and the loader being unmanned.
Ore loading uses the Toro2500E remote-controlled loader produced by Sandvik/Tomrock, with a single unit efficiency of 500t/h.
The underground transportation system includes both belt transportation and rail automatic transportation. The rail automatic transportation generally consists of eight sets of mine cars, which are automated bottom-dump cars for continuous loading and unloading. The belt conveyor automatically transports ore from the crushing station to the measuring device, completing loading and unloading with the vertical shaft skip, all controlled remotely.
4) Remote-controlled concrete spraying technology for support reinforcement:
Tunnel support uses a combination of sprayed anchor nets, completed by a remote-controlled concrete spraying machine, with anchor rods and steel mesh installed using an anchor rod vehicle.
02
Rio Tinto's 'Future Mine'.
If the Kiruna Iron Mine represents the intelligent upgrade of traditional mines, then Rio Tinto's 'Future Mine' program, launched in 2008, will lead the direction of intelligent development for future iron mines.
Pilbara, a rust-colored area covered in iron oxide, is the most famous iron ore mining region in the world. Rio Tinto proudly operates 15 mines here, but in this vast mining site, you can hear the rumble of construction machinery, yet see only a handful of workers.
Where are Rio Tinto's workers? The answer is 1500 kilometers away in the city of Perth.
In Rio Tinto's remote control center in Perth, a large and long screen displays various progress of iron ore transportation between 15 mines, 4 ports, and 24 railways—showing which train is loading (unloading) ore, how much longer it will take to load (unload); which train is in transit, how much longer until it reaches the port; which port is loading ships, how many tons have been loaded, etc., all presented in real-time.
Rio Tinto's iron ore department has been operating the world's largest unmanned truck system. An automated transport fleet consisting of 73 trucks is being applied in three mining areas in Pilbara, and the autonomous truck system has allowed Rio Tinto'sloading and transportation costs to decrease by 15%.
Rio Tinto has its own railway and smart trains in Western Australia, spanning over 1700 kilometers. These 24 trains operate continuously under remote control, 24 hours a day. Currently, Rio Tinto's automated train system is in testing, and once fully operational, it will become the world's first fully automated long-distance heavy freight train transportation system.
These iron ores are loaded onto ships through the scheduling of the remote control center, reaching ports in China such as Zhanjiang and Shanghai. Subsequently, they may be transferred to ports like Qingdao, Tangshan, Dalian, or transported up the Yangtze River from Shanghai, traversing the interior of China.
03
Shougang Digital Mine
Overall, the integration level of industrialization and informatization in the domestic mining and metallurgy industry is relatively low, far behind other domestic industries. However, with the continuous emphasis and support from the government, the digital design tool penetration rate and the numerical control rate of key process flows in some large and medium-sized domestic mining enterprises have improved to a certain extent, and the level of intelligence is also continuously increasing.
Taking Shougang as an example, Shougang has built a digital mine framework with four vertical levels and four horizontal blocks, which is worth referencing.
Four blocks: Application of GIS geographic information system, MES production execution system, ERP enterprise resource management system, OA information system.
Four levels: Digitalization of basic equipment, digitalization of production processes, digitalization of production execution, digitalization of enterprise resource planning.
Mining:
(1) Accumulate digital three-dimensional geological data and complete the three-dimensional mapping of ore bodies, surface, and geological aspects.
(2) Established a GPS dynamic monitoring system for slopes, regularly monitoring slopes to effectively avoid sudden geological disasters such as collapses and landslides.
(3) Automatic scheduling system for mining trucks: Automatically plans traffic flow, optimizes dispatching, and reasonably allocates traffic flow to achieve the shortest transportation distance and lowest consumption. This system is a domestic innovation, and its technological achievements have reached an internationally advanced level.
Mineral processing:
Mineral processing flow monitoring system: Monitors approximately 150 process parameters, including the electric ears of ball mills, overflow of classifiers, grinding concentration, and magnetic fields of sorting machines, to timely grasp production operations and equipment conditions, improving the timeliness and scientific nature of production command.
04
Problems in domestic intelligent mining.
Currently, large metallurgical mining enterprises in China have applied management and control systems in various aspects of management and control, but the integration level is still relatively low, which is a key point that the metallurgical mining industry urgently needs to break through. In addition, there are the following problems:
1. Insufficient attention from enterprises. After the implementation of basic automation, the subsequent digital construction content is often not given enough attention.
2. Insufficient investment in information technology. Enterprises are affected by market factors and cannot ensure sustained and stable investment in information technology.This has led to a relatively slow advancement of the integration of information technology and industrialization projects.
3. Lack of compound talents in information technology. Information technology construction covers modern communication, sensing and information technology, artificial intelligence, and other professional fields, requiring much higher talent and technical strength than the current stage. Currently, the technical strength of the vast majority of mines in China is relatively lacking.
The above introduces three intelligent mines. Although relatively backward in China, there is huge development potential. Currently, the Sishanling Iron Mine is being constructed with intelligence, high requirements, and high standards, and we look forward to it.
