Mine Design for the Future
“Mine design for the future is designing an underground mine that is sustainable where it has excellent health & safety condition, and is energy and production efficient”
– Dr. Adrianus “Adrian” Halim, Luleå University of Technology
· Pave the way for future mining – strategies for autonomous machines
· Build social acceptance for European sustainable mining
I am a Senior Lecturer in mining and rock engineering research subject at Luleå University of Technology.
Working in this focus area is enjoyable since we are developing a new mine design concept that has never been done before, and also because we are working together with big names in world mining industry as you can see on the list on project partners.
My activities outside work are travelling and enjoying formula 1, football, and cricket. The latter has taught me valuable traits to succeed in this project: patience, adaptable, and persistence. A test cricket match is played for three to five days. The team who wins is the one who displays these three traits on each day of the match.
Mine design for the future is about designing the mine in a way that allows it to take full advantage of the new technologies that are being developed, e.g. use battery powered machines and autonomous processes.
The mine of the future is a sustainable, digitized and autonomous mine. It needs to be designed in such a way that production efficiency is secured, and energy consumption for the autonomous machines, is optimized with space for charging stations, etc. The modern mine is not only diesel-free but also energy-efficient and the mine layout and infrastructure should be such that you do not have to drive unnecessary distances with heavy loads.
We’re also looking at ventilation strategies, as a substantial share of the energy consumption in an underground mine is related to ventilation. It’s all about getting a process in the mine that is as energy-efficient as possible, while at the same time being production efficient.
Why this matters
We believe that clean energy will be in short supply in the future. It will also be extremely important for the mining industry to achieve sustainability and climate impact goals, meaning that we must have strategies and concepts for making energy efficient and production efficient mining operations.
How we work
We decided early on to talk to the mining industry, and ask them how they envisage the use of battery powered machines. A few already have experience from this, and almost all the others have thoughts on the subject. We listen globally, by conducting a large survey that just over 20 mines around the world have responded to.
The information from this survey – in addition to results from the previous project, SIMS, and other production data – form the basis for simulations and allow us to create concepts for how things should work. We create 3D models where we simulate ventilation and production in mines.
Our challenges
Developing concepts is always difficult, because no mine in the world is like the other. It’s a challenge to develop generic concepts and strategies that can be used ‘everywhere’, and even ‘general advice’ needs modification to be useful.
Another challenge is the industry’s reluctance to use battery powered machines underground. Despite evidence to the contrary, some still believe that electrical machines are not as safe, or at least not as efficient, as the traditional ones with diesel engines.
Our goals
Our goal is to develop a concept – strategies for designing the layout and infrastructure of tomorrow’s more sustainable, and more efficient, mine. Although it’s not possible to make a template that would work everywhere – as the conditions for various mines are so different – we aim to find universal solutions that can be used, and to show that these solutions work.
Mine design in 3D.
Operator planning operations.
Experiencing mine design in VR.