Editorial Feature

Moving the Mining Industry Forward with Remote Sensing

Mining is changing in the 21st century. The need for sustainable, safety-conscious, and smart mining practices and technologies is driving the development of the industry in new directions. This article will discuss the use of remote sensors to help with efforts that will transform the future of the sector.

remote sensing, mining

Image Credit: Ungrim/Shutterstock.com

Challenges Facing the Mining Industry

Mining is a crucial economic activity. The global mining industry is a major global employer, and its value is expected to grow to $2,427.85 billion by 2025. 2021 figures show a market value of £1,845.55 billion. Investment in exploration, resource exploitation, and mining infrastructure is expected to grow.

There are several challenges facing the mining industry today. Historically, mining has been a dirty and dangerous activity, and many well-publicized disasters have thrown a spotlight on safety issues within the industry. Mining is also an environmentally damaging activity, contributing significantly to global carbon emissions and damaging ecosystems through toxic run-off and physical alteration of landscapes by mining footprints, infrastructure, and heavy equipment.

Dwindling resources are also an issue. Mines are having to go deeper to reach commercially important minerals and energy-rich seams of coal.  Operational costs such as labor must be adjusted downwards to account for reductions in revenue streams. The end of a fossil-fuel-based economy is also fast approaching with international efforts to reduce carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050. The need for smarter mining operations is a pressing concern in the 21st century.

Remote Sensing in the Mining Industry: An Overview

To tackle these issues and drive the mining industry forward toward a smarter, more sustainable future innovation will be required. Key technological advances require cutting-edge applications. Remote sensing has provided improvements in many vital areas of industry and research, and the mining sector makes use of remote sensing capabilities regularly.

Sensors are used to inform plans for new mines, are integrated in next-generation mining equipment, monitor land and cover changes around mines, monitor pollution, ecological damage, and emissions, and provide data on mineralogy and geology. Ground-based, airborne, and satellite remote sensing platforms make use of IR sensors and both multispectral and hyperspectral cameras. Sensors are used to map and monitor seismic changes, temperature changes, and magnetic and electromagnetic changes.

The use of sensors in the mining industry is growing as companies seek to solve the challenges facing them, making the future of the mining industry smarter, sustainable, safer, and more data-driven.

Using Sensors to Improve Safety

Employing sensors in mines is helping to improve worker safety. Integrated sensing systems can monitor health and safety, air quality, geolocate workers and assets, assist in communication, provide superior ground stabilization detection abilities, and help locate trapped miners in the event of cave-ins and explosions. Data gathered by sensors can be fed back into central hubs to inform better regulations and interventions.

SMART, which has been developed by the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources in partnership with UA’s College of Engineering Improving Sustainability, is a system that facilitates mine-wide sensing, monitoring, and communication. The platform uses IoT technology that integrates mine safety, asset tracking, and health monitoring of workers.

Multiple research projects across the industry are solving safety issues with innovative approaches utilizing sensor technology. Fully mechanized mining is one of the holy grails of mining in the 21st century, where human workers may not even set foot deep in mines, instead monitoring autonomous equipment and only interacting with them to undergo maintenance duties.

Improving Sustainability

Sensors are used today to improve the sustainability of mines. They are used to map land and cover changes, monitor emissions and pollution, and inform the entire process from planning to closure and environmental remediation. Remote, satellite-based sensors are increasingly being used to provide ongoing data and change detection methods for monitoring purposes of both legal and illegal mining.

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) uses laser pulses to measure distances and is finding increased use in the mining industry. Recent research has demonstrated that using a ground-based micro-pulse LiDAR is effective for monitoring dust and emissions from mining activities.

The system, which was originally developed by NASA, monitors particulate matter, and creates a three-dimensional view of the movement of air pollution in an area. It can be used to track plumes of pollution and inform air quality assessments around mines. The system can work autonomously by scanning the area on a pre-set schedule.

Creating Smarter, More Data-Driven Mines

The mining industry is about to get a lot more connected and data-driven. Mines of the future will employ banks of sensors providing real-time information on every parameter of their operation. Autonomous mining equipment will become more commonplace, and both human and mechanical assets will become hyper-connected. Data will be fed back to central, remote hubs.

Sensors can be used to provide remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance, asset tracking, emission and groundwater monitoring, as well as monitoring the after-effects of blasting, providing wearable tech, and helping to implement smart ventilation systems. Real-time, constant monitoring abilities can be realized. Together, these applications will construct truly smart mines that will change the face of mining permanently.

The Future of the Mining Industry

As the 4th Industrial Revolution gathers pace, sensors will play a central role in many technological advances in the near future. Mining is undergoing a shift in focus and direction, and the implementation of innovative sensor-based solutions will help drive the entire industry forward, preparing it to face and overcome the challenges of the new century.

References and Further Reading

Miningmagazine.com (2018) IoT sensors to improve mine safety [online] miningmagazine.com. Available at: https://www.miningmagazine.com/sustainability/news/1332076/iot-sensors-to-improve-mine-safety

Droplet Mining Technologies (2020) Mining Emissions Effectively Monitored with Micro Pulse LiDAR Technology [online] dropletmeasurement.com. Available at: https://www.dropletmeasurement.com/article/mining-emissions-effectively-monitored-with-micro-pulse-lidar-technology/

BehrTech Blog (2020) IoT in Mining: 5 Ways IoT is Driving the Connected Mine [online] behrtech.com. Available at: https://behrtech.com/blog/iot-in-mining-5-ways-iot-is-driving-the-connected-mine/

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author expressed in their private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited T/A AZoNetwork the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and conditions of use of this website.

Reginald Davey

Written by

Reginald Davey

Reg Davey is a freelance copywriter and editor based in Nottingham in the United Kingdom. Writing for AZoNetwork represents the coming together of various interests and fields he has been interested and involved in over the years, including Microbiology, Biomedical Sciences, and Environmental Science.

Citations

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

  • APA

    Davey, Reginald. (2021, December 21). Moving the Mining Industry Forward with Remote Sensing. AZoMining. Retrieved on November 10, 2024 from https://www.azomining.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=1613.

  • MLA

    Davey, Reginald. "Moving the Mining Industry Forward with Remote Sensing". AZoMining. 10 November 2024. <https://www.azomining.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=1613>.

  • Chicago

    Davey, Reginald. "Moving the Mining Industry Forward with Remote Sensing". AZoMining. https://www.azomining.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=1613. (accessed November 10, 2024).

  • Harvard

    Davey, Reginald. 2021. Moving the Mining Industry Forward with Remote Sensing. AZoMining, viewed 10 November 2024, https://www.azomining.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=1613.

Tell Us What You Think

Do you have a review, update or anything you would like to add to this article?

Leave your feedback
Your comment type
Submit

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.