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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The project is called Mine.IO and it aims to do nothing less than bring mining into the digitalised future. Researchers from all over Europe, from Finland to Greece, have joined forces to rethink mining along its entire value chain - from the exploration, extraction and processing of resources to the utilisation of mining residues and the reutilisation of mining land. Two institutes at TU Bergakademie Freiberg are involved in Mine.IO. Following intensive preparatory work, practical trials have now begun at the pilot plant in the Reiche Zeche.
The researchers will be working on the digitalisation of the exploration drilling rig, which is already feeding the AI with data, until the end of the project in a year's time (June 2026).
A visit to the pilot plant 144 metres underground in the Reichen Zeche, the research and training mine of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg: spotlights illuminate the walls in orange-brown, puddles collect on the floor, cable ducts run along the ceiling. Project employee Max Friedemann wears a helmet, rubber boots and overalls. At first glance, everything looks as you would expect it to in a mine. But this is where Mining 4.0 is being created, which will be digitalised in the future and in some places will do without people underground.
Communication between drilling rig and AI
Max Friedemann stands in front of the test rig: a screen and an exploration drilling rig next to it - the latter is familiar technology and standard in many mines. "The aim of our project is to digitalise this drilling rig, support the driller working underground, increase efficiency and monitor the entire drilling process," explains Friedemann. "The data is then summarised in a so-called digital infrastructure so that it can be analysed above ground." The data is transmitted in real time via a dedicated underground fibre optic network and stored in a cloud. The decisive innovation is the communication between the drilling rig and an artificial intelligence system. The drilling rig is equipped with various sensors for this purpose and the research enables existing machines of any age to be transferred to the digital world. "We know exactly where our drill bit is in the hole at all times, we measure the rotational speed, the hydraulic pressures, the vibration and oscillations of the machine." Sometimes the drill works its way through ore, sometimes through gneiss, a layer of different minerals created by heat and pressure. An AI analyses the data obtained and maps the geology of the borehole during drilling.
Cost-efficient drilling
The neuralgic point on the exploration drill is the head: it carries a diamond crown, which helps the drill pipe to break through the layers. "We have a wear rate of approximately one millimetre of drill bit with attached diamonds per ten metres of hole," explains Max Friedemann. Each drill bit manages between 60 and 100 metres, after which it has to be replaced. This is where a second AI comes into play: "AI-based algorithms calculate how long I can still use my drill bit or when I need to replace it at the latest in order to work cost-effectively - and therefore ultimately sustainably."
At the moment, the AI algorithms are being developed, trained and tested using the data that has already been collected. The first two boreholes have been fully drilled and the data processed. In the remaining months of the project, at least three more holes will be drilled and the data feedback from the project partners directly to the drilling site will be tested in real time.
About the Mine.IO research project
Since January 2023, 25 project partners from all over Europe have been working with Mine.IO on the mining of the future. Two of the seven Europe-wide pilot plants are located at TU Bergakademie Freiberg. In addition to the Institute of Mining and Specialised Civil Engineering, the Institute of Non-Ferrous Metallurgy and High-Purity Materials is also involved. The partners are developing digital twins based on the data obtained. These will map the various processes within the value chain and are intended to make mining part of Industry 4.0.
Prof. Helmut Mischo, Helmut.Mischo@mabb.tu-freiberg.de
A visit to the pilot plant 144 metres underground in the Reichen Zeche, the research and training mi ...
Quelle: Andreas Hiekel
Copyright: TU Bergakademie Freiberg / A. Hiekel
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Energie, Geowissenschaften
überregional
Forschungsprojekte
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A visit to the pilot plant 144 metres underground in the Reichen Zeche, the research and training mi ...
Quelle: Andreas Hiekel
Copyright: TU Bergakademie Freiberg / A. Hiekel
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