Fachartikel 04_2019

Fluctuating commodity prices, high upfront investment costs, long development periods, the high variability due to the uniqueness of each deposit, and the imperfection and uncertainty of information about mineral reserves even after mining commences, have always been challenges for the mining industry. However, in addition to those inherent challenges, today’s new deposits have increasingly complex geological formations, are at greater ...

George Hemingway leads the Innovation Practice for Stratalis, a New York-based growth strategy consultancy dedicated to helping companies to become future-focused and to develop the foresight, flexibility and focus to win in uncertain markets. Through his Seven-Lenses technique, he helps companies to outperform others by facing the future in a focused and guided way. He specializes in helping the executive ...

Declining ore grades and increasing extraction costs have given a high priority to productivity in operational mines. However, improving productivity in an industry with decades long plans and budgets requires a certain level of agility. Boliden´s Aitik open pit copper mine in Northern Sweden has been through a long journey to reach the title of world’s most productive open pit ...

Using machine data and related software to identify unproductive downtimes, recognize foreseeable faults and errors or initiate suitable preventive measures, the challenges in mining remain unchanged. Many of these tasks can be mastered with the use of digitalization. However, digitalization has many dimensions that need to be considered in order to implement a holistic and target-oriented solution. This applies above ...

The recently by Epiroc developed Control Tower is a central data processing and automation unit. The Control Tower is much more than a showroom – it is part of Epiroc’s strategy to support customers in taking the right steps in terms of security, productivity and improvement. Epiroc’s High-Tech Control Tower allows remote-controlled and automated machines to be explored and controlled ...

At the end of 2018, just before the Katowice Climate Change Conference, the World Bank published a special report entitled “Managing coal mine closure: achieving a just transition for all” (1). The stated aim of the report was to provide governments and regions confronted by extensive colliery closures, whether for reasons of climate policy or due to other factors, with ...

Germany’s domestic lignite output decreased by 5.0 Mt, which equals 2.9 %, from 171.3 Mt to 166.3 Mt between 2017 and 2018. 2018’s extracted lignite had a net calorific value of 51.0 Mtce. 148.2 Mt or almost 90 % of that output were used in utility power plants supplying the general public. This translates into a decrease of 3.3 % compared to the ...