Highlights
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Mining in Space – Excavation of Raw Materials on Other Celestial Bodies
The exploration of space has fascinated humankind for decades. Along with this, establishing a colony on other celestial bodies, such as the moon or Mars, has gained increasing interest. For building such a colony, the use of extraterrestrial raw materials is of great importance. In order to make these raw…
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Digital Twin – Integrated Geomonitoring
One of the main challenges facing us today is the environment and how to protect it. Mining activities over the years have had an enormous impact on the three environmental elements water, soil and air. Ground movements in mining areas can be observed both during the mineral winning phase and…
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Historic Mining Infrastructure as an Opportunity for Regional Water- and Energy Supply: The Water Reservoir Harz 2050 Project
High precipitation, dams and waterworks make the Harz Mountains a large freshwater supplier. But, challenges arise based on climate change and extreme weather events. Old mine working can support water management if integrated into the system. Successful planning and integration need a holistic understanding of the regional water cycle, the…
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Development of a Platform Demonstrator – an Experience Report
Das Forschungsprojekt ARTUS zielte auf die Entwicklung von Systemen für die ganzheitliche Umsetzung eines vollständigen Belade-Entlade-Zyklus durch eine autonome Sonderfahrzeugflotte ab. Eine Herausforderung hierbei ist der Aufbau einer Kommunikationsinfrastruktur für Bergbauumgebungen und die Sicherstellung benötigter Maschine-zu-Maschine-Kommunikation (M2M). Dieser Artikel präsentiert Projektinhalte und Forschungsergebnisse des Institute for Advanced Mining Technologies (AMT)…
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ARTUS: Decentralised Communication of Mobile Mining Machines
The ARTUS research project aimed to develop systems for a holistic implementation of a complete loading-unloading cycle conducted by an autonomous fleet of special-purpose mining vehicles. A key challenge in developing such systems is providing the communication infrastructure and ensuring technical capabilities to fulfil needs for machine-to-machine communication (M2M). This…
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Theory and Practical Experience of a Digital Twin for Optimal Operation and Maintenance of Belt Conveyors
Alarge part of the bulk material transport in mining is carried out by belt conveyors. This will increase in the future. The correct design, operation and maintenance are of decisive importance for their economic operation. Recent developments such as the use of a digital twin of the conveyor can make…
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Post-Mining as an Example of Economic Evolution. Explanatory Elements in the Work of Helmut Arndt.
Every mining operation and mine site will, as such, come to an end one day and so will transition to the post-mining era. That is simply part of the economic evolution. As for the post-mining sector, which it has long neglected, conventional economic science still finds it hard to accept…
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Targeting a Low-Carbon Economy Using China as an Example: The Pros & Cons of a Shift from Coal to Renewables
Climate neutrality is a global goal that requires the high integration and use of renewable energies to ensure such a transition. In this regard, China in particular, as the largest mining country in the world, is at the forefront of renewable energy production, both through hard coal and rare earths.…
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Innovation on Suspended Monorail Locomotives for Underground Coal Mine Applications – a Project Overview
Suspended monorail locomotives are an important mining equipment for the transport of personnel and material in underground coal mines in Europe. A wide variety of diesel-driven or battery-electric locomotives are available. The EU-funded research projects BUSDUCT and HEET II conceptualized two alternative methods of electric power supply for suspended monorail…
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Suspend Coal Phase-Out – Keep Existing Plants in Operation and Reactivate Available Capacities, Give Transition More Time
While there are no fundamental doubts about the direction of the energy transition in Germany – much less the goal of achieving sustainability – the changes in the general circumstances dictating energy policy that have occurred in 2022 give rise to sound arguments in favour of suspending the coal phase-out…
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