(Chief Editor Mining Report Glückauf)
Editorial
In the capital-intensive mining industry, time is a crucial factor for the success and profitability of a project. This is especially true when it comes to shaft construction. The shaft sinking methods used often represent the longest and most complex phase of the alignment, putting considerable pressure on the overall project time and costs. By using fast shaft sinking technologies, mining companies can reduce construction time, minimise costs and accelerate the start of production. That is why this issue of Mining Report Glückauf focuses on new trends in shaft sinking technology.
The first article in this issue examines fast sinking technologies for shortening project completion times, minimising costs and accelerating the start of mining operations. When implementing the Building Information Model (BIM), e. g. in the shaft construction project for the Heilbronn shafts of Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG, a 3D reference model is used to promote communication, identify consequences at an early stage and provide a comprehensible basis for decision-making. Shafts are essential for smooth and trouble-free operation. Due to the high stresses to which shafts and their hoisting gear are subjected, the shaft guide rails in particular are subject to intensive wear. At the Institute of Mechanical Engineering (IMB) at TU Bergakademie Freiberg, a measuring device has been developed that enables the condition of rigid guidance systems in mines to be analysed without the need for structural interventions in the surrounding area. A particular challenge is the strengtening of the Konrad 2 shaft for the operation of the mine as a repository for low- and intermediate-level radioaktive waste.
Beyond the topic of “shafts” in the technical section of this issue, we look at the example of the Shayan marble quarry in Iran to discuss alternative industrial uses for broken marble, the digitalisation and automation of maintenance strategies to optimise operational processes in mining, the automation of cutter wheel changes in seabed ore mining and the legal framework for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in mining.
In addition, this issue once again focuses on the supply of critical raw materials to German industry and China’s role in this, as well as the Holo-4-Edu research project at RWTH Aachen University for the integration of 3D multi-user hologram tables in mining and raw materials science courses.
Finally, the “Post-Mining” section deals with risk management in abandoned mining at the mining authority in North Rhine-Westphalia. A paper in the “ISSA Mining” section this time has to be omitted from this issue for editorial reasons.
With my best regards
Dipl.-Ing. Andreas-Peter Sitte
Chief Editor Mining Report Glückauf, Essen