(Chief Editor Mining Report Glückauf)
Editorial
This latest edition of Mining Report Glückauf (MRG) focuses on themes that we do not cover very often, yet for all that they are no less interesting.
The first article in this context discusses how new technologies, trends and developments are reflected in existing standards and standardisation projects. Topics such as digitisation, automation and operability play a key role here. While not everything that happens in the field of digitisation and automation can be set down in standards, it is quite possible to create a basis for interoperability. The article provides an overview of how the mining industry handles this issue.
The rugged operating conditions encountered in the mining industry means that plant and machinery are often exposed to high levels of wear. The high costs that usually result can be kept to a minimum by employing suitable wear protection systems. The steel wear laboratory operated by thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG specialises in wear mechanisms and has successfully developed wear-resistant steels.
In order to access deposits that are unsuitable for extraction by opencast mining methods Lhoist Germany Rheinkalk GmbH is now planning to set up a test mine at its Rohdenhaus North site. Once the main operating plan has been approved the company expects to begin production in 2022.
The Water Resources Management Office of the Westfäli-sche Berggewerkschaftskasse (the WBK is a collective association of the German coal mining industry) celebrates its one hundredth anniversary this year. This organisation is still very much in existence, though in a different form and under a different name. Reason enough not only to look back at its historical development but also to highlight the important role that this establishment, which is one of Germany’s hard coal industry’s oldest institutions, still plays to this day.
This issue’s post-mining section includes an article on the RUHR Mining Land Agreement, which is all about adopting a responsible approach to the legacy of the old coal and steel industries in the form of sustainable regional development. Another paper deals with the issue of the requirements to be imposed on non-native soil materials destined as fill for sand, gravel and stone quarries.
Finally let us mention something that is quite close to home: In issue 1/2020 Johann Uys and Ronny Webber-Youngman reported on a 4.0D Leadership Model for the Mining Industry and Related Sectors. This article has now been selected by the Society of Mining Professors (SOMP) for the Bruce Hebblewhite Award for the best publication.
With my best regards
Dipl.-Ing. Andreas-Peter Sitte
Chief Editor Mining Report Glückauf, Essen