Unmanned Mining: 5G+ Industrial Internet Realizes Smart Mine

Posted on: Feb 14, 2022, · 3 min read.

Coal dust, the roar of machines, and the hard work of workers, these **traditional coal mining** scenes have become history in some coal mines in China. At present, the mining industry has become one of the most widely used fields of "_5G + Industrial Internet_".

According to statistics, there are about 5,300 coal mines in China, covering a wide range of areas. The mining conditions are complex and changeable. Disasters such as outbursts of kerosene and gas, rock bursts, water, and fire coexist, and there is a huge practical demand for smart mine construction.

At the "5G+Industrial Internet" meeting in the mining industry, Liu Liehong, the vice minister of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. He said "Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, and other places are accelerating the integration and innovation of 5G and the mining industry. The situation is good and exciting."

Significance of 5G Technology in The Mining Industry

In recent years, the mining industry has tightened environmental constraints and increased factor costs. It is urgent to use the new generation of information and communication technology to accelerate the process of digital transformation and realize fewer people and no production. This will _ensure people's life and health and safety_, r_educe costs and increase efficiency_, and i_mprove the level of lean management_. It is of great significance to solve the employment shortage.

First 5G Smart Coal Mine Set Up

In June 2020, the country’s first 5G smart coal mine jointly built by _China Mobile_, _Yangmei Group,_ and _Huawei_ was officially completed. It is 534 meters below the coal mine and relies on a 5G dedicated network to realize _unmanned inspection_ of electromechanical chambers, _unmanned operation_ of tunneling surfaces, and _unmanned operation_ of fully mechanized mining face. These three 5G applications can help coal mines realize _unmanned_, _automated_, and _visualized operations_ of the mine.

What Are the Technologies Used in 5G Smart Mines?

The 5G smart mining project relies on 5G _super uplink_, _slicing_, _MEC,_ and other key technologies, adopts _China Telecom's 5G customized network neighbor mode_, _4K video surveillance_, _5G video calls_, _underground automatic driving_, _remote control of working faces_ and other _multi-scene applications_ in 5G smart mining scenarios, to help the digital transformation and upgrading of all factors of production.

**The Advantage of 5G Smart Mine**

• 5G equipment goes down the well, which fundamentally solves the problems of traditional network technology that are difficult to adapt to the high-risk underground environment, mobile production, the changing environment of the production site, and a large number of equipment and sensors.
• 5G technology is applied in coal mines, through access to massive sensors, real-time dynamic real-time monitoring of the production process is achieved, mine production is maintained at the best state and optimal level, and unmanned mining is gradually realized to maximize mine production efficiency.
• 5G technology efficiently supports the remote control of underground fully mechanized mining equipment, realizing "machine advancement and man retreat" Roadheaders, coal excavators, hydraulic supports, and other equipment have real-time remote control functions through 5G technology, which can realize high-definition monitoring and control of the entire process of blasting, mining, and transmission.
• After 5G is applied underground, the excavation control surface is at least 200 meters back, which keeps underground workers away from the harsh working environment such as high temperature, high humidity, and high dust in the underground, which greatly reduces the intensity of underground work and solves the large risk factor of traditional manual operations. , The problem of high labor intensity.
• The traditional mining industry has a harsh working environment, and it is difficult to recruit workers for underground mining. Employment problems have become increasingly prominent. The employment model of relying solely on cheap labor in the mining industry has become increasingly difficult to meet the requirements of high-quality development. New technologies such as 5G can effectively improve work efficiency, significantly improve the working environment, remove workers from the production line, and promote the transformation of miners from "black collar" to "blue-collar".
• In terms of production efficiency, after adopting new information technology such as 5G, production efficiency is expected to increase by 20% to 30%. According to calculations with a daily output of 10,000 tons and 600 yuan per ton of coal, if the production efficiency is increased by 20%, the average annual efficiency increase of the enterprise will reach 400 million yuan.

In view of the huge economic and social benefits brought by information technology, Shanxi Province plans to increase the scope and scale of the application of "5 G + Industrial Internet" in the mining industry. In time, the application of new technologies such as 5G will be extended to 1,000 mining faces and expanded to various types of ore bodies such as _coal mines_, _metal mines_, and _non-metal mines_.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that it will continue to promote the "5G + Industrial Internet" innovation and breakthroughs in the **mining industry**, accelerate the replication and promotion from "model rooms" to "commercial housing", and further empower thousands of industries and present different forms.