Press

illuMINEation - Ambitious EC funded research project improves health, safety and environmental performance in the mining sector

Europe’s valuable mineral deposits can only be exploited, if the very strict legal and environmental requirements are met and the local communities do not perceive mining operations as a risk to their livelihood, rather as a source of work, income and prosperity.

For this very reason, health, safety and environmental (HS&E) standards and performance are considered the most important core values applicable to the mining industry sector. The implementation of technologies ensuring highest possible performance levels of those aforementioned values require the combination of many cutting-edge approaches, disciplines and collaboration of European experts from various different fields of expertise. The illuMINEation consortium recently met in Leoben, Austria, to discuss the progress of the research and innovation project and the important results achieved since the start of the project.

Combining data to minimize risks

The illuMINEation project uses various sensing technologies comprising off-the-shelf low-cost sensors combined with sensors serving specific needs for integration into a digital mine management system. Valuable information acquired by extensive sensor networks are subsequently processed and analysed via sophisticated data analytics including machine learning algorithms in order to:

  1. support a comprehensive and real-time HS&E, risk and sustainability assessment;
  2. provide a cost-effective way of ensuring that high HS&E standards are kept;
  3. ensure, in the long run, sustainable and economically efficient extraction of raw minerals that are crucially needed by Europe’s industry sectors; and to
  4. facilitate a more transparent mining industry so that public acceptance, awareness and trust in mining activities can be increased.

DMT is one of 19 partners from six European countries (AT, SE, PL, DE, ES, FI) involved.

Read more in the full Press Release from Project Coordinator, Montanuniversitaet Leoben.