A series of webinars on “Industry 4.0 Best Practices in the Mining and Minerals Sector” was held as part of the Horizon HEI4S3-RM project.
Manuel A. Caraballo Monge, Associate Professor of Mining Engineering at the University of Huelva (Spain), spoke about the evolution of drilling systems, remote drilling, and the technical and social challenges faced by drilling companies.
Diego Davoise, Head of Research and Development, Atalaya Mining, Riotinto (Spain), presented innovative techniques in the mining industry.
Alejandro Barragan, Head of Technical Office, IPH Group (Spain), presented a strategy for using autonomous drones in the mining sector, improving safety and optimizing underground operations during mining.
Gorazd Žibret, Senior Researcher at the Geological Survey of Slovenia (GeoSZ), spoke about the ways of using, searching for, and extracting mineral resources. Dr. Žibret explained how open and closed mining takes place, and introduced the concept of internal submersible drilling. In his opinion, the future of the mining sector lies in the full automation of processes, selective mining, minimization of environmental pollution, and the exploration of space objects such as the Moon, Mars, and asteroids.