Digital Transformation in Mining
Forum Mining 4.0: Smart Mining Conference at RWTH
In November, experts from science and industry met in Aachen to discuss the state of the art in mining and digital transformation in the sector. Most of the 24 expert talks were concerned with new Industry 4.0 paradigm in mining, discussing developments from ruggedized sensors, which collect data under harsh environmental conditions, through to the standardized, secure communication between machines.
Tobias Wendel, research associate at the Institute for Advanced Mining Technologies and co-organizer of the international conference, explained that “one of the major goals in the sector is automated mining. This means, among other things, that we do no longer send workers underground under at times difficult conditions, and that the environmental footprint of mining sites can be kept as small as possible.”
A special highlight was the welcome address by Erich Schnake, Vice-Minister of Mining of the Republic of Chile. The minister brought a high-profile delegation of Chilean experts to Aachen, who contributed to the conference program. One of the goals of the conference is to strengthen Germany’s reputation as a hub of innovation and technology worldwide.
The Smart Mining Conference was organized by the RWTH Institute for Advanced Mining Technologies (AMT), VDMA Mining, and DMT GmbH & Co. KG.
For further information, please visit the Forum Bergbau 4.0 (de) website.