Digital Technology in Mining Industry

A new era "Digital India" initiated by Government of India has given rise to new prospects of research and implementation in various fields. The main objectives of this initiative being availabity of government services by improving the online infrastructure and thereby increasing the internet connectivity throughout nation has developed huge potiential in sensors, telecommunication cables, optical fibers etc.

The specific areas of implementation under Digital India programme have out cornered the basic primary industries such as agriculture and mining. Technological boost in the primary sector can improve the economy significantly which can increase the agricultural output in the national and increase the safety in mining sector.

Can digitization be implemented in mining sector?

Though one of the primary industry, there hasn't been any technological innovations/breakthroughs in the Indian mining sector. The age old process of human labour digging with tools and carrying in the baskets have been diminshed to a large extent. Modernization is slowly being adapted in the Indian mining industry where development in metal mines has been through Jumbos, underground mine trucks while in coal mines by electric shovels, draglines.

The next step would be towards automation where Digital India could serve as a best platform for the mining industry. Few mines are starting to adapt semi automation like remote controlled LHD's in underground metal mines which just feels like enjoying play station game in a real field scenario. Monstrous looking trucks like that of transformers could be the best part of the mining future. Though modernization is kicking up the production, the safety aspects of the working environment remains to be the same.

In the safety point of view, the technology can improve the monitoring standards in the mines. Technology can connect every point in the mine make it a 3D object to access and analyse the conditions in much simpler manner. It can increase the accuracy of the monitoring devices which makes them work efficiently while it may irk the personnels to maintain the standards at the precise levels.

Finally, to conclude with note, Digitization of the mining sector is essential for the growth of the economy and also for the safer working conditions.

Source: www.digitalindia.gov.in

In the process of creating monitoring systems. Wish me luck 

Mining Research Institutions in India

1. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

           CSIR is a premier industrial R&D organization in India which was formed in 1942. Apart from mining, they also work in the areas of radio and space physics, oceanography, geophysics, chemicals, drugs, genomics, biotechnology, nano technology, aeronautics, instrumentation, environmental engineering and information technology.

           The research areas in mining and minerals that are being focused in CSIR are:

• Briquetting, pelletization and sintering of iron ore fines  
• Column flotation methodologies for various minerals  
• Advanced structural material, electronic materials, nano materials, bio-medical materials 
• Light-weight metals, alloys, ceramics and composites  
• Extraction, material development and manufacturing  
• Biomimetic synthesis  
• Alloy development  
• Materials forming, joining and evaluation

           The head office of CSIR is located in Delhi.

2. Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR)
         
           CIMFR is coalition of two premier coal laboratories (CMRI & CFRI) and is basically a laboratory of CSIR. The research areas are mainly surrounded around coal and are as follows:

• Technology up-gradation
• Mines safety
• Environmental issues
• Equipment utilization
• Clean coal initiative 
• Optimizing slope stability in opencast mines
• Development of coal based value added carbons of varied specification
• Reduce dependence on petroleum feed stock through conversion of coal into synthetic fuel and other chemicals
• Continuation of the national task of resource quality assessment in alliance with coal producing industries
• Perfecting ground control technology for tunneling and underground caverns
• Societal mission
• Alternative energy sources

          CIMFR is located at five locations across the country which are situated at Digwadih, Ranchi, Nagpur, Bilaspur and Roorkee. 

3. Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT)

          IMMT is also a laboratory of CSIR which was setup in 1964 in Bhubaneswar. This research center is mainly focused towards the mineral processing, materials technology, hydro & electro metallurgy, process modelling & instrumentation, colloids & material chemistry, central characterization cell, design & project engineering and environment and sustainability . The research focuses in the field of mineral processing are:

• Evaluation of low grade ores and minerals to develop suitable flow sheets.
• Generation of design data for scale-up
• Development of innovative and new techniques for utilization of complex ores
• Development of processes to recover valuables from wastes and by-products
• Improving the performance of existing plants by suitable modification.
• Energy reduction in unit operation in mineral processing. 
• Environmental pollution studies related to mineral, metallurgical and chemical industries

4. National Institute of Rock Mechanics (NIRM)

           NIRM was established in 1988 under the Ministry of mines, Government of India situated in Bangalore and has been focused on rock engineering to design and development in the field of Mining and Civil construction industry. The main research focus are:

• Site characterization
• Design and Modelling
• Rock Excavation
• Monitoring Services
• Testing Services

5. National Institute of Miners Health (NIMH)

           NIMH was formed by the Ministry of Mines in the year 1989 in accordance to the Occupational Health and hygiene in Mines at Kolar Gold Fields and a new campus in Nagpur. The main focus areas are:

• Airborne respirable dust monitoring
• Heat Stress monitoring
• Vibrations monitoring
• Noise monitoring and mapping
• Illumination 

6. International Center of Excellence in Mining (iCEM)

          iCEM is a new institute has been setup to promote research in the field of safety and automation. The institute is in collaboration with the Government of Gujarat, University of Wollongong Australia, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University. The major research interests in global front are:

• Technology for mineral processing development
• Rock Mechanics
• Geomatics & Remote Sensing
• Geo-Environment
• Mine Planning & Design
• Surface Mining of Metalliferous Ore
• Safety & Human Factors
• Automation 
• Bulk material handling
• Mine backfilling

7. National Metallurgical laboratory (NML)

          NML is the third oldest laboratory under CSIR situated at Chennai which basically focuses on following areas:

• Mineral Processing
• Extractive Metallurgy
• Surface Engineering
• Applied & Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Engineering
• Materials Evaluation
• Energy and Environment

8. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)

         BARC was found by Dr. Homi Jhangir Bhabha with the help of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust in 1945. This research institution mainly focus on research related to nuclear engineering. The main focus area related to mining in BARC is the Environmental and Radiation monitoring in Uranium Mines.


Comment : I hope there are few more research institutes which I definitely missed. I would appreciate if anyone can elongate this list.

Mining Public Colleges in India

With the growing need for power generation and land  in India with an ever increasing population,it’s about time there are some smart decisions and research in these fields.Though the recent plans for smart sources of power generation i.e solar power are beginning to take place in large scale ,the immediate future of Indian power sector lies with Coal and coal alone.And it is time we take some really good decisions , due consideration to environmental and ecological balance, produce the required amounts of coal.The production targets for each company have been revised accordingly during the just completed fiscal year and it reflects the urgent need for an increase in power generation.

And education is one of the first steps we must look at,people talk about fancy office jobs,living in metropolitan cities ,mining and associate branches are overlooked easily.But with the growing energy needs all we can look up to is some positivity in the influx of student and research activities in these fields.With due consideration to these factors there are already some established institutes catering the needs and the necessary research facilities for mining related activities.

There are very few universities offering Mining Engineering course in India. The universities need scientific base near the university to establish Mining Engineering Department. The scientific base represents the mines surrounding the area. The states containing the major resources for mining are in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. All the universities offering Mining Engineering have been established in these states.

Government Universities offering B.E, B.Tech and M.Tech degree in Mining Engineering:

1. Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad
2. Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Kharagpur
3. Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi
4. National Institute of Technology(NIT), Suratkal
5. National Institute of Technology(NIT), Rourkela
6. National Institute of Technology(NIT), Raipur
7. National Institute of Technology(NIT), Jalandhar
8. Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology(VNIT), Nagpur
9. University of Petroleum and Energy Studies(UPES), Dehradun
10. Bengal Engineering and Science University(BESU), Shibpur
11. Government Engineering College, Bhuj
12. College of Technology and Engineering(CTAE), Udaipur
13. College of Engineering, Guindy
14. Birsa Institute of Technology(BIT), Sindri
15. Mugneeram Bangur Memorial(MBM), Jodhpur
16. Kothagudem School of Mines(KSM), Kothagudem
17. Golden Valley Institute of Technology, Kolar
18. Orissa School of Mining Engineering, Keonjhar.