EU illuMINEation project to tap potential of digital mines

The € 8.9 million Horizon 2020 project “illuMINEation” is set to kick-off in September with a vision to tap the full potential a “digital mine” offers by embedding digital thinking into the heart of the mining business, by improving digital skills of mining personnel and by enhancing cooperation along the entire digital mining value chain.

Europe needs to reduce its import dependency in respect to a multitude of raw materials. To do so, Europe’s mining industry must completely redesign the process of traditional mining via the adoption of pioneering innovations, accompanied by extensive use of data analytics and new types of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

Under the coordination of the Montanuniversitaet Leoben in Austria, the EU-funded illuMINEation project will highlight significant aspects of digitalisation in underground mining activities with the core objective of improving the efficiency as well as health and safety of European mining operations and its personnel.

The project aims to establish a robust multi-level distributed IIoT platform including cloud/edge computing and distributed data- management, with data sourced from large sensor networks. Advanced user interfaces, dashboards and AR/VR applications will allow for an optimised information flow.

A rigorous cyber security approach will ensure that all data is properly protected.

Via digitization of important mining aspects, such as the mineral
deposit, rock mass stability, equipment condition monitoring,
safety of mining personnel as well as the working and mining
environment, the illuMINEation project addresses the three
key factors that influence the sustainability and profitability of
mining operations: Occupational Health & Safety performance
(incl. health & safety aspects of the nearby community), environmental impacts and efficient resource extraction.

The multidisciplinary project consortium consists of 19 partners from six European countries.  Learn more here.