Science and Technology Daily:

The number of smart mines in China continues to increase, and the enthusiasm of enterprises to research, develop and construct smart mines is growing. What is your take on the development of smart mines from the perspective of production safety? What measures has the MEM taken to promote their development, and how effective are they?

Huang Jinsheng:

Upgrading mines with smart technologies is a vital measure to better coordinate development and safety as it helps increase production safety and productivity in mines. It is also required for the safe and high-quality development of mines. The MEM and the National Mine Safety Administration attach great importance to the construction of smart mines and have taken the following measures: 

First, we have advanced the top-level design. We coordinated with other related departments to publish documents, including Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Smart Coal Mines, Guidelines for the Robotics Industry for the 14th Five-Year Plan Period (2021-2025), the Guide to Construction of Intelligent Coal Mines and the Notice on Developing the First Batch of Demonstrative Smart Coal Mines.  

Second, we have been improving the standards system. The key research and development catalog of coal mine robots has been published to promote 38 kinds of coal mine robots in five categories. The specification for smart mine data fusion and sharing has been compiled to regulate data collection, transmission, fusion and sharing for smart mine construction. Adhering to a demand-led approach and prioritizing what is urgently needed, we guided related parties to formulate three national standards, 25 industrial standards, and 70 association standards.

Third, more support has been provided through policies and funds. The MEM worked with the Ministry of Finance to include the promotion and application of smart mining equipment and robots within the scope of funding for safe mining production. We coordinated with the Ministry of Science and Technology to support approving the mining robot project within the national key research and development schemes. We joined the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to designate the mining robot as part of the "Robot+" application initiative.  

Fourth, we are leveraging the demonstrative role of specific initiatives. The MEM supported the construction of a batch of demonstration mines by levels and categories. We also published the first batch of 20 application scenarios for mine robots in areas such as smart tunneling and inspection.

Thanks to the collective efforts of all parties, over 1,300 coalfaces nationwide have adopted smart excavation technologies. Additionally, 694 coal mines contain coalfaces incorporating smart technologies, boosting annual production capacity by 2.1 billion tons. Total investment in smart development is approximately 200 billion yuan, with more than 100 billion yuan already invested. On-site, we have deployed 31 types of mining robots, amounting to 1,000 sets. About 300 self-driving vehicles in open mines have been tested in over 30 open mines. Moreover, 228 non-coal mines have adopted smart technologies across areas including crushing, transportation, water supply and drainage, online monitoring and assessment. The death rate per million tons in smart coal mines stands at 0.024, which is less than 50% of the average level.

In the next step, in accordance with the arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, we will work to reduce manpower and aim for unmanned operations, with a primary focus on integrating digital technologies into coal mining. By advancing smart development, we aspire to transform coal mining to be carried out on the surface, indoors, and flatlands, and with fewer personnel. This approach will accelerate the adoption of smart development in coal mines prone to severe disasters across different regions and further improve the inherent safety of coal mines.