We report Multi-Collector-ICP-MS analyses of Pb isotopes for hydrothermal deposits in ophiolitic units of the Western Alps (hereafter, WA) and Northern Apennine (hereafter, NA). The deposits include (i) volcanogenic massive sulphides formed on the seafloor of the Mesozoic Piemonte-Liguria ocean, which were subjected to subduction-(blueschist to eclogite facies) and collision-related (greenschist facies) metamorphism during the Alpine orogenesis (WA) or escaped Alpine metamorphism (NA), and (ii) post-collision veins cutting the metamorphic oceanic units. The unmetamorphosed sulphides have a MORB-like Pb isotope signature. Sulphides that re-crystallised under eclogitic conditions incorporated an old continental Pb component, which was released from gangue minerals or neighbouring sediments by dehydration reactions at the blueschist-eclogite transition. Our data suggest a limited mobility of sulphide-hosted metals in the subducted oceanic crust up to eclogite-facies conditions. Sulphides in the blueschist-facies and, possibly, eclogite-facies units incorporated further continental Pb derived from oceanic metasedimentary host-rocks containing a continent-sourced terrigenous component during subsequent greenschist-facies metamorphism. Some of the post-collision veins show isotopic similarity with the massive sulphides contained in the same ophiolitic units, suggesting derivation of metals from similar sources (i.e., ophiolites and/or associated metasediments). In the Saint-Véran syn-metamorphic vein deposit, a complex Pb isotope pattern suggests mixing of fluids derived from local retrogressed blueschist-facies rocks with farther-travelled fluids discharged by or reacted with deeper, eclogitic units.

<p>ROBOMINERS (Bio-Inspired, Modular and Reconfigurable Robot Miners, Grant Agreement No. 820971, http://www.robominers.eu) is a European project funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme. The project aims to test and demonstrate new mining and sensing technologies on a small robot-miner prototype (~1-2T) designed to target unconventional and uneconomical mineral deposits (technology readiness level 4 to 5) (Lopez and al. 2020).</p> <p>As part of the ROBOMINERS sensor array development, a set of mineralogical and geophysical sensors are designed to provide the necessary data to achieve a “selective mining” ability of the miner to reduce mining waste production and increase productivity of a small mining machine. To achieve this, the robot should have the ability to react and adapt in real time to geological changes as it progresses through a mineralized body. This study focuses on a set of compact sensors designed for ultrahigh-resilience and continuous operation in high pressure/vibrations/temperature environment. They are based on reflectance/fluorescence measurements in the visible/near infrared range, using a broadband light source (tungsten-halogen lamps) in reflectance mode and 365nm UV LED in fluorescence mode. </p> <p>The ROBOMINERS reflectance/fluorescence spectrometer “Mk1” was developed in collaboration with Taltech University. The spectrometer is built around a monolithic spectrometer (Hamamatsu C12800MA and a wifi capable microcontroller (Arduino RP2040 Connect).. As the ROBOMINERS prototype will be operated by ROS2 (Robotic Operating System v2 - https://www.ros.org/ ), we decided to implement a Micro-ROS publisher on the microcontroller.</p> <p>The first field trials of the sensor have been carried out in the entrance of abandoned mine (baryte and lead mine, Ave-et-Auffe, Belgium), with the sensor integrated directly in the propulsion mechanism of the “RM3”’ ROBOMINERS prototype. This test allowed to demonstrate the immunity of the sensors to  to shocks, water and dust with no measurable de-calibration of the spectrometer.</p> <p><strong>References.</strong></p> <p>Lopes, B. Bodo, C. Rossi, S. Henley, G. Žibret, A. Kot-Niewiadomska, V. Correia, Advances in Geosciences, Volume 54, 2020, 99–108</p> <p> </p> <p> </p>

<p>ROBOMINERS is developing an innovative approach for the exploitation of currently non-feasible mineral deposits. The approach entails the use of a robot-miner - a bio-inspired reconfigurable robot with a modular nature - in a new mining setting where the activities are nearly invisible and where mining presents less socio-environmental constraints, thus contributing to a more safe and sustainable supply of mineral raw materials.</p><p>The main aim is to design and develop a robotic prototype that is able to perform mining related tasks in settings including both abandoned, currently flooded mines not accessible anymore for conventional mining techniques; or places that have formerly been explored, but whose exploitation was considered as uneconomic due to the small-size of deposits, or their difficulty to access.</p><p>ROBOMINERS’ innovative approach combines the creation of a new mining ecosystem with novel ideas from other sectors, particularly robotics. At this point, work has been done to understand the best methods for the robotminer’s development in 1) biological inspiration, 2) perception and localisation tools, 3) behaviour, navigation and control, 4) actuation methods, 5) modularity, 6)autonomy and resilience, and 7) the selective mining ability. All these aspects combined aim to provide the robotminer XXI Century tools for mineral exploration and exploitation of (currently) unfeasible deposits.</p><p>At the same time, for the vision of a new vision of a mining ecosystem, work is involving studies on 1) developing computer models and simulations, 2) data management and visualisation, 3) rock-mechanical and geotechnical characterisation studies, 4) analysing ground/rock support methods, bulk transportation methods, backfilling types and methods, and 5) sketching relevant upstream and downstream mining industry analogues for the ROBOMINERS concept.  </p><p>After design and development, based on the previously mentioned studies, the robot-miner is set to be tested at targeted areas representatives which include abandoned and/or operating mines, small but high-grade mineral deposits, unexplored/explored non-economic occurrences and ultra depth, not  easily accessible environments. Possible candidates for testing purposes include mines in the regions of Cornwall (UK), mines in the Kupferschiefer Formation (e.g. Poland) or coal mines in Belgium.</p><p>When compared to usual mining methods the ROBOMINERS approach shows: 1) no presence of people in the mine, 2) less mining waste produced, 3) less mining infrastructure, 4) less investment, 5) possibility to explore currently uneconomic resources and 6) new underground small-sized mines, practically “invisible”. Altogether, ROBOMINERS can contribute to solve some of the main issues that make mining’s social license to operate so difficult to get in Europe: land-use, environmental limitations, and socio-economic aspects.</p>

<p>The Horizon 2020 ROBOMINERS project (Grant No. 820971), is developing concepts and prototypes for a bio-inspired, modular and reconfigurable robot-miner for small and difficult to access deposits. This covers both underexplored or currently flooded mines not accessible anymore for conventional mining techniques; or places that have formerly been explored, but whose exploitation was considered non-economic due to the small size of the mineralization or its accessibility.</p><p>As part of the sensors payload of the miner, a modular segment of the robot will contain sophisticated geochemical/mineralogical sensors capable of characterising the slurry produced by the drilling process in real-time and interpreting the data as mining diagnostics and navigation parameters for the progression of the miner. This segment will perform in-stream analyses of the drilling slurry using sampling inlet-outlet ports. The sensing techniques currently considered for this segment are LIBS (Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy), EDXRF (Energy dispersive X-Ray fluorescence), LINF (Laser-induced native fluorescence), Terahertz imagery and time-resolved Raman.</p><p>This study presents the first laboratory-scale prototype of this segment, and tests on slurry analogues (bentonite/baryte/salt mixtures of sphalerite ore) with a high-repetition LIBS analyser (1064nm 20 KHz laser, 200-850nm spectrometer, co-axial light collection). As a proof of concept for high-pressure operation, the plasma sparks are created inside the opaque liquid medium using a synchronized argon gas dispenser in front of the laser window. This innovative setup was successfully tested in this study under a pressure range of 1 to 10 bar and a superficial gas velocity range of 50 to 100 mm/s. The next steps in the study is to increase the slurry pressure to simulate deep borehole operation and couple LIBS with a complementary analyser like EDXRF.</p>

<p>The Horizon 2020 ROBOMINERS project (Grant No. 820971) studies the development of an innovative technology for the exploitation of small and difficult to access mineral deposits. A bio-inspired reconfigurable robot with a modular nature will be the target of the research efforts. The goal is to develop a prototype that will be able to mine under different conditions, such as underground, underwater or above water. ROBOMINERS’ innovative approach combines the creation of a new mining ecosystem with novel ideas from other sectors, particularly robotics. This covers both abandoned, currently flooded mines not accessible anymore for conventional mining techniques; or places that have formerly been explored, but whose exploitation was considered as uneconomic due to the small-size of deposits, or their difficulty to access. </p><p>The ROBOMINERS concept follows a 5-step approach: 1) Robot parts (modules) are sent underground via a borehole; 2) Self-assemble to form a fully functional robot; 3) Robot detects the ore deposit via sensing devices; 4) Using ad-hoc production devices, it produces slurry that is pumped out; 5) Ability to re-configure on-the-job. </p><p>Specifics include: 1) Construction of a fully functional modular robot miner prototype following a bioinspired design, capable of operating, navigating and performing selective mining; 2) Designing a mining ecosystem of expected future upstream/downstream raw materials processes via simulations, modelling and virtual prototyping; 3) Validation of all key functions of the robot-miner to a "Technology Readiness Level" of TRL4; and  4) To use the prototypes to study and advance future research challenges concerning scalability, resilience, re-configurability, self-repair, collective behavior, operation in harsh environments, selective mining, production methods, as well as for the necessary converging technologies on an overall mining ecosystem level. These specific goals will deliver a new mining concept, proven in laboratory conditions, capable of changing the scenario of mineral exploitation.</p><p>Powered by a water hydraulic drivetrain and artificial muscles, the robot will have high power density and environmentally safe operation. Situational awareness and sensing will be  provided by novel body sensors, such as artificial whiskers that will merge data in real-time with real-time production mineralogy  sensors that, together with specific production tools, will enable selective mining, optimising the rate of production and selection between different production methods. The produced mineral concentrate slurry is pumped to the surface, where it will be processed. The waste slurry could then be returned to the mine where it will backfill mined-out areas.</p><p>ROBOMINERS will deliver proof of concept for the feasibility of this technology line, which can enable the EU to have access to mineral raw materials from otherwise inaccessible or uneconomic domestic sources, decreasing European dependency on imports from third-party sources, as envisaged by the raw materials policy. Laboratory experiments will confirm the Miner’s key functions, such as modularity, configurability, selective mining ability, and resilience under a range of operating scenarios. The Prototype Miner will then be used to study and advance future research challenges concerning scalability, swarming behaviour and operation in harsh environments.</p>