Development of Surface Mining 4.0 in Terms of Technological Shock in Energy Transition: A Review

Abstract

The expansion of end-to-end Industry 4.0 technologies in various industries has caused a technological shock in the mineral resource sector, wherein itsdigital maturity is lower than in the manufacturing sector. As a result of the shock, the productivity and profitability of raw materials extraction has begun to lag behind the industries of its deep processing, which, in the conditions of volatile raw materials markets, can provoke sectoral crises. The diffusion of Industry 4.0 technologies in the mining sector (Mining 4.0) can prevent a technological shock if they are implemented in all segments, including quarrying (Surface Mining 4.0). The Surface Mining 4.0 technological platform would connect the advanced achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (end-to-end digital artificial intelligence technologies, cyber-physical systems and unmanned production with traditional geotechnology) without canceling them, but instead bringing them to a new level of productivity, resource consumption, and environmental friendliness. In the future, the development of Surface Mining 4.0 will provide a response to the technological shock associated with the acceleration of the digital modernization of the mining sector and the increase in labor productivity, which are reducing the operating costs of raw materials extraction. In this regard, the given review is an attempt to analyze the surface mining digital transformation over the course of the diffusion of Industry 4.0 technologies covered in scientific publications. The authors tried to show the core and frontiers of Surface Mining 4.0 development to determine the production, economic, and social effect of replacing humans with digital and cyber-physical systems in the processes of mineral extraction. Particular attention was paid to the review of research on the role of Surface Mining 4.0 in achieving sustainable development goals.

Economic and Technological Advances of Green Energy and Sustainable Development: The Overview

“…The article by S. Zhironkin and E. Taran [13] considers the diffusion of the end-to-end technologies of Industry 4.0 in the sector of fossil energy production in the context of shocks and fluctuations in the mineral resource market that accompanies the energy transition. The authors identified the main domain areas of Surface Mining 4.0: neural networks and artificial intelligence, Big Data and cloud computing, Internet of Things, digital twins, blockchain, machine vision and learning (including unmanned equipment), smart sensors, drones, and 3D visualization.…”