The New 49ers

郑怡雯

China tries to improve coal mine safety with 5G “smart” technology

5G智能采礦能否为矿工安全保驾护航？

Day and night， trucks loaded with coal rumble down the dusty road in the desert county of Shenmu， north Shaanxi province， departing from a coal mine studded with gleaming new office blocks.

Wang Xiaopeng， a deputy captain of No. 1 Mining Team of the Xiaobaodang Coal Mine， has just finished a night shift 400 meters underground. Wearing a work uniform coated with heavy coal dust， he opens up a remote-control app on his explosion-proof mobile phone and presses a button. In less than five minutes， a carrier vehicle descends and takes him back up to sunlight and fresh air.

Wang， who has been a coal miner for 11 years， is enthusiastic about his new commute. “Miners used to huddle together and wait for the transport， exhausted， and enduring endless waiting times，” he tells TWOC. “These changes are allowing us to leave behind the dark and dangerous conditions underground.”

Meanwhile， in the Sanshan Island Gold Mine of Laizhou， Shandong province， drill rig operator Teng Shuguang no longer has to work underground at all. In 2020， the mine installed a 5G remote-controlled rock drilling system. Teng can now sit in front of several screens in an air-conditioned room， using a few joysticks and buttons to operate the drill.

Automation removes the very real dangers of working in mines. On January 10， a shaft in a Shandong gold mine collapsed after an explosion， trapping 22 miners underground. Local officials in Yantai waited nearly 30 hours before notifying the provincial authorities， hampering rescue efforts. It took two weeks before 11 of the miners could be pulled out—the rest lost their lives.

As the worlds leading producer of coal and gold， along with most of its rare earth minerals， China is no stranger to mine disasters. The industry has the reputation of being one of the countrys most hazardous. Mine tunnels are dark， hot， dusty， and cramped， with enormous air pressure underground. Any spark can trigger a gas explosion or fire， collapsing the mine and trapping everyone in it below ground. Miners breathe polluted air and poisonous gases for long hours， and develop long-term health problems like “black lung，” a fatal hardening of lungs caused by coal-dust inhalation.

Conditions are even worse in one of the millions of illegal mines in China. Aging equipment， poor safety precautions， and low pay are routine. Bosses prefer to pay hush money to miners families rather than report deaths and accidents to the authorities. The uncertainty of life underground creates superstitions： In some areas， a woman cannot go down a mine shaft， as its believed she would bring bad luck through her negative “yin energy.”

“The production time has been reduced by one-third， and the number of workers in one team has been reduced from fifteen to six. One less person working underground means reducing the risk of accidents，” Wang tells TWOC. But while staffing requirements have lessened， output has risen： In the past， Wang estimates， it took about 2，000 workers to produce 4 to 5 million tons of coal per year， but Xiaobaodang can produce 21 million tons per year with just 1，354 workers.

Intelligent systems not only improve the efficiency of coal extraction， but can also mitigate the environmental effects of mining. Xiaobaodang has installed an ecological protection system with the aim of helping the mine conserve energy and reduce harmful gas emissions.

Years of resource extraction has caused drastic soil and water loss in the area around the mine， making it one of the worst-hit environments along the Yellow River. Xiaobaodangs computers apply a range of extraction methods and closely monitor leaks and underground fissures that result. Based on these experiments， experts have formulated standards—the first of their kind in China—about how to mine under different geological conditions， including different thicknesses of earth and rock， to prevent groundwater leaks and soil erosion.

Wang Shibin， the deputy general manager of the state-owned Shaanxi Coal Group， estimates that by the end of 2022 all mining by the company will incorporate AI technology， with more than 50 percent of coal mines turned into fully automated “smart mines.”

But not all experts are as optimistic. “There is still a big gap before we can achieve intelligent and fully-automated production，” a chief engineer of a coal mine in Shaanxi， who wished to remain anonymous， tells TWOC. “So far， intelligent mining is more theoretical than actual. The authorities get a lot of attention for stating ambitious goals， but our current technology cannot support these goals.”

According to Liu Feng， vice-chairman of the China National Coal Association， out of Chinas 5，000 legal coal mines， 200 have installed intelligent mining platforms and automatic equipment.

However， according to the anonymous engineer， “there are around 3 million privately owned coal mines which were not counted in that list.” The main culprits behind mine accidents are “private bosses who only care about high profits and neglect safety and environment protection，” he says. This means industry fragmentation—with many small， independent mining companies operating in the same area—and local government nepotism are the forces now posing challenges to enforcing better standards and smart technology targets.

The cost of installing smart mining technology is another deterrent， especially among smaller coal companies wary of hurting their margins. According to public records， the Shaanxi Coal Group has invested around 15.1 billion RMB to Xiaobaodangs smart mining projects， and planned in 2018 to invest 500 million RMB to build the Sanshandao Gold Mine into a world-class demonstration smart-mining site in three years.

There is still a lack of the skilled workers to operate the new technology. “There are fewer and fewer workers willing to work in coal mines because of the tough conditions， so both unskilled and experienced workers are still scarce，” the engineer says. “We need a large amount of technical staff and we need to help traditional workers constantly improve their skills.”

Mines could gradually solve this problem through training programs. Tengs job as a remote drill-operator required him to learn advanced vocational skills. “I never imagined that， with this technology， I could leave behind heavy manual labor and health risks，” he says—just another miner whos swapped overalls and coal dust for a suit and tie.