Sustainable and Responsible Development of Minerals, Safety-Driven Mining Operations, Digital Mining, Critical Minerals

Dear Colleagues,

Mining operations globally are occurring at increasing depths of cover and in weak-roof and/or high-stress environments. Gas, spontaneous combustion, fires, and dust problems are becoming predominant in coal mines, particularly. Historically strata failure has been a cause of numerous injuries and fatalities in coal and hard-rock mines whereas gas bursts, spontaneous combustion, fire and dust-related threats to personal health are additional core risks in coal mines. As such, safety-driven mining operations are essential in all mining operations in order to provide a safe working environment for the underground crew; hence, any research related to ground control, gas and dust control as well as DPM control would be appreciated in this Special Issue.

In addition, owing to the rapid development of various advanced technologies, mining-related databases have become massive and unmanageable using conventional methods. Data science and artificial intelligence provide the best alternative approaches to accommodate the big data and hence digitalise the mining process. They could also aid in the embedding of cutting-edge technologies into the mining operations. As such, this Special Issue aims to appreciate the state-of-art digital technologies and artificial intelligence techniques applied in mining operations.

Lastly, decarbonization and net-zero emissions have become a common goal for almost all countries. At this very initial stage, the conceptual system design, technology development for energy transition, feasibility studies, and economic viability of the critical minerals as substitutes are essential to support such a global commitment. This Special Issue is aimed at attracting thought-leaders in these areas to develop the pathways for sustainable mining in the future.

Dr. Danqi Li 
Dr. Ping Chang
Dr. Saisai Wu
Dr. Jianhang Chen
Guest Editors

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