The initiative builds on the SIMS project, which ran between 2017 and 2020 and played an important role in improving sustainable mining operations.
NEXGEN SIMS aims to develop autonomous, carbon-neutral mining processes supported by 5G connectivity
The plan for this latest iteration is for it to cover advances in smart mining and mineworker-of-the-future use cases, develop autonomous mine inspection technology to enhance personnel safety and boost productivity, cost-efficiency and sustainability.
Ericsson’s role in the program will be to provide its Dedicated Networks solution, which offers on-site connectivity. The company also plans to support the positioning for electric mining equipment, autonomous material handling, and cross-machine fleet control.
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has called for global greenhouse gas emissions to be halved by 2030, reaching net-zero before 2050,” Thomas Norén, head of Dedicated Networks at Ericsson, said in a media statement. “This goes across all sectors. Ericsson welcomes the opportunity to support dedicated projects to develop carbon-free mining processes to directly reduce operational emissions in the mining sector while creating a safer and more autonomous mining process.”
