Mining For Our Future

The mining industry is complex and technologically sophisticated, and industry professionals are constantly innovating and improving equipment seeking to limit their environmental footprint while increasing safety. Take Caterpillar’s 372-tonne Cat 798 AC mining truck, with Cat MineStar technology. The... Read More

Innovation isn’t just about improving the current process; sometimes it’s about rethinking ‘waste’ and making it useful again. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have been working with Talon Metals on a new process to dramatically increase the number of electric... Read More

As we search for sources of critical minerals available within the U.S., some are looking at coal in a new light. Randall Atkins, chairman and CEO of Ramaco Resources, discovered that coal at the company’s Brook Mine in Wyoming contained a rich source of rare earth elements. The company worked in collaboration... Read More

The keys to efficient operations are processes that maximize mining productivity with as little downtime as possible. Martin Engineering designs equipment solutions that significantly improve safety and reduce maintenance for a lower cost of operation. Conveyors are complex networks that move large... Read More

U.S. mining is using the world’s most advanced technologies and innovations every day, making mining safer than ever before through the use of artificial intelligence, drones and remote operated machinery. One of the leading technologies in use today is known as a Collision Avoidance System (CAS). Wabtec... Read More

World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. This year, they recognized First Mode’s proof-of-concept hybrid hydrogen and battery powerplant, which replaced... Read More

The complete remaking of our transportation system and arrival of electric vehicles (EVs) onto the roads in large numbers requires the building blocks to make those cars – building blocks like lithium. That’s why we need to support mining and processing lithium here in the U.S., and there are efforts... Read More

There’s growing concern around the battery supply chain, and for good reason: the minerals that are fundamental to batteries are in astronomically growing demand with few existing domestic producers despite robust resources. That’s why efforts have been put forward to not only mine more minerals domestically,... Read More

Sometimes, innovation isn’t about the product, but the process. Supply chains are a critical foundation of our economy and national security, and that’s why we need to find ways to secure our supply chains here at home. The White House is looking for ways to shift supply chains here to the U.S., particularly... Read More

Carbon capture is a necessary innovation for our climate goals. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, said, “Investment in carbon capture, utilisation & storage (CCUS) will be critical to ensure that the young global coal fleet is in line with climate targets.” That’s... Read More

Being the first takes a pioneering spirit, and Florence Copper’s method of mining for copper highlights innovation in-action. Florence Copper is still awaiting its final permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but has plans to be a large-scale, commercial mining facility in Arizona that... Read More

The drive to best records is heavily prevalent, and miners are not immune. That’s why Eagle Mine teamed up with Porsche to set a new Guinness World Record: greatest altitude change ever achieved by an electric car. While the lowest point in America is Badwater Basin in Death Valley, this record-setting... Read More

As our transportation sector includes a greater number of electric vehicles (EVs) on the roads, it’s important that we secure our supply chains to ensure we have the materials needed to make them. Nickel is a key component of EV batteries, and for good reason. Nickel in lithium-ion batteries gives a... Read More

Zero-emission mining is the future of mining, and Rio Tinto and Komatsu are at the front-end of mining innovation. Komatsu has been developing zero-emission haul trucks, and Rio Tinto will conduct a pre-production trial of the new equipment on site. “We know that addressing climate change effectively... Read More

Underground mining is complex and continues to be an early and strong adopter of sustainable mobile equipment solutions. Underground mining companies require solutions to help them navigate the challenges of managing safety, emissions, and cost as they continue to go deeper under the earth’s surface. To... Read More

It’s important to innovate and grow, and the mining industry is no outlier for growth. Modern mining depends on powerful innovations as much as any other industry, from the mine all the way through the machinery manufacturers. Cummins, a manufacturer of engines, filtration and power generation products,... Read More

Innovations are constantly being developed to make coal-fired power plants operate cleaner than ever before. Today’s coal-fueled power plants emit 90 percent fewer emissions than the typical plant from the 1970s. Ongoing advancements in high efficiency, low emission (HELE) coal technologies and carbon... Read More

Imagine a world where a computer could prevent your vehicle from colliding with another. In mining, this is a real development. Alliance Resource Partners subsidiary Matrix Design Group has developed a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to prevent collisions of mobile surface equipment, machines... Read More

Copper is essential to our future, and people have used it for a variety of purposes for hundreds of years. Copper has an inherent ability to kill a wide range of harmful microbes relatively rapidly and with a high degree of efficiency, making it especially useful in combating the spread of COVID-19. Freeport-McMoRan... Read More

Minerals and metals are essential to our modern medical world and are key to many of the medicinal innovations we see today, serving as the building blocks of the life-saving medical devices and medications that doctors and patients rely on every day. The antimicrobial and antiviral properties of minerals... Read More

CONSOL Energy recently announced an investment in the innovative coal-to-products market by acquiring a 25% equity interest in CFOAM Corp., a manufacturing company that uses coal to produce high-performance engineered materials from coal for the industrial, aerospace, military and commercial product... Read More

In June, NMA member company Standard Lithium began construction of its first-of-a-kind direct lithium extraction demonstration plant in El Dorado, AR.  The environmentally friendly extraction process significantly decreases processing time from months to hours, eliminates the need for evaporation ponds... Read More

Goldcorp and IBM Canada have pioneered the world’s first IBM Exploration with Watson platform to more accurately predict where geologists could find gold. Developed using data from Newmont Goldcorp's Red Lake Gold Mines in northern Ontario, the new technology helps miners locate key information and... Read More

Through work with Google Cloud and Canada-based tech solutions company Pythian, Teck, Canada’s largest diversified resource company with operations and projects in Canada, the United States, Chile and Peru, has introduced a machine learning system trained to identify maintenance issues in their haul... Read More

In mining, technology is an evolving and continuously improving process of applying new and better technologies and systems to solve problems. In many cases, technology has significantly enhanced mining. To recognize key safety milestones in technology, the NIOSH Mine Safety and Health Technology... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Mining Association (NMA), the U.S. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), will gather this week to honor outstanding... Read More

How do equipment suppliers prepare for the mining needs of the future? They build a mine all their own – a virtual mine. Caterpillar’s virtual mine site, run by advanced computer systems at its Mossville, Ill. site, operates 24 hours a day with 350 pieces of equipment working in a virtual area covering... Read More

What if you could produce a product essential to countless consumer items, without any greenhouse gas emissions at all? Those are the thought going through the minds of innovators at Rio Tinto, which has been active in the aluminum sector for more than 110 years. Rio Tinto, Alcoa and Apple are partnering... Read More

Underground mines are full of activity and keeping all the moving pieces in order is now easier with new digital developments from Barrick Gold. The company has developed new technologies to improve safety and productivity at its operations. Barrick’s Underground Short Interval Control System (UG... Read More

Freeport-McMoRan was recently recognized with an award from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for its innovative approach to monitoring mine operations. The word "drones," for some, may call to mind national defense or recreation, but Freeport-McMoRan has put them to... Read More

Barrick is undergoing an impressive digital transformation and leading the development of a cutting-edge Asset Health tool designed with mechanics and shop supervisors in mind. At Barrick, the days of running around trying to collect and verify data needed for maintenance work will soon be over. Through... Read More

Rio Tinto Kennecott, located 35 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the world’s most innovative mining operations. It comprises the Bingham Canyon Mine, Copperton Concentrator, Garfield Smelter, refinery and power plant. The business produces copper, molybdenum, gold, silver and sulphuric... Read More

Often cited as a global mining equipment giant, Caterpillar Inc. has expanded its reach and is teaming up with NASA to create revolutionary housing solutions for Earth and beyond. “NASA is closer to sending American astronauts to Mars than at any point in our history,” said former NASA Administrator... Read More

Innovation isn’t limited to the technologies minerals and metals help create; it’s also a large part of the changing methods mining companies use to secure these raw materials. A perfect example is from copper giant Rio Tinto, who plans to deploy tens of thousands of electronic sensors to help operate... Read More

At last year’s MINExpo® INTERNATIONAL, Hitachi Construction Machinery showcased everything from autonomous haulage systems to new trolley truck technology to electric powered hydraulic mining excavators -- all designed to meet increasing customer demand for solutions that lower operating costs and ultimately... Read More

Copper is essential to the way we live. It brings clean water, efficient energy transmission and it is a known antimicrobial that can help eliminate the spread of harmful viruses and bacteria. It is a crucial mineral in energy-efficient transportation, infrastructure and industry.  It is one of the most... Read More

The building blocks of innovation and the lifeblood of manufacturing, minerals have long been used in high-tech products and heavy equipment. Now leading U.S. manufacturers are also using minerals in additive manufacturing, also known as 3-D printing. The process that transforms minerals into components... Read More

Answering the industry’s dual calls for reduced costs and more environmentally-friendly solutions, Joy Global recently introduced its new KESS unit, or Kinetic Energy Storage System, that pairs with its proven Joy SR (Switched Reluctance) Hybrid Drive motors. Officially debuted at MINExpo® 2016, the... Read More

What most people don’t know is that many of the consumer products they use and the materials necessary for our transportation, energy and communications systems, rely on rare, hard to find minerals whose names may be totally foreign to them. Rarely will you hear the everyday consumer praising scandium,... Read More

Thunder Basin Coal Company, a wholly-subsidiary of Arch Resources, operates two surface mines in the Powder River Basin. Black Thunder mine is the larger of the two operations and one of the largest single coal mining complexes. Black Thunder measures its success by its ability to meet the nation’s energy... Read More

In 2009, Congress proclaimed Dec. 6 as National Miners Day to celebrate the historic contributions America's miners have made to our country. It is no exaggeration to say that the coal, iron ore, copper and scores of other minerals and metals mined from Appalachia to the coastal West have provided the... Read More