Author:
Name & Surname: Trubetskoy K. N.
Company: Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia)
Work Position: Councillor
Scientific Degree: Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Contacts: +7 (495) 360-89-60

As mining industry enjoys growth and development, the science research in the area of subsoil use faces transformation of the subject and contents. Initially, the research was applied and aimed to offer support in dealing with current issues in mining. Expansion of mining industry and increasingly deeper level mining gave birth to exceedingly complicated phenomena (induced earthquakes and rock bursts, shearing, collapse of underground voids and the associated surface subsidence and sinking, water inrush in mines, etc.). The applied science appeared to be unprepared to develop countermeasures (not to speak of prevention) due to limited research instruments. It was necessary to shake-up mining science and impregnate it with knowledge and approaches from other faculties such as geology, physics, chemistry, mechanics, gas dynamics, etc. The philosophy of mining science has changed as well: from simple use to hunting of methods for reproduction of mineral wealth. Eventually, at the outcome of the 20th century, mining science had set as an independent area of intellectual activity in the form of the system of knowledge on mechanisms and methods of subsoil development as a resource of life support for sustainable evolution of mankind. There are several lines of development for mining industry in Russia. This article focuses on two lines needing special scientific supervision. The first line is improvement of geotechnology in the framework of efficient subsoil development. Here, considerable profit is achievable through expansion of application range of the open pit mining method, which remains the general line of development of mining industry in Russia in the century that has come. In the newly approached mineral provinces, the open pit mining method allows rapid increment of mine production. The open pit mining method stands the leading ground in the customary mineral extraction areas. Under planning there are open pit mines with the ultimate depth down to 1000 m, which is two-three times beyond the previous scope of reasonable depth of an open pit. This has become possible owing to geomechanical validation of highwall stability in super deep open pit mines and employment of high-angle conveyors and heavy duty machinery. The open pit mining method will be used to treat enormous accumulation of mining waste from the past years (the so-called technogenic deposits), where content of valuable components is often higher than in the newly developed natural deposits. As for the underground mining, propitious prospects to enhance this method efficiency are offered by the validated potential to place mining waste in underground mined-out voids. The second development line for the mining industry in Russia is the improvement of mining and transport machinery control. VIST Group, Russia, has elaborated Karier Project for placing open pit mining machinery under remote control at the initial stage of mining and under overall automated control at the final operation stage.

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