Despite technological advancements in mining, Chile lacks comprehensive risk management models for tailings storage facilities (TSFs), which hinders the prevention and mitigation of structural and environmental risks. This study aims to develop an integrated risk management model for TSFs in Chile, combining geological and mining engineering with an updated regulatory framework to enhance safety and reduce environmental impacts. The research adopts a mixed-methods approach. Qualitatively, it draws on 10 semi-structured interviews with engineers, geologists, academics, and professionals from the Chilean mining industry, selected through purposive sampling, to explore how and why the current risk management model should be improved. Quantitatively, it analyzes data from 303 surveys assessing the existing regulatory framework, a proposed new regulatory decree for Chile, and key variables to be considered in TSF risk management. The results present a new model that integrates geochemical and geotechnical characterization, process variables, in situ sensors, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence to generate dynamic risk indicators and early warning systems throughout the life cycle of the facility, including closure and liability valuation. Its multiscale design, adaptable to seismic and hydrogeological conditions and suitable for small- and medium-scale mining, overcomes existing static and fragmented approaches, enabling more effective decision-making with a focus on environmental and community safety. The study concludes that the model provides a robust and coherent tool for TSF risk management by integrating technical expertise, the current regulatory framework, and the management of key variables that enhance the ability to anticipate and mitigate structural and environmental risks.

Reliable detection of defects in steel wire ropes is pivotal to ensuring safety and maintaining operational reliability of hoisting and lifting systems in mining and other industries. This study proposes an automated monitoring method based on analyzing the cross-sectional size profile extracted from high-quality visual images. Each image undergoes preprocessing—adaptive binarization, noise suppression, and edge extraction—followed by formation of a one-dimensional thickness profile along the rope’s longitudinal axis. Aggregate statistical descriptors (mean, standard deviation, extrema, and shape descriptors) computed from this profile are supplied to a CatBoost gradient boosting classifier. The model achieves an F1-score exceeding 0.93 across diagnostic categories (intact, bend, kink, break), with particularly high accuracy for critical damage such as wire breaks. Compared with conventional image CNN classifiers, the proposed approach offers higher interpretability, lower computational complexity, and robustness to noise and visual artifacts. The results substantiate the method’s efficacy for real-time automated condition monitoring of mining equipment and its suitability for integration into industrial machine-vision systems. The results substantiate the method’s efficacy for real-time automated condition monitoring of mining equipment and its suitability for integration into industrial machine-vision systems.

Drillstring vibrations are detrimental to drill bits and downhole equipment, affecting drilling efficiency and operational cost in severe drillstring vibration cases. The complex behavior of drillstring vibration, including axial–torsional–lateral coupling and interactions among external forces, necessitated laboratory experiments to address challenges observed in the field. This review paper aims to provide practical insights into essential design considerations that support the effective development of laboratory-scale drillstring experiments. This study analyzes previous work on design methodologies, experimental configurations, measurement techniques, and downhole dynamic simulations. The comparative analysis, highlighting the key similarities and physical design novelties across different experiments, identifies that instrumentation limitations and incoherent downscaling approaches were among the primary setbacks from achieving realistic downscaled experimental models. Fewer studies have examined the interaction between flowing fluids and the drillstring to simulate realistic drilling operations. The study identifies unified experimental configurations across works that simulate similar drilling and vibration dynamics. A comprehensive summary of the foundational knowledge for research-objective-based design suggestions is presented to guide future laboratory-scale drilling vibration experimental design and innovation.

The determination of the elemental composition of minerals at mining enterprises is important at all stages of mineral processing. An evaluation of metrological characteristics achieved through the online analysis of lump, ore, charge feed, cake and slag materials on a conveyor belt is presented. Each implementation of the online XRF analysis at mining enterprises was preceded by laboratory studies, the development of measurement methods and the calibration of a specific XRF analyzer using standard reference samples for a specific concentration range of the monitored elements. In this work, typical application areas for monitoring the concentration of elements in rocks on conveyor belts are presented, as well as those solutions that made it possible to achieve the required measurement accuracy with an X-ray fluorescence analyzer in an online mode.

Fires in underground mines pose significant risks to worker safety. In this study, a digital twin of an underground mine was created, and the heat, gas distribution, and airflow dynamics were investigated during and after the fire using computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) methods at three different locations. While traditional methods did not indicate any problems, the results from the CFDs analyses revealed some important findings. One of the key findings of the study was the change in airflow direction caused by the changing thermodynamic conditions caused by the fire. The digital twin allows us to demonstrate how a fire at any point within the mine can affect the entire mine under these changing thermodynamic conditions. The digital twin enables the real-time monitoring of underground events. Additionally, it facilitates strategic planning to anticipate potential incidents during a fire in an underground mine, allowing for necessary precautions to be implemented.

The mining industry faces the critical challenge of balancing economic profitability with environmental responsibility. Traditional mine planning models often prioritise financial gains, particularly Net Present Value (NPV), while placing less emphasis on environmental impacts, such as carbon emissions. This research presents a comprehensive multi-objective optimisation model for production scheduling in sublevel stoping operations. The model simultaneously aims to maximise NPV and minimise carbon emissions, providing a more sustainable framework for decision-making. The carbon emission objective comprehensively accounts for energy consumption across all key mining activities, including drilling, blasting, ventilation, transportation, crushing, and backfilling, using a “top-down” accounting method. The multi-objective problem is solved using the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), which generates a set of Pareto-optimal solutions representing the trade-off between the two conflicting goals. The model is applied to a conceptual copper deposit with 200 stopes. The results demonstrate a clear trade-off: schedules with higher NPV inevitably lead to higher carbon emissions, and vice versa. For instance, one solution yields a high NPV of $312.94 million but with 23,602 tonnes of CO2 emissions. In contrast, another, more environmentally friendly solution reduces emissions by 26.5% to 18,647 tonnes, resulting in only a 1.21% reduction in NPV. This research concludes that integrating environmental objectives into mine planning is not only feasible but essential for promoting sustainable mining practices, offering a practical tool for operators to make informed, balanced decisions.

Underground pumped hydro storage (UPHS) in solution-mined salt caverns offers a promising approach to address the intermittency of renewable energy in flat geological regions such as Southern Ontario, Canada. This work presents the first fully coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) numerical model of a two-cavern UPHS system in Southern Ontario, providing a foundational assessment of long-term cavern stability and brine leakage behavior under cyclic operation. The model captures the key interactions among deformation, leakage, and temperature effects governing cavern stability, evaluating cyclic brine injection–withdrawal at operating temperatures of 10 °C, 15 °C, and 20 °C over a five-year period. Results show that plastic deformation is constrained to localized zones at cavern–shale interfaces, with negligible risk of tensile failure. Creep deformation accelerates with temperature, yielding maximum strains of 2.6–3.2% and cumulative cavern closure of 1.8–2.6%, all within engineering safety thresholds. Leakage predominantly migrates through limestone interlayers, while shale contributes only local discharge pathways. Elevated temperature enhances leakage due to reduced brine viscosity, but cumulative volumes remain very low, confirming the sealing capacity of bedded salt. Overall, lower operating temperatures minimize both convergence and leakage, ensuring greater stability margins, indicating that UPHS operation should preferentially adopt lower brine temperatures to balance storage efficiency with long-term cavern stability. These findings highlight the feasibility of UPHS in Ontario’s salt formations and provide design guidance for balancing storage performance with geomechanical safety.

The concept of urban mining refers to the recovery and valorization of valuable resources from urban and industrial waste, contributing to circular economy principles. Within this framework, the present study provides a critical review of alkali-activated binders incorporating bivalve mollusk shells as alternative calcium sources. Shells from oysters, scallops, mussels, clams, cockles, and periwinkles were examined, either in their natural or calcined forms, for use as calcium sources, alkaline activators, or fillers in low-carbon binders. The review evaluates key processing parameters, including precursor composition, type and concentration of alkaline activators, curing conditions, and calcination temperatures, and compares the resulting mechanical, chemical, and microstructural properties. In addition, several studies report applications of these binders in soil stabilization and heavy metal immobilization, demonstrating performances comparable to Portland cement. The findings confirm the technical potential of mollusk shell residues and their contribution to the circular economy by diverting aquaculture waste from landfills and marine environments. Nonetheless, significant knowledge gaps persist, including the limited investigation of non-oyster species, the absence of field-scale studies, and the lack of resource mapping, life cycle, or economic assessments. This synthesis highlights preliminary insights, such as optimal calcination temperatures between 700 and 900 °C and effective combinations with silica and alumina-rich residues. Overall, it outlines a pathway toward transforming an underutilized waste stream into sustainable and technically viable construction materials.

Study develops and field-validates a SCADA-based real-time monitoring system to reduce unplanned dilution and hanging-wall over-break in underground long-hole stoping at a Zimbabwean gold mine. The objectives were to detect and constrain drilling deviation in real time, quantify the impact on stope stability and dilution, and evaluate operational and economic effects. The system integrates IMU inclinometers (hole angle), rotary encoders (depth), and LiDAR (collar spacing) with a Siemens S7 PLC (RS Americas, Fort Worth, TX, USA) and AVEVA™ InTouch HMI 2023 R2. Field trials across three production stopes (12L, 14L, 15L) compared baseline manual monitoring to SCADA control. Mean angular deviation fell from 0.8–1.6° to 0.2–0.3°, length deviation from 0.8–1.1 m to 0.05–0.08 m, and positional error from 0.25–0.32 m to 0.04–0.06 m; major collapses were eliminated, and ELOS dropped (e.g., 0.20 m to 0.05 m). Dilution decreased from 25% (typical 21–26%) to 16–18%, with mill feed grade rising from 1.90 to 2.25 g/t; production rates were maintained, with brief auto-stops in 5% of holes and rapid operator correction. Real-time drilling control materially reduces unplanned dilution and improves wall stability without productivity penalties, yielding compelling economics.

The relentless pace of industrialisation and globalisation has precipitated the rapid depletion of surface mineral deposits, presenting a formidable challenge to conventional mining operations and exerting a detrimental impact on their profitability. This depletion, coupled with the escalating demand for minerals, has driven prices to unprecedented highs, thereby inflating operating costs across various industries. Traditional surface and underground mining methods, struggling to meet burgeoning demands, contribute significantly to environmental degradation and substantial energy consumption. In response to these challenges, this study advocates for a paradigm shift from conventional mining methods and mineral resources toward untapped alternatives that hold the potential for enhanced economic viability and sustainability. Utilising environmentally friendly techniques and adopting more economical approaches becomes paramount in addressing the pressing demands of the current era and securing resources for future generations. This short review examines potential alternative mineral resources and the associated mining methods, including fluidised mining, deep-sea mining, brine mining, urban mining, in-situ and heap leaching, and space mining. A meticulous evaluation of the state-of-the-art technologies developed for these unconventional methods is conducted, including an assessment of their respective advantages and disadvantages. Finally, the study deliberates on the prospects of each approach, elucidating their potential contributions to alleviating the global metal crisis. This research provides insights that can inform sustainable mining practices and guide the industry toward a more environmentally responsible and economically viable future. The urgency of such a transition is underscored by the need to address the challenges posed by conventional mining and ensure the availability of mineral resources for generations to come.