The iron mine in Kiruna operated by Sweden’s state-owned mining company LKAB, the world’s largest underground iron mine, has recently completed a major upgrade of its mine hoisting system. This initiative will ensure the reliability and safety of the mine’s continuous operation for at least the next 25 years. Located within the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden, this iron mine is not only Europe’s largest, accounting for 89.2% of the EU’s total iron ore reserves, but also a global benchmark for “unmanned intelligent mining” in underground mines through full-process unmanned operations.
01 New Breakthroughs in Intelligent Mining
The Kiruna Iron Mine has recently completed a major upgrade of its mine hoisting system. ABB Process Automation Division has successfully completed the integrated upgrade of the mechanical, electrical and automation systems of seven mine hoists. This upgrade will effectively support the safe and efficient transportation of ore from 1,365-meter-deep wells to the ground. Jan Moström, CEO of LKAB, stated that these mine hoists are a core part of the operation, and through this cooperation, the Kiruna Mine can maintain its position as an industry benchmark in safety and efficiency for decades to come.
02 Fully Intelligent Mining System
The intelligent mining technology system of the Kiruna Iron Mine covers the entire process from drilling, loading to transportation. The mine adopts remote-controlled drilling, charging and loading. For stope drilling, it uses SimbaW469 remote-controlled drilling rigs produced by Atlas Copco. Equipped with laser systems for precise positioning, these rigs can achieve unmanned operation and 24-hour continuous cyclic work. Ore loading uses Toro2500E remote-controlled load-haul-dump(LHD) machines manufactured by Sandvik/Tamrock, with a single-unit efficiency of up to 500 tons per hour. The underground transportation system consists of belt conveyor transport and rail automatic transport. The rail automatic transport is generally composed of 8 trains of mine cars, which are automatic bottom-dumping cars for continuous loading and unloading.
03 Core Advantages of Unmanned Operations
Through the triangular model of “equipment unmanned + data networking + decision intelligence”, the Kiruna Iron Mine has reconstructed the traditional mining process. The mine’s central control system can remotely monitor the entire production process, and the AI system can dynamically optimize the mining sequence, reducing the ore dilution rate from 10% to 8% and improving resource utilization by 15%. At the main transportation level 1,045 meters deep, the mine has set up a crushing station underground. After initial crushing, the ore is directly transported to the hoisting system via belt conveyors, reducing energy consumption for transshipment. Unmanned operations not only reduce underground operators, lower labor costs and safety accident risks, but also dynamically optimize mining plans through data models, reducing ineffective excavation engineering volume.
The practice of the Kiruna Iron Mine has proven that in-depth automation and intelligence are the keys to the sustainable development of the mining industry. Through the triangular model of “equipment unmanned + data networking + decision intelligence”, this mine within the Arctic Circle not only ensures stable operation for decades to come, but also provides a feasible path for the global mining industry to achieve the triple transformation of “safety - efficiency - low carbon”.
With the completion of the upgrade of the seven mine hoists, this century-old mine is fully equipped to continue leading the global process of intelligentization in underground mines.
