Review of Transition from Mining 4.0 to Mining 5.0 Innovative Technologies

Abstract

The sustainable provision of mankind with energy and mineral raw materials is associated with an increase not only in industrial but also in the ecological and economic development of the raw material sector. Expanding demand for energy, metals, building and chemical raw materials on the one hand, and the deterioration of the living environment along with a growth of raw materials extraction on the other, put the human-centric development of mining at the forefront. This forms a transition trend from Mining 4.0 technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, smart sensors and robots, machine vision, etc., to Mining 5.0, presented with collaborative robots and deserted enterprises, bioextraction of useful minerals, postmining, and revitalization of mining areas. This “bridge” is formed by the technological convergence of information, cognitive, and biochemical technologies with traditional geotechnology, which should radically change the role of the resource sector in the economy and society of the 21st century. The transition from Mining 3.0 to 4.0 cannot be considered complete. However, at the same time, the foundation is already being laid for the transition to Mining 5.0, inspired, on the one hand, by an unprecedented gain in productivity, labor safety, and predictability of commodity markets, on the other hand, by the upcoming onset of Industry 5.0. This review provides a multilateral observation of the conditions, processes, and features of the current transition to Mining 4.0 and the upcoming transformation on the Mining 5.0 platform, highlighting its core and prospects for replacing humans with collaborated robots and artificial intelligence. In addition, the main limitations of the transition to Mining 5.0 are discussed, the overcoming of which is associated with the development of green mining and ESG (environment, social, and governance) investment.