Coal mines in Ordos city, in North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, are adopting 5G technology, resulting in lower production costs and higher mining efficiency. The move is an important one for local coal enterprises looking to undergo high-quality development.

Take the Madiliang coal mine for example, which has realized fully automatic underground coal mining operations by introducing around 20 5G stations. The infrastructure connects the nine different equipment pieces, including mining machines, excavators and belts, through the 5G network. 

When workers at the mine’s centralized control center press the intelligent coal mining button, they can remotely control mining progress via a video monitor. The system can undertake tasks that would typically require six workers in a mine with traditional technology.

Application of 5G technology has cut production costs by 30 percent, according to Wu Jingsong, chairman of Inner Mongolia Intelligent Coal Co, the Madiliang coal mine operator.

A mine using traditional mining technology with the same production scale as the Madiliang coal mine needs about 1,500 workers. As a result of the new tech, however, the Mailiang coal mine now employs only 700 people, and the number of underground workers has decreased from more than 200 to less than 100, Wu added.