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Who will lead digitalization in the Arctic

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© Пресс-служба компании "ФосАгро", Кировский рудник

The Murmansk region business faces new and ambitious tasks today: digital development of the Arctic zone. The head of the Mining Department of one of the largest companies in the Arctic region, where underground drilling rigs are already remotely controlled by operators, said when robots will completely replace humans.

Traditionally, the Arctic is seen as an important region from the military, mineral and scientific point of view, but never before have issues of its prosperity been considered through the prism of the IT-industry. This was stated by Andrey Turchak, chairman of the Council on Digital Economy Development under the Federation Council. He emphasized that it is digital technologies that will play a key role in the implementation of large-scale projects planned there and will significantly accelerate the development of natural resources.

Of course, this task could hardly be called new. A few years ago advanced companies joined this “arms race.” But their leaders are pragmatically approaching the issue, choosing from a mass of proposals those that will really make a qualitative leap.

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Let’s take, for example, the practice of implementing digital technologies at the Kirov branch of AO Apatit, part of the PhosAgro Group. Today it is the world’s largest enterprise producing high-grade phosphate raw materials and the only producer of nepheline concentrate in Russia.

Positioning and control systems for personnel movement in mining workings allow dispatchers to determine the exact location of employees at any time and contact them promptly. They also record the movement of equipment, which eliminates the risk of its collision or hitting people. Laser scanners perform exploration and surveying in an automated mode. The data is then uploaded to the mining and geological information system, the digital heart of the enterprise, where the mine development planning is carried out.

“We have also implemented a project for remote control of drilling operations. At the moment two specialists are in charge of ten rigs. This is not the limit: one person can control up to six units. In future, we plan to control underground works at two mines simultaneously, i.e., Kirovskoye and Rasvumchorskoye, from one operator's console. This helps to ensure industrial safety, increase productivity and reduce downtime. However, in the foreseeable future, new technologies, in particular drones, will not be able to replace personnel,” said Viktor Melnik, Head of the Mining Development Department at AO Apatit.

There are operations with a simple technological cycle, which can be easily automated, i.e., accounting or contract work. Even the process of enrichment, as evidenced by many examples around the world. Factories work without human presence - in an automated mode with given cycles and reagent dosages.

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“As for mining production, we often deal with unique deposits. For example, there are no analogues to Khibiny and Norilsk ore nodes in the world - in terms of the volume of reserves, average content of useful substances and conditions of ore bodies, hydrogeological regimes. Their development requires specialists who, first of all, have fundamental knowledge in geology, mineral exploration, blasting, mine construction, mine ventilation and deposit development. Ownership of applied specialized software in this case is a competitive, but by no means fundamental, advantage. In addition, all leading raw material universities today must introduce students to modern software,” says Viktor Melnik.

In his opinion, in the next 15 years complex mining processes will not be fully automated. Of course, mining and geological modeling systems allow accumulating and comparing a lot of information from different sources (engineering surveys, operational exploration, etc.) for further management decisions. But the data is still analyzed by a person.

In addition, the work of machines, even technically advanced, needs to be coordinated. In the short and even medium term, this will not be done by an artificial intelligence, not even an IT specialist, but by a mining engineer with the appropriate competences and experience.

In this context, the quality of higher education and the ability of universities to adapt to the needs of the labor market come first.

Victor Melnik himself graduated from St. Petersburg Mining University. He was born in Apatity, his father worked all his life in the Mining Institute of the Kola Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, so we can say that the interest in the industry was in his blood.

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"I went through a multi-stage system of professional education: from Kirov Mining Technical School, where I studied after school, to post-graduate and PhD degree. One of the production practices was a 5-month internship at Norilsk Nickel's Taimyr mine. An integrated approach to training mining engineers is used in many European countries. At a high level of university educational programs, scientific and laboratory facilities and teaching staff, it allows to acquire the widest possible range of knowledge and skills," says Viktor Melnik.

What kind of career can be built on this foundation?

After graduation, the young engineer returned to his hometown and began specializing in mining planning and design of blasting operations at the Kirov mine. Then, at the suggestion of the Kola Metallurgical Company, Viktor Melmik was engaged in the construction of shafts and horizons of a new underground mine Severny-Glubokiy. The experience he got, it must be said, was incredible. Today it is a real underground city at a depth of more than 1 km and a length of almost 4 times more than the famous English Channel tunnel. For 7 years, Melnik has gone from the site manager to the head of the production department and the head of the tunneling shop. With each successive step, his level of responsibilities has steadily increased.

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"Then I headed the work on mining and geological modeling of the mines of Pechensky district of Murmansk region, and since 2011 - Khibiny deposits, returning to AO Apatit. As a result, today the Kirov branch of AO Apatit has a full and regularly updated database on all mines used for effective resource management and prediction of rock behavior. At all stages of professional activity I managed to stay at the junction of science and production. I draw international experience from numerous foreign business trips: Chile, Zambia, Spain... For the last 4 years I have been engaged in perspective planning - I have been leading the programs of ore base development, survey and research works, as well as supervising the issues of capital investments in the main investment projects," sums up the Head of the Mining Development Department.

The following figures allow to estimate the degree of responsibility of this position: investments into development of capacities of the Kirov branch of AO Apatit will exceed 60 billion rubles within 5 years. For example, the Kirovsky mine is waiting for a whole complex of projects - from modernization of the main shaft No. 1 (GS-1) to construction of fan and chiller units on air supply shafts. Upcoming works will be carried out with direct participation of Viktor Melnik. A rhetorical question: could a robot be in his place?

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Management of underground mining in Khibiny requires specialists, who will work permanently at the field, study its geological structure from year to year, and see the prospects of development. It takes at least 5 years after graduation to get a true "education” of the highest level to enable personnel to make strategic decisions and develop together with the company.

Thus, the head of Kirovskiy mine Anton Yarunin first came to the company during the production practice within the framework of his university training, returned after his graduation and achieved a serious position in less than 10 years. Today there are 1700 people under his supervision.

"Quite often, the interest in the mining industry is passed on from generation to generation. I come from a military family and never thought about the sphere of the raw materials complex. As a child, I’ve lived in many regions of the country until we settled in Priozersky district of the Leningrad Region, where I attended a local village school. Back then, engineering specialties were still in demand. I wanted to get a male profession that would allow me to realize myself professionally and be in demand. The choice fell on "Land Management and Cadastres". Mining University was recommended as a strong technical school. At the entrance exams I lacked one point, but I did not have time to get upset: it was suggested to consider the option of admission to the Mining Department, where the passing score was just one point lower. I knew absolutely nothing about this industry, but by that time I was already so impressed by the educational institution that I agreed to it without hesitation,” Anton Yarunin recollected.

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He quickly got involved in his studies. Specialized subjects and practices in Kirovsk and the International mine in Yakutia contributed to his greater involvement in the topic. His first position after graduation was as an industrial service engineer.

"I haven't worked in this position for a long time, because I realized that to build a successful career, you have to start at the enterprise "frontline" and not at the offices. You have to feel the whole production process for yourself: its organization, control, responsibility for people and performance of tasks. I got a job as a mining foreman and began to supervise shifts of miners directly at ore mining and mine sinking. In total, there were 10 people under my supervision".

A year later, the 27-year-old specialist became deputy head and then head of one of the six sections of the Kirovsky mine. The staff of his subordinates increased to 90 people. At this period, he took a course of professional development at his alma mater. The PhosAgro’s joint program with the university is designed for employees who go to serious managerial positions. A few years later, he became deputy head of the mine for capital construction, and one more year later, deputy head for production, and then - the head of the entire Kirovskiy mine, the very one where he came to his first university production practice.

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Historically, the forge of personnel for PhosAgro has been the St. Petersburg Mining University: 70% of the company's top managers come from this educational institution. According to Anton Yarunin, when selecting potential employees, he often gives preference to its graduates: based on his own example, he knows how they teach there.

"Abroad there are examples when loading and delivery machines load the rock on their own, electric locomotives drive and unload, and a person on the surface controls all this. Russian mining is moving in the same direction, but this process is not fast. I think that when the time comes, machine labor will first of all replace the miners, and engineers will continue to manage, design and analyze,” sums up the head of the Kirovskiy mine.