Alternative Underground Mining Methods

The demands for alternative underground mining methods are becoming more and more tangible, as the traditional underground mining methods are becoming unsustainable given the increasing demands for environmentally friendly mining methods, greener technology, deeper mining depths, industry competitiveness and compliance with international transparency standards. In Sweden, LKAB and Boliden are no exception and have now started searching for alternative underground mining methods to overcome their respective challenges. Nevertheless, the search for new underground mining methods has indeed been ongoing for a decade now (2010s), resulting in the development of a new generation of hybrid underground mining methods (Saiang et al, 2020). These mining methods essentially combine two or three different mining methods to capitalize on each other's strengths for safe and efficient extraction of ore (Sormunen & Saiang, 2022).