Mining

Scania has developed a number of self-driving trucks that are currently in service, but they've always included a cabin just in case a human driver needs to take over ... until now.

A Swiss company has retro-fitted a huge dump truck with an all-electric powertrain to make the biggest EV the world has ever seen.

​Fans of the movie Prometheus will recall the probes that were sent into the alien structure, autonomously flying through it to create a 3D map of its interior. Well, something kind of similar is now in development, in the form of an underwater robot that maps the flooded tunnels of abandoned mines.

ESA has indicated it's interested in mining the Moon by 2025. To help achieve this, the space agency has awarded a one-year contract to ArianeGroup to look into the feasibility of a mining mission to the lunar surface to support a manned outpost as well as producing fuel for deep space missions.

German photographer Tom Hegen has been capturing the interactions between humans and nature for several years. Using everything from drones to hot air balloons, Hegen’s work offers stunning, surreal and abstract aerial perspectives on such subjects as coal mining, aquaculture and tulip farms.

​​Volvo’s self-driving truck program has already opened up some interesting possibilities. And now the Swedish automaker is set to see how its robo-trucks fare in real-world scenarios, after inking its first commercial deal with a Norwegian resource company to cart limestone away from its mine. ​

This airless tire has some interesting advantages. Air Suspension Wheels can't go flat or get punctures, you can change treads with a spanner and no jacks, and they offer some interesting dynamic capabilities that could see them being very useful in large mining applications and even wheelchairs.

Mining is inherently dirty work, but it is set to get a little cleaner on the back of a heavy duty electric vehicle currently under development. Some time in the next few months, the Komatsu HD 605-7 will start carting materials down from a Swiss mountain powered by a mammoth 4.5-ton battery pack.

The Hoff may be known for patrolling Los Angeles beaches, and now his namesake, a new type of hairy-chested "Hoff" crab is among six new species that have been discovered living in the bizarre landscape around hydrothermal vents deep in the Indian Ocean.

​Komatsu​'s latest autonomous truck fully embraces the notion of unmanned operation by ditching the cabin and adopting a design that optimizes load distribution and doesn't distinguish between forwards and backwards.

Earlier in the year, Volvo unveiled a fully autonomous construction truck that it planned to test in underground mines and that it said would "revolutionize the mining industry." Today, it has revealed more details of the planned testing and released footage of the truck operating underground.

In a welcome sacrifice for the good of the planet, a UN International Resource Panel study found that saving the environment may require people work fewer hours in the future. A growing middle class has led to a rapid pace of raw material extraction around the globe.