The executive director of the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CEDENNA), Dr. Juan Escrig, described the organization’s participation in the seminar “Challenges and Opportunities in Small-Scale Mining: Towards a Sustainable Development Model”, organized by the Ministry of Mining, Sonami and ANID, as an “important door to collaboration with small-scale mining”.
TThe event aimed to promote collaboration and explore innovative solutions for the future of small-scale mining, highlighting the need to integrate knowledge and technology for sustainable development.
Representing CEDENNA alongside Dr. Escrig were Projects Deputy Manager Dr. Omar Daud and Dr. Álvaro Espejo, of the Technology Transfer Line and Director of Technology at Sistrat, a spin-off born within the Center as the culmination of years of research, development and innovation applied to sensors specially designed to solve problems in mining.
““Being present at this meeting means opening an important door to collaboration between CEDENNA and small-scale mining, which plays a crucial role in our economy and society. The idea is to strengthen it sustainably through research and innovation,” said Dr. Escrig.
He added that the meeting created an enriching space where ideas, visions and knowledge came together to move towards a more promising future for small-scale mining within a framework of sustainable productive development.
The event, held at the offices of the National Mining Society of Chile (SONAMI), was attended by the Minister of Mining, Aurora Williams; the president of the National Mining Society, Jorge Riesco; the director of the National Research and Development Agency, Alejandra Pizarro; mining industry experts and ANID centers.
CEDENNA, at the forefront of mining
The Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology is generating research and solutions for the mining sector. One of these developments is real-time remote monitoring of uncrushable detachment through sensors installed directly on GETs (mechanical shovel teeth). This solution seeks to solve one of the sector’s main problems and would represent potential savings of 200 to 400 million dollars a year for Chilean production and up to 3 billion dollars a year for international production.
When a detachment occurs, the system issues an alert, so the wear element does not end up in the crusher, avoiding damage and unscheduled stoppages. This project aims to give the operator an instant, real-time warning of tooth detachment while simultaneously generating an alert in “Dispatch”. In this way the operator, and anyone else at the site, can know promptly which tooth was lost and carry out rapid maintenance.
The second sensor is applied to monitoring bushing wear and makes it possible to optimize their service life, making the most of their performance. Mining operations are extremely harsh and materials wear out, particularly bushings. This wireless monitoring system measures the wear level of these parts, also in real time, and makes it possible to optimize their service life by planning their replacement efficiently and in a timely manner.
