Schneider Electric is promoting a three-layer AI architecture for mines, combining connected devices, edge control and cloud-level applications to create “software-defined” operations that tightly link power and process. Intelligent field devices feed high-frequency data into automation systems, where edge controllers run real-time optimisation and protection, while cloud analytics coordinate fleet, plant and energy use across entire sites. The approach targets integrated control of electrified assets such as haulage, crushers and ventilation, with AI models adjusting load profiles and process setpoints to stabilise grids and reduce energy intensity.

Hitachi Energy, LKAB and Scania are developing an autonomous downward pantograph charging system for battery-electric haul trucks at LKAB’s Malmberget iron ore mine in northern Sweden. The solution will integrate Scania’s electric heavy-duty mining trucks with Hitachi Energy’s high-power charging infrastructure to allow automatic connection to overhead conductors without driver intervention. For mine planners and electrical engineers, this points to trolley-like, on-route charging concepts that could cut diesel use on ramp hauls and shift significant load onto grid-supplied power.

Six members of the International Organising Committee of the Coal Preparation Congress from the US, Australia, South Africa, Poland, the UK and Hungary visited Tianjin Meiteng Technology Co Ltd on 28 October 2026 to review its coal preparation technologies. The delegation visit, organised by the China National Coal Association, the China Coal Processing and Utilisation Association and the CCPIT Coal Industry Sub-Council, signals growing international scrutiny of Chinese coal prep equipment suppliers and potential benchmarking of Meiteng’s process and plant designs against global best practice.