TECHNICAL REVOLUTION

Focus

The CSIRO launched its longwall automation system last October

Publishing Date: 29 May 2009 10:15am GMT
Issue/Supplement: 29/05/09
Author: Michelle Giglio

Mining pioneers of the late 19th century would have been surprised to learn that one day geologists would be able to delineate a resource on a computer with amazing accuracy. Three dimensional modelling has replaced hand-drawn maps, airborne surveys detect geology deep under the earth and computer software can process data in days that would have previously taken weeks.

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