Launch of China's first mining satellite developed with XCMC

Jointly designed and developed by the Chinese mining machinery manufacture XCMT and the China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT) and launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, the X-Band, sun-synchronous satellite is a co-orbit, multi-means remote sensing satellite constellation combining synthetic aperture radar (SAR), optical, and thermal infrared with excellent performance and a long service life. It is expected that it will be applied in the fields of mine exploration and design, mining industry development, intelligent mine operation, geological disaster early warning, safe mining scheduling, mine site slope management, comprehensive utilisation of abandoned pits, and green mine rehabilitation.

Key role in future of mining

XCMG is the third largest construction machinery company in the world. It is ranked 65th in the list of China's Top 500 Companies, 44th in the list of China's Top 100 Manufacturing Enterprises, and second in the list of China's Top 100 Machinery Manufacturers. has participated in the full design and development process of CUMT Nanhu and will be one of its future users. The satellite will enable unified planning of personnel, vehicles, and sites to achieve integrated dispatching, command platform visualisation, and intelligent deployment, which will improve the safety level, reduce operation costs, and lower manual input. It will play a key role in constructing safe, intelligent, green, and ecological mines.

"XCMG Mining Machinery focuses on the application of information technologies, including the Internet of Vehicles, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and big data. We organically converge all operation links from R&D and process, manufacturing and assembly, equipment and application scenarios, market, sales, and services to realise full-cycle management and establish a solid foundation of digital infrastructures that is catalysing the digital transformation of the traditional manufacturing industries," said Yang Dongsheng, CEO and Chairman of XCMG.

Space technology to map minerals

Mapping minerals from space rather than aeroplanes goes back to the early multispectral satellite systems such as the Landsat satellites when they were launched in 1972. Since then more accurate readings at higher resolutions have been progressively introduced as mapping technology and hyperspectral imagery have developed, largely by NASA which launched its Hyperion system in 2000, meaning that different mineral types can be more easily differentiated.

Back on earth, XCMG's super mining giant duo of a 400-ton electric hydraulic excavator XE4000E and a 260-ton dual-bridge rigid mining truck XDE260 are working around the clock in an open-pit mine in Ecuador, tackling the challenges of heavy workload, high dust, and high intensity 'with ease and grace'.

In July 2023, 15 XCMG excavators, including XE490DK, 370CA, and XE215C, set off to work in one of Phu Bia Mining's gold mines in Laos, a site that has a proven reserve of 1m ounces of gold and 5m ounces of silver.