COAL AND SOFT-ROCK MINING
Eickhoff has significant experience with continuous miners, with the CM2E and CM3E taking this a step further
These shearers are benefiting from significant levels of automation; at the more mature end of the market, this is seeing shearer operations controlled from remote operation stations on surface.
Douglas said the company achieved a major milestone last year in terms of automation, carrying out 16,000 shears from surface with one customer in Australia, which is being used as an industry benchmark.“ The next automation level we are looking at is‘ exceptions management’,” Douglas said.“ Automation of a predictable process is relatively easy after an initial ramp-up period, but when you start dealing with intrusions or geotechnical issues, it becomes a lot harder.”
While still early days in terms of being able to automatically react to such‘ exceptions’, Douglas confirmed Eickhoff is looking to AI to offer such an advance.
The pair were also able to reflect on a number of incremental improvements across the product portfolio in the last 12- 24 months, including amendments to the company’ s cutter gear boxes to increase product life beyond 3 Mt alongside the rollout of an operator-centric remotecontrol system for both the new generation continuous miners and the shearer offering.
When it comes to ongoing product support, Douglas also talked up a new lifecycle service centre in West Virginia, USA, to support a growing number of shearers going underground in the state.
He concluded:“ We have always looked to respond to customer needs as and when needed, but we also go out of our way to manage their expectations effectively. Sometimes, it’ s better to tell the customer what you cannot do, than talking up how good you are and how bad your competitors are.
“ We’ ve seen that our customers respect and appreciate this transparency and it has become a cornerstone of our approach.”
More intelligent, efficient mining
Komatsu is also continuing to invest in its automation capabilities for longwall, and room and pillar mining, through its Smart Mining platform.
It has a comprehensive portfolio of Joy longwall and room-and-pillar mining solutions to support underground coal and industrial minerals operations around the world.
Today, although it continues to develop, build and service mining equipment, the company is focused on enhancing the value of its products through automation, digitalisation and intelligent control technologies that improve safety, productivity and operational consistency.
The Smart Mining platform is a combination of advanced machine sensors and control systems, automation technology and powerful data analysis. It has been positioned as helping operations mine more safely by removing workers from the operation, mine more productively for increased profitability and mine more sustainably.
In this same report last year, Komatsu talked up longwall developments related to intuitive gate end adjustments and audio visualisation, with Colten Leviere, Product Manager, Longwall Shearers, explaining that both developments have progressed in the 12 months that have passed.
“ Both our Gate End Grading Interface and Audio Visualizer have made strides over the last year, with both aimed at improving operator awareness in remote longwall environments,” he said.
The Gate End Grading Interface is currently around 90 % complete, according to Leviere.
“ Following customer reviews, engineering teams are incorporating feedback ahead of a planned release shortly,” he told IM, adding that two Australian customers intend to begin using the system once installation becomes available.
The Audio Visualizer is already being used in production by multiple customers in Australia and the US.
By combining visual and audio feedback, the technology provides operators with an additional way to interpret machine behavior from the surface, with early feedback suggesting the solution is helping enhance situational awareness and support decision making in remote operations.“ Both customers and Komatsu see it as an important step toward more tailored surface operation capabilities as mines continue to advance their remote operating strategies,” Leviere added.
Many of these surface management teams no longer need to rely on teleremote handheld transceivers during normal operations, according to Leviere, yet the absence of handheld activity can trigger 20-minute inactivity timeouts at digitallyconnected operations, creating unnecessary interruptions.
In response, Komatsu has developed the Soft Radio software interface – a streamlined solution that maintains the“ required radio heartbeat” without requiring handheld remote interaction.
“ By addressing inactivity timeouts, Soft Radio helps operators stay focused on remote surface management, reduces workflow interruptions and preserves the ability to support exception-based control when needed,” Leviere said.
Another recent enhancement in the company’ s Longwall Command and Control suite is the Speed Zones Profile feature, which is designed to make machine speed adjustments faster, simpler and more intuitive for surface operators.
Leviere explained:“ By simplifying the steps of issuing speed zones, operators can spend less time navigating setup steps and more time focused on what matters, monitoring the cut and managing changing conditions in real time.”
Taken together, these developments reflect a broader effort to improve situational awareness, simplify remote operation and give operators more effective tools for managing longwall performance from the surface, he added.
Looking further ahead, Komatsu’ s longwall automation roadmap is focused on making automation more accessible, intuitive and effective for operators, according to Leviere.
“ Current development efforts continue to strengthen machine protection capabilities, simplify setup and operation, and enhance the visual and audible information available
12 International Mining | AUGUST 2026