On November 9, the finals of the fifth “Zhanfang Cup” National 5G Application Competition were held in Beijing and Shenzhen simultaneously. The open-cut coal mine 5G network application project of Zhungeer Energy Group stood out of all contestants and captured the Gold Prize.
The competition, organized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, attracted 266 entries, of which 28 were shortlisted as finalists after the qualification examination by the organizing committee and the preliminary selections. The 28 finalists competed for six Gold Prizes, 10 Silver Prizes, and 12 Bronze Prizes. The finals of the competition was held in a hybrid form—with contestants participating online and experts of the jury examining offline, and the whole process was livestreamed, attracting more than 5 million views on the Internet.
The open-cut coal mine 5G network application project was launched by Zhungeer Energy in August 2021, in collaboration with China Telecom and Aerospace Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. So far, it has achieved 5G coverage in nearly 120 square kilometers of Heidaigou and Haerwusu open-cut mines, including unmanned operation areas, industrial factories, and coal preparation plants, and provided stable network service for totaling 10,920 hours. The project laid a sound foundation for the operation of unmanned heavy-haul trucks of Zhungeer Energy.
As one of the 10 key projects under China Energy in 2021, the research project aims to achieve unmanned operation of 183 heavy-haul trucks, remote control of 42 large excavators, and interconnectivity of 120 sets of engineering equipment and nearly 1,000 auxiliary vehicles in Heidaigou and Haerwusu open-cut coal mines through measures such as studying the application of 5G super-uploading technology in ultra-large open-cut mines, especially 5G base station regular migration and network maintenance in complicated topographic conditions like deep pits as well as the technical application of 5G base station + energy source in open-cut coal mines without optical fiber cables and power supply. It facilitates the construction of digital and unmanned mines and helps Zhungeer Energy enhance its production safety level, lower its production costs, and increase its economic returns. When completed, the project will build a nation-leading 5G network featuring full coverage, low latency, and broad band breadth, paving the groundwork for promoting intelligent mining.
