A robust and flexible defence industry contributes to strengthening military readiness across the Alliance. NATO countries are increasing defence investments and expanding production capacity to ensure the supply meets demand.
Deep beneath the surface of northern Sweden, LKAB operates one of the world's most advanced underground iron ore mines, the Kiruna mine. Vast tunnel networks, powerful extraction equipment and complex logistics systems illustrate the scale and precision required to extract critical raw materials.
Showcasing cutting-edge innovation, including drones, robotics and digital monitoring systems, the mine employs thousands of workers and is a crucial element in the complex defence industry production chain.
Interviews with mine management and underground workers, speaking of innovation and the future of the operation.
SHOTLIST
---SHOTLIST—
(00:00) DRIVING THROUGH UNDERGROUND ROAD
(00:06) ROBOTIC DOG ‘SPOT’ WALKING OUT OF CHARGING STATION
(00:17) VARIOUS SHOTS - ROBOTIC DOG ‘SPOT’ WALKING THROUGH MINE AND INSPECTING WALLS
(00:34) VARIOUS SHOTS - ROBOTIC DOG ‘SPOT’ WALKING THROUGH MINE WITH HANDLER
(00:49) VARIOUS SHOTS - ROBOTIC DOG ‘SPOT’ AND LIDAR SENSOR DRONE MOVING THROUGH MINE
(01:42) ROBOTIC DOG ‘SPOT’ RETURNING TO CHARGING STATION
(01:55) VARIOUS SHOTS – DRONE OPERATOR RETURNING TO HIS OFFICE
(02:12) VARIOUS SHOTS – REMOTE MINING VEHICLE OPERATOR AT DESK CONTROLLING DIGGERS UNDERGROUND
(02:54) VARIOUS SLOW MOTION SHOTS - NO AUDIO - IRON ORE DIGGER DRIVING THROUGH TUNNEL AND DIGGING UNDERGROUND
(03:18) VARIOUS SHOTS - IRON ORE DIGGER DRIVING THROUGH TUNNEL AND DIGGING UNDERGROUND
(04:25) VARIOUS SHOTS - WALKING THROUGH IRON ORE PROCESSING FACILITY
(04:45) VARIOUS SHOTS - IRON ORE PROCESSING FACILITY
(04:51) VARIOUS SHOTS – IRON ORE BEING PROCESSED INTO PELLETS
(05:25) VARIOUS SHOTS – IRON ORE FURNACE
(05:38) SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH, Jenny Greberg, Vice President Technology, LKAB
‘Our society has an increased need of metals and minerals for the green transformation. We also have an increased need of different materials for the military industry and in our minds, where we have traditionally mined iron ore, we also have minerals that is of use and is needed for those applications.
So what we're trying to do now is trying to extract also the rare earth elements, the phosphorus and the apatite. The rare earth elements is basically needed for the green transition for batteries and also for the military industry.
And that's something that we normally don't extract, but we are trying to develop new processes and methods to do that in the very near future.
Iron ore that becomes eventually steel is important for our society in general. It's important both for construction, roads, buildings, modern technology, but also for the military industry.
So LKAB’s mines are at 1000 metres depth or more. We're down to 1365 metres in the Kiruna mine that you see behind me here.
And in order to stay safe and competitive while mining at those depths, we need to focus a lot of technology development and innovation. Safety is, of course, always the highest priority. And in order to mine safe at those steps, we need new methods, processes and tools to be able to do that. So it's safety and I would say productivity focus, it's a focus for our innovation.
So almost our complete process is automated. We have some small parts of it that we still do, not automated, but the main part of our processes are automated from down in the mine, all the way through the processing plants.
So we always strive to have a high degree of automation, of course, for safety reasons, but also for productivity reasons. So LKAB tries to apply modern and new technology in our mining operations, and we also try to develop that technology so that it's suitable for our application.
One example is, robots that we use, we have, for instance, robot dogs that we use in the mine because they can move in areas where it's not safe for humans. They can also move in areas where we might have problems with gas or something. So we can't send people in there. But they can go in there and they can monitor, they can measure gas levels, they can look and be our eyes in those areas and measure whatever we want. So, they help us both with safety, but also to access parts of the mine faster than if we have to wait when it's safe to send people. So it's also good for our productivity.
And another example is drones that we use in the mine. We use them partly for inspecting our very long vertical ore passes. They tend to break because we have high stresses in the rock mass in the mine. So we send the drones down in the several hundred metres deep vertical shafts to inspect to see if we have any damage to our facilities.
We can also use drones if we had some fallouts in the mine and sending them to be our eyes and see is it safe to send people to see what happened?
I see a future where we still have to keep, I would say, spending even more efforts on innovation and new methods tools and processes because those depths that we are planning to mine at and those volumes were planning to mine at, there's no one who has done that before us, so we have to find the ways to do that. So innovation is key.’
(09:31) SOUNBITE IN ENGLISH
Daniel Jatko, production technician, LKAB
‘We use drones to make all the inspection much faster and safer for humans, to save a lot of money and also to make the job, you know, much safer.
The drones are specially developed for confined spaces like in the mines.
And the biggest benefit is that you get this lidar sensor, so you can get a 3D model of everything you're flying through. And that's one of the biggest benefits, with using a drone.
The main purpose for the drones are inspecting ore passes, and they are like a crucial part in the mine.
Without the ore passes, we cannot produce anything. And our main job is to inspect them, to see the condition of the ore passes. And then no human can enter the ore passes, so you have to use something like drones or something like that to inspect them.
So mainly I do the inspections, like routine inspections. And also if we have hangup, if there are big rocks that get stuck in the overpasses, we can see on what level they are stuck. And we can use like explosives to blow them down.
Before, there was a lot of guessing. You have to just guess where the rocks were stuck in the ore passes. And that took a lot of time because you were never sure exactly where they were. So now it takes like 10-15 minutes for us to just fly into the ore passes and find the problem, and then you can much easily solve the problem. And also the inspections. Before, they were inspecting the ore passes, it took, like, a whole day to inspect one ore passes. And now it takes like maximum one hour to inspect the ore passes. So it's a lot of production that you can save with it.
Yeah, so I have, I think, I have developed a lot in my work, so it's one of the benefits working here is that you can, like, change the directions, even if even if you are working in the same, same place and develop a lot of education to get in what you're interested in.
My father has like always worked in the mine. So his whole life he has been working in this mine. It was like a no brainer for me to start working and, yes that I could develop so much working here. So I haven't had a thought of working anywhere else.
Almost everyone that lives here has some kind of relationship to the mine. Even if you're not working straight for LKAB maybe you work for a company that works for the mine or something like that.
It's always something new. And I love, like, new technology. So, we can explore a lot of new technology in our job.’
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