TIANJIN, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Autonomous mining trucks haul ore back and forth, intelligent systems crunch data in real time, and mineral processing equipment hums along efficiently.
At the 2026 China Mining Conference and Exhibition in north China's Tianjin Municipality, held from Thursday through Saturday, green technologies, intelligent equipment and smart mining solutions took center stage.
The products on display showed how Chinese solutions are increasingly woven into the global mining industry's green transition.
At the Xinhai Mining booth, a sand-table model shows a green mine in operation. On the central control screen, data such as ore hoisting volume, equipment load, tailings pond levels and personnel locations update in real time.
"Staff can monitor and control the mineral processing plant remotely from a computer screen," said Zhang Yunlong, chairman of Shandong Xinhai Mining Group Co., Ltd.
The company's whole-process smart mining solution has served more than 100 countries and regions. Zhang cited a gold mine project in Zimbabwe with a daily processing capacity of 500 tonnes, where an on-site clean energy supply system covering 100,000 square meters has been built, cutting costs by about 75 percent compared with diesel power generation.
A large magnetic separator on display also drew a crowd. With processing capacity and beneficiation requirements unchanged, the new technology shrinks equipment volume by about 50 percent and cuts operating energy consumption by about 30 percent, while boosting beneficiation indicators by about 20 percent.
Beneficiation in mining refers to the series of processes that transform raw ore into a concentrated product of higher economic value.
Li Chaopeng, deputy general manager of LONGi Magnet Co., Ltd., said the equipment has been deployed in more than 70 countries and regions, most recently at an iron ore project in Brazil.
"Our equipment uses less energy, recovers more resources from tailings and reduces iron ore waste, better meeting the mining industry's demand for automated and intelligent development," Li said.
These Chinese green practices caught the eye of Andrew Thake, an Australian mining industry practitioner and divisional director at Beacon Events & Exhibitions.
"When I speak to many of our Chinese clients, they take sustainability very seriously. They have very strong sustainability standards," Thake said, adding that China's green mining practices, built up over more than a decade, offer useful pointers for green development under different resource endowments and development conditions.
China has established complete institutional, standard and evaluation systems for green mining development, while vigorously promoting technologies, such as backfill mining, comprehensive utilization of solid waste and clean energy substitution in mining areas.
Chinese mining enterprises are also actively participating in overseas cooperation projects to advance green mining worldwide.
Zijin Mining, for instance, has built green mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drawing on China's ecological civilization practices, while its green mine in Serbia has helped improve environmental governance in the mining area.
"I appreciate the efforts China has made in green development and environmental restoration," said Patricia, a Zimbabwean geospatial analyst. "I have followed some of the environmental restoration projects that have been carried out in China and I think they have been done quite well."
Dmitry Tetenkin, deputy minister of natural resources and environment of the Russian Federation, said green and intelligent industrial development is an urgent guideline for the mining industry.
"Digital technologies, innovations, rational use of resources and reduction of environmental burden are no longer issues of the distant future, but necessary conditions for the modern mining industry," he added. "Technological progress must work simultaneously for production efficiency and responsible attitude to the environment."
China's green development philosophy in mining is reaching further. Under the International Big Scientific Plan on Resources and Environmental Effects of Global Karst Dynamic Systems, China has carried out resource and environmental surveys, carbon cycle research and ecological protection studies in karst areas with multiple countries, gradually building a global karst monitoring network and exploring ways to balance resource development with ecological protection.
At the Ngorongoro Lengai geopark in Tanzania, a Chinese technical assistance project has helped upgrade the geopark's infrastructure and boosted the integrated development of geological research and tourism.
Orkotete Lesongoyo, from a village at the foot of Mount Lengai, became a local geological guide after training organized by the geopark, introducing the geological wonders of the Lengai volcano to visitors from around the world.
"This project has raised the international profile and influence of Tanzania's tourism resources and created new livelihoods for surrounding residents," said Ren Junping, director of the Southern Africa Geological Survey Cooperation Center, Tianjin Center, China Geological Survey.
From green mines to ecological protection and community development, Chinese solutions are offering richer practical examples for the global mining industry's green transformation, Ren added.
Green and low-carbon transition has become a key direction for the high-quality development of the global mining industry.
The Tianjin Declaration on Green Development of the Mining Industry, released at the conference, calls on more countries, international organizations and stakeholders to actively advance the global mining industry's transition towards green and low-carbon development and promote global sustainable development, to make positive contributions to building a better future of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.
Mohamed Noorain, CEO of Kossel Sudan mining enterprises, said China's technologies, standards and management experience in green mine construction are worth learning from. He looks forward to stronger exchanges and cooperation between China and more countries, including Sudan, in green mining to bring more green technologies and practices to the ground and achieve green development of the mining industry. ■
