Firm wins funding for underwater mining robot
A UK-based firm has won €12.6m of funding from Horizon 2020 to develop an underwater mining robot. It is hoped that the new technology could be used to increase the longevity of mines that have been flooded and yet to be fully exploited.
Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd (SMD), based in Wallsend near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, secured financing from the EU research and innovation scheme for the Viable Alternative Mine Operating System project, known as VAMOS. The firm is working with a number of partners throughout Europe, including those in Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
The chief executive of SMD, Andrew Hodgson, told local newspaper The Journal that the project was a “fantastic new growth opportunity” for the company.
The project will run for 42 months and seeks to develop a small special robot that can continue to mine minerals in the difficult, underwater conditions. It is hoped that the robot could be in production by 2016.
