Underwater Gold Diggers Readied

During the first half of this year, testing is scheduled to begin on large robots designed for gold mining on the ocean floor. Plans call for the robots to begin digging for both gold and copper off the coast of Papua New Guinea in 2018. The robots are part of an undersea production system featuring technologies adapted from the offshore energy, dredging, and mining industries. Engineering360 describes both the system and the special robots that will be key to its success, as well as the role played by hydraulics in the mining operations.

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