PRESS RELEASE: The agreement was signed on September 28 in Katowice, Poland, during the New Industry EXPO conference.

Implementation of highly efficient mining technologies employed in North American and Australian mines could increase safety of miners working in the most difficult conditions at the coal face and would reduce the costs of coal mining operations.

Modern longwall systems reduce the need for the crew to be present in the most difficult and dangerous places exposed to extreme conditions, such as very high temperatures. Computerised longwall systems enable highly-autonomous longwall mining operations, such as through remote control of equipment operation and 3-D visualisation.

"The development of JSW's mines requires a continuous improvement of the safety of miners, in particular during the most dangerous and physically demanding tasks. JSW plans to begin cooperation with Joy this year to research the application of autonomous longwall systems in the company's mines," said Daniel Ozon, president of JSW. "The application of modern technologies increases the safety of the crew, but also improves the efficiency of coal mining operations. Global technology solutions clearly bring JSW closer to the future mining 4.0."

Autonomous longwall systems have been successfully used in coal mines worldwide. The signatories of the letter will conduct the research and prepare the expert documentation describing the possible safe applications of autonomous longwall systems with the highest technically available level of autonomy, minimising mining risks, especially threats to people.