Center of Excellence under National Critical Minerals Mission and Virtual Reality Mine Simulator inaugurated

Key facts

• Ministry of Coal and Mines inaugurated the Center of Excellence under National Critical Minerals Mission hosted in IIT (ISM) Dhanbad.
• The CoE will act as a national anchor for research and industry scale solutions in critical minerals, focusing on exploration, extraction, processing, recycling, reuse and waste-to-wealth.
• The CoE will partner with industry leaders and international universities such as University of Cambridge & St Petersburg University and will receive infrastructure support from IIT Gandhinagar, IIT BHU and CPI(UK).
• Virtual Reality Mine Simulator (VRMS), India’s first VR based mine simulator for coal mining safety and productivity, was also inaugurated.
• VRMS provides more than 20 training modules covering heavy equipment operation and critical safety SOPs and will provide scenario based assessment and certification for all levels of employees.