Huozhou Coal & Power's Liyazhuang Mine under Shanxi Coking Coal Group is bolstering the adoption of DeepSeek AI technology to build a benchmark for smart mining. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The country is bolstering the adoption of DeepSeek AI technology, which has created a buzz in global tech circles, into various fields of the industrial world to drive comprehensive intelligent upgrades.

Following the rise of artificial intelligence company DeepSeek, this AI system is permeating into Chinese coal mines, injecting powerful digital intelligence into traditional collieries.

In Huozhou Coal & Power's Liyazhuang Mine under Shanxi Coking Coal Group, with a click of the mouse and input parameters by technicians, a detailed production safety technical measures report is instantly generated.

Meanwhile, a progress dashboard shows real-time updates as over 500,000 pieces of data have been fed into the locally deployed server, along with its operational status. Affectionately nicknamed "Xiao Ya Assistant", this AI system is permeating every corner of the mine.

Behind this transformation lies the mine's active response to Shanxi province and Shanxi Coking Coal Group's strategic push for smart mining, using AI as the core engine to drive comprehensive intelligent upgrades.

As intelligent transformation is essential for the high-quality development of the coal industry, the colliery has initiated policy guidance to chart its blueprint for smart mining.

"2025 is the breakthrough year for our mine's intelligent construction," said Mine Director and Party Secretary Wang Yuande at the annual workers' congress, adding that "We must use AI technology as the engine to create an industry-leading smart mining model, achieving leapfrog development."

This strategy has accelerated technological innovation and implementation, as the mine pooled resources to advance the deep R&D and full-chain application of the DeepSeek AI system, Wang affirmed.

Its systematic advancement has been observed, as AI is empowering its various-scenario applications, including production efficiency, safety enhancement, equipment maintenance, and management capability, Wang said.

For production efficiency, with AI serving as a "super consultant", a process once taking 24 hours now takes just two hours — a 92 percent efficiency boost — significantly accelerating production.

With work safety remaining paramount in mining, the "Xiao Ya Assistant" serves as a tireless "safety guardian" and a "smart brain", helping build a closed-loop safety management cycle ("warning → inspection → rectification → analysis → re-warning"), and creating an impregnable safety shield.

In addition, at maintenance sites, a "human-machine dialogue" unfolds, with intelligent diagnosis "hearing" a machine's health.

Via a mobile app, workers can use AI to analyze equipment vibration spectra, predicting early faults (such as in gearboxes) and shifting maintenance from passive repair to proactive prevention.

Furthermore, in management capability, AI is reshaping mining operations with its technical prowess and innovation, cultivating a new generation of "smart miners" who can understand mining and critical thinking.

Wang said: "We can help jointly map a grand blueprint for intelligent mining and propel the industry toward an efficient, safe, and smart future."

In deepening the applications of DeepSeek AI technology, Liyazhuang Mine said it will expand AI's depth and breadth across operations, and build a benchmark for smart mining with leading technologies, deep application and high efficiency.