The Institute was founded by the Regulation No. 579 of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR dated 24th February 1962 on the basis of the mining sector of the Mining and Geological Institute of the Ural branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which was founded by the Decree of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR dated 16th June 1939.

The Institute is one of the leading and oldest research institutes in the country in the field of mining.

The Institute is a sustainable research organization in the field of development of theoretical bases of strategy for effective and safe development and integrated use of mineral resources, methods of geoinformation support for evaluating the georesources and geosystems of mining enterprise, creation of innovative technologies for mining the deep-seated deposits in interrelation of production processes based on modern knowledge of regularities of geological structure of objects and formation of stress-deformed state of the rock mass, deformation processes and the phenomena of rock mass fracturing during mining.

Mission of the Institute is Fundamental research based on the principles of consistency, complexity, interdisciplinarity and innovative orientation in the field of studying the interrelation of mining processes on the basis of formation of stoping zone of open pits and mines with the aim to improve the product quality, energy efficiency and to ensure the resource saving, industrial and ecological safety of mining operations.

The employees of the Institute were awarded the State Prizes of the USSR, Ukraine, the Prizes of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR and the Government of the Russian Federation for the cycle of works on the open-pit and underground mining of ore deposits.

Scientific schools operate successfully at the Institute.

The Open-Pit Transport school develops the scientific basis and methods for optimizing the open-pit transport and sets the regularities in the open-pit space formation in conjunction with development of the opening schemes and the deep pit transport systems and makes the theoretical justification of new generations of the productive mining transport in order to create new technologies for mining the deep-seated deposits and performing the comprehensive exploitation of the mineral resources.

The Geomechanics school investigates the geomechanical safety provision and the mining efficiency. Fundamental and applied studies cover the wide range of issues for interaction of the natural and technogenic systems of the mining enterprises and other mineral resources.

The Institute is working on the training of scientific personnel. The Institute of Mining carries out educational activities on the following educational programs:

in the discipline 05.06.01 – Geosciences with specializations: 25.00.22 – Geotechnology (underground, open-pit and construction); 25.00.35 – Geoinformatics; 25.00.36 – Geoecology.

in the discipline 21.06.01 – Geology, exploration and exploitation of mineral resources with specializations: 25.00.20 – Geomechanics, rock blasting, mining aerogasdynamics and mining thermophysics; 25.00.35 – Geoinfomatics; 25.00.36 – Geoecology.

Thesis board Д 004.010.02 performs the defenses of doctorate and candidate theses with specializations: 05.02.22 – Production engineering (mining industry) (engineering sciences); 25.00.20 – Geomechanics, rock disintegration, mining aerogasdynamics and mining thermophysics (engineering sciences); 25.00.35 – Geoinformatics (engineering sciences).

Many employees of the Institute give lectures in universities and colleges, supervise and review diploma and course projects, take part in the work of specialized Dissertation Defence Boards.

International cooperation:

• Astana branch of the Institute has been accredited as a coordinator of scientific and technical activities. The branch has received the general license for the right to design the mining objects in the territory of Kazakhstan. The Institute’s main partner is LLP “Research and Engineering Center ERG” Astana which represents the scientific interests of Eurasian Resources Group uniting the largest industrial companies of Kazakhstan.

• The Institute cooperates with “Karaganda State Technical University” in training of high-qualified personnel (PhD doctorate), consults PhD students with specializations “6D070700 – Mining” and “6D074900 – Mine Surveying”.

• Active work is in progress on planning the cooperation with Belorussian Research Institutes and OJSC “BELAZ” to realize the Agreement for cooperation of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the Ural branch of Russian Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Sciences of Sakha (Yakutia) in creating new equipment and technology for developing the regions of the Far North.

Today the Institute is able to solve the most complex academic and applied problems in the development and exploitation of deep-seated deposits of mineral raw materials with complex mining and geological conditions.

The directions of innovative activity of the Institute:

• Developments related to the justification of parameters of innovative technologies.

• Developments related to the creation of innovative products (technology, software, geoinformation systems).

• Experimental innovation projects.

• Examination, audit, laboratory studies, technical, economic and environmental evaluations.

The Institute has various, including unique, equipment for carrying out the scientific research.

The complex of innovation centers has been created within the ­Institute involving the laboratory scientists to develop the technologies and to commercialize the results of the applied research as well as to serve as a tool for introducing the Institute’s developments into production and accepting the proposals from companies and firms.

1. Center of industrial safety expert review of: project documentation for the development, construction, expansion, reconstruction, retrofit, conservation and elimination of hazardous production facility; technical devices used at hazardous production facility; buildings and structures at hazardous production facility; industrial safety declarations; other documents related to the exploitation of hazardous production facilities.

2. Center of designing the mining enterprises. It was created for the purpose of carrying out the design and survey works within the framework of economic contracts with mining enterprises. The Center carries out quality control of executed design works in the Institute of Mining of Ural Branch of RAS in accordance with the “Regulations on quality control system of executed design works in the Institute of Mining of Ural Branch of RAS”. The strategic aim of the center is to improve the skills of employees in the development of complex innovative projects and the introduction of innovative products.

3. Scientific and Cultural Center “Geotechnologies, Geotechnics, Geomechanics and Geoecology of Mining”.

The activities of the Center are aimed to provide an optimal economic basis for improving the educational system and targeted training of specialists in the field of geotechnology, geotechnics, geomechanics and geoecology of mining, to train the personnel of the highest scientific qualification (including in postgraduate studies), to carry out the complex researches in scientific directions of the Institute.

4. The integration and coordination of scientific and educational potential of the Institute of Mining of Ural Branch of RAS and the Ural State Mining University in order to effectively solve the tasks assigned to them in education and science, to achieve the scientific results of the world level by wide range of scientific research, to consolidate young personnel in the field of science and education, to form the effective and viable scientific teams where young scientists, postgraduates and students are working with the most productive researchers of older generations allow to create the Scientific and Cultural Center “Processing of Industrial Waste, Ecology and Industrial Safety”.

5. Within the framework of the national project “Science” on the basis of FSAEI of HE “Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin” the
educational center “Advanced Industrial Technologies” is created.

6. Complex research and production laboratory. The main objectives of scientific research carried out in the laboratory are as follows: organization and performance of fundamental, exploratory and applied research, ­development and design works; involvement of young scientists in the implementation of research works, development of their creative abilities and independence; training of modern methodology of scientific research: introduction of research results into the national economy, promotion of achievements of science and technology; development of material and technical base of the Institute; scientific-production and entrepreneurial activity; creation and use of scientific and technical products and their ­support.

7. Laboratory of non-destructive testing. The main objective of the laboratory is to carry out the systematic monitoring by means of non-destructive testing of compliance of equipment and facilities subordinated to Rostekhnadzor of the Russian Federation with the requirements of the regulatory and technical documentation.

8. Laboratory for testing geomaterials: study of rock mass structure; study of composition of geomaterials; study of physical and mechanical properties of geomaterials. Equipment: stationary equipment to study elemental composition of geomaterials (ato