20:06, 21 March 2026

Buryatia Students Learn to Build Mining Robots as Rosatom Launches Classroom

The initiative aims to teach school students programming and robotics skills tailored to the mining industry.

At a school in the village of Romanovka in Russia’s Republic of Buryatia, the mining division of Rosatom has launched the region’s first educational robotics initiative, Gornyy kod (Mining Code).

Students will learn programming and assemble robotic replicas of real mining equipment. The program has been equipped with 10 modern kits, including high-performance laptops, specialized software, and robotics components, Rosatom said.

Humans Still Run the Machines

The centerpiece of the student kit is a load-haul-dump machine—a robotic replica of real underground mining equipment. Students are expected not only to assemble the model but also to program it to move, maneuver, and execute commands.

This is the second robotics classroom launched in a region where Rosatom’s mining division operates. Last year, a pilot class opened in the settlement of Revda in Russia’s Murmansk region. Over the next few years, the division plans to deploy 250 robotic systems in its operations. Khiagda, Russia’s leading uranium producer, is already actively working in this direction.

“It’s clear that people must operate ‘smart machinery’—skilled, young, and ambitious professionals. And they need to be trained early, starting in school. This is not just another computer lab; it’s a unique educational platform where students can engage with advanced technologies already used in real industrial settings like ours,” said Anatoly Mikhailov, CEO of Khiagda.

Training Future Professionals

“The goal of the project is to give students foundational skills in programming and robotics that they can apply later in life. Today, the mining division faces ambitious challenges: automating complex mining processes and reducing the physical burden on workers. Specialists with these skills are already in demand, and in the future, the rollout of robotic systems—including those powered by artificial intelligence—will only expand,” said Alexey Shemetov, first deputy CEO of Rosatom Nedra.

Rosatom’s mining division is one of the world’s largest producers of natural uranium and the leading uranium producer in Russia.

Earlier, we reported that a Tsifrovoy sovetchik (Digital Advisor) system has been deployed at the Donskoy Mining and Processing Plant.

Extractive industry