In the subterranean labyrinth of Poland’s Lower Silesia region, a thousand metres beneath the rolling hills, an intense battle is waged every day against heat, salt, and crushing pressure.

Welcome to KGHM Polska Miedź in Lubin, one of the world’s largest sources of copper and silver. In this unforgiving environment, where the air hangs hot and thick with corrosive dust, a machine is only as good as the heart beating inside it.

Mining is entering a period of significant change. Demand for minerals such as copper, lithium and nickel continues to grow, driven by global infrastructure, manufacturing and energy transition. At the same time, mining companies are under pressure to reduce emissions, improve safety, increase productivity, and operate more efficiently.
These priorities are accelerating new technologies and operating models with the following trends shaping how mines are powered, managed, and operated.

The Cummins QSB6.7-C260 is a widely used 6.7L electronically controlled common rail turbocharged diesel engine, extensively equipped in plateau mining machinery, high-altitude engineering equipment and mobile power stations. It delivers stable power output and reliable durability under low and medium altitude conditions below 3000 meters. However, operating continuously at ultra-high altitudes above 4500 meters brings fundamental changes in atmospheric pressure, air density, oxygen content and heat dissipation efficiency, which easily expose potential design adaptation risks and marginal component defects that cannot be triggered in plain low-altitude working environments.

The global construction, mining, and energy industries are expanding rapidly into high-altitude regions, where elevations often exceed 4000 meters above sea level. These areas, including the Tibetan Plateau, the Andes, and the high-altitude mining zones in the Rocky Mountains, present extremely harsh operating conditions for internal combustion engines. At an altitude of 4500 meters, the atmospheric pressure drops to approximately 58 kPa, which is only 57% of the standard atmospheric pressure at sea level. The oxygen content in the air decreases sharply to around 12.5%, compared with 21% at sea level. This significant reduction in air density and oxygen concentration poses severe challenges to the combustion efficiency, power output, thermal stability, and reliability of diesel engines.