Patent ID: 8622479

Claim:
A method of horizon control in a mining operation where mined product is cut from a mining face of a seam of the product, said method comprising: observing, with an infrared (IR) camera, infrared radiation from a freshly cut mining face, the observed infrared radiation generated in response to cutting the mining face and without irradiating the mining face with infrared radiation; determining, from the observed IR radiation, at least one temperature contrast region between upper and lower extents of the freshly cut mining face, the at least one temperature contrast region corresponding to a band of material located in the freshly cut mining face between upper and lower extents of the freshly cut mining face; determining at least one height co-ordinate position of the at least one determined temperature contrast region of the freshly cut mining face; generating an output signal corresponding to the determined height co-ordinate position; and using the generated output signal for horizon control in a mining operation.