Dust Control in Mining Patents: Leaders & Filing Trends 2026
- 48.6% concentration. The top 5 of 53 ranked assignees hold 86 of the 177 records in scope — nearly half the field sits with a handful of filers.
- Measurement, not mitigation, dominates. 58.8% of records fall under G01N material analysis and testing, versus just 11.3% under E21F mine safety and ventilation equipment.
- Filing has cooled sharply since the 2018 peak. From 5 filings in 2021 to 1 in 2024 — an 80% drop over that complete window, with 2025-26 still understated by publication lag.
Filing growth compares 2021 (5 records) with 2024 (1) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 177 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this patent landscape covers
This landscape covers 177 published records filed between 2015 and the 2026 data cut-off, drawn from filings that combine dust-control terms — respirable dust, dust suppression, mine dust control — with exposure and equipment terms such as silica exposure, personal sampler, scrubber efficiency and haul road treatment. The scope spans both underground and surface operations, and pulls in adjacent oilfield proppant-handling filings where the same silica-dust exposure problem applies.
Filing activity is uneven across the technology stack: measurement and exposure-testing claims outnumber suppression chemistry and ventilation-equipment claims by a wide margin, and a small group of assignees accounts for close to half of all records. The sections below break down the concentration, the technology composition, and the branches that remain lightly claimed.
Filing trends and technology composition
The 177 records in scope span 2015 through the 2026 cut-off, with publication lag meaning the most recent two years are still filling in. The technology mix shows where inventive effort has actually concentrated versus where the search terms merely touch.
Filing activity peaked in 2018, then cooled
Filings ran from 14 in 2017 to a peak of 23 in 2018. The 2021-to-2024 span shows a drop from 5 to 1 filing, an 80% decline over that complete three-year window; 2025 and 2026 figures are not yet reliable because of publication lag.
Measurement and testing dominate the IPC spread
G01N (material analysis and testing) appears in 58.8% of the 177 records, far ahead of C09K suppression-chemistry materials (18.6%) and B01D separation processes (13.6%). Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares sum to more than 100%; mine safety and ventilation itself, E21F, appears in only 11.3% of records.
Shares are the percentage of the 177 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Dust Control in Mining with Eureka
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Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited filings
Compositions and methods for reducing airborne particulate matter
Dust suppression agents and methods of use, e.g., to reduce operator exposure to particulate matter released during machining of a material, are described. The method may include providing a retained dust suppression agent proximate to a surface of the material and machining the material at the surface with a tool having a mechanized motion. The mechanized motion of the tool may release at least a portion of the retained dust suppression agent to reduce operator exposure to respirable particulate matter from the material as compared to machining the material at the surface absent the retained dust suppression agent.Filed by Westlake Royal Roofing LLC, published 2022-05-26 (US20220162487A1).
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US9340353B2 | Methods and systems to transfer proppant for fracking with reduced risk of production and release of silica d… | 103 |
| 2 | US4473296A | System and method and apparatus for a continuous aerosol monitor (CAM) using electro-optical weighing for gen… | 91 |
| 3 | US20160031658A1 | Proppant Discharge and Storage System | 70 |
| 4 | US9969564B2 | Methods and systems to transfer proppant for fracking with reduced risk of production and release of silica d… | 62 |
| 5 | US20150360856A1 | Methods and systems to transfer proppant for fracking with reduced risk of production and release of silica d… | 60 |
| 6 | US4487615A | Method of reducing mine dust | 48 |
| 7 | US20160046438A1 | Methods and systems to transfer proppant for fracking with reduced risk of production and release of silica d… | 39 |
| 8 | US20190277822A1 | Wireless exposure monitor | 38 |
| 9 | US4881957A | Air filtration units and methods employing dust as filtration media and air flow rate as a directly controlle… | 38 |
| 10 | US20160068342A1 | Methods and systems to transfer proppant for fracking with reduced risk of production and release of silica d… | 36 |
Citation counts reflect influence within this searched corpus and favour older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Reading the IPC spread, the citation leaders and the concentration figures together points to where claim space is defensible and where it is still open.
Filing is concentrated at the top
The leading assignee alone holds 30 records; by the tenth-ranked filer that figure has fallen to 7. Anyone assessing freedom-to-operate should weight the leaders heavily rather than treating the ranked list as evenly spread.
Monitoring claims outnumber mitigation claims
Measurement and exposure-testing claims (G01N) far exceed suppression chemistry (C09K, 18.6%) and ventilation equipment (E21F, 11.3%) combined. Most inventive effort has gone into proving dust levels, not removing dust at source.
Filing has slowed from its 2018 peak
Filings peaked at 23 in 2018 and the complete 2021-2024 window shows a drop from 5 to 1. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025-26 figures should not yet be read as confirming a continued decline.
Citation weight sits with older proppant-handling claims
The most-cited records in this dataset address silica dust released during fracking proppant transfer, not underground ventilation. High citation counts here reflect age and reuse within a searched corpus more than current commercial priority.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to dust control in mining, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and what's still open
The ranked assignee list runs to 53 companies, but the field is far from evenly split — a handful of filers hold most of the volume, while dozens appear with only one or two records each.
A single filer sets the pace
The leading assignee's 30 records are more than double the fifth-place holder's 11, and nearly triple the tenth-place holder's 7. That gap is the first thing to check before assuming the field is open.
Most assignees hold only a handful of filings
Beyond the top 10 (which together hold 71.2% of all 177 records), the remaining assignees thin out quickly, many with single-digit or single filings. That long tail is where licensing-in opportunities and acquisition targets tend to sit.
Joint filing is rare in this field
Only 7 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, with the strongest link tying an Italian research foundation to Italy's national occupational-insurance institute at 8 shared filings. Most other assignees file solo.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| EP Minerals LLC | 0 | — |
| Ecolab USA Inc | 0 | — |
| Oren Technologies LLC | 0 | — |
| The Government of the United States of America as represented by the Secretary, Department of Health & Human Services | 0 | — |
| APPLIED PARTICLE TECHNOLOGY INC | 0 | — |
| Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia | 0 | — |
| ISTITUT NAZ PER LASSICURAZIONE CONTRO GLI INFORTUNI SUL LAVORO | 0 | — |
| Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this analysis
The figures above establish the shape of the field. The next steps depend on whether you're clearing a filing, scouting acquisition targets, or deciding where to invest R&D.
Check freedom-to-operate against the top 5 assignees
With 48.6% of the 177 records held by five companies, any new filing in suppression chemistry or monitoring should be checked against their claim scope first.
Run a claim comparisonExplore the under-claimed conveyor and containment branches
B65G and B65D classes sit well below the dominant G01N and C09K categories, suggesting room for narrowly drafted claims in material-handling dust control.
Map the white spaceTrack the assignees still filing post-2021
Momentum has cooled overall, but individual assignee activity in the most recent complete years shows who is still investing versus who has stopped.
View assignee momentumCommon questions on dust control patents
Across the 53 companies in the ranked assignee list, filing is concentrated at the top: the leading assignee holds 30 records, and the top 5 combined account for 86 records, or 48.6% of the 177 total in scope. The tenth-ranked assignee holds only 7, showing a steep drop-off after the leaders. This concentration means a newcomer's freedom-to-operate analysis should start with the handful of top filers rather than the full ranked list.
The complete three-year window from 2021 to 2024 shows filings dropping from 5 to 1, an 80% decline, and the peak year across the whole dataset was 2018 at 23 filings. However, publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the 2025 and 2026 figures in this dataset are undercounted and should not yet be read as a continued decline. A fair read is that filing has cooled from its 2018 peak, with the most recent trend still uncertain.
Material analysis and testing (IPC class G01N) covers 58.8% of the 177 records in scope, making it by far the largest category — most of that reflects personal sampler and exposure-monitoring claims rather than suppression methods themselves. Suppression-chemistry materials (C09K) sit at 18.6% and chemical/physical separation processes (B01D) at 13.6%. Mine safety and ventilation equipment specifically (E21F) is comparatively thin at 11.3%, which is notable given the topic's name.
The United States leads as a receiving office with 58 filings in this dataset, followed by the European Patent Office with 27 and the WIPO PCT route with 18. Australia, Canada and South Africa follow with smaller counts. The US concentration likely reflects both domestic mining and oilfield proppant-handling activity, given how many top-cited records in this set relate to fracking silica exposure.
US20220162487A1, assigned to Westlake Royal Roofing and published 2022-05-26, claims a dust suppression agent retained near a material surface and released specifically by the mechanized motion of a machining tool during cutting. It blocks methods where the suppression agent's release is triggered by that machining motion itself. It does not reach suppression applied independently of machining, nor does it touch scrubber, ventilation or monitoring approaches, which fall under different IPC classes in this dataset.
Collaborative filing is uncommon: the dataset records only 7 co-assignee pairs in total. The strongest pairing links an Italian research foundation with Italy's national workplace-accident-insurance institute, appearing together 8 times, well ahead of the next pairs. This suggests most dust control patenting is done by single organisations rather than joint ventures or research consortia.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.