This paper describes a new industrial case on wireless automation, for a large scale system with high environmental impact: the mining ventilation. We do not pretend to solve the global control problem but rather propose a novel approach based on distributed sensing/actuation capabilities, which can be allowed by the installation of an heterogeneous network in the underground process. Several key issues, such as the centralized vs. decentralized control, the macroscopic physical models for the main components and the network structure, are introduced to motivate future research along this line. We particularly highlight new grounds for the development of global control strategies that would allow for the energy consumption optimization of this large-scale system.