African Mining January 2020 | Page 19

GLOBAL NEWS  GLOBAL NEWS  we need 5G. It is essential for achieving the full value of digitalisation,” says Rafael. “Progressive industries like mining are acting now so that they can work out new business models and explore the best fit for it within their sectors. We have the software, we have the intelligence – what we need now is a reliable connection so that we can access data in real-time, all the time.” Wheel loaders and articulated haulers are the machines of choice for most mines that Volvo operates in – and 100% of those machines are fitted with CareTrack. There could be more than 30 machines operating at the same time inside each mine: wheel loaders loading the rocks and articulated or rigid trucks taking the material out. This repetitive cycle offers the perfect place to experiment with connectivity. Which is why 5G has become almost as hot a commodity as copper. SWEDEN: BEOWULF EXPLORES IRON ORE Mineral exploration company Beowulf has been awarded an exploration licence for Parkijaure number six, which covers almost 1 000 hectares, situated to the south of Kallak North and South deposits, and which is similarly prospective for magnetite iron ore. Meanwhile, Beowulf has awarded a contract to GeoVista in Sweden to re-assess existing geophysical data and determine if an additional exploration target is warranted at Parkijaure, to add to the Kallak South exploration target. Beowulf is a partner in the European Union (EU) funded Pacific Project launched in June 2018. The project has received EUR3.2-million from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and has a 36-month programme of activities being coordinated by Université Grenoble Alpes. The aim of Pacific is to develop a new, low-cost and environmentally friendly tool for exploring for sub-surface mineral deposits. Kallak, including Kallak North, Kallak South and the Parkijaure licence, has been chosen as one of two PACIFIC test sites.  www. africanmining.co.za African Mining Publication  January 2020  17 African Mining African Mining  January 2020  17