SLOPE STABILITY
Five GroundProbe Slope Stability Radars will
soon be in full operation to detect any future
movement and instability of the Samarco
Santarém and Germano tailings dams. Two of
these are safety-critical, mobile radar systems
(SSR-XT) such as shown here
allowing enough time for personnel to remove
themselves from site before a failure occurs.
GroundProbe has also been providing daily
geotechnical reports, training and continued
local support.
As a follow up to this, in May 2017,
GroundProbe announced that was to be the sole
provider of radar monitoring solutions at
Samarco Mineração S.A. Five Slope Stability
Radars will be in full operation to detect any
future movement and instability of the Santarém
and Germano dams, with GroundProbe supplying
two safety-critical, mobile radar systems (SSR-
XT) and three long-range, fixed-deployment radar
systems (SSR-SARx).
“The complete, tailor-made monitoring
solution of Real Aperture Radar (RAR) and
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technologies
ensures the right mix of technology is being
employed for the specific needs of the
application. GroundProbe is the only company in
the world that offers all slope stability radar
technologies, linked by a common software
solution, so is well-equipped to meet the needs
of any site-specific application.”
John Beevers, MD and Chief Executive Officer,
GroundProbe, spoke of how GroundProbe was
able to secure the key, exclusive partnership
following a competitive evaluation process.
“There have been two radar vendors operating
on-site for the last 18 months, allowing the
Samarco geotechnical engineering team to
directly compare and evaluate RAR and SAR
technologies,” Beevers said. “Coupled with the
support services offered from our industry-
leading Geotechnical Support Services team,
software engineers and product reliability teams,
we were able to answer questions and fix issues
fast, providing constant support to the Samarco
geotechnical team.”
The radars form an integral part of Samarco’s
complete risk reduction strategy; an industry-
leading solution specifically developed for
tailings dams, to assess further risks and
hazards. Samuel Ricardo Carvalho Carneiro,
Geologist, Samarco, said the purchase of five
radars cements their commitment to safety and
best practice in terms of monitoring. “We have
invested heavily in the continued monitoring of
the project, employing a wide range of
monitoring solutions to ensure the stability of the
dams. We have selected GroundProbe as the sole
supplier of all radars, based on both their suite of
AUGUST 2017 | International Mining 69