IM 2020 September 20 | Page 39

MINING NETWORKS & CONNECTIVITY Gerais, Brazil. The document also provides for social responsibility actions in the region. Block 8 will produce 27.5 Mt/y (dry basis) of 66.2% Fe iron ore pellets. According to Jin Yongshi, CEO of SAM, the company has directed all its efforts to create an extremely safe mining project and one of the possible solutions is unmanned mining by implementing an autonomous or remotely operated mine. “Today there are already trucks and autonomous drilling machines and some other equipment necessary for the mining operation can be controlled remotely. However, we will need to integrate huge autonomous trucks and remote control equipment into a network system. It will be necessary for huge machines to communicate with the command centre, efficiently with low latency and operate safely in a single pit. Compared to the 4G network, 5G has the advantage of much higher speed and bandwidth and much lower latency (data slowness). This type of fast, reliable and real-time network can break the bottleneck of today’s autonomous operations.” The company has stated it intends to use unmanned trucks, drill rigs and excavators. Rajant on providing the network which mining operators crave Sagar Chandra, VP of Sales – Americas for wireless mesh major Rajant Corporation points out that mining landscapes are amongst the most If a path becomes blocked or broken by interference, the Rajant network can redirect traffic accordingly to ensure operations never slow down or seize dangerous on earth, and installing and maintaining communications infrastructure is particularly challenging in these locations. “Despite this, both open-pit and underground mines are beginning to reap the benefits of using communications technology to deliver efficiency savings, to protect valuable assets better, and to enhance worker safety. In dynamic environments, unfailing connectivity is vital to keep operations running smoothly, to monitor and track applications in real-time, and to prevent the risk of unfortunate and often catastrophic downtime.” He argues that having access to real-time visibility of personnel and equipment will ensure that the security and safety of the workforce is maximised. “With enhanced realtime visibility and improved situational awareness, operators can track workers across the site, prevent them from entering dangerous areas, and fundamentally improve their wellbeing. This will also significantly help reduce the underlying risk of incidents.” In addition to personnel, equipment and vehicles are also constantly on the move across a vast environment and keeping track and monitoring assets can prove problematic. “Operators should be wise to utilise personnel and asset tracking technology which robust connectivity can accommodate. With the introduction of IIoT and the considerable benefits which it enables, equipment fleets can be equipped with wireless technology and sensors to stream real-time data directly to the operation centre. For example, mining vehicles such as haul trucks and shovels have hundreds of conditioned QT.nlmk.com MEET YOUR TOUGHEST DEMANDS