WORLD PROSPECTS
Nokia 5G network for Kittilä
Nokia has recently announced it is working with mobile operator Telia , and its partner Digita , to deliver a 5G SA private wireless network for Agnico Eagle Finland Oy that operates the Kittilä mine in northern Finland . The network will support advanced Industry 4.0 use cases at the mine to accelerate its digital transformation . The Kittilä mine is the largest primary gold producer in Europe and is located 900 km north of Helsinki , and 150 km north of the Arctic circle in the Lapland region of northern Finland .
The Nokia 5G SA network will support both above and below-ground operations , reaching depths of up to one kilometre . It will cover an extensive tunnel system to connect people , equipment , sensors , devices and vehicles leveraging the low latency capabilities of 5G . The Kittilä mine will benefit from real-time data processing at the network edge , supporting important business Industry 4.0 use cases , such as autonomous vehicles , high-precision positioning and group communications , to further enhance operational reliability , safety and quality .
Tommi Kankkunen , General Manager of the Kittilä mine , said : “ Having already piloted autonomous and remotely controlled machinery in recent years , we chose to work with Nokia , Telia and Digita to deliver capabilities for the next phase of our digital transformation journey . We want to innovate by using the latest technologies and will leverage the Nokia 5G SA private network to enhance operational efficiency and support the highest level of safety for teams working at the mine .”
The Nokia 5G SA private wireless network , based on the Nokia Modular Private Wireless ( MPW ) solution , will incorporate Nokia 5G RAN AirScale base station technology and critical edge computing capabilities , together with the Nokia Compact Mobility Unitbased 5G core . The network will be deployed in phases and is expected to be completed in October 2022 .
Jari Collin , Chief Technology Officer , Telia Finland , said : “ We are excited to be a part of this project for Agnico Eagle , providing highperformance 5G to transform operations at the Kittilä mine . This deployment continues our work with Nokia and Digita to deliver 5G SA private wireless networks in Finland to support the growing digital economy in the country .”
Stephan Litjens , Head of Enterprise Solutions at Nokia , said : “ This is another great example of how collaboration across the ecosystem is essential for developing winning technology solutions to meet productivity , safety and sustainability targets . We are pleased to work with Telia and Digita to deliver
Underwater mining coming to Ekati
On November 24 at the Yellowknife
Mine . However , the mine has now reached a Geoscience Forum , which is the largest crossroads – conventional mining , both open-pit mining and petroleum conference in the and underground is set to end in 2024 , with the Northwest Territories , Arctic Canadian Diamond exception of Point Lake open pit which has a mine Company Ltd President and CEO Rory Moore life up to 2028 and is going through final outlined how the company is going to trial environmental permitting . Underwater Remote Mining as a way of taking the A new approach is needed to keep mining costs Ekati operations forward into the future , as current down as mining into the surface open pit conventional mining winds down . Arctic Canadian kimberlites goes deeper . The method creates no Diamond Company owns a controlling interest in waste as the crawler is only mining ore plus the Ekati and is the operator – it acquired the diamond grade will be increased thanks to how operation from Dominion Diamond Mines in the kimberlite is February 2021 . The mine first opened in 1998 , and handled . Arctic was 80 % owned and operated by BHP who then Canadian sold its interest in 2012 .
Diamond
Over the mine ’ s early years , production was told IM : “ There focused on six open pits ( Panda , Koala , Misery , will be no waste Fox , Koala North , and Beartooth ) and three mined , that is underground operations ( Panda , Koala and Koala the main North ). Development on the Pigeon open pit attraction of the commenced in 2014 followed by Lynx in 2015 and method . Only Sable in 2017 . Mining at Lynx was completed in ore is mined 2020 , so that as of February 2021 when Arctic which makes it Canadian Diamond assumed ownership of Ekati , much lower mining operations were focused at Pigeon and cost . The higher Sable open pits and the Misery Underground diamond grade
our leading 5G standalone private wireless technology and enable new Industry 4.0 use cases for the Kittilä Mine . Nokia industrial private wireless networks provide secure , reliable connectivity to meet the stringent operational demands of today ’ s mining industry , and 5G enables even greater levels of performance .”
Nokia says its industrial-grade private wireless technology can be deployed in the most remote locations , making it ideally suited for the digital transformation of mining facilities . " Mine owners can take advantage of Industry 4.0 applications that enable new levels of automation to better manage fluctuations in demand , while enhancing productivity , operational efficiency and workforce safety ." Nokia currently has more than 380 enterprise customers of industrial-grade wireless private networks globally , including more than 35 mining customers . www . nokia . com
comes from the fact that the kimberlite is passed through a dewatering plant that will be positioned alongside the flooded pit . Fine material will be removed together with the water in this process . Removal of fines increases the diamond content of the kimberlite in proportion to the volume of fines removed . This means that lower volumes of higher grade ore is transported to the processing plant saving on transportation costs .”
URM involves mining kimberlite on the floor of the flooded mine or lake bed with a crawler miner that has been developed together with marine mining specialist Royal IHC , based in Kinderdijk in
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6 International Mining | JANUARY 2022