MINING NETWORKS
Other players in mining private LTE
While the market for 4G LTE and 5G in the mining industry is led by Nokia , Ericsson and Huawei – there are other players out there which have had successes in mining – two examples being NTT and Hytera .
NTT Ltd , a world-leading global technology services provider , announced in May 2022 it is working with Albemarle Corp , the speciality chemicals company with leading positions in lithium , bromine , and refining catalysts , to deploy a pilot private LTE / 5G and WiFi network at Albemarle ’ s hard rock lithium mine in Kings Mountain , North Carolina . The 800 acre site sits on one of the richest spodumene ore deposits in the world . In addition , this site produces battery-grade lithium hydroxide , lithium bromide , lithium chloride , USP-grade lithium carbonate , high purity lithium carbonate , battery grade lithium metal products and lithium alloy powders .
Operating mining and manufacturing facilities across three continents , Albemarle needed a network that would allow its global engineers to connect with technicians for remote site surveys and assists . Previously , it was difficult for global engineers to visit Albemarle ’ s site due to COVID-19 travel restrictions , which significantly impacted the process of decision making and timing . The use of private LTE / 5G will enable Albemarle to enhance its hybrid working process and reduce the amount of global travel needed to operate .
Utilising NTT ’ s global expertise in connectivity , Albemarle can now use integrated technologies to ensure that surveys , assists and maintenance activities can be conducted remotely . Albemarle is also looking at additional use cases to leverage wireless networking at their manufacturing sites . A private network provides the organisation with enhanced security , high technology performance , and coverage to enable IoT devices .
NTT worked closely with the manufacturer to determine the best use of connectivity dependent on the location or use case , always enabling the best possible coverage . Following the pilot in Kings Mountain , Albemarle plans to roll out the network to additional sites .
“ To enable collaboration and digital applications at our mining and processing sites , we require widespread , high-speed connectivity ,” said Chuck Holley , Global Manager of IT Network Infrastructure , Albemarle . “ A private LTE / 5G network is a great way we can do this costeffectively , and NTT was our first choice to pilot a design , prove the technology and show the value . With a private LTE / 5G network , we ’ re able to continue to seek out innovative solutions to some of our most pressing challenges .”
“ We ’ re incredibly proud to be partnering and consulting with Albemarle on this innovative pilot ,” said Parm Sandhu , Vice President , Enterprise 5G Products and Services , NTT . “ A private LTE / 5G network will continue to transform business outcomes in mission-critical environments for Albemarle , and this is just the start of their journey . We look forward to working closely with the manufacturer as it continues to digitally transform its business for the future .”
Hytera ' s solutions have been successfully applied in the mining industry where they have helped customers solve their communication problems . For example , JSC AK Altynalmas has deployed a Hytera Hytalk ( PoC ) LTE platform and terminals in Kazakhstan , while the Letpadaung Copper Mine in Myanmar is using an integrated Hytera DMR and LTE solution .
Hytera ' s Intelligent Communications Solution for Mining it says provides instant voice , video and data communications to deliver team members the information they need to know to carry out their work . “ Hytera ' s communications solution supports a rich ecosystem of real-time intelligence , which enables teams to work more efficiently , productively and safely .”
“ The Hytera Intelligent Communications Solution for Mining can help the industry realise the benefits of digitalisation . It provides a highly transportable end-to-end broadband solution including terminals , network , data centre and command and dispatch centre . It is capable of supporting sophisticated automation , data analytics , and all the voice , video , data and M2M / IoT applications used in the mining industry .”
The fully 3GPP-compliant 4G / 5G solution provides a complete wireless broadband network including radio access network ( RAN ), backhaul , LTE core , device and network management . Multiple services can be run simultaneously over the high throughput and resilient 4 / 5G network , including : Mission Critical Push-to-X ( Voice / Data / Video ); real-time video streaming ; telemetry / SCADA ; and M2M / IoT sensor monitoring . Low latency transmission rates (< 100ms ) enable precise control of remote automated operations .
The various technologies can all be managed using one unified command and visualised dispatch centre and a remote control centre , which receive and distribute real-time information from and to the field operations . The network infrastructure also supports intelligent data analytics and artificial intelligence applications .
NTT has deployed a pilot private LTE / 5G and WiFi network at Albemarle ’ s hard rock lithium mine in Kings Mountain , North Carolina
50 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2022