CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY
He explained:“ Up until a few years ago, we were really focused mainly on the design of our sensors, equipping them for the rigours of the underground environment. But there was a missing link that we saw in the circa-10,000 sensors we had in the field, and that was the maintenance management part.
“ Take gas and airflow sensors as an example: at Maestro, we classify these as‘ production equipment’ because mine ventilation directly impacts how quickly operations can resume after a blast. Yet, miners often see these systems as background infrastructure – only addressing them when the ventilation system goes down or excessive clearance times start causing delays. In reality, ventilation sensors are just as critical to production as an LHD or drill. If a mine can gain 30-90 minutes of additional operational time by ensuring proper airflow, then these devices become a key part of the production process and deserve the same level of maintenance priority.”
Maestro’ s Duetto Analytics software is looking to solve this, acting as a bridge between IIoT devices and critical decision-making processes. It takes advantage of all the available digital and artificial intelligence elements available to Maestro to diagnose issues with these devices and, in many instances, troubleshoot any issues from surface.
“ The analytics built into this package leverages off the mine network and enhances the management of maintenance activities by offering real-time diagnostic functions, access to sensor calibration records and predictive analytics to solve these challenges,” Lachapelle says.
Already in the Beta phase of testing, Duetto Analytics is billed as“ multi-instance” software, catering to the various job functions within an underground mining setup.
Lachapelle expands.“ For instance, the ventilation engineer needs to know about a certain set of data for, say, studying ventilation for optimisation purposes( energy usage and emissions) that are presented to the mine manager daily. Then there is the instrumentation automation department that looks at the dashboard as well; this team are charged with daily maintenance of the equipment. The blasting team also has a vested interest in knowing the health of sensors to ensure they can continue to carry on blasting activities to access more ore.” Duetto Analytics’ aim is to equip all these teams with the information they need to optimise the maintenance associated with the Vigilante or Zephyr AQS™ air quality stations, the DustMon™ particulate matter monitor, the Plexus PowerNet™ digital communication network, and more.
“ Obviously, mines are getting deeper, so the aim is to reduce the number of trips from surface to underground to tackle any maintenance issues,” Lachapelle explains.“ The system can help identify the problems from surface, develop an action plan to resolve the problem, and then tell you what parts are needed to rectify the issue.
“ Instead of taking an exploratory trip down to the mine to troubleshoot the issue before heading back up to collect the tools, Duetto Analytics can streamline the process to one trip underground that may include not only an initial repair, but also calibration of sensors coming up for their routine checks in a few days’ time.”
These are the initial examples of maintenance benefits Lachapelle can provide in the Beta phase of testing with select clients – with a full launch expected later this year – but he is expecting the software platform’ s capabilities to grow over time.
“ Given we have such a high population of sensors in the field and now have a system able to ingest and analyse this data with AI, it’ s easy to see the platform being used to, say, predict cell degradation in a gas sensor, which can accelerate over time depending on a mine’ s humidity levels,” Lachapelle said.“ Once it is further demonstrated in the field, we expect more feedback from clients on even more applications.”
He concluded:“ Duetto Analytics will only enhance our existing portfolio of hardware and software, facilitating that vision of enabling the modern digital mine.”
Cementation on keeping the safety focus
The perception that mining is a much safer business than it was several decades ago is backed up by the numbers, but this isn’ t to say the risks have been completely eradicated.
As an underground contractor with significant experience working in shafts, Cementation worked with Forwood and other subject matter experts to enhance and expand the CRM framework to include critical control checklists for underground hoisting, including commissioning, engineered designs, emergency preparedness and operations
The US Mine Safety and Health Administration( MSHA) data from 2023 paints a depressing picture with 40 fatalities registered in 2023, up from 29 in 2022.
Cementation Americas, as one of the world’ s most recognised mining contractors, is doing its bit to curb this upward trend, with Steve Wrixon, Vice President – HSE, recently showcasing this at the SME Annual Conference and Expo in Denver, Colorado.
In his presentation,‘ Implementing a Fatality Prevention Program: A Contractor’ s Perspective,’ Wrixon provided the context behind this program, outlining a whole host of risks in the underground mining environment, as well as making observations on the safety programs of mine owners from around the world, including Rio Tinto.
Leveraging its experience with Forwood’ s Critical Risk Management( CRM) Program, which Wrixon said checked a lot of boxes, the company devised a Fatality Prevention Program that it has rolled out across all its operations – shaft sinking / refurbishment, contract mining, etc.
“ The premise of the program does not change depending on the type of work,” Wrixon told IM.“ It is about managers looking at overall programs and critical controls at a high level, operators / miners checking that critical controls are in place prior to work commencing, and then supervisors verifying that those controls are in place when they check out the work.”
A staggered project rollout schedule for each
12 International Mining | APRIL 2025