MINE VENTILATION
proposition that encompassed five aspects:
• A 30-50 % reduction in ventilation energy consumption;
• Improved grid stability and peak load management;
• Optimised battery-electric vehicle performance through thermal control;
• Improved safety through real-time visibility; and
• Reduced emissions and stronger ESG positioning.
Real-time airflow monitoring
Innovative Wireless Technologies( IWT) recently expanded its SENTINEL™ ecosystem to include Wireless Ventilation Monitors( WVM), giving mine operators a practical way to view airflow conditions in real time using the same network already supporting communications, tracking and gas monitoring.
By using advanced pressure sensing technology, the WVM measures differential pressure and calculates airflow changes with precision, with data transmitted wirelessly through the IWT network.
“ This provides mine operators with the ability to remotely monitor ventilation and airflow from the surface, which enables faster identification and resolution of ventilation disruptions and limits physical ventilation inspections to a targeted zone, resulting in improved response efficiency and productivity,” IWT says.
The flexibility of the system allows it to be deployed in different ways, thanks to three configurations: Ventilation Only, Ventilation and Gas Monitoring, or the WVM +, which combines ventilation, gas monitoring, and communications and tracking in one device. This modular approach supports a range of operational needs while keeping everything within a single network.
On the software side, ventilation data is presented in a way that is easy to interpret and act on, the company says. Within IWT’ s platform, airflow information is automatically calculated and displayed in real time. Operators can also account for external factors, such as surface pressure, to improve the accuracy of underground readings and validate ventilation models.
The integration with IWT’ s Analytics Platform adds another layer of value, the company says. Ventilation data can be viewed alongside gas readings, allowing operators to better understand how airflow conditions are impacting the environment underground. Trends can be tracked over time, helping teams identify changes early and respond more effectively. Data can also be exported to support reporting and compliance requirements.
“ By incorporating ventilation monitoring into an existing wireless network, IWT
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Aurora Puriqi:“ While the [ mining ] industry is quickly moving towards the use of battery-electric vehicles, there is one critical system that is not moving at the same pace. That system is ventilation.”
provides a more streamlined approach to environmental monitoring,” the company says.“ There is no need to manage multiple systems, and the ability to view airflow and gas data together supports more informed decision making.”
It concluded:“ As mines continue to adopt more connected and data-driven approaches, solutions like the SENTINEL WVM demonstrate how additional capabilities can be layered onto existing infrastructure – delivering greater visibility and operational awareness without adding complexity.”
Turning ventilation data into intelligence
Modern underground ventilation systems are generating more airflow, environmental and operational data than ever before. Air quality sensors, airflow monitors, ventilation controls, mobile equipment telemetry and IIoT infrastructure are increasingly connected across underground operations. Yet the challenge is no longer simply collecting this information. It is understanding how changing ventilation conditions are affecting atmospheric behaviour across the mine before those conditions become unsafe, inefficient or disruptive to production, Maestro Digital Mine says.
As mines become deeper, hotter and more complex, ventilation is becoming a dynamic operational system rather than static infrastructure. Airflow distribution is influenced continuously by equipment movement, blasting cycles, regulator positions, auxiliary fan performance, thermal loads and production activity. In this environment, threshold alarms and isolated readings remain essential, but they do not always provide the operational visibility needed to understand how ventilation conditions are evolving across the network.
This is where Maestro Digital Mine sees the industry moving from environmental monitoring to ventilation intelligence.
Traditional monitoring answers the question: what are conditions right now? Ventilation intelligence adds the questions essential for modern mine ventilation management: how is airflow behaviour changing, why is it changing, can the data be trusted and what action is required before safety, energy or production performance is compromised?
Maestro’ s Duetto Analytics™ platform acts as the intelligence layer between underground IIoT infrastructure and operational decision making. The platform aggregates information from Maestro’ s ventilation and environmental ecosystem, including Vigilante AQS™ and Zephyr AQS™ monitoring stations, ventilation controls, particulate monitoring systems and underground digital infrastructure.
The objective is not simply to aggregate and display data, but to transform ventilation and environmental information into operational awareness that supports faster, more informed decisions underground. Duetto continuously evaluates the integrity of the monitoring network itself, identifying calibration drift, communication interruptions, abnormal device behaviour and missing data before these issues create blind spots. As ventilation systems become more automated and VoD strategies advance, confidence in the underlying sensor and airflow data becomes critical. A ventilation control strategy is only as reliable as the data informing it.
Once data integrity is established, the value of trend analysis becomes clear. Changes in airflow distribution often
International Mining | JUNE 2026