Kamal Mokrani, InfiNet Wireless, UK, details a wireless alternative to satellite and cable-based solutions that can be used in mining to keep remote locations connected, whilst keeping costs to a minimum.

With complex extraction processes including exploration, construction and production, mining is a difficult operation at the best of times. However, with automated mining transport moving from prototype to reality, dynamic CCTV needed for safety of workers, harsh terrains and critical information often being transferred from one mine site to another, continuous communication is one of the biggest challenges that mining organisations face today. It is crucial to have “always-on” connectivity – if not, the consequences could be disastrous.

Mining locations can often be positioned in difficult-to-reach locations, and even those at the top of the mines themselves can find significant technical challenges in laying and maintaining a communications and IT infrastructure network sitewide. As well as this, challenging environment and climate conditions can have varying effects on frequencies, with high winds and severe rainfall causing unprecedented damage to wired cabling and power lines.

Eradicate the black spot

In the event of an emergency, a communication black spot or a series of malfunctions pose a substantial risk on security and productivity levels in mining, as critical information or, in particular, video footage, can be lost.  If a network does suffer from a malfunction, the entire operation can hang in the balance as data signals are lost, resulting in valuable assets and data become vulnerable. Operators are constantly battling against reducing costs, while trying to meet increased demands for production.

With key obstacles including the remoteness of location and the need for scalability and flexibility, how do mine operators seek to combat these challenges? Organisations must start at the beginning – the network itself. The potential solution must offer the necessary bandwidth, reliability, functionality and packet performance to support mining companies and their growth and more specifically, ensure data transfers can be successfully sent and received across all sites.

Despite major technology breakthroughs over the years, laying the foundations required for fibre networks requires a huge amount of capital and potential extended delays in approvals and adverse environmental factors out of the organisations control.

Mining operators need solutions that are both flexible in terms of geographical coverage and ones which are easily scalable in order to cater for future expansions as and when required. Therefore, the best and fastest option for any operator is to deploy a future-proof and reliable wireless platform.

Wireless deployment success

There have been many success stories from across the globe that highlight the need for such a solution to combat the challenges mentioned above.

An example of this was in Russia recently, where one of the five largest ore mining companies in the country was struggling to deal with the difficult terrain surrounding the mines and plains, as well as attempting to establish permanent and reliable communication channels with all moving vehicles. As a result, the data transfers were unreliable.  From the multitude of on-board computers within the vehicles, to the automated mining transport and dispatch management located in the control centre, a complete overhaul was essential. 

The company implemented a more advanced backbone network comprising of wireless solutions from InfiNet Wireless to seamlessly integrate with the existing wired network through its Point-to-Point units. It also implemented Point-to-Multipoint solutions which had available capacity of at least 10Mb/per vehicle, allowing them to travel at speeds of up to 60 km/h and enabling the reliable data transfer, thus dynamic management of moving fleet and stock.

By deploying the advanced wireless solution, the company was able to provide full coverage of both the mining and surrounding area with no black spots.

This stable broadband backbone network consisted of 22 base station sectors, spread across 14 locations to give full coverage, with up to three sectors installed on specific locations to cater the difficult terrain. Seamless integration with an already existing wired network was achieved via the use of fibre optic cabling. The system provided the company with real-time information on their vehicles, allowing the control centre to reliably communicate with each one of them and significantly reduce down time and increase safety.

Time is money

In our 21st century excavating efforts, connecting multiple mining sites and areas is a common strategy to boost production and processes further to continue to meet demands and produce millions of tonnes of coal per year.  Some organisations are also utilising the networking infrastructure for remote surveillance and management from a single head office location.  This is part of an ongoing process to introduce the most efficient technology and practices into operations, broadening and upgrading communications links between operation, logistics and administrative areas.

However, operating between numerous remote locations can cause a lag between communications if the right network isn’t in place. When PT Saptaindra Sejati (SIS), a mining contractor in Indonesia, wanted to link together more than twenty key operational areas across the mine, from logistics and transport depots through to centralised operations and administration, they realised they needed a suitable network to transfer data across the area of over 75 km in distance.

Its Saptaindra Adaro mining site, located in Tanjung Tabalong in the South Borneo region of Indonesia, is one of the most significant coal mining sites in the area and one of the major economic contributors in the region, but with that activity also came the rise of network clogs, which caused disruption to its operations. Because of this, the company identified the need to broaden and upgrade communications links between the operational, logistics and administrative areas of the mining site.

The geography and working areas of the mine change regularly, therefore the obvious choice to ensure ongoing flexibility as well as reliability was to introduce a technology solution based on wireless connectivity. The wireless network needed to link together more than twenty key operational areas across the mine, from logistics and transport depots, through to centralised operations and administration – and out to the operations at the 'coal face' itself. Extending across an area of over 75 km in distance, the wireless network was designed around six tower hubs, each linked to its neighbouring towers to act as a high capacity backbone to the network, with links of capacities varying from 40 Mbps up to over 100 Mbps and link distances of up to 29 km for each single span.

Using the InfiNet Wireless high capacity links to further strengthen the company’s ability to cope with the mine's changing geography and increasing throughput needs, the range equipment used acted as multi-location aggregators, to positions only needing low or medium capacity links typically up to 40 Mbps per link. The positive impact of this infrastructure resulted in high reliability and throughput across difficult, non-line-of-sight (NLOS) terrain, it caused a minimal impact on existing operations and allowed for additional link stability and throughput through difficult atmospheric conditions. It also saw the highest levels of satisfaction in their data and voice communication application, with CCTV and VOIP services now running seamlessly across the wireless network.

Terrains and harsh environments

When the largest coal producer in Kazakhstan, Shubarkol Komir JSC, decided to introduce automated production accounting and provide better security and asset management through the deployment of a new video surveillance system across the entire Centralny and Zapadny locations, its legacy IT infrastructure, which was previously built based on low-cost wireless solutions, was found to be unreliable and not flexible enough to meet the company’s evolving needs. This meant it was unable to provide the necessary bandwidth, reliability, functionality and packet performance to support the company’s growth.

InfiNet deployed a solution which provided data transfer rates of up to 70 Mbps at the site. With capacities of up to 35 Mbps and fully functional throughout the -55 to +60 °C temperature range, the solution ensured that all links were fully integrated and stable throughout the mines, with more room to grow in the future as requirements change.

The network also provided a data transmission solution for the automated accounting of technological processes: operators at the control centre can now remotely receive information about coal composition and other parameters from the locations of direct production of the mineral, significantly improving the productivity of the entire mining operation. As a result, the high-quality wireless technology has ensured the now flawless operation of the company’s network, eliminating the risks often associated with interferences when operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, and ultimately protecting the company’s valuable assets, whether deployed centrally or in remote locations.

The wireless future

Robust and reliable communication in critical communication environments like the mining industry aren’t just desirable; it is essential and is paramount to the safety of those working in the potentially hazardous environments. The workers are often operating in extreme temperatures and challenging conditions, so the network they rely on for their tasks must be of a high, secure, and flexible standard to enable them to communicate effectively, especially when faced with potential emergencies and disasters. The consequences of bad connectivity in these environments isn’t just lost time.

As mining producers of all types continue to look for ways to keep their remote locations connected 24/7, whilst keeping their operational costs down, they are now looking very seriously to wireless solutions as reliable alternatives to satellites and cable-based wide area networks. These problems are now much less daunting and success for the future is imminent. Organisations must work with the environment in which they are based, rather than using outdated, inflexible and inoperable networking infrastructure. Mining operators have an obvious choice moving forward, wireless based technology solutions are key.

September 2018 Coal Mining.