29 November 2023
South Africa’s mining sector contributes some 18% of the country’s GDP and provides employment for around 500,000 workers. In the dangerous, dirty business that is mining, safety and effective communications are essential.
This has been recognised by the Nungu Mine in Elandspruit, where 5G wireless technology installed at the end of 2022 has delivered unparalleled enhancements in worker safety and business productivity.
“This is a game changer for the entire industry and the hundreds of thousands of people it employs,” said Neo Phukubje, managing executive at BCX Wireless Solutions.
Enhancing safety and efficiency
Instantly addressing a wide range of challenges, the deployment is set to radically enhance the mine’s operational efficiencies and safety, providing vital data analytics and automation that enables video monitoring via drone technology, integrated connectivity with handheld devices and tablets, and a facial recognition proximity detection system.
“Data is a valuable asset for miners, enabling ‘Data Driven Decision-Making’ in the critical mining environment,” said Wang. “5G connectivity will make the South African mining sector globally competitive. We are excited about working together with our partners like BCX to drive digital transformation in the mining sector, which is such a crucial industry in the economy.”
5G wireless technology solves for use-cases within businesses, where speed, reliability and reduced latency are critical. It creates possibilities to transform every area of the operation, from workplace safety to improved productivity through predictive intelligence. Each of the ecosystem partners, including Huawei, MPI Holdings, Umnotho Technologies, and Dahua, played a pivotal role.
“The importance placed on the partner ecosystem in the project helped develop vital innovations in safety,” said Gert Venter, MPI. “This includes 5G-enabled proximity alert between two heavy vehicles for collision prevention, which can mean the difference between life and death.”
According to Frenndy Wang, channel department director at Huawei South Africa’s enterprise division, in addition to improved safety and operational efficiency, another differentiator is that 5G allows for AI-based real-time data analytics, a key to smart mining.
Two phase deployment
The project at the Nungu Mine was completed in two phases.
In the first phase, BCX deployed 5G-enabled cameras at critical points at the mine to enable proximity detection, enabled by Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and digital processing technologies. A stockpiling monitoring system, enabled by footage collected via drones and processed via the digital edge computing systems, was installed.
Meanwhile, in-car connectivity to monitor driver fatigue and collision prevention to minimise the number of incidents and collisions were enabled, and a pedestrian protection system, enabling the safety and monitoring of miners on site.
These wireless technologies are bringing smart mining to South Africa, enhancing their ability to monitor the mines on a 24-hour basis, enhancing the security and safety of employees, and increasing productivity, while actively minimising incidents at the mines.
The second phase saw the extension of connectivity underground to enable a fully connected smart mine that will increase security, supply motion sensors that trigger an alarm, and enables the mine’s control room to monitor underground activity effectively.
“As proven with this launch, wireless technology can be harnessed in powerful ways that make a lasting difference. It builds on our confidence and excitement to work in partnership with all industries from finance, aviation and agriculture to healthcare so they too can benefit from becoming 5G-enabled, fully integrated and connected to a new world of infinite possibilities,” said Phukubje.
