UTILISATION OF MOBILE COMMUNICATION IN OPENCAST MINES?

In past several decades, the mining industry has globally shifted thrust from Underground to open cast mining. The use of large capacity Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM), their extensive deployment and ever growing challenge to i ncrease productivity have led to increased complexity of operation and management. Developments in information and communications technology (ICT) support the collection, connection and analysis of data through sensing and monitoring of trucks in mines. Sensors are parts of all machines that gather data and have an integral role in subsequent processing and transmission of data. Monitoring is a process that observes a state in time or tracks changes in data sets to derive information. Together, sensing and monitoring provide a mechanism for harvesting digital data. This growth in digital data is being used to drive changes in production and distribution processes and the reach of services in the mines. The application of monitoring plays an important role in collecting sufficient relevant information to achieve the desired outcomes of the process in mines. To provide maximum benefit, wireless mining communication networks must offer broadband speeds and form a flexible and reliable foundation to securely support multiple applications on one cost-effective physical infrastructure. A single mining communication network can simultaneously support a range of applications such as, Lower costs by maximizing truck tire life and minimizing unscheduled maintenance Enhance worker safety with improved situational awareness, collision avoidance systems, real-time streams of high wall scans and “man down” systems Improve security using video surveillance and physical access Control Increase efficiency by enabling mine management software (MMS) in the field Improve office staff productivity with high-speed connectivity.