Newmont’s Trial of Underground 5G at Cadia Mine Delivers Strong Results
09 August 2024 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Ericsson’s Next Generation Wireless
connectivity enables safer mining
Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT, ASX: NEM, PNGX: NEM)
announces it is expanding its use of next generation 5G wireless
networks to improve safety in underground mining following trial
results from its Cadia mine in New South Wales, Australia.
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The Ericsson Private 5G solution is
installed in spare rack space in enterprise communications rooms
and connects to privately owned and operated 5G radios installed
indoors and outdoors. (Photo: Business Wire)
In February last year Newmont announced a trial of 5G in
partnership with Ericsson and Telstra Purple at its Cadia mine –
one of the largest underground gold and copper mines in the
world.
Before the trial, Cadia was limited to upload speeds of 20-30
megabits per second (Mbps) using wi-fi to operate autonomous
equipment such as ore loaders and remote-controlled mining
machines.
These wi-fi connections were unreliable and unpredictable when
under load. There was insufficient capacity to operate the required
number of machines in the one area at the same time, particularly
with the amount of video upload involved, and automation safety
stops were regularly falsely triggered due to network packet
loss.
Using Ericsson Private 5G, Newmont was able to demonstrate the
ability to achieve upload speeds of around 90Mbps along access
drives and declines throughout the underground complex, and 150Mbps
upload and 500Mbps download on all-important extraction drives.
The connections underground were found to be persistent and
highly dependable, resolving historic limitations experienced with
wi-fi and providing the consistent performance essential for remote
control and autonomous mining systems.
Newmont Chief Safety and Sustainability Officer, Suzy Retallack
said, “the trial results show the extraordinary potential of 5G to
improve safety, increase the number of machines that can be
operated on a single network and boost production efficiencies in
underground mining.”
“These trials are part of the new frontier of technology in
mining – using innovation to make our people safer and our mines
more productive,” Retallack said.
Newmont will now use 5G to roll out more autonomous fleet like
drill rigs, graders and auto haul trucks as part of future mining
operations, relying on 5G’s unique capacity and capability to
facilitate and streamline operational capabilities while deploying
additional safety systems like radars and collision avoidance to
improve overall mine safety systems.
Head of Private Cellular Networks from Ericsson, Manish Tiwari
said, “5G is enabling rapid global transformation of industry,
supporting digitalisation and movement towards automated, more
efficient, and safer operations across a number of sectors.”
“Ericsson is proud to be partnering with Newmont on
demonstrating the potential of 5G to the global mining sector,”
Tiwari said.
Trialling 5G New Radio (NR) technologies on the surface at Cadia
as part of the same initiative also demonstrated that new 5G
innovations such as 64T64R Massive MIMO, beamforming and
beam-steering provided a leap forward in available throughputs at
the extended distances found in surface operations.
As an innovative miner, Newmont uses technology to make workers
safer while improving efficiency. On the basis of the trial, 5G now
has a firm place in Newmont’s communications strategies for Cadia
and its other Tier One underground and surface mines across the
world.
Following support for the Cadia 5G trial from the Australian
Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), Newmont has now applied
to ACMA for Area Wide Licenses to extend and embed Newmont’s use of
5G technology across its Australian operations.
Newmont is now planning to expand the use of 5G networks across
its global network of Tier 1 underground gold-copper mines.
About Newmont
Newmont is the world’s leading gold company and a producer of
copper, zinc, lead, and silver. The company’s world-class portfolio
of assets, prospects and talent is anchored in favorable mining
jurisdictions in Australia, Africa, Latin America & Caribbean,
North America, and Papua New Guinea. Newmont is the only gold
producer listed in the S&P 500 Index and is widely recognized
for its principled environmental, social, and governance practices.
Newmont is an industry leader in value creation, supported by
robust safety standards, superior execution, and technical
expertise. Founded in 1921, the company has been publicly traded
since 1925.
At Newmont, our purpose is to create value and improve lives
through sustainable and responsible mining. To learn more about
Newmont’s sustainability strategy and initiatives, go to
www.newmont.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240808438668/en/
Media Contact Rosalie Cobai
australiacommunications@newmont.com
Investor Contact – Asia
Pacific Natalie Worley
apac.investor.relations@newmont.com
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