Worldsensing Webinar Digital Transformation of Mines

Luiz
Barreto is coordinating several Vale projects related to digital transformation including IIoT
and is currently the lead architect for the Global Geotech program. He is also directly involved in
the internal strategy and standards definition for IIoT and IT/OT demands.
Albert Zaragoza has helped a large number of companies transform their technology strategy for
over 15 years. He currently leads the engineering teams at Worldsensing to develop the
company’s software, communications and device products. He was the former VP of Engineering
at EVRYTHNG and holds a Master's degree in Telecommunications Engineering and a Bachelor's
degree in Electrical Engineering.
With over 15 years of experience in the telecom industry and over 10 years leading product
management teams, Bernat has been developing and delivering innovative products to help the
digital transformation of several industries worldwide. He is currently leading Worldsensing's
products department, in charge of developing and improving the portfolio of IoT remote
monitoring products.
As we are moving from an analog to a digital world, many industries but in particular mining
companies are going to be measured not only by their efficiency in extracting resources, but also
how prepared they are with regards to gathering digital data to understand and optimize their
processes increasing efficiency and improving safety across the board.
Every industry and enterprise has access to the same level of technology, but clearly not all
industries are adopting it at the same speed level
There are many factors for that but regulations, and user adoption are key elements to this
adoption
Within the next 5 years we are going to see how enterprises are going to be challenged to jump
aboard the digitisation train faster than ever before. Being ready is going to be key in
implementing and accelerating digital transformation programs.
https://hbr.org/2016/04/a‐chart‐that‐shows‐which‐industries‐are‐the‐most‐digital‐and‐why
https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Europe/Central%20and%
20Eastern%20Europe%20needs%20a%20new%20engine%20for%20growth/The‐rise‐of‐Digital‐
Challengers.ashx
https://surbanajurong.com/resources/perspectives/beyond‐technology‐surbana‐jurongs‐digital‐
journey/
Focusing on mining industry
Mining has a big potential for automation, mining companies are adopting digital technology in a
purposeful way, with mobile‐enabled tools and IoT‐powered devices. The focus has also shifted
from making long‐term capital investments to flexible usage‐based services, which explains the
rapid growth in SaaS offerings
Another key element will be the need for workforce reskilling from a more traditional approach
to digital native operations.
https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/overview/in‐the‐news/which‐industries‐are‐the‐most‐digital
Even though there are many barriers and challenges to adopting new technologies, the
digitisation train does not stop, and mining companies are going to be challenged more than
ever before to remain competitive in the years to come to ensure their survival and remain
relevant in the digital age.
Failing to do so will result in companies becoming obsolete and eventually so far behind the rest
of the players that attracting talent and technology will be such a steep effort that they will not
be able to overcome the challenges.
7
Despite the challenges, there are many clear benefits and reasons for mining companies to see
the real value in attempting the digitisation challenge within the next few years.
○ To list a few
■ Ensure safety of workers and citizens with tracking devices and
monitoring tools
■ Reduce operational costs by leveraging technologies and services
■ Monitoring of critical assets and ensuring long term maintenance
■ Data management and security, which is key to understanding the
potential opportunities
https://blog.worldsensing.com/operational‐insights/smart‐mines‐benefits/
https://medium.com/@rapidBizApps/digital‐transformation‐in‐mining‐industry‐infographic‐
645b00c74f75
On top of the clear benefits, there is an unstoppable force that will drive digitisation across the
mining industry, which is that countries and governments are setting regulations to ensure the
monitoring of critical infrastructure assets to avoid natural disasters and impact to the
ecosystem.
More and more, these macro trends, not only regulation, but also investors pressure for ESG
goals, with focus on Environmental, Social, and Governance items plus Climate Change evolution
during the next decade are going to be a strong driver for change in the industry.
Macro trends ‐ Regulation, Investors pressure for ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance)
goals, Climate Change ‐ Search Results
Web results
The good news is that there are many open technologies that are bringing solutions to the table,
not only for mining, but for many other industries globally.
○ To name a few
■ New communication protocols such as LPWAN, being LoRaWAN one
of the most advanced and adopted in the industry are bringing low
battery consumption, reliability and capacity to deliver information in
remote locations
■ Remote monitoring tools, more and more products such as
Loadsensing are able to deliver IoT monitoring data from the mines to
the central offices in a fast, reliable and secure manner
■ Radar and Satellite data revolution is able to for example using InSAR
technology provide information in land movements and displacement
to show a clear picture of the ground movement onsite
■ And there is an increasingly big choice in people, vehicles and location
trackers that are able to deliver more information about the
operations in real‐time
The challenge when presented with all of these technologies and solutions is that the ecosystem
is really fragmented due to the immaturity of most of these technologies and providers
○ IT departments in big mining companies have a real challenge and
responsibility when it comes to dealing with all the different technologies and
providers
Operational departments are solving problems looking at their specific needs, but by doing so,
there are selecting a wide range of technologies and providers without having a clear
understanding of the impact that the adoption of these technologies are having on the rest of
the company and departments.
IT departments on their side, they have to absorb and manage all of these technologies moving
forward, and therefore implementing the right IT strategy to onboard, maintain and scale these
solutions and infrastructure is key in avoiding chaos and a potential slowdown in adopting digital
technologies for their companies.
https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/business%20functions/mckinsey%20digital/our
%20insights/twenty‐
five%20years%20of%20digitization%20ten%20insights%20into%20how%20to%20play%20it%20
right/mgi‐briefing‐note‐twenty‐five‐years‐of‐digitization‐may‐2019.ashx
With regards to IoT systems, 3 key areas must be highlighted to ensure IT is dealing with the
many Operational needs moving forward
○ As more and more sensors and devices are added to the different sites, having
a clear understanding of how to onboard, update and monitor these assets is
key to maintain operational resilience
○ As more solutions are digitising operations, having a clear data management
strategy to understand and deliver value is paramount to avoid having loads of
data that can’t be really analysed and treated
○ And for all the new networks also we need to ensure that are safely and
securely managed, avoiding errors that will cost in operational uptime and
potentially sunk costs to reinstall and deal with problems on a daily basis
Ultimately adopting open solutions and providers that are willing to integrate not only inbound
with the current sensors and investments that mining companies have already put in place over
the years, such as the geotechnical sensors which carry a big installation and maintenance
effort, but also that can integrate outbound thanks to APIs and other protocols with any 3rd
party tools to allow for the data to be safely stored, analysed and ultimately integrated into the
IT central strategy for each company is very important.
And finally make sure that any infrastructure investment is well protected and remains open and
flexible to adjust to your strategy
IoT is a key element on the digitization of several industries, including mining. When IoT is used
in industrial sectors we call it Industrial IoT.
17
IoT remote monitoring presents several challenges, according to ICMM (International Council on
Mining & Metals)
From errors coming from aging equipment or poor installation.
To how to securely collect and access to data.
Collecting, managing and displaying data from various monitoring instruments in a single
software package.
And finally, how to manage the large data sets generated by these these sensing technologies
On top of these challenges, there are also some very specific business pain points related to
monitoring.
Starting with people and assets health and safety.
Followed by compliance with regulations.
And finally, the cost of monitoring.
There are also some engineering pain points to overcome.
Very often, monitoring points are spread over large areas making difficult to access to them.
Working environments are also very challenging with constant changes.
Finally, cables and other installed materials are vulnerable to physical damage.
Here is a review of how monitoring technologies have evolved over time and how they compare
to each other.
The oldest technology are manual readings with low data frequency and high operational costs
and safety risks.
Then, followed cable deployments with high capex and vulnerability to damage.
And finally, wireless monitoring, with real‐time data, high safety and a balanced capex/opex cost
structure.
More details about the cost structure are in the next slide.
In this chart we compare, for a given installation, the cumulative costs of data collection and management
between manual and wireless monitoring over time.
The red line corresponds to wireless monitoring and the other colors to manual readings with different
data collection frequency, from twice a day to once every 2 months.
You can see that although initial capex are higher for wireless monitoring they are rapidly compensated by
the lower operational costs. Resulting in a break even point between both technologies, displayed on the
bottom right table, that goes from 4 weeks for twice a day readings, to 3 years for every 2 months
readings.
Overall, we can see that for most projects, that last several years, wireless monitoring is better in terms of
efficiency, safety but also costs.
Example A: Piezometers
Tailings dam instrumented with:
20 single VW piezometers in boreholes
15 boreholes instrumented with 3 VW piezometers each
Costs of wireless monitoring include: Additional cost of nodes, gateway, software and monthly
maintenance.
Note: Cost estimate for a tailings dam located in a European country. Only costs of data collection and
data management has been considered because drilling, installation and data analysis costs are the same
for automatic and manual readings.
Below is a recap of some of wireless monitoring benefits.
Starting with efficiency, notably in terms of data acquisition frequency and low maintenance.
Followed by reduced costs, notably in terms of capex compared to cable and low opex both for
installation and maintenance.
Another very important benefit is workforce safety, both due to low maintenance resulting in
less people in the field, but also related to real time information and alerts.
Finally, all these benefits together with its newer and more advanced technologies makes
wireless monitoring a leading choice to comply with the global standards that Albert mentioned
earlier.
Additional information
Increased efficiency ‐ Work with an end‐to‐end solution from field to control centre. Manual and
visual inspections are not necessary. Optimize maintenance cycles and reduce them to ad‐hoc
check‐ups. Use a smartphone APP to monitor processes.
Reduced costs ‐ Save time, nerves and spendings on expensive added equipment or staff. Save
km of cables and keep installation and maintenance costs down.
Workforce safety ‐ Leverage 24/7 remote information which allows users to anticipate problems
and thus avert cost‐intensive accidents. Rely on alarm capabilities to prevent structural stress.
After reviewing the challenges and benefits, here are more details on the technologies used and
architecture.
First of all, the key element enabling this technology is its radio protocol, called LoRa.
Its long‐range, low‐power and license free characteristics helped it become the de facto
technology for IoT networks worldwide.
Here we have and example on how this technology could be used to remotely monitor an open‐pit and
underground mine.
The grey areas represent the existing infrastructure, the black elements represent the geotechnical
sensors and finally the red elements represent the wireless monitoring infrastructure.
As shown in this image, a wireless system has the ability to be deployed to suit the majority of mining
monitoring needs: it can be used in open pits, tailing dams, underground, worksite and also monitor key
weather parameters such as temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and water evaporation. Just by
using just one gateway, it can cover the whole extension of a mine, we have to remember it reaches
distances around 15Km or 9 miles.
For example, Boliden uses wireless technology to control pore‐pressure by means of 120 piezometers
installed in 40 boreholes in their Aitik open pit mine situated outside the town of Gällivare in the very
north of Sweden, and also uses sensors connected to robotic equipment at its underground Garpenberg
mine; the sensors feed data in a central above‐ground control room.
Shafts are drilled at underground mines to provide access for vehicles and workers to the ore. There is no
network available underground, so shafts are used to install optic fiber, leaky feeders and access points
via wifi. While Wifi features high battery consumption and limited distance coverage, IoT wireless
technologies such as LoRa provide an alternative last mile option from the gateway to the actual sensors
that may be installed in galleries spanning from 100 meters to 2 kilometers. Since galleries range from 2.5‐
6 meters in height, which is just enough to let scoop trams and trucks pass through, there is minimal
space available for cabling; making easy‐to‐install and to adapt monitoring solutions an attractive
alternative.
25
This is an illustration of the end to end architecture of wireless monitoring system.
Starting with the sensors and wireless nodes gathering data at the left side, going through the
gateways in the center and finally stored by the network management software. All this data
would then be exported to any analytics software to get valuable insights.
Here is an example of how a LoRa‐based wireless monitoring system works. Sensors are installed
at their specific locations and wired to dataloggers which collect data from these sensors. The
data is broadcasted via radio signal to the GW and then aggregated in a dataserver. Which
provides access to the data readings, basic visualization and network management via web.
An additional software layer can be added by the client to manage alarms and build further
calculations by sending data from the Dataserver to its platform (i.ex) via FTP/Modbus/API Calls.
Data collection.
This part is composed by two different elements, the sensors and the wireless nodes or data
loggers.
The first one, the sensor, gathers data, while the second one, the wireless node, powers the
sensor, collects the data and sends it to the gateways using the LoRa radio standard.
There is a wide variety of sensors in the market. Notably to measure different parameters but
also provided by several manufacturers and presenting different interfaces.
Given this variety, it is critical for the chosen remote monitoring system, and particularly the
wireless nodes, to be compatible with a large variety of sensors and protocols.
Another item that should be on the checklist is the compatibility of the wireless monitoring
system with the sensors that are going to be installed in the project.
There are different sensor interfaces: vibrating wire, current loop, voltage, potentiometer, full
wheatstone bridge etc. The project can also require the reading of data from chains of digital in‐
place inclinometers using a battery‐powered node. In addition, 2‐in‐1 sensor and nodes such as
a wireless tiltmeter or a laser distance node may be considered.
To sight another example, the Loadsensing digital node can read chains of in‐place inclinometers
from Geosense, RST, Sisgeo, DGSI Slope, Geoflex, Geokon, and also MPBX from MDT, water level
loggers from In‐situ , water multi‐parameter probe (pressure, temperature and conductivity)
from Keller and chained digital thermistors from Geokon.
A second important element for the wireless nodes is robustness and battery life.
Both are critical to ensure low maintenance and in the case of Loadsensing, its ruggedized design
and extreme low‐power technology allows for up to 10 years of unattended operations. In
addition to that, batteries are replaceable allowing to extend their lifetime even more.
Check for water tightness, robustness in extreme environments, resistance to extreme
temperatures. The nodes should ideally also not require recasing. For example, Loadsensing
units are IP67 rated and tested from ‐40C to +80C.
In terms of battery life, Loadsensing nodes for example, have been designed to function
autonomously and unattended over long time periods, even up to 10 years. The system’s low‐
power components remain on sleep mode and are only activated at predetermined times. Once
a unit has gone into active mode to read data from a sensor and sends it to a gateway, it goes
right back into sleep mode.
Two key elements to consider are network topology and range.
As mentioned earlier, monitoring points can be spread over large areas so network range is key to cover
them. Star topology significantly outperforms mesh technology both in range but also on simplicity of
installation which we’ll see in next slide.
Here you have two real life examples on network range. The first one reaching up to 16km in open field
and the second one with up to 2 km below a metal cover for a borehole in a tailing dam.
Range is the most important consideration to select a wireless system because monitoring points are
spread over a large and the distance between monitoring points can be significant. Considering these
points, it is recommended for the monitoring system to be able to cover the long‐range.
The monitoring systems should be easy to deploy anywhere and not dependent on signal coverage.
Usually, the costliest in a monitoring project is cable protection and some auxiliary installations like
trenches to extend the cables. Through a long‐range wireless system, projects may save kilometers of
cables and keep installation and maintenance costs down.
Check also the network topology of the wireless monitoring provider. A star network topology has a
longer range, is not affected by radio signal obstructions, does not need repeaters or network planning
and is not critical path dependent.
One unbiased parameter to compare radios is the sensitivity. The lower the sensitivity the higher the
distance. As a rule‐of‐thumb, you can consider that every 6‐dBm increase in sensitivity doubles the
possible distance that is achievable. As a result the distance would be multiplied by 32.
Security is central to the protocol implementation to ensure a very resilient wireless system. The most
advanced encryption mechanisms have been used to ensure the solution is ideal for mission critical
applications.
Another key element for choosing a wireless solution should be easy of configuration and network
adaptability.
As mentioned earlier, working environments constantly change and in the case of a tailing dams, as you
probably know, they are build and raised in succession throughout their lifetime. This means that facility
to install and relocate nodes and the capability for the network to automatically adjust to those changes
are key to increase efficiency and reduce costs, but also to avoid costly and dangerous configurations
errors that could result catastrophic for such sensitive infrastructures.
Another important consideration when evaluating a potential monitoring solution is the ability of the
network to automatically adapt to changes in the sensor network setup.
The sensor network needs to be capable of updating itself and shouldn’t require to manual
reprogramming by an expert to prevent wrong readings or to reconfigure the network.
Additional nodes have to be easy to install and remove. Mines are environments that are constantly
changing. It is important to select a wireless system that provides to the user all the tools required to
reconfigure the nodes, to remove and reinstall nodes close to the front of the excavation considering the
necessities of the project. Loadsensing for example has an an advanced network management tool that
allows for the automatic addition of new nodes in the network. Moreover, the network protocols have
been designed to be highly scalable, and a single Loadsensing gateway can manage up to 500 nodes.
The initial monitoring plan probably is going to evolve depending on the measurements and the progress
of the excavation. Flexibility is required.
It would also be good to check if the system enables easy configuration of the nodes. For example,
Loadsensing provides a mobile app which enables users to easily configure the nodes, introduce radio
network parameters, check the readings of the connected sensors and performing signal coverage tests ‐
several useful field tools that offers flexibility and adaptability.
On slide 25, the remote monitoring challenges identified by the ICMM (International Council on
Mining & Metals) were presented.
Software is particularly important to overcome those challenges. It should help you and your
teams easily install your systems, securely monitor and manage them and export all the valuable
data to analyse and act upon.
The software is a key element that will interact with all your other systems, as previously
mentioned by Albert, so its robustness and openness are essential points to take into account.
Data access and compatibility with data visualization softwares is another important
consideration.
In a monitoring plan, several monitoring methods will be required: geodetic techniques,
vibration monitoring, wireless solutions etc. Usually all this information is presented in a data
management and visualization software.
It is therefore important to see how data from the wireless system may be integrated in the
project software.
For example, Loadsensing dataservers offer different alternatives for access such as push data
on user FTP, Modbus TCP and REST API Calls.
In addition, the Loadsensing dataserver can be hosted into the gateway allowing for installations
in private networks.
To summarize, the purpose of a remote monitoring system should be to easily and reliably
provide data from sensors.
And referring back to slide 6, the ultimate goal for users would be to analyze this data and
extract useful information to optimize production, reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve
safety. In short, data – and the ability to organize, manage, and process it – is becoming a
competitive differentiator and I would add that the remote monitoring system you choose
should be a key enabler for that.
No need for expensive cabling and manual monitoring. Laying cables in a tailings dam requires
trenches and cable protection against issues such as settlements in the embankment. At each
regrowth, new sensors have to be added, again requiring expensive cable installation. A wireless
system provides data from sensors in near‐real time, versus manually collected readings with a
more sporadic periodicity and vulnerability to human errors.
Reliable data related to the behavior of the dam also helps minimize risks and to ensure the
safety not only of mine employees but also of residents.
Loadsensing contributes to the sustainable growth of the mining industry by ensuring
compliance with safety regulations and standards.
41

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