Analysis of mobile communication coverage and capacity for automation in open-pit mines

Abstract

The search for greater safety and operational performance has pushed the mineral industry towards the automation of large scale operations, an important feature in intelligent mines. Wireless connection plays an essential role in the automation of open-pit mines, although representing a technical challenge. The growing number of features with high demands from networks and the transmission of real time videos increased data traffic from kilobits/second to megabits/second, requiring wireless networks of greater capacities. Additionally, as working benches distance from the communication infrastructures in open-pit mines, increased coverage is required throughout the life of a mine. This work investigates the coverage and capacity of a wireless communication network in an open-pit mine for a 7-year period, addressing the influences of topography, technology and fleet size. The results indicate the integration of mining and network planning is a natural requirement for mining automation, necessary to guide the positioning and scaling of communication structures in all phases of a mining project.