Ericsson private 5G connects bulldozers at Newmont’s Cadia mine

Mining company Newmont has deployed Ericsson private 5G at the Cadia gold-copper mine in Orange, NSW, for remote control, or teleremote, dozing as part of its surface operations.

ARN understands that Ericsson and Newmont worked closely together on the technology strategy and the solution, with Telstra Purple providing the solution fulfillment.

Ericsson’s 5G Antenna Integrated Radio with Ericsson Massive Multiple Input/Multiple Output (MIMO) has also been deployed for the mining company to achieve uplink connectivity needed for teleremote dozing.   

The Massive MIMO allows mining companies to use mid-band spectrum to achieve uplink throughput at extended distances compared to traditional radio technologies, enabling a multiplying effect on network capacity from a given radio, the vendor claimed.

Ericsson Uplink Booster is a feature of the Ericsson Silicon microprocessors used in the radios where uplink signal strength can be increased tenfold, further improving uplink and upload performance.

By leveraging the increased coverage, capacity and performance capabilities of Ericsson Private 5G, Newmont has overcome the limitations previously encountered with Wi-Fi to meet the productivity potential of multiple dozers.

Previously, the company was unable to connect more than two machines at distances of no more than 100 metres on Wi-Fi which was unstable and unpredictable, leaving the network and machinery became unusable.

This led to downtime for half of a 12-hour shift at a time, with additional time added due to troubleshooting and efforts to restabilise connectivity.

Ericsson Private 5G will allow Newmont to connect its dozer fleet across the width of its tailings works construction area, which can be up to 2.5 kilometres, from a 5G radio while achieving up to 175 megabytes per second uplink throughput (enough for up to 12 dozers if required), the vendor claimed.

Newmont’s director of process control, networks and operational cellular Chris Twaddle said the private 5G network gives the gold mining company a scalable solution that provides the “coverage needed and keeps people safe”.

“It’s also enabling our long-term digital transformation vision to use 5G for smart mining at our tier one surface and underground mines globally,” he added.