Giving Mining Technology a dusting down with Radar
With advancements in industrial automation, and the use of camera technology, lidar and radar streamlining operations, giving machines ‘eyes’ to improve mining processes, and enhancing safety and productivity, there is always that one fly in the ointment where mining is concerned – dust.
Sam Wood, Product Manager for Navtech Radar, takes a closer look at how today’s technology is coping with dust, and crucially, how best to tackle it.
Mining is conducted in a demanding and often hazardous working environment: adverse weather conditions, intense darkness, fires, dirt, water and all in an environment where small optimisations can yield massive results and minutes of downtime can cause millions of pounds in downtime.
Safety, rightly, is a top priority. The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) reported in July 2023 that of its 26 members, 33 fatalities occurred in 2022 – down from 45 in 2021. Nine of those fatalities were related to mobile equipment and transportation, and five were caused by falling objects.
In addition to mobile equipment being the greatest cause of fatalities, it is also the most geographically spread and has replaced ‘fall of ground’ as the most prevalent hazard.
However, it must also be noted there are countless mines that operate outside of ICMM jurisdiction, and wider reports suggest that mining employs one percent of all workers globally, (approximately 30 million) and is responsible for about eight percent of fatal occupational accidents (approximately 15,000 per year). This, even with the vast safety improvements implemented across the industry over the years, suggests it has one of the highest accident rates among all sectors, with the mining and quarrying sector as the most dangerous across 21 percent of all countries, worldwide.
Sensors are installed on existing mining equipment and can be used for navigation, anti-collision, obstacle detection and stockpile measurement among other applications. They alert operators to any potential objects which may become an obstacle or cause a collision – so their role in industrial automation of mining is not only crucial, they are also now a mainstay in shaping the future of mining. The caveat as always with automation, however, is that a machine’s decision making is only ever as good as the data that’s input.
Regulation matters
Where the mining industry is tightly regulated, every incident or accident, regardless of its scale, undergoes rigorous scrutiny and in-depth analysis. Consequently, such incidents invariably result in either a partial or complete suspension of a mine’s operations, often lasting until an investigation is concluded. Should that investigation reveal a violation of regulations, it places the mining company at risk of forfeiting its operational licence, let alone potentially catastrophic financial losses.
Furthermore, mining operations grapple with a formidable challenge arising from the colossal scale of machinery employed, for transporting aggregate and minerals within the mining site, some of which can tip the scales at a staggering 10,000 tonnes, This potentially poses a significant hazard to human safety, both operationally as well as when being repaired or maintained.
The primary risk is the safety and well-being of the workforce, followed closely by operational and financial productivity, which means investing seriously in optimal solutions for collision and injury avoidance.
Weighing up the options
All sensor technologies within the mining sector have their merits, some as standalone systems and others working as a complement to other technologies. But it’s radar technology that has undoubtedly emerged as an invaluable tool in the mining industry, in the context of automation, autonomous vehicles, and environmental monitoring where visibility is compromised.
More traditional sensors, such as cameras or LiDAR, can struggle due to visibility limitations and, in particular, their inability to penetrate dust. Operating within the radio frequency (RF) spectrum, radar can cut through obfuscation, including dust, fog, rain, and smoke, providing reliable data in even the most challenging conditions. This penetration is crucial for maintaining continuous automation and safety in mining.
Automation and autonomous vehicles are our ‘dynamic peers’, but they need sensor technology suited to their environments. Moving forward, a major challenge will be adapting existing technologies to fulfil new requirements.
Moreover, sensor selection needs to consider the tasks at hand, including maintenance, multifunctionality, connectivity, the collection and analysis of data and of course, cost.
Global mining business Rio Tinto has truly adopted ‘smart mining’, launching its long-awaited Gudai-Darri mine at the end of 2022 – dubbed its “most technologically advanced mine”. At its core, automation, including autonomous trucks, trains, and drills, has been the driving force in the mine’s development “to optimise safety and drive productivity”.
Dust is an intrinsic by-product of mining operations, with mines regularly shifting and processing massive quantities daily. However, with this comes a set of challenges, both for the naked eye and conventional optical equipment. While infrared cameras can mitigate these issues to some extent, only a limited number of cameras are resilient enough to endure the intense dust levels found in mining environments, and even then, they still require a programme of frequent cleaning and maintenance which leads to costly downtime.
Radar technology offers a unique set of capabilities that make it an ideal choice for enhancing the situational awareness of AMTs in such demanding conditions. Radar systems can operate effectively in environments where other sensor technologies struggle. Whether it is navigating underground tunnels, working during night shifts, or tackling dusty atmospheres. Moreover, radar technology offers high accuracy in distance measurement and object detection. This precision is essential for AMTs as they navigate mine sites with large equipment, ensuring that they can make informed decisions and avoid collisions effectively.
While concerted efforts continue to be made to reduce the amount of dust created in mining environments, including ventilation and filtering, it is near impossible to eradicate it completely. In open pit mining the problem is exacerbated somewhat. While wind will disperse the dust to some extent, it only does so to surrounding areas and communities, which can cause additional health-related issues.
Given all that we know, prevention seems unlikely, so technological advancements need to concentrate upon cure.
Other technologies will continue to assist in AMT, and all mining automation navigation, in favourable conditions. But where poor visibility is concerned, such as that caused by dust, the failsafe, low-cost solution, is radar.
Article by Sam Wood, Product Manager, Navtech Radar.
