Inmarsat and Knight Piésold UK win award
Inmarsat and Knight Piésold UK have won the Mining Magazine Editors Award 2019 for their innovative tailings dam monitoring solution.
Courtesy Inmarsat
Inmarsat collaborated with Knight Piésold UK, a member of the international geotechnical, tailings management and engineering consulting group, to develop the award-winning solution. It allows mining companies to remotely monitor tailings dams in real time, to support independent analysis from auditors to guide critical decision making. The solution offers a new approach to the way tailings dams are audited and managed.
Inmarsat’s solution collects data from a range of industry standard sensors via edge connectivity such as LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) before it is transferred across Inmarsat’s highly reliable L-band satellite network to a single cloud dashboard. This enables mining companies and other appropriate stakeholders to gain a comprehensive view of the status of their dams with detailed metrics such as pond elevation, piezometric pressures, inclinometer readings and weather conditions displayed in one place, no matter where the mine is located.
Zero harm commitment
Joe Carr, Director of Mining Innovation at Inmarsat said: “We’re thrilled that our tailings dam monitoring solution has been recognised with the Mining Magazine Editor’s Award 2019. Mine tailings audits are typically carried out at infrequent intervals, with employees and third party consultants making long distance trips to collect data and audit the status of the dams.
“Our solution makes data available between site visits to any accredited users, anywhere in the world. In this way, we support the mining industry’s commitment to zero harm, whilst enabling our customers to minimise environmental risk and achieve high levels of safety and operational success in the mining sector.”
Richard Elmer, Director at Knight Piésold UK commented: “This award is a great validation of our efforts to be at the forefront of the latest mining industry innovation.
Best technology
“Inmarsat is a leading provider of managed Industrial Internet of Things services across the mining world and has an unrivalled track record of operating the world’s most reliable and secure commercial satellite networks for over 40 years. Our collaboration with Inmarsat enables our clients to gain access to the latest and best available technology for real-time data collection and analysis.”
Nia Kajastie, Editor of Mining Magazine said: “Each year our editorial team chooses a company, group or new technology project that has been particularly innovative over the past year. We are pleased that this year’s Mining Magazine Editor’s Award goes to Inmarsat to celebrate how its innovative Tailings Dam Monitoring solution is helping the mining industry address some of its key challenges.
“With the global regulatory landscape becoming even stricter, cutting-edge technology will be playing an even bigger role in ensuring full compliance. Inmarsat’s Tailings Dam Monitoring solution is leading the way towards the right direction.”