by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG – NEW cutting -edge technology, particularly the Internet of Things (IoT) is helping the mining industry overcome its key challenges.

This as, according to a report by a satellite telecommunications company that 70 percent of mining companies believe IoT is essential to gaining a competitive edge.

The findings are carried in Inmarsat’s “The Future of IoT in Enterprise” report.

Vodacom Business expressed encouragement at the trend.

“We’re encouraged to see how mining companies are beginning to cautiously invest in IoT-based projects, with many reporting that their deployments are already impacting their bottom line,” Peter Malebye, Managing Executive for IoT at Vodacom Business, said.

“This comes as no surprise given IoT’s numerous positive benefits for the mining industry, including the ability to reduce costs, increase productivity, reduce downtime, and improve the safety of workers while streamlining operations,” he said.

Alongside its subsidiary, IoT.nxt, they ran a 5G connected mining vehicle trial with Aard Mining Equipment, a 100 percent South African owned manufacturer of underground trackless mobile machines.

“We set ourselves a target of resolving some of the biggest issues facing the mining industry when it comes to connected vehicles, including a lack of real-time insights, automated alarms, notifications, and analytics for mining vehicles,” Malebye said.

Vodacom Business has installed an intelligent edge gateway on one of Aard’s newly manufactured mining vehicles.

Known as Raptor, this gateway is a device developed by IoT.nxt to transform an ecosystem into a multilingual hub of innovation and communication.

In addition, Vodacom Business has provided real-time alarming notifications on IoT.nxt’s cloud-based platform – all underpinned by secure Vodacom 5G mobile connectivity.

– CAJ News