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Forging themine of the
futureAchieving safer, sustainable andmore efficient mining operations
with LTE/5G wireless networks

January 2022

Ericsson | Mining Solution Brief

ericsson.com/
mining2

Ericsson | Mining Solution Brief

Connectivity will help
us realize the visionof the Smart Mine
With revenues in excess of USD 500 billion, themining industry represents a major componentof the global economy. But today, the mining
industry finds itself at an important turning
point. Rising demand for fuel and rare minerals
needed for our technology is igniting expansion
in the industry. Along with higher productivity,
though, mining organizations are underpressure to achieve better safety, improvesustainability, lessen environmental impact
and reduce operational costs.

Solving these multiple challenges is spurring
the evolution to the “Smart Mine,” harnessing
data, automation, autonomous machines
and advanced technologies to achieve new
efficiencies and capabilities. The realizationof the vision of the Smart Mine, though,requires a strong foundation: ubiquitous
mobile connectivity. Ericsson’s connectivity
solutions for the mining industry have beenenabling major productivity improvements anduncovering business value for both the mining
industry and mobile telecom service providers.

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Ericsson | Mining Solution Brief

New imperatives drive new thinking
The mining industry tends to be fairly
conservative when it comes to adopting
new methods and technologies. There havebeen few financial incentives to invest in newtechnologies, and regulatory frameworks
governing mining operations often discouragesuch investments. A number of factors
are coming together to motivate mining
companies to seek new approaches.
Maximizing productivity
The main driving factor for investing in newtechnologies is the ever-present need to
improve productivity in order to maximize
the output of existing mine developments.
Deployment of autonomous and remotely
controlled machinery (haulers, drills,
excavators) and optimizing mining processes
through connecting different types of assets
bring clear return on investment when it comesto new technology.
Creating a safer environment
Mining often involves placing workers into
potentially hazardous environments. For
example, stronger safety regulations alongwith the industry’s safety-first priority have
reduced the annual fatality rate in the U.S. coalmining industry by 90 percent over the last
four decades, according to data from the U.S.
Department of Labor.1
Controlling costs
Improving profitability in the mining industry
requires working relentlessly on efficiency,transport and metal efficiency in extraction
and transportation of ore. Incremental
improvements are producing diminishingreturns, however.
Regulatory and environmental concerns havealso increased industry costs including recent
regulations to protect the environment andprevent global warming. These regulations

have imposed additional costs on theindustry and forced it to pursue cost-cutting
measures in other areas. Automation enablingprofitability initiatives is the most promisingarea of opportunity for unearthing profitability.
Improving sustainability
Another major challenge for mining companies
hinges on their ability to contain and reducemining’s significant environmental andsocietal effects. The industry’s safety andenvironmental record is improving due
to the increased adoption of technology.
Connected workers, environmental modelingand autonomous operations let mine
providers monitor mines and spot potentially
dangerous situations early so they can beaddressed before anyone is hurt. Automating
their operations allows mining companies
to increase sustainability by reducing fuelconsumption and CO2 emissions.
Strengthening cybersecurity
In 2017, 54 percent of mining companies
reported a significant cybersecurity incident,
according to EY Global Information Security
Survey 2018–19. Four years later, the EY
Global Information Security Survey 2021
declared that the pandemic released a “perfectstorm” of cyberthreats. As their operations
become more digitized, mining management
teams must bolster their cybersecurity toprotect their sensitive data and criticaloperations.

54%of mining companies reported asignificant cybersecurity incident,
according to EY Global Information
Security Survey 2018–19.

1. US DoL, Coal fatalities for 1900 through 2019, https://
arlweb.msha.gov/stats/centurystats/coalstats.asp

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Mining 4.0: Defining the future of the industry
Only by entering the new digital age canmining companies respond to their key
challenges and map out a successful future.
Whether to cut costs or get more ore fromexisting mines, mining companies are alreadyadopting new ways to extract, transport andprocess materials. They’re partnering withoriginal equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
to implement digital technology such as
autonomous haulers, load-haul-dump vehicles
and drill rigs to improve costs, enhance safety
and improve sustainability.

All of these advances depend on mobile
wireless connectivity in a challenging
environment. Private wireless networks allow
for secure remote operations, autonomousand connective vehicles, connected workers
and predictive maintenance. In practice,mobile connectivity has proven robust enoughto deploy in the harsh mining environment
without causing interruptions in ore
production.

Become an ecosystem partner with
Ericsson.
Partnerships and new ecosystems are
key to unlocking the full value of Mining
4.0. Working with service providers,system integrators, software andapplication developers, chipset anddevice vendors, gateway suppliers,
cloud providers and various standards
organizations, Ericsson is bridging
the gap between the devices and theapplications. Becoming an ecosystem
partner helps you to unlock new
business, grow your business, earn
certification and gain valuable access to
new customers.

Advantages of a private LTE/5G
network:• High bandwidth, low latency• Supports important use cases—voice, mission-criticalpush-to-talk (MC-PTT), autonomous machines, remote control,
predictive maintenance, environmental sensing.
• Open ecosystem lets companies avoid vendor-lock.
• Reliable and predictable performance• Cost-efficient—requiring a factor of 10 fewer communication
nodes to cover the same area compared to Wi-Fi.
• Rich device ecosystem gives companies more choices forcommunications.
• End-to-end security, using SIMs, on both network and device
levels. Wi-Fi standard only covers L1-L2 security.

How to communicate through rock
Rock is the bread-and-butter of mining, but
it’s the nemesis of communications. GPS andcellular signals are obstructed by the concrete,
mineral water and coal in a mine. With older
technology, to send a cellular signal through atunnel that runs for miles, you’d have to place
wireless receivers in a relay at each bend orturn, a very expensive undertaking. That’s why
until recently, mining companies were relying
on Wi-Fi and mesh peer-to-peer and leaky
feeder networks for critical communications
inside mines and VHF comms for voice. While
Wi-Fi and mesh networks can meet someneeds, they have limitations, from reliability
to security to latency, that hamper digitaltransformation. Wi-Fi 6 offers improved
throughput and lower latencies to competewith cellular signals, but more radios would
be needed to guarantee the same bandwidthavailability. And Wi-Fi Quality of Service(QoS) is not up to the needed standards.
Leaky feeders have worked for places likethe ramp and general mine infrastructure,but moving into the levels and the mine’s

new development areas, coverage dropped
significantly and workers could not be reached.
For a fully autonomous, remotely
controlled smart mine, high-performance
communications are needed. Secure, flexible
and future-proof, a state-of-the-art private
LTE/5G network is ideal for undergroundmines.
Communications: Underground vs open-pit
mines
Underground tunnels set special challenges
for the creation of seamless communications.
Coverage can be implemented with small
cells and directional antennas or with leaky
feeder cables. Leaky feeder cables design
is optimized for mining tunnels and traffic
profiles for mining applications, but they
have coverage limitations. Private networks
improve coverage and performance inunderground mines, ensuring connectivity forremote controlled operations and autonomousvehicles. Furthermore, providing data and voice

mobility services over low frequency bands(utilizing band 5 at 850MHz) in undergroundmines provides better propagation than any
other available technology, delivering faster,
more advanced wireless technology.
Private networks require spectrum to operatein underground mines. However, it is country
dependent. In Canada for example, spectrum
licenses are not needed for underground mines.
Open-pit is one of the most common mining
methods. Private networks provide strong
coverage, high throughput, and low latency
in wide areas to monitor autonomous trucks
across in open-pit mines. Private networks
also benefit open-pit mines with a suiteof connected devices such as smart PPE,
site sentinels, AR/VR, and safety beacons,
ensuring worker safety. Open-pit mines
require spectrum to operate private networks.
Spectrum can be licensed, unlicensed or lightly
licensed.

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Connecting the smart mine
Only robust wireless connectivity canhandle the huge amounts of data andvoice communications that are missioncritical to smart mining. A 5G-ready private
cellular network introduces the highspeed connectivity, low latency and strong
performance—optimized for the Internet ofThings (IoT)—required in a mine’s high device
density environment.
Ericsson’s broad portfolio for private networks,
including the most extensive radio portfolioof any major Tier-1 vendor, can help meetmining companies’ diverse wireless networking
needs. Ericsson has the global experience andreferences to provide proven technology thatcan easily be deployed by mining enterprises.
In addition, mining companies can test andreadily utilize 5G technologies with Ericsson’s
cost-effective software-only, upgradable
solutions.
Private network solutions from Ericsson
Ericsson’s Private Networks portfolio is Plugand Play. Our solution has options ranging
from as low as 100 user licenses, consistingof Small Core, to 25k users, called Large Core.
Ericsson’s Radio System portfolio comes ina range of sizes. Radios the size of smoke
detectors can accommodate small indoor
building spaces. Our medium-sized radios,called micro radios, are ideal for average tomedium applications. Our macro radios cancover a reasonably large area (such as a smallcity or open-air mine), with a moderate amountof subscriber density. Ericsson Private 5G,
available soon, will bring high-quality, fast andsecure connectivity into potentially hazardous
environments, allowing mines to mobilize
efficiency and safety—improving use cases.

Ericsson | Mining Solution Brief

Choose an Ericsson
5G-ready private
network to get:Best-in-class RAN portfolio withremote radio units (RRUs) separated
from Baseband:• all-in-one dual-mode core (LTE and
5G NSA)• software (SW) upgrade to 5G SA• easy RRU deployment with only fiberand power• low power consumption allowing forlightweight micro radios• active / active configuration for
redundancy• SW upgrade to 5G
Proven and flexible Core network with
add-on services:• all-in-one dual-mode core (LTE and
5G NSA)• SW upgrade to 5G SA• flexible deployment with add-on
VoLTE and MCPTT• fully redundant configuration• proven globally; radio-agnostic“You can imagine—
video surveillance,
man down detection,
localization ofmachines, vehicles,
things and people. For
sure, there will be a lotof use cases we haven’t
thought about. Onceyou have 5G in place,innovation will happen.”— Peter de Bruin, Master Researcher,
Ericsson Research

Reference cases
Our 5G-ready private networks have beensuccessfully deployed by mining companies
around the world. Here is a selection ofcustomer successes.
Boliden Aitik mine research project
Ericsson, mining giant Boliden and otherpartners collaborated to co-create the mine of
the future at Aitik. Ericsson high performance
mobile communications enabled Boliden to
automate drill rig operation. Automation saved
approximately one percent of Aitik’s total
annual costs and eliminated the need for two
more drill rigs. The next step in the rollout isfully automated / remotely controlled trucks
that will deliver smoother transport flow andlower fuel consumption and emissions.
View case

Aginco Eagle
Ericsson and Canadian-based Ambra
partnered last year to deliver the world’s
deepest underground LTE network for the
Agnico Eagle mining complex, LaRonde, in
Abitibi, Quebec. Located 3.5 kilometers below
the surface, the 4G LTE private network
provides data and voice services acrossthe LaRonde mine site and enables several
Internet of Things (IoT) use cases to improvesafety and mining operations. The benefits of
installing a private 4G LTE network included
real-time communications across the mine,a safer workplace, more efficient operational
activities and more sustainable mining.
View case

Newcrest
Ericsson provided Australian mining leader
Newcrest with a tailored platform using
Ericsson Private LTE. The network will
underpin Newcrest’s safety and digital mining
ambitions and will help improve productivity
and deliver new value and efficiencies to thebusiness. Ericsson provided Newcrest with atailored platform using Private LTE that will
help its safety and digital mining ambitions,improve productivity and deliver new value andefficiencies to the business. View case6

Ericsson | Mining Solution Brief

Why choose Ericsson wireless solutions?
For mining companies, smart mining poweredby Ericsson private networks promises todeliver a substantial triple bottom line that
includes improved safety for workers and more
responsible environmental impact along withmajor efficiency and financial benefits. For
telecom service providers, Ericsson 5G-readywireless technology can provide a foothold in a
growing industry segment.
Ericsson is leading the way in the specialized
world of connectivity for mining. Our marketleading 4G and 5G solutions are based on
3GPP (formal standards) that aligns withlarge ecosystem players among device
manufacturers. By utilizing the same radio andbaseband portfolio that the larger providers do,
our Private Network Portfolio enables a broadreach that can help fit solutions to the needsof larger multinational mining companies. Our
ecosystem includes a wide range of industrial
partners, enabling us to address our mining
customers’ unique issues. With extensive
relationships with many of the world’s service
providers, we can easily facilitate hybrid
solution offerings in partnership with local
providers.

How can we help you?
Bringing about change is never simple. But theadvances of automation enabled by private
networks have the potential to solve many ofthe mining industry’s ongoing challenges—andeven shape the future of the industry.
Find out more about wireless connectivity forthe mining industry and let us help you on yourdigitalization journey.
Visit our website. www.ericsson/mining

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Ericsson | Document title

About Ericsson

Ericsson enables communications service providers to
capture the full value of connectivity. The company’s
portfolio spans Networks, Digital Services, Managed
Services, and Emerging Business and is designed to help
our customers go digital, increase efficiency and find newrevenue streams. Ericsson’s investments in innovation
have delivered the benefits of telephony and mobile
broadband to billions of people around the world. The
Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on
Nasdaq New York.
www.ericsson.com© Ericsson 2022

The content of this document is subject torevision without notice due to continued
progress in methodology, design andmanufacturing. Ericsson shall have noliability for any error or damage of any kind
resulting from the use of this document.

www.ericsson.com
SE-126 25 Stockholm, Sweden
Telephone +46 10 719 00 00
January 2022