Ericsson, Telstra Purple take 5G underground with Newcrest

Leading Australia gold miner Newcrest said it will trial 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and 5G mobile technologies underground at its Cadia (CVO) mine, located in the Cadia Valley near the regional city of Orange, New South Wales.

The Newcrest trial will be done in partnership with Telstra Purple andn its technology partner Ericsson.

It will assess the potential of cellular delivery of data and video to support smarter, safer and more sustainable mining.

Newcrest, Ericsson and Telstra have previously collaborated on improving communications coverage, performance and safety with private 4G LTE at its Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea, and more recently for surface operations at CVO.

“With 4G and 5G mobile technologies potentially offering better performance and capabilities than Wi-Fi, this trial will help Newcrest to assess its viability for greater coverage, capacity and functionality to support advanced underground automation, our Connected Worker strategy and future growth at Cadia,” CVO general manager's Aaron Brannigan said.

Speaking at the Sweden-Australia Sustainable Mining Summit in Sydney yesterday, Brannigan said modern mining is a data-driven business, with technology and digitalisation creating new levels of productivity and safety, greater efficiency and reduced environmental impact.

“5G connectivity will be instrumental in enabling advanced teleremote and autonomous technologies, which are integral to industries such as mining," Ericsson’s head of Australia and New Zealand, Emilio Romeo, said.

"We’re delighted to be working with Newcrest and Telstra Purple to trial Ericsson’s 4G LTE and 5G solutions, and enable Newcrest to develop know-how on how to best deploy them underground,” he added. 

A recent report commissioned by Ericsson and consulting firm Arthur D Little suggested that  the implementation of technological solutions could potentially reble productivity growth in the mining sector by 2025.