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Inmarsat, Brazilian miner to explore tailings dam monitoring using IoT solutions

21st June 2019

By: Natasha Odendaal

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Mobile satellite communications group Inmarsat and Brazil’s Minas Gerais State have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the potential of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for monitoring the integrity of mine tailings dams.

The MoU provides a framework for cooperation between Inmarsat and the Minas Gerais state, outlining a potential partnership to investigate a variety of options to improve the awareness and transparency of tailings dams in the region.

The collaboration will also probe the potential for Inmarsat to provide the state with its smart tailings dam monitoring solution to deliver mission-critical data on the safety and integrity of tailings dams in the region, says Inmarsat Enterprise president Paul Gudonis.

Inmarsat’s remote monitoring solution, using advanced IoT and satellite technology, can provide real-time visibility and data of the structural integrity of tailings dams to mining companies and regulators.

The connected sensors gather data such as piezometric pressure, pond elevation, local weather conditions and inclinometer readings, which are aggregated at the edge and transferred through Inmarsat’s global L-band network to a cloud-based dashboard.

“The information presented in the dashboard provides the necessary transparency for mining companies, auditors and regulators to make faster and smarter decisions, improve safety standards [particularly of infrastructure] and help support regulatory compliance,” he says.

“The safety of tailings dams is a long-standing issue in the mining industry,” Gudonis highlights, noting that IoT-based monitoring solutions that leverage advanced connectivity technologies will enable mining companies to take action to avert safety issues.

The safety of tailings dams was thrust into the spotlight following the rupture of a tailings dam at Brazilian mining giant Vale’s Corrego do Feijao iron-ore mine, in the state of Minas Gerais, on January 25, releasing a torrent of sludge that killed an estimated 300 people.

The disaster, occurring in the small town of Brumadinho, had been preceded by another fatal tailings dam collapse in November 2015 at the Samarco iron-ore mine, near Mariana, also in Minas Gerais, which killed 19 people.

In March, Mining Weekly reported on the intense global focus on monitoring, in particular, the upstream varieties of mine tailings storage facilities, with the launch of urgent surveys of tailings dams across Brazil.

Operations at dozens of sites were suspended – either by court orders or by companies – until they could be inspected and confirmed to be safe.

In February, the Brazilian government ordered that safety and security at all tailings dams in the country be strengthened or that the tailings dams be deactivated by 2021.

Meanwhile, internationally, Rio Tinto launched a global review of the standards applied to its tailings dams, while Anglo American announced that it had developed a new monitoring system that would give it real-time data on strain, deformation and seepage at tailings dams.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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