Broad-Area Monitoring Across Multiple Large Open-Pit Mines

BROAD-AREA COVERAGE

OVERVIEW

The Kolomela Mine operated by Anglo American is located 22km from Postmasburg in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The mine produces direct shipping iron ore.

Kolomela Mine consists of three open-pits: Leeuwfontein, Kapstevel and Klipbankfontein. Kolomela Mine has undergone multiple ramp-ups and is currently producing in the order of 13 million tonnes of direct shipping iron ore.

CHALLENGE

GroundProbe’s challenge was to provide Anglo American with multiple mobile slope monitoring radars that include the fastest scan speed available and unparalleled broad area coverage for critical monitoring.

SOLUTION

GroundProbe immediately recommended the installation of the SSR-XT and SSR-FX, complimented by SSR-Viewer – GroundProbe’s intuitive visualisation software.

[Since 2011, GroundProbe has supplied a mix of 12 radars including targeted, safety-critical, mobile systems (SSR-XT) and strategic, broad-area solutions (SSR-FX) to the Kolomela Mine. A radar shelter and GSS – GroundProbe’s remote Geotechnical Support Service have since been added to their monitoring solution portfolio].

RESULTS

The two SSR-FX systems at Kolomela Mine successfully met Anglo American’s needs in terms of providing mobile slope monitoring radars with the fastest scan speed available and unparalleled broad area coverage.

Developed as a broad area monitoring solution to scan large open-pit mines, the mobile deployment of the SSR-FX is ideally suited to monitoring Kolomela Mine’s large open-pit operations as they can be easily transported, deployed and re-deployed.

“Although the SSR-FX was primarily designed for broad area monitoring, it has also been successfully used at Kolomela Mine to undertake critical monitoring. With a good understanding of how the system works and fine-tuning alarm thresholds, the SSR-FX can be easily used for critical monitoring. The SSR-XT, however, provides better and more accurate information for critical monitoring.”
– Eduan Hatting, Geotechnical Engineer, Kolomela Mine.

“The SSR-FX is designed to detect unknown hazards and deformation hotspots across vast areas, making it extremely useful for early detection of movement or slope failures in large mines like Kolomela.”
– Clifford Walsh, GroundProbe VP Australia & Africa.

Said Nkiyasi Mthembi, Geotechnical Engineer, Kolomela Mine:
“The SSR-FX is capable of scanning 180 degrees in less than two minutes without the need to scan up-and-down – the fastest scan time of any slope monitoring radar on the market – ensuring better data quality over a large area and early detection of wall movement.

The 180-degree scan area and rapid scan time are ideally suited to meet the needs of Kolomela Mine’s expected expansion project by providing broad-area background monitoring allowing for the early detection of wall movement and geotechnical peace of mind. The GroundProbe’s SSR-FX system has allowed more effective primary monitoring of the high wall without blind spots. Although this is a broad area scanning tool, in some instances, we have been able to use it for critical monitoring.”

Like the SSR-XT, the SSR-FX is exceptionally durable and operational in extreme environments, including altitudes of 5000m above sea level and temperatures from -40°C to +55°C. Furthermore, the SSR-FX can operate in intense sun, rain, wind, snow and humidity.

GroundProbe has successfully deployed SSR-FX systems in North America, South America, Australia and Africa with excellent results.

GroundProbe is proud to have shared their world-class expertise in providing real-time solutions for measuring and monitoring geohazards to restore ongoing onsite mine safety.

Image 1. GroundProbe’s SSR-FX	Image 2. GroundProbe’s SSR-XT	Image 3. GroundProbe’s radar shelter