October 2017 saw a record deployment for GroundProbe’s South African Business Unit with six industry-leading, Series-3 Slope Stability Radars (SSR) delivered to Debswana OLDM – Orapa, Damtshaa and Letlhakane Mines – in Botswana. The six Series-3 radars were comprised of: two SSR-XT replacements at Letlhakane DK1 pit, one SSR-FX replacement at Orapa, one new SSR-FX at Orapa, and two new SSR-XT deployments at Damtshaa Mine BK9 pit.
Debswana Diamond Company, a partnership between the De Beers Company and the Botswana Government, owns two operations, namely Jwaneng and Orapa, situated in the southern and the central part of Botswana respectively. The Orapa operation, comprised of Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa Mines, operates five pits – DK1 and DK2 pits at Letlhakane Mine, BK12 and BK9 pits at Damtshaa Mine, and AK1 pit at Orapa Mine. The Debswana Diamond Company (OLDM operations) is a long-time customer of GroundProbe, purchasing their first Slope Stability Radar (SSR) in October 2006.
Due to the success of this original system, they have since purchased an additional 12 radars for their various operations. “Paramount to our South African office achieving this record deployment was GroundProbe’s continual commitment to customer service at both a corporate and technical level.”
“GroundProbe understands that each of our customers’ operations are distinctly different from one mine site to the next, and that a tailored monitoring solution to specifically meet those needs ensures the maximum return on investment for the customer,” said Clifford Walsh, GroundProbe’s Business Manager for South Africa.
“For the Orapa operation it was evident that there is a need for both targeted monitoring and broad-area monitoring, meaning the complete solution would involve a combination of SSR-XT and SSR-FX systems. Future-proofing their monitoring needs, all six systems are Series-3 models with three of the new systems serving as replacements to OLDM’s existing, highly-valued Series-1 systems.”
“Through years of product development experience and a process of continual improvement, GroundProbe have built on past innovations to create the Series-3 radars. GroundProbe take military specification as a baseline, raise it to an even higher level for rugged mining environments, and utilise the latest generation of electronics and electro-mechanical systems on offer.”
“Together with guaranteed support for many years to come, this gives our customers peace of mind that their monitoring program will remain uninterrupted, and surety that we have sourced or manufactured parts that are readily available and reliable,” said James Usherwood, GroundProbe’s Product Development Manager. “The Series-3 suite of radars is proven systems that lead the industry in terms of data quality, uptime and reliability.”
Debswana Diamond Company values the importance of having a long-term slope stability strategy in place, and the continued support that GroundProbe offers. “We recognise that the implementation of GroundProbe’s market-leading safety-critical radar systems sends a powerful positive message to our workforce, stakeholders and competitors about our ongoing commitment to safety and mine productivity,” said Mmoloki Mox Keitumetse, Geotechnical Manager for Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa Mines.
