Mina Justa, the major Peruvian copper mine, has taken a significant step forward in worker safety and security with the successful implementation of an innovative IoT worker safety solution, developed by STRACON Tech in collaboration with Abeeway and Actility.
STRACON Tech, a tech wing of the STRACON group, is dedicated to fostering safety in mining through real-time personnel location solutions, leveraging its certified specialists and comprehensive portfolio to mitigate work accidents and enhance operational efficiency.
The main goal of the solution is to implement a system and necessary infrastructure for real-time and historical tracking of people in blasting zones. With a concerning 29% rise in mining accidents due to blasts, collapses, and landslides, the robust people-tracking solution is a proactive measure to prevent such occurrences and ensure safer operations.
The IoT-based worker safety solution is using Abeeway Smart Badges. These badges were seamlessly integrated with the LoRaWAN network managed by Actility’s ThingPark Enterprise platform. To ensure a robust and secure system, the solution also employed a custom-built application developed by STRACON Tech and deployed on AWS servers.
The Abeeway Smart Badge, a portable multi-mode tracker in ID card format, playes a crucial role in enhancing worker safety. This device, equipped with embedded sensors and utilising GPS, Low-power GPS, Wi-Fi Sniffer, BLE, and LoRaWAN TDoA geolocation technologies, enables precise and continuous tracking both indoors and outdoors. The Smart Badge offers various functionalities, such as SOS panic alarms, notifications for danger zones and restricted areas, safety evacuation monitoring, and location heatmaps for optimisation of supervisor-to-worker ratios in large industrial sites.
One of the key advantages of the solution is the use of LoRaWAN connectivity, which significantly reduces costs compared to other IoT connectivity technologies. Boasting extensive coverage, it offers redundancy by design, secure AES 128 encryption, and intelligent traffic management ideal for open-pit mining.
With the cost-efficient LoRaWAN network, the company was able to deploy the worker safety solution at a fraction of the expense of alternative cellular network-based solutions. This cost-effectiveness played a vital role in the swift implementation of the project, with the initial deployment of 400 Smart Badges completed within two weeks.
ThingPark Enterprise is a LoRaWAN IoT connectivity management platform that helps customers build network infrastructure by managing LoRaWAN gateways, add new LoRaWAN devices, monitor network operations, and control the flow of data to application servers.
The integrated solution allows to achieve the Real-Time Location System (RTLS) which enhances mine safety by providing real-time worker location data, issuing alerts, and aiding in decision-making. It also ensures compliance with legal norms and promotes efficient management through the establishment of virtual work zones.
STRACON Tech’s ST – TRACK platform, an integration of GIS, offers real-time personnel tracking, zone management, unauthorized entry alerts, adjustable TAG sampling rates for critical areas, low battery notifications, and provides historical data for audit purposes within mining operations.
The successful deployment and the high level of customer satisfaction led to an expansion of the project. Within just six months of the initial deployment, the mine ordered an additional 450 Smart Badges, bringing the total number of deployed badges to over 800. This expansion demonstrates Mina Justa’s confidence in the effectiveness and reliability of the solution provided by StraconTech.
STRACON Tech’s commitment to excellence extended beyond the technical aspects of the project. To ensure the utmost security and credibility of the solution, a thorough audit was conducted by Price Waterhouse to verify the robustness and integrity of the system.
In addition to the advanced technology and certifications, STRACON Tech provided comprehensive on-site training to mine workers. The training sessions covered device operation, including turning the Smart Badges on and off and utilising the SOS button. This hands-on approach ensured that the workers understood how to use the devices effectively and empowered them to take full advantage of the safety features.
“The project at Mina Justa is not only a technological achievement but also a testament to our commitment to customer satisfaction. We are proud to have partnered with them and to have delivered a solution that significantly improves the safety of mine workers. We are grateful for the support of our strategic partners, Actility and Abeeway, who played crucial roles in the success of this project,” said Jonathan Prieto Abasolo, CTO at STRACON Tech.
“It’s gratifying to see our technology contributing to the significant enhancement of worker safety at Mina Justa. This project exemplifies the power of collaboration and innovation. The success and expansion of this solution inspire us to continue pushing the boundaries of IoT for a safer and more efficient world,” said Olivier Hersent, CEO at Actility.