Australia-based GeoMoby says its Real-Time Location and Communication System (RTLCS) has been successfully integrated with Ventsim 3D underground mining ventilation design software, Ventsim CONTROL, with successful testing of the ventilation integration completed this month.
Ventsim software enables, among other things, Ventilation on Demand (VoD) in underground mines. Ventsim CONTROL software communicates with hardware devices, allowing remote monitoring control, automation and optimisation of airflow, heating and cooling.
“It costs underground mine operators many millions of dollars each year to adequately power and operate ventilation systems and, together, our highly accurate technology is able to cut those costs substantially,” Chris Baudia, CEO and founder of GeoMoby (pictured, credit:Western Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energy, Chuck Thomas (Remote Digital Imagery)), says. “Working with Ventsim, GeoMoby could shave millions from operational costs for individual underground mines. Our technology has now been fully integrated with one of the world’s best VoD systems and, for mines already using Ventsim, their operational costs are about to get a whole lot cheaper.”
GeoMoby says it is disrupting the technology and communications industry that services the global mining industry. It provides an all-in-one, visibility platform allowing real-time monitoring of assets and people in underground mines, surface mines and Aboriginal or Indigenous heritage zones (Protect). Its underground mining communications solution has green nodes the size of ‘lunchboxes’ that use Bluetooth and a proprietary mesh network to enable this visibility. The company is integrating its technology with a variety of service providers including Ventsim. Ventsim clients include BHP, Freeport-McMoRan, Anglo American and Glencore.
“Our aim now is to establish an even bigger footprint in Australia in 2025, as well as further installations and trials around the world, hopefully incorporating the Ventsim option,” Baudia says. “We are particularly focused on establishing GeoMoby communications in large underground mines – in South Africa, South America, New Zealand, Canada, Indonesia and the US. Our technology – using Bluetooth and a proprietary mesh network – continues to make mining safer globally, so every worker can return home safe, each day.”
Mathieu Paul, GeoMoby Director, says: “The costs of providing your mine workforce with adequate ventilation can be drastically reduced if you only ventilate the areas of mines in which people are working and moving. GeoMoby allows you to see your teams and work activity in real time, therefore you can automatically turn off, or reduce, ventilation in areas of the mine which are not active.
“Some mine sites are enormous with dozens of levels spiralling down into the earth. So, the more accurate you are at measuring the locations of your team, the less ventilation you require in superfluous zones.”