Debswana’s diamond mining operations in Botswana, have achieved significant improvements to safety and production on site by engaging GroundProbe Geotechnical Support Services team to perform remote Geotechnical hazard detection and data analysis. Every time a radar is deployed at Debswana the data is uploaded from Botswana to a secure server in Australia where a team of GroundProbe trained geotechnical engineers check the data of individual radars and identify, monitor and report on any new or existing hazards resulting from slope instability.
“The services provided by GroundProbe have significantly improved productivity and profitability, as we have been able to identify problem areas,” Debswana Geotechnical Engineer Merapelo Wiseman Nkwe explained. “Not only has safety improved exponentially, but our mining engineers are now asking the geotechnical engineers for support and advice at the company’s monthly meetings if modifications need to be made to the current mine plan,” Nkwe said.
GroundProbe Principal Geotechnical Engineer, Albert Cabrejo explained that the data from these status checks were then analysed in GroundProbe’s Brisbane office, and a Geotechnical hazard report, key findings and a summary spread sheet of the data quality parameters are sent through to the team at the Debswana mines via email.
“In addition, the Debswana mines also received wall folder reports, which were created following the completion of a deployment. Reports that summarise all the wall folder reports generated in that month, and quarterly reports which summarise the key findings reported over the quarter, were also supplied,” he explains.
“Together, these reports ensure that the Debswana mines are always in possession of reliable and the most up-to-date information about the mine sites and the radars that monitor these sites.”
Additionally, Nkwe explained that the scope of works also involves the GroundProbe team evaluating the radar data in order to evaluate its performance, to suggest ways to improve data quality or identify problems in the system or its deployment. There is regular communication with the teams working at the Debswana sites, as this allows GroundProbe to stay abreast of any slope instability developments.
GroundProbe’s team is currently providing the staff at the Debswana mine with training, refresher and certification programs.
The services the team at GroundProbe has on offer is definitely something Nkwe would recommend to other mining companies, as they have been able to provide his company with important data that has enabled them to make the necessary changes to avoid downtime, while maintaining a high level of safety.
As part of GroundProbe’s ongoing efforts to establish supporting and lasting relationships with every client, GroundProbe provides these support services to a number of global mining operations.
