Following a successful implementation at its Loulo-Gounkoto underground complex in Mali, West Africa, mining giant Barrick Gold Corporation is adopting Sandvik’s Remote Monitoring Service (RMS) for its entire global underground fleet of more than 200 connected Sandvik trucks, loaders and drills.

RMS rollout has started at Barrick sites in Canada, Central Africa, West Africa and the United States, and will continue during 2023. Sandvik says it will constantly monitor the equipment and analyse telemetry data to improve its performance. 

“We picked up faults very quickly via RMS during our trial at Loulo, whereas in the past catastrophic failure would have been the first we knew about such faults,” said Glenn Heard, Mining Executive at Barrick. “We largely avoided engine and transmission failures during the trial. As we expand RMS we will embed the use of this system and trust the data.”

RMS is an assisted service in which Sandvik remotely monitors and analyses telemetry data acquired from an equipment fleet. It uses predictive maintenance solutions to identify abnormalities, determine root causes and provide actionable information to eliminate defects. It says this process increases equipment uptime and utilisation. Combined with a global pool of reference data and Sandvik’s in-depth analytic skills, RMS can help miners achieve larger tonnage output with lower emissions, while extending equipment and component life.  

“Barrick’s commitment to using RMS is a landmark in the widespread use of telemetry data to improve performance in the mining industry,” said Esa Mattila, Productivity and Reliability Centre Manager at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions. “The ability to prevent failure and downtime, give real time recommendations during shifts to help operators improve performance and make maintenance practices more streamlined and effective will deliver unrealised value to our mining customers.”