HID Global and Alutel Mobility say they have collaborated on a project to “power” employee authentication at Newmont’s Peñasquito polymetallic mine in north-eastern Mexico.
HID’s OMNIKEY® readers, Seos® credentials, and Alutel Mobility’s solution with RAGTAB tablets and Alutel’s mobile app allow Newmont to safeguard and monitor multiple entry points and car access at rural and underground mine locations, which are often impossible to equip with readers and lack internet connectivity, according to HID.
“With HID Global and Alutel Mobility’s help, Newmont has been able to establish an innovative access control system that is optimised for our specific needs,” Daniel Tejeda, Project Manager at Newmont, said. “Previously, there was no control over who was on site. We have gone from zero control to complete control.”
The solution works by staff members tapping their Seos credentials into a RAGTAB tablet with an embedded HID OMNIKEY reader. The Alutel Mobility app then displays the worker’s photo and data for increased visual verification and connects with Newmont’s access control platform for authentication. Following this, the tablet displays signals to allow or deny site access.
If there is no internet connectivity during this process, the mobile device saves the data collected and verifies once connection has resumed, HID said.
Alutel Mobility’s employee verification solution is in full operation at Peñasquito, and is part of Newmont’s internal digital transformation initiative, according to HID. Since implementation, the company has processed more than 100,000 authentications with HID’s smart cards and mobile IDs each month.
While Newmont started with 21 RAGTAB tablets featuring the integrated HID OMNIKEY mobile readers, they are now planning to add eight more, according to HID.
Steve Currie, Vice President and Managing Director, Extended Access Technologies with HID Global, said: “HID and Alutel Mobility are committed to bringing together our innovative technologies to power convenient and secure access that enables our customers to perform their job functions with confidence.
“Newmont’s solution delivers a highly secure process that addresses the need for monitoring, managing and authenticating employees in unconventional spaces.”
The successful partnership among HID, Alutel Mobility and Newmont has laid the foundation for the company to examine future use cases to streamline processes, such as employee meal distribution, according to HID.
Tejeda said: “This will significantly improve how we deliver lunch boxes to our workers, and there are a number of other potential capabilities to consider as we take advantage of this system’s capabilities for increasing safety and efficiency.”