Kinross is a Canadian-based international gold mining company with mines and projects in the U.S., Brazil, Russia, Mauritania, Chile and Ghana. At its core, the company is committed to generating value through responsible mining.

Its Morro do Ouro mine is a large-scale, open-pit operation located near the city of Paracatu in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil. Mine operations include conventional shovel/truck open pit mining, and two process plants with extraction of gold using gravity, flotation and carbon-in-leach (CIL) recovery processes. Paracatu is expected to process an average of about 46 metric tons/annum over the course of a four-year period ending in 2019, and at 43 Mt/a thereafter.

The Challenge

Kinross has invested more than $300-million in its operations and equipment since 2013. With an extensive coverage area, Kinross has crucial networking needs to ensure clear communication among equipment, personnel and its network operations center for maximum performance and productivity.

To support its dispatch system, Kinross used a 900 MHz band network, which provided low bandwidth and speeds. Concurrently, Kinross employed a second network at 2.4GHz to support its Caterpillar (CAT) VIMS telematics application. That network didn’t measure up as well, supporting minimal coverage areas and applications.

The mine’s proximity to Paracutu and the dynamic nature of mines, in general, created an environment of intermittent communications interference. To improve its network infrastructure and to align with its business aspirations, Kinross decided to change its dispatch system and invest in a new network. The mining operation called upon SITECH/ Grupo Sotreq to find solutions to run more of its applications, improve coverage areas, speeds, bandwidth, and mobility….

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