Geotechnical and technology partnerships in the mining industry: ensuring availability of operational data

Authors: Shilov, E; Tovey, L Download Paper Open access courtesy of:

DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2535_43

Cite As:
Shilov, E & Tovey, L 2025, 'Geotechnical and technology partnerships in the mining industry: ensuring availability of operational data', in JJ Potter & J Wesseloo (eds), SSIM 2025: Fourth International Slope Stability in Mining Conference, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2535_43



Abstract:
Geotechnical monitoring can be logistically challenging to design, implement and maintain, largely due to the scale and distribution of mining operations in a company’s portfolio. Driven by in-field monitoring requirements to reduce operational risks, a considered approach to the underlying technology infrastructure needs to be undertaken to ensure optimal performance, scalability, survivability, supportability, availability and accessibility across the wider business operations. Often ignored by practitioners when designing mines and safety systems are the critically important foundational infrastructure components required to avoid ongoing technical regret. The key topic of identifying important monitoring technologies used in different mining scenarios is covered in the following paper, followed by many elements of infrastructure design decisions that define successful implementation. Irrespective of specific company requirements, a high-level solution design should be mandatory, and more detailed designs covering hosting and storage, communications and networking, cybersecurity and firewalls, and application deployment with user access models should be produced, in parallel with a clear transition to the operations process required for post-implementation support and maintenance. Driving the detail into these designs are decisions regarding confidentiality, solution integrity and system availability, which in turn inform a design team about user access models, data latency, service continuity, disaster recovery, data archiving, alarm propagation modes, and the integration and portability of monitoring technologies. There is no single solution to suit all mining operations, however, the process of translating monitoring requirements into technology designs is paramount to a successful outcome. The intent of this paper is to highlight what decisions need to be considered and why they are important, with a presentation of both good and poor examples of real industry use cases observed by the authors.

Keywords: geotechnical engineering, geotech, monitoring response, information technology, IT, infrastructure, partnerships, service continuity, disaster recovery

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