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Huawei has tapped 5G technology in the mining sector by smartly connecting the equipment used in the extraction of minerals.

Xu Jun, Chief Technology Officer of Huawei Mine BU, said that the company is using its strengths in ICT technologies like 5G, cloud, AI, and IoT to develop smart mine solutions based on industrial internet architecture for customers in the mining industry worldwide. These solutions make mine production safer, more efficient, and more intelligent.

Mr Jun made the announcement at the ongoing 2023 edition of the Mobile World Congress.

Botswana’s Debswana and Huawei have jointly established the world’s first 5G-oriented smart diamond mine. Located in Jwaneng, it uses hardware equipment including base stations for a holistic digital transformation solution designed to support network upgrades to 5G cutting-edge technologies like autonomous driving.

Debswana’s Head of Information Management Molemisi Nelson Sechaba said the new private network solution developed by Huawei provides stable connectivity for the company’s Jwaneng mine, connecting more than 260 equipment, including drilling rigs, excavators, heavy trucks, and pickup trucks. This enables interconnection between the mine’s production, safety and security systems.

“Previously, our company had a system that had limited coverage, used public wireless frequencies and had less robust anti-interference capabilities. As a result, the mine’s different types of data could not be transferred stably in real time,” said Sechaba.

According to Debswana, building on the success of the project in the Jwaneng mine deployed together with Huawei and Botswana local companies, in line with Botswana’s citizen economic empowerment program, the company plans to also deploy the smart mining solution in its Orapa, Damtshaa, and Letlhakane mines in 2023.

Thulagano M. Segokgo, Botswana’s Minister of Communications, Knowledge and Technology commended the development, stating that it was a key breakthrough in mining revolution.

Liao Yong, Vice President of Huawei Sub-Saharan Africa Region, added that being an economic backbone of several Sub-Saharan African countries meant that mining plays a significant role in their overall social and economic advancement.

“We are expanding the degree of local partnership to accelerate mining digital transformation and create more value across the continent,” he noted.