Ensuring worker safety while driving higher productivity in underground potash mining with 4G LTE

Nutrien is a principal supplier of fertilizer to the agriculture industry and operates some of the largest potash mines in the world. Potash (primarily comprised of the chemical potassium) along with nitrogen and phosphate are the core ingredients of most modern fertilizers. The company is continually looking for innovative ways to improve the safety and efficiency of its operations, and one of the best ways to do that is by enabling reliable, secure voice and data communications underground. But an outdated analog phone system and a patchwork of Wi-Fi hot spots were not sufficient.

To improve the safety and efficiency of its potash operations, Nutrien brought in telecommunication network consulting firm and our partner, Ambra Solutions, to design and deploy a private 4G LTE network, leveraging advanced radio technology from Ericsson.

To better understand how Nutrien overcame the challenges and achieved its goals to increase production while driving safer, more efficient mine operations, I sat down with the team who oversaw the project — Justin Stade, Nutrien’s director of NPK digital transformation, Chad Skiba, IT manager for potash at Nutrien, and Eric L'Heureux, president and CEO of Ambra Solutions.

Below is an excerpt from our conversation.

Jeanette Irekvist: What were some of the challenges in communicating efficiently between underground operations and the control room?

Chad Skiba: Most of the data transmitted to the control room required traveling underground to the nearest Wi-Fi access point, which could take hours. Or someone would have to physically carry relevant pages copied from the logbook up to the surface where the information was manually transposed into the appropriate application.

Jeanette: We know that expanding Wi-Fi throughout the tunnels could be very costly. But deploying LTE in an underground potash mine had never been done before. How did you do it?

Eric L'Heureux: It is very challenging to propagate a radio signal in a low-ceiling tunnel made of soft rock-like potash. Adding to the challenge, power is only available at tunnel intersections in a few parts of the mine. We had to perform a number of experiments in the field and use our propagation model to find the best locations for the radio antennas.

Jeanette: Why was Ericsson radio technology the right choice for this solution?

Chad: We knew Ericsson technology is built to operate reliably in very harsh conditions. Another great thing about Ericsson equipment is the ability to build redundancy into the infrastructure, so we have resiliency to maintain communication even if there is a component failure somewhere in the network.

Jeanette: Now that you have the 4G LTE network deployed, what has the impact been on mining operations?

Justin Stade: With hundreds of people working in its mines on any given day, Nutrien’s top priority is always safety. And a safe environment is also a productive environment. Since deploying the private 4G LTE network, underground workers now have readily available communication throughout the mine and with the control room. The network is really the foundation for everything we want to do to improve safety, efficiency, and productivity as we move towards our Next Generation Potash future.

Jeanette: I understand you’ve been able to eliminate the need for paper log books and instead equip mine workers with mobile tablets to digitally submit information to the control room. What has the benefit been?

Justin: Getting important information to control room personnel is critical for minimizing production delays or equipment downtime. Now they aren’t waiting hours or days to get that information; it’s in seconds. When you consider the control room is orchestrating numerous mining machines across a city-size mine, we’re looking at a big productivity gain.

Jeanette: How would you sum up the value to Nutrien of having this underground 4G LTE network?

Justin: What we’re aiming for is a connected mine where we have real-time information that allows our experts to make better decisions, faster, and with more confidence. Nutrien has charted a road to significantly increase our potash production to meet the world’s food needs, and this LTE and IoT technology will help us get there.

It is clear that 4G LTE is meeting the needs of mining by ensuring worker safety, increasing productivity, decreasing costs and allowing our customers, like Nutrien, to meet future needs. All of these factors are important considerations for mine operators as they bring connectivity to more aspects of the mine and introduce new technologies to make operations more sustainable. Ultimately, a private 4G LTE network built for the needs of a mine will be an enabler for a valuable digital transformation.

For more information:

• Read the use case here
• Ericsson’s mining solutions
• Ambra Solutions
• Nutrien