Underground & Mining Operations

• Leaky feeder / wireless mesh nodes: communication backbone, also provides zone-level

positioning for equipment and personnel tracking

• Personnel tracking: RFID/BLE cap lamp tags with 3D position in mine coordinate system
• Equipment tracking: UHF RFID on vehicles with zone-level position and direction
• Ventilation: anemometers (airflow velocity), static pressure sensors at shaft

and level junctions, main fan performance (VFD load, blade pitch, total pressure)

• Rock mechanics: rod extensometers, multi-point borehole extensometers, crack

displacement sensors, microseismic array (triaxial accelerometers in boreholes)

• Underground water: sump level, dewatering pump state (run/stop/fault), flow rate,

inflow point detection

• Blast monitoring: seismograph array for blast calibration and post-blast gas clearance

timing; overpressure gauges for blast optimization

• Dust: real-time PM4 (respirable silica), PM10 (total coal dust), DPM

(diesel particulate matter) by district

• Ore grade: PGNAA (Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis) sensors on conveyor

belts for real-time grade control

• Ventilation adequacy: post-blast gas clearance model → predict safe re-entry time

accounting for ventilation network, gas production rate, and atmospheric stability

• Rock movement pattern analysis: extensometer + microseismic correlation → stope

stability classification, early precursor to crown pillar failure or sidewall collapse

• Equipment location in 3D underground coordinate system → collision avoidance zones,

muster accounting, vehicle speed compliance in pedestrian areas

• DPM + ventilation + equipment activity model → predict district DPM concentration

before it becomes an exposure violation

• Ore grade telemetry → dynamic cut-off grade decisions, dispatch to processing

vs waste dump in real time

• Dewatering pump performance vs inflow → predict inrush event risk before it occurs

• Post-blast gases (CO, NOx, CH4) elevated → Enforce re-entry lockout, continuous

monitoring and prediction until all-clear confirmed

• Rock movement threshold → Evacuate affected level, notify geotechnical engineer,

isolate access until assessment

• Personnel missing at muster → Last known position from RFID, initiate systematic

search starting at last location, alert mine rescue

• Ventilation fan trip → Emergency protocols, restrict access to affected districts,

increase gas monitoring frequency

• Inrush risk model above threshold → Increase dewatering pump capacity pre-emptively,

alert mine management, prepare emergency response

• Lost time injury rate (LTIR) reduction from rock fall and gas exposure prevention
• Post-blast re-entry time reduction (productivity metric — faster clearing means

more operating shifts per week)

• Ore dilution reduction from real-time grade control
• Dewatering cost reduction from predictive pump management

• Hard rock mining: gold, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, silver, platinum group metals
• Coal mining (longwall and room-and-pillar — with specific methane monitoring)
• Potash and evaporite mining
• Diamond mining (kimberlite pipe underground)
• Salt and industrial mineral underground operations
• Civil tunneling: road, rail, metro, water supply tunnels
• Underground storage: LNG, oil, gas, compressed air energy storage caverns