Barrick first implemented Sandvik's remote monitoring service at its Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali, pictured, before expanding to all of its global operations. Courtesy of Barrick Gold.

Barrick Gold is expanding Sandvik Mining and Rock Solution’s remote monitoring service (RMS) to its entire global fleet of over 200 connected Sandvik trucks, loaders and drills after a successful implementation of the technology at its Loulo-Gounkoto underground complex in Mali, West Africa.  

Barrick has begun to implement RMS at its mine sites in Canada, Central Africa, West Africa and the United States, and will continue to carry out this goal over the course of 2023. 

“We picked up faults very quickly via RMS during our trial at Loulo, whereas in the past catastrophic failure would have been the first we knew about such faults,” said Glenn Heard, mining executive at Barrick. “We largely avoided engine and transmission failures during the trial. As we expand RMS, we will embed the use of this system and trust the data.” 

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RMS is a service that allows Sandvik to remotely monitor a mine’s vehicle fleet by acquiring and analyzing telemetry data. It collects real-time data on various equipment performance metrics using sensors, and uses predictive maintenance solutions to identify the root causes of abnormalities.  

Equipment data is transmitted to Sandvik’s monitoring centre, which uses machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence to analyze it. The algorithms leverage historical data and patterns to provide insights. In a press release, Sandvik said the RMS’s process increases equipment uptime and utilization and can help miners achieve larger tonnage output with lower emissions. 

“Barrick’s commitment to using RMS is a landmark in the widespread use of telemetry data to improve performance in the mining industry,” said Esa Mattila, productivity and reliability centre manager at Sandvik. “The ability to prevent failure and downtime, give real time recommendations during shifts to help operators improve performance and make maintenance practices more streamlined and effective will deliver unrealized value to our mining customers.”