5G at the Sandvik

underground
Test Mine
A private wireless network enabling mining automation

1 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine

Early in 2019, Sandvik and Nokia announced a collaboration to deliver
Industrial IoT to the mining industry over LTE and 5G Networks.
After having integrated its AutoMine and OptiMine solutions with Nokia
private 4.9/LTE technology, Sandvik initiated deployment of a Nokia 5G
standalone (SA) private network at its Test Mine in Tampere, Finland.
Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ decades-long work in automation has grown to include robust data analytics and process
optimization offerings, where connectivity and local computing power are crucial. Applications requiring high capacity and low
latency are becoming increasingly important. With a focus on IoT solutions for the mining industry, Sandvik has partnered with
Nokia to further develop Sandvik solutions for private 4.9G/LTE and 5G technology.
A private LTE network enables fast, reliable and secure voice, data and video communications in a mining setting, which presents
highly challenging deployment conditions. It brings high capacity, low latency and wide coverage mobile broadband to serve
mission-critical and business-critical industrial connectivity needs and supports a variety of terminals, sensors and other devices.
The wireless network also enables operation of autonomous vehicles, real-time monitoring of underground and outdoor premises
with the intention to keep people and equipment safe, remote diagnostics and predictive maintenance, as well as asset
management, control and authentication. The new 5G infrastructure will add even more capabilities to automated mining
processes and enable remote machine operations over 4K video links between the deep underground and the surface control
center.
The Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) offers pervasive connectivity in both underground and open pit mines, enabling
advanced applications. It has been implemented and tested in the Sandvik Test Mine in Tampere, Finland. The network is used to
enhance communications and connectivity at the facility – a real-life mining environment where Sandvik tests, develops and
prototypes mining solutions for its customers worldwide.

2 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine

 Photo: Sandvik

Sandvik is headquartered in Sandvik’s OptiMine® is the most Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions
Sweden. In 2020, sales were comprehensive solution for products and services provide
approximately 40 billion SEK with optimizing underground hard rock maximum value in terms of
about 14,000 employees in mining production and processes. performance, quality, safety,
Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions continuing operations. It integrates all assets and people flexibility and – not least – total
is a global leading supplier of Sandvik is a world leader in mining - including Sandvik and non- economy.
equipment and tools, services automation. AutoMine® covers all Sandvik equipment - delivering Innovation and R&D drive the
and technical solutions for the aspects of automation, from descriptive and predictive insights Sandvik state-of-the-art
mining and construction remote and autonomous to improve operations. solutions, which are all backed by
industries. Application areas operation of a single piece of As a world-leading mining application expertise: a worldwide
include rock drilling, rock cutting, equipment, to multi-machine equipment manufacturer, the network offering on-site service,
loading and hauling, tunneling and control and full-fleet automation company is committed to training and round-the-clock
quarrying. using automatic mission and improving mining productivity and support.
traffic control capabilities. profitability.

3 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine

 More productivity, lower cost and safer
Business drivers for and
tonnes with information and automation customer value of
35
digitalization and automation

Enhanced safety
30

25 Removing operators from hazardous environments and

Production rate

improving communication of mine operations, offering real-time

insights.
20
Improved productivity
15
Solutions eliminating bottlenecks, streamlining operations and
offering the fastest automation systems on the market.
10
Increased profitability
5 Solutions increase effective production hours due to less
downtime and remote operation, increase transparency and
deliver descriptive and predictive insights.
0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24
Time More sustainable operations
Greener operations through improved energy and greenhouse
gases efficiency; 5G network consumes less power than legacy.
Conventional mine + information + automation

4Source:
5GSandvik Mining and
at the Sandvik Rock Solutions
underground Test Mine 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine 4
 Opportunities and challenges of
underground mining transformation
The case for innovation in the mining industry has never been more An industrial-grade private wireless network provides a single
compelling. Driven by the need to reinvent operations, increase infrastructure for fast, reliable and secure data transfer, push-to-
safety, and optimize productivity and efficiency, investment in talk/push-to-video communications and real-time video transmission
Industry 4.0 solutions has steeply risen over the past years. in a mining setting that is characterized by highly challenging
The reward of digital transformation can be substantial. Advances deployment conditions.
in technologies like the industrial internet of things (IIoT), artificial Especially, underground mining environments with continuously
intelligence and virtual reality will enable mining companies to changing networks of tunnels set very specific challenges compared
optimize decision making, automate manual processes and to open-air outdoor sites.
eventually replace all manual operations with fully autonomous Whereas surface mines have a relatively large space available for
systems. While having the ability to see and effectively track people infrastructure deployment, the confined space in underground
and assets is essential for worker safety. environments introduces extra complexity. The communications
But to get the best out of these technologies, having high- network needs to deliver reliable wireless voice and data
performing wireless connectivity in the mining areas is essential to communication across ‘blind’ production areas, in narrow drifts and
the various digital applications they enable. Unfortunately, many galleries with massive stone walls, to connect miners and machines.
mines still rely on legacy networks that weren’t created to cater for
the demands of ultra-broadband and mission-critical use cases.
Used for a decade by mobile operators worldwide, 4G/LTE cellular
technology has all the features and characteristics required by the
vast majority of business-critical and mission-critical mining
applications. The next generation of cellular, 5G, has also started
rolling out, and it will support even the most extreme applications.
Since a few years, these capabilities have also become available for
enterprises through industrial-grade private wireless solutions.
To make Industry 4.0 work for mining companies and enable the
automation applications that will deliver results for their operation,
mining companies need pervasive wireless voice and data
connectivity – above and underground.
Photo: Sandvik

5 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine

Sandvik OptiMine® Sandvik AutoMine®
analytics and process optimization equipment automation and
teleoperation systems
OptiMine® is the most comprehensive solution for analyzing and AutoMine® is an automation system for autonomous and tele-
optimizing underground hard rock mining production and remote operation of a wide range of Sandvik and non-Sandvik
processes. mobile equipment.
It integrates all assets and people including non-Sandvik In the comfort and safety of a remote control room, operators can
equipment delivering descriptive and predictive insights to simultaneously control and monitor multiple underground or
improve operations. surface machines.

6 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine

Photos: Sandvik
“ Mining digitalization and automation are highly dependent
on a predictable communication infrastructure.
We need reliable data and analytics for telemetry,
autonomy and optimization. Without a stable, fast and
resilient network none of these would be possible.
This is one of the reasons why connectivity is such a big
topic for Sandvik. But we are not a networking company,
we're a mining equipment and automation company.
That's the reason why we are partnering with Nokia.”
Andreas Simoncic,
Automation Business Line Manager, Northern Europe
Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions

7 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine

 Why Sandvik is implementing 5G
As 5G is just at the beginning of to gradually further expand the
its industrial journey, most of network. Once the 5G SA network
Nokia mining customers are still is fully implemented, it will allow
opting for 4.9G solutions. They the company to showcase an
know that 5G is around the entirely new range of game-
corner, and that the upgrade will changing products and
be straightforward. As a matter of capabilities – with the ability to
fact, more than 85% of digital run several different applications
mining applications can already over the network. With 5G,
run on 4.9G today. And, 5G will Sandvik will be able to reserve a
add even more capabilities, like certain capacity from the
more bandwidth for (ultra-) high- bandwidth to specific
definition video services and applications, resulting in
further reduce the latency that is predictable performance and
needed for real-time tele-remote improved reliability.
control of e.g., robots and drones.
Of course, Rome wasn’t built in
That’s why Sandvik has partnered one day, and there is still some
with Nokia on implementing a work to be done in 5G
private 5G Standalone (SA) standardization. 5G R16 was just
network in their Test Mine facility finalized in July 2020 and
in Tampere, Finland, to have a together with R17 it will bring
capability to ensure and critical machine connectivity
demonstrate that Sandvik’s features such as ultra-low latency
products and systems are and time-sensitive networking.
compatible with 5G technology
and make them ready for roll-out These next two releases are
to their customers’ mining critical steps for Industry 4.0
operations. applications, as they will bring
significant benefits for private
Sandvik’s 5G standalone network
wireless, enabling the bulk of the
implementation in the Test Mine
15 percent of applications not yet
is in early stages and the plan is

8 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine 8
 possible today on private 4.9G. leadership role on developing 5G
The R18 standard, which is due in solutions in mining and is
2023, should bring the final piece deploying Nokia technology in
of the puzzle with massive IoT their Test Mine in Tampere.
connectivity – the successor to For Nokia, it’s a real advantage to
LTE-M and NB-IoT. work with a global leader in mine
As partnerships and ecosystems automation and digitalization.
are the motor powering The combination of the private
innovation and new business wireless Nokia Digital Automation
opportunities, they are really Cloud technology with Sandvik’s
essential for connectivity players automation solutions is creating a
like Nokia when developing world-class opportunity to deliver
solutions. unique value to the global mining
This is why it’s fantastic that industry.
Sandvik is taking a global

“As we work with our customers to help them

leverage technology to digitalize their
operations, the introduction of 5G opens the
door to new opportunities in robotics, remote
and autonomous operations, full-fleet
automation, analytics and enhanced safety.
As such, it comprises a breakthrough in the
digital transformation of mining.”
David Hallett, Vice President, Automation, Sandvik

9 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine Photo: Sandvik

 Nokia Digital Automation Cloud
4.9G and 5G platform for private wireless connectivity and automation

Create & manage

Nokia DAC comes with spectrum, edge computing, multi-local networks
access points, applications and user equipment Nokia Digital
Automation Cloud
Network & service management,
Edge Nokia hosted or
applications on mine premises
Data stays CBRS spectrum/SAS (USA)
Edge
with you

Pico Micro Mini-Macro Macro Edge

Coverage Coverage Coverage Coverage EPC functionality Edge
radius: radius: radius: radius: and various
20-100 m 0.5-5 km <30 km <50 km redundancy
Indoor Indoor/Outdoor Outdoor Outdoor options

Ruggedized Ruggedized Ruggedized Ruggedized Edge

router dongle handset tablet

Nokia DAC device management

Nokia DAC catalog

10 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine

 Devices designed for challenging environments
The harsh conditions in which
miners operate require a set of
resilient, ruggedized devices and
handhelds.
Nokia provides a selection of
industrial ruggedized devices with
hardened enclosure and
industrial-graded components
that are designed and developed
for heavy use in demanding mine
environments.
Photo: Sandvik
Our device portfolio includes
ruggedized workpads, field
routers, handhelds and tablets.
These devices come in different
form-factors, manufactured and
certified to address various
markets and frequency bands,
and cover the needs of customers
in 4G, 5G and MulteFire. All
devices have been validated and
certified with Nokia in house
expertise
The Nokia DAC platform provides
integrated device management
with easy-to-use onboarding of
devices, scalable to managing
thousands of devices.

11 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine

 Private 5G at the Sandvik NR throughput * (Mbps at 100 MHz bandwidth)
Test Mine in Tampere
Today, Sandvik’s AutoMine and OptiMine systems are 1200
already running on private wireless Nokia 4.9G network.
1000
To have a capability to ensure and demonstrate that Sandvik’s
products and systems are also compatible with 5G technology 800
and make them ready for roll-out to their customers’ mining
operations, the company decided to implement a private 5G 600
Standalone network in their Test Mine.
Once the 5G network has been installed, it will allow the
400
Downlink
company to showcase an entirely new range of game-changing 200
products and capabilities – giving Sandvik the ability to run
several different applications over the same network with 0
predictable performance and improved reliability.
The DAC platform enables fast, reliable and secure voice and
video communications in a mining setting, which presents
highly challenging deployment conditions. Its 5G capability will 150
also be used for automated mining processes, enabling remote
machine operations over 4K video links between deep
75
underground and the surface control center.
The configuration at Sandvik includes NG-RAN, connected to
50
the 5G core and providing 5G NR (new radio) connectivity for
user equipment (UE). The 5G spectrum is provided by
communication service provider Telia. 25 Uplink
Initial results of the 5G project are very promising. Inside the
Sandvik Test Mine, we are obtaining downlink speeds of around 0
1 Gbps and uplink speeds of 140 Mbps. Also, latency is good
with a minimum roundtrip time of about 5 milliseconds and an
average one of just above 8 milliseconds – which is still
expected to improve with next 5G releases.
* Test environment results from over-the-air testing
with iPerf server and client on Mediatek devices
12 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine
 “ Partnerships and
ecosystems are the motor
powering innovation and
new business opportunities.
Nokia and Sandvik are
working together to
accelerate the mining
industry’s digital
transformation journey and
to deliver value to our
customers worldwide.”
Jochen Apel, Vice President, Digital Industries, Nokia

13 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine 13
Nokia Oyj
Karaportti 3
02610 Espoo
Finland

About Nokia
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14 5G at the Sandvik underground Test Mine