1. What a mine device sends over cellular
A smart mine covers machine monitoring, personnel location, safety monitoring, and driverless mining trucks. Underground and open-pit sites report over 4G or 5G. Mines sit in remote country or underground, so the link has to hold and stay tightly controlled. SimtoLink supplies 4G and 5G to mining companies, with a VPDN, a data pool, and an API into the mine platform.
2. Trucks, people, gas, and video
The site covers machines, people, and safety. Bandwidth, and how quickly an alarm has to land, differ by job:
Machine monitoring and driverless trucks
Mining trucks and excavators report location, operating conditions, and video over 4G or 5G, for driverless running, remote control, and tighter dispatch.
Personnel location and safety
Underground location terminals and safety helmets report position and vital signs over 4G, for crew management and emergency rescue.
Safety monitoring and warnings
Mine-gas, dust, and roof sensors report over 4G, for safety warnings and disaster prevention.
Video and dispatch
Underground and open-pit video comes back over 4G or 5G, for production monitoring, dispatch, and remote patrol.
3. What the mine link has to cover
- Where people are: Underground and open-pit crews are located live, with geofence alarms and a precise fix for rescue.
- Machine health: Excavation machinery, conveyor belts, and ventilation report as they run. A fault warning cuts unplanned stops.
- Video and safety: Working faces and hazardous areas are watched live. AI checks hard-hat use and rule-breaking, in support of zero-accident management.
- Gas in the air: Methane, carbon monoxide, and dust are watched live. Over a threshold, power and ventilation cut off on their own, to stop an explosion.
- A private, explosion-proof network: The mine network has to stay isolated. Use explosion-proof 4G and 5G equipment, in line with coal-mine safety rules.
4. Which SIM fits which job
Network, bandwidth, and power draw differ by job, so the SIM follows the device. Use the table as a starting point:
| Use | Recommended network | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Personnel terminals and cap lamps | 4G/5G (mining) | A precise fix, rescue, and geofences |
| Excavation equipment and belt monitoring | 4G | Running parameters, fault warnings, and OEE |
| Gas sensors | NB-IoT/4G | Gas concentration and a low-power alarm |
5. How much data a mine device uses
One device typically uses about 200MB–2GB a month. Video and driverless running use more. Use a VPDN, pool SIMs by device type, and keep 20%–30% spare.
6. Security for the mine
Treat the link as extremely high security. It has to meet MLPS, on a VPDN, with China's commercial crypto algorithms. SimtoLink provides the VPDN, a private APN, and real-name registration for the SIMs.
7. What SimtoLink would put on the site
For driverless mining trucks, underground monitoring, and slope monitoring, use a 4G or 5G IoT SIM. The site is a difficult environment, and the underground signal is weak. A driverless truck that needs low latency can use 5G. SimtoLink plans for 99.9% network availability, a choice of operators, a high-volume plan, and an API into the mine’s combined monitoring platform.
8. Bringing a pit online
Take a mine rollout through these stages:
Pick the SIM by device type and check coverage in the target pit. Set the VPDN or APN and the IP allowlist, and alert at 80% of the data allowance. SimtoLink stays with the project from the first pit through production. Contact us for a plan built around that pit.