Tele-remote tech boosts safety and productivity

As part of our series on Eldorado Gold's operational technology (OT) journey, we're digging deep into the world of tele-remote mobile equipment.

Whereas remote equipment is operated underground and within eyesight of the operator, tele-remote equipment allows mine personnel to operate mobile equipment from virtually anywhere. 

At Eldorado, we use several types of tele-remote equipment at our operations that both help keep operators safe and improve productivity. At our underground mines, operators remain on the surface while tele-remote equipped machinery works below. At our open pit mine, operators remain outside the pit. 

Benefits of tele-remote mobile equipment

Tele-remote mobile equipment has the potential to increase load haul and efficiency by allowing mines to access more challenging stopes at underground mines and benches at our open pit mine – without increasing the risk to the health and safety of our team.

For underground mines, tele-remote mobile equipment also allows equipment to operate in the time between shifts and during blast ventilation, increasing productivity. 

However, perhaps the most important driver for the adoption of tele-remote mobile equipment is its positive impact on health and safety at mines. With remote equipment, operators are not physically in the area and don't have access to visuals that would show hazards around the equipment. In contrast, tele-remote equipment uses sensors to alert the operator if anything or anyone is in the area, at which point the equipment is immediately stopped. These features will become even more important in the future, when the operation of tele-remote equipment expands to hours when shift work takes place. 

"After many evolutions in the implementation of our tele-operated and automated equipment program, we can now confirm that it is a game changer in achieving our production goals. With equipment operating between shifts daily, we can achieve an eight percent increase in use, while also keeping our people safe and decreasing the risk of unexpected equipment damage."
Martin Pichette, Mine and Maintenance Manager, Lamaque

Eldorado Gold goes tele-remote

Lamaque was the first of our mines to implement tele-remote equipment with the introduction of Automine for Sandvik equipment and Cat Command for CAT equipment. We currently operate Sandvik and CAT load, haul, and dump equipment (LHD) and are in the process of adding Sandvik haul trucks. We are also implementing autonomous tramming for our tele-remote haul trucks at Lamaque.

At Olympias, we recently commissioned the Automine system for Sandvik LHDs and are looking forward to expanding the use of tele-remote equipment in the future. 

At our Kişladağ mine, we're using tele-remote dozers on the surface to help clean up benches that are located in more challenging areas. 

Tele-remote equipment is reliant on good communication underground, and we have expansion plans at both Lamaque and Olympias to upgrade our LTE network. 

"Operational Technology focus areas, like tele-remote, are the backbone of the Continuous Improvement strategy for Eldorado where we are continuing to break new ground."
Niklas Frank, SVP, Operations

Learn more about how tele-remote mobile equipment is used in mining and at Eldorado Gold by checking out our story on remote mucking at Olympias.