31 October 2024

While governments and charities around the world make strides towards eliminating poaching, the odds have long been stacked against those involved in protection and in favour of the poacher. The sheer vastness of national parks in parallel with the financial gains from ‘trophies,’ such as elephant tusks and rhino horn, are exacerbated by poor terrestrial connectivity so crucial to tracking animals, organisational communication and the detection of unauthorised human activity. Here, Alastair MacLeod, CEO of satellite connectivity specialist Ground Control, argues that satellite IoT (Internet of things) is playing a vital role in turning the tide.

07 October 2024

The Bathopele Mine, run by Sibanye-Stillwater, is located in the north-western part of South Africa in Rustenburg. It represents one of the largest platinum reserves in South Africa having estimated reserves of 5.3 million ounces of platinum and an annual production capacity of 120,000 ounces.

A key enabler for digitalisation in underground mining is securing mine-wide, robust and resilient broadband wireless connectivity. Such digital infrastructure must operate and be maintained in a harsh environment. While legacy fibre installations are established and commonplace, these are generally terminated with a network switch at level access or waiting places with limited connectivity available up to the last mile. Without connectivity in the last mile, there is limited opportunity to receive and trend real-time data for asset and personnel intelligence and optimisation.