Project: Iron ore mining

Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue) in WA has selected TETRA for its Pilbara mines.

The new communication system comprises DAMM infrastructure and Sepura handheld and mobile terminals and the win was achieved by Radlink, Sepura’s channel partner in the region.

Fortescue was founded in 2003 and has become one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore. The construction of Fortescue’s mine, rail and port facilities began in February 2006 and by late 2008 operations were underway at the company’s Cloudbreak mine, with over 15 million tonnes of iron ore exported to China.

Since then, mining and processing at Cloudbreak has increased to more than 100,000 tonnes of ore each day.

Fortescue has subsequently established a second mine at Christmas Creek, 50 km east of Cloudbreak and extended its 256 km rail line through to Christmas Creek and a second ore processing facility constructed at the site.

With the construction of the second mine, and plans for the development of further sites, the company needed a communication system capable of meeting the growing needs of the company.

It chose TETRA after evaluating a variety of communication technologies.

Sepura terminals were selected because of their robustness and versatility. In particular, users were impressed with the radios’ emergency features and audio quality, which are vital features for operatives in the mining sectors who often need to work in isolation in very challenging environments and terrains.

So far the company has delivered more than 800 mobiles and 500 handheld terminals to Fortescue for use at its Christmas Creek and Solomon mines and its port facility.

“This is a significant win for TETRA and Sepura, as this unique installation - covering multiple mine sites and a port facility - will be the largest single mining TETRA network in Australia.” said Scott Manson from Radlink.

In another part of the world, public safety users in Brazil have been using Sepura radios and TETRA technology since they were deployed for the Pan-American Games held in Rio de Janeiro in 2007. The radios have contributed to maintaining a secure and safe environment around Rio that recently had two high-profile emergencies.

In November 2010, the city was the scene of highly dramatic events, when drug dealers, based in the favelas, caused acts of extreme violence in the city.

In an operation that will be recorded in the city’s history, Brazilian security forces reacted efficiently and effectively, bringing together several civilian and military teams into one integrated force. They entered and occupied the favelas, freeing them from the long-term control of drug traffickers.

All agents involved were able to communicate with each other through TETRA radio terminals. Inter-agency communication between the military and civilian police, civil defence (Detel), fire, navy and army was crucial to the success of the operation and enabled commanders to synchronise the actions of their field agents from their control rooms.

Colonel Marcos Peniche, head of engineering for Detel said: “Sepura radios were absolutely crucial for the success of this operation. Being able to monitor all the critical actions - down to the second - allowed us to focus our resources, to manage the events in record time and, most importantly, to preserve human life.”

Detel agents, led by the colonel, achieved their first victory when, in the middle of a gun fight, they climbed to the Igreja da Penha, a church on a hill at the heart of the events, to install a TETRA base station - something that had never been authorised before by the local priest.

This station provided extended coverage of the communications network right at the core of the Complexo do Alemão.

Peniche added: “It was highly important to have TETRA technology to support these critical communications and terminals to catalyse the operations. Thanks to their small size, light weight and user-friendly interface, the terminals enabled operatives, who had never used TETRA radios before, to rapidly and effectively acquire the skills to communicate and coordinate actions with their peers and officers”.

In January this year, the mountainous region north of Rio, comprising the cities of Friburgo, Teresópolis and Petrópolis, saw the worst floods ever experienced in the region.

This natural disaster demanded the urgent intervention of Civil Defence teams for search and rescue operations.

Sepura radios enabled emergency teams to act promptly and coordinate effectively in support of the region’s inhabitants. Peniche explains:

“We sent a base station and terminals to provide communications for all the civil defence teams. The terminals provided incredible support to the rescue teams in severe and extreme weather conditions.

“In such critical circumstances, a terminal is not just a simple radio but an essential tool in helping to save human lives.”