COVID-19

Motorola rolls out backup comms for Rio Tinto

Motorola communication links keep essential services running for Rio Tinto Aluminium in Australia

Staff reporter
A truck at Rio Tinto's Weipa operations in Queensland, Australia

A truck at Rio Tinto's Weipa operations in Queensland, Australia

Mining Magazine is making some of its most important coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic freely available to readers. For more coverage, please see our COVID-19 hub. To subscribe to Mining Magazine, click here.

Motorola Solutions is helping Rio Tinto to continue supplying its customers while protecting people and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two companies partnered to design and roll-out a back-up communications solution for Rio Tinto Aluminium's Integrated Operations Centre (IOC), in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The system enables continued critical communications between mines during an emergency and was developed and deployed in just five days.

The existing IOC provides 24/7 monitoring of all safety, production and quality aspects at remote bauxite mine sites in Weipa, Queensland and Gove, Northern Territory and is essential to coordinating Rio Tinto's bauxite supply to Australian alumina plants and export markets.

If the IOC becomes inaccessible for any reason, Rio Tinto can continue tracking mine production movements via its mission-critical TETRA digital two-way radio communications system which feeds directly into the mining organisation's Disaster Recovery Centre.

Rio Tinto uses a combination of TETRA DIMETRA and MOTOTRBO radio handsets and dispatch consoles across the mine sites to monitor and manage field operations safely and efficiently.

The solution forms an important part of Rio Tinto's business continuity plans to keep operations running safely throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling commercial supply chain continuity and planning for future eventualities.

Motorola Solutions said that it continues to closely monitor the widespread impact of COVID-19 and is committed to supporting the critical communications, safety and security needs of its enterprise and public safety and customers globally.

Martin Chappell, general manager of energy and natural resources for Motorola Solutions Australia & New Zealand, said: "Any communications equipment used in mining must adhere to the highest standards to keep workers safe and maintain security and reliability across the entire operation.

"Through a combination of rugged radios, purpose-built dispatch consoles and essential back-up links, we are providing Rio Tinto Aluminium with effective protection for its people and assets to ensure business continuity throughout the COVID-19 pandemic."

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Magazine Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Magazine Intelligence team.

editions

ESG Mining Company Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2024 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production