GroundProbe's operational Santiago centre was already remotely monitoring many tailings dams, a major hydro-electric dam and "even a landslide on a national highway in Colombia" for 30 customers, GroundProbe chief operating officer David Noon explained.
"We've witnessed a boom in Brazil for continuous, real-time monitoring of tailings dams, with a huge increase in demand for our remote, 24/7 geotechnical expertise," GroundProbe CEO Brian Gillespie said this week in Santiago.
"We saw it as an absolute necessity to bolster our offering and extend our support services from Asia Pacific to the Americas. Placing the centre in Santiago and ensuring its tri-lingual capabilities allows us to do just that."
The Santiago centre monitors live slope stability data and responds to alarms to help protect people and infrastructure, connecting remote sites with technical experts able to communicate in Spanish, Portuguese and English.
GroundProbe was bought by Orica in 2017 for A$205 million.