Tharisa Minerals has deployed RADWIN’s FiberinMotion® technology at its open pit PGM mine in South Africa, marking the first implementation of this wireless connectivity solution on the African continent. The deployment, executed in partnership with systems integrator Datacentrix, has delivered reliable broadband connectivity across the mining environment, enabling real-time telemetry, fleet management and safety monitoring.
The organisation had previously relied on standard 3G coverage through SIM cards in certain fleet vehicles. However, this did not support Tharisa’s vision of ‘Connected Machines and Connected People’, where real-time data from mobile mining equipment, operational systems and field personnel flows seamlessly across the site. This level of connectivity is critical for supporting fleet management, telemetry and safety systems across assets such as excavators, drill rigs and haul trucks.
“From our perspective, the driver wasn’t the technology itself, but the operational use case,” says Collins. “We needed to ensure that our maintenance teams in the pit could remain connected at all times. Without reliable connectivity, their mobility and efficiency were limited.”
In an open pit environment, conditions are constantly changing. Benches shift, haul roads move and line-of-sight conditions are continuously affected, creating dead spots. “The simplest way to describe it is that the hotspots are always moving,” Collins explains. “You don’t want to constantly rebuild your network infrastructure to accommodate this. It needs to adapt automatically as the operational environment evolves.”
Traditional wireless approaches, including mesh networks and private LTE or 5G, were evaluated but ultimately did not meet Tharisa’s requirements due to cost, complexity and limited adaptability. “We did consider LTE and 5G, but the cost simply didn’t justify the value for our use case,” Collins notes. “We’re a low-cost producer, so we actively look for solutions that support this strategy.”
“The key consideration was finding an alternative to LTE and 5G that could deliver similar functionality, but without the associated cost and complexity,” adds Gys Malan, Solutions Architect at Datacentrix. “Tharisa also needed something easy to manage, without the overhead typically associated with traditional mesh networks.”
Following initial consultations, Tharisa and Datacentrix collaborated on a Proof of Concept to validate the solution in a live mining environment. The POC incorporated a hybrid design of fixed high sites for point-to-multipoint and point-to-point connectivity, along with two temporary six-meter mobile towers simulating trailer-mounted high sites. Testing extended across several fleet assets, including excavators, a dump truck and a light-duty vehicle.
“The POC phase involved multiple iterations, with repeated testing and validation under real-world conditions until we were confident in the solution, and the results were very encouraging,” says Collins. “We achieved broad coverage, and even where there were minor gaps, they aligned with our expectations based on tower positioning.”
Following the successful POC, Datacentrix deployed the permanent network infrastructure, including two ruggedised, trailer-mounted towers acting as nomadic high sites that can move with the pit as it evolves. The solution has now been operational for approximately a year.
“The key outcome for us was enabling telemetry across our fleet and improving visibility into performance,” Collins explains. “We can now stream data, monitor operations and even support video feeds from equipment like excavators. That simply wasn’t possible before.”
Beyond immediate benefits, the deployment has established a scalable digital platform for Tharisa’s broader operations. The organisation is currently extending its use of the same technology at Karo Platinum, its newest low-cost, open pit PGM asset, located on the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe.
“The Tharisa deployment was the first in Africa, and a second is now in progress at Karo Mining in Zimbabwe,” Collins says. “The Zimbabwe rollout will cover a significantly larger operational footprint, further demonstrating the scalability of the solution in complex mining environments.”