Koniambo Nickel Mine

Automated geotechnical monitoring with wireless data transmission, improving safety and efficiency for one of the world’s largest nickel deposits.

About Koniambo Nickel

Koniambo Nickel is a major mining and metallurgical complex located in the Northern Province of New Caledonia. The company is a joint venture between Société Minière du Sud Pacifique (SMSP), a New Caledonian mining company, and Glencore. The complex consists of a mine, a metallurgical plant, a power station, and associated infrastructure such as ports and roads. The mine has an estimated reserve of over 150 million tonnes of nickel ore, making it one of the largest deposits of its kind in the world.
Koniambo Nickel has a strong commitment to sustainable development, and has implemented a range of measures to minimize the environmental impact of its operations.

The situation

In order to ensure safe excavation and operation of the mine, the company has installed a large number of vibrating wire piezometers (VWPs) throughout various sections of the site. However, the data from these sensors was collected manually and analysed using an Excel spreadsheet. This process not only caused delays in obtaining the data, but also required a significant amount of time to analyze and report. Therefore, there was pressing need to enhance the efficiency of the monitoring network to increase safety and reduce cost.

Sixense’s solution

Following a successful trial period, Sixense has implemented a secure and proprietary data transmission framework around the site. Each sensor, or group of sensors, is now connected to a self-powered data logger which transmits the data to a gateway. From there, the data is automatically and immediately sent to the cloud. Sixense’s Monitoring & Information Management System (MIMS), Beyond Monitoring, collects and displays the data, triggers alarms, and generates reports. The automation of the monitoring network has provided significant benefits in terms of situation awareness, prompting the expansion of the system to include the supply, installation, and data collection of two In-Place Inclinometers (IPI) spanning a length of 80 meters.