Local weather and environment insights for mining

Keep your mining operations running safely

Mines play a key role in many economies worldwide, providing raw material for goods that we have integrated in our day-to-day life. Mining is also one of the most weather vulnerable industries in the world, as mines are often located in geographically and climatically challenging locations. As the climate changes, extreme weather events are growing in frequency and bringing challenges for mining safety, productivity and profitability.

Last year, Reuters published an article, "Miners' profits face an unusual foe: extreme weather” highlighting the challenges: “Heavy rainfalls, withering droughts and other extreme weather patterns across the globe are denting miners' profits and crimping supply of… widely used minerals… Executives detailed their weather-related troubles in earnings reports… and warned they are likely to continue."

There is no doubt that severe weather has a significant impact on mining operations, posing risks that can compromise worker safety, lead to costly delays and disrupt productivity. At the same time, with increased responsibility for local environment and communities, mines face an urgent challenge to reduce the risks both to and from the environment.

Identifying the challenges

Mining weather and environmental challenges are interlinked. Failing to monitor one affects the other and ultimately has a detrimental impact on the mine and the company.

Here are a few of these challenges and how they can be addressed.

• Heavy rain can lead to washed-out roads, landslides and even mine shutdowns in case flash flooding – not to mention tailing dams' failures and related environmental liability.
• Local changes in wind speed and direction disrupt blasting operations, can lead to dispersion of dust into surrounding sensitive areas putting again environmental compliance at risk.
• Lightning can damage heavy equipment, poses a serious risk for workers and leads to costly downtimes. It can also ignite flammable materials or cause explosions, leading to fires and related safety and environmental risks.

How modern technology leads to weather resiliency

Vaisala’s cutting-edge weather and environmental solutions help the mining industry develop integrated weather and environmental resilience strategies to face severe weather and environmental episodes while maintaining operational efficiency.

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Photo credit: Infographic VEOLIA

As an example, Vaisala Thunderstorm Manager is a lightning warning and alerting solution powered by the most accurate, comprehensive lightning detection system available around the world. It provides accurate alerts and situational awareness to mining operators, so they can be confident that they are ensuring safety while minimizing operational downtime.

Another good example is Vaisala Automatic Weather Station AWS810, which provides actionable weather insights based on full scale meteorological observations data. It can integrate all relevant measurement parameters for the mining operation, such as wind, solar radiation, temperature, humidity and pressure, precipitation, present weather and visibility or air quality in any flexible configuration.

Accurate local measurements and forecasting are the foundation of weather and environmental resiliency. Investing in advanced weather and environmental monitoring solutions ensures that mining operations can navigate severe weather and environmental challenges successfully, enhancing personnel and communities’ safety and overall operational efficiency.

Learn more about our full suite of weather and environmental solutions tailored to the mining industry: Mining air quality and weather solutions | Vaisala.