Leading global technology company Huawei says it is committed to using its strengths in ICT technologies like 5G, cloud, AI, and IoT to develop smart mining solutions for customers in the mining industry in Africa and other parts of the world.

Xu Jun, Chief Technology Officer of Huawei Mine BU, made this known during a Huawei Summit with the theme: ‘Digital Transformation Of Africans Mining Industry,’ Experience From Debswana, in Barcelona, Spain on February 28.

He said, “Huawei is committed to using its strengths in ICT technologies like 5G, cloud, AI, and IoT to develop smart mine solutions that are based on an industrial Internet architecture for customers in the mining industry worldwide.

“These solutions make mine production safer, more efficient, and more intelligent. In China, Huawei has jointly developed a number of intelligent applications with leading mining enterprises.

“For example, we commercially deployed the AI mining model in projects with Jinneng Holding Group and Shandong Energy Group.

This was on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 held in Spain from Monday, February 27 to March 2.

Also, Liao Yong, Vice President of Huawei Sub-Saharan Africa Region, said over the past five years, Huawei has provided services to mining enterprises in a number of countries in the region, including South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, and Ghana.

Looking to the future, Huawei will work with more local partners to accelerate mining digital transformation and create more value in Africa.

Huawei-enabled smart mine solution has been deployed at Debswana's Jwaneng open-pit diamond mine in Botswana.

The Jwaneng mine is the world’s first 5G-oriented smart diamond mine. This means the hardware equipment such as base stations used in the mine’s digital transformation solution support network upgrades to 5G.

With 5G features like high bandwidth and low latency can support the application of cutting-edge technologies like autonomous driving, enabling the more intelligent digital transformation of the mining industry in the future.

The project started operation in December 2021. Huawei's 4G eLTE private network solution provides stable connectivity for the Jwaneng mine, connecting more than 260 pieces of equipment. This enables interconnection between the mine's production, safety and security systems.

Debswana is a leading mining company in Africa that, by working with Huawei, can take the efficiency, productivity and safety of mining to the next level.

The Botswana Government will continue to put in place facilitation measures to further support the digital transformation agenda across all sectors including the mining industry and welcomes international companies, such as Huawei, to participate in this agenda.

Measures already underway include formulated digitalisation agenda, 5G roadmap and other supporting policies.

Debswana's Head of Information Management, Nelson Sechaba said the deployment of eLTE solution to connect mining equipment in Botswana has ensured the stability of operations.

According to him, the Huawei-enabled smart mine solution has been deployed at Debswana's Jwaneng open-pit diamond mine.

"There are two reasons for this. The first is efficiency. The ability to transfer data in real-time makes equipment like mining vehicles more efficient, increasing yield and reducing long-term OPEX.

"Second, the solution helped improve safety. Real-time data collection, backhaul, and interaction make the system more sensitive and accurate to provide more reliable protection for staff and vehicles,’’ he said.

At MWC 2023, Huawei will showcase its products and solutions at stand 1H50 in Fira Gran Via Hall 1.

The company aims to work with carriers and industry partners around the world to further the evolution of ICT infrastructure, lay the foundation for the 5.5G era, and build on the success of 5G for even greater prosperity.

At MWC 2023, Huawei presents five major characteristics of the 5.5G era: 10 Gbit/s experience, all-scenario IoT, integrated sensing and communication, Level 4 autonomous driving network, and green ICT.

Together with global operators, industry professionals, and opinion leaders, we will dive into topics such as 5G business success, 5.5G opportunities, green development, digital transformation, and our vision of using the GUIDE business blueprint to lay the foundation for 5.5G and build on the success of 5G for even greater prosperity.

Technological innovation in the 5.5G era will bring operators a 10-fold increase in network performance over 5G.