Award recognises Inmarsat and Knight Piésold UK’s innovative monitoring and management of tailings dams

January 24, 2020, London, UK – Inmarsat, the world leader in global mobile satellite communications, with its collaborator Knight Piésold UK, has today won the Mining Magazine 2019 Editor’s Award for their innovative Tailings Dam Monitoring Solution. The award celebrates companies that have been particularly innovative over the past year.

Inmarsat last year teamed up with Knight Piésold UK, a member of the global engineering and environmental consulting group, to develop the award-winning solution. It allows mining companies to remotely monitor tailings dams in real-time, to support independent analysis from auditors to guide critical decision making. The collaboration offers a new approach to the way tailings dams are currently audited and managed.

Inmarsat’s solution collects data from a range of industry standard sensors via edge connectivity such as LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) before it is transferred across Inmarsat’s highly reliable L-band satellite network to a single cloud dashboard. This enables mining companies and other appropriate stakeholders to gain a comprehensive view of the status of their dams with detailed metrics such as pond elevation, piezometric pressures, inclinometer readings and weather conditions displayed in one place, no matter where the mine is located.

Commenting on the award-wining collaboration, Joe Carr, Director of Mining Innovation at Inmarsat said: “We’re thrilled that our tailings dam monitoring solution has been recognised with the Mining Magazine 2019 Editor’s Award. Mine tailings audits are typically carried out at infrequent intervals, with employees and third-party consultants making long distance trips to collect data and audit the status of the dams. Our solution makes data available between site visits to any accredited users, anywhere in the world. In this way, we support the mining industry’s commitment to zero-harm, whilst enabling our customers to minimise environmental risk and achieve high levels of safety and operational success in the mining sector.”

Richard Elmer, Director at Knight Piésold UK commented: “This award is a great validation of our efforts to be at the forefront of the latest mining industry innovation. Inmarsat is a leading provider of managed Industrial Internet of Things services across the mining world and has an unrivalled track record of operating the world’s most reliable and secure commercial satellite networks for over 40 years. Our collaboration with Inmarsat enables our clients to gain access to the latest and best available technology for real-time data collection and analysis.”

Nia Kajastie, Editor of Mining Magazine commented: “Each year our editorial team chooses a company, group, technology or project that has been particularly innovative over the past year. We are pleased that 2019’s Mining Magazine Editor’s Award goes to Inmarsat and Knight Piésold to celebrate how their Tailings Dam Monitoring Solution is helping the mining industry address some of its key challenges. With the global regulatory landscape becoming even stricter, cutting-edge technology will be playing an even bigger role in ensuring full compliance. Inmarsat’s Tailings Dam Monitoring Solution is leading the way towards the right direction.”

About Inmarsat

Inmarsat is the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications. It owns and operates the world’s most diverse global portfolio of mobile telecommunications satellite networks, and holds a multi-layered, global spectrum portfolio, covering L-band, Ka-band and S-band, enabling unparalleled breadth and diversity in the solutions it provides. Inmarsat’s long-established global distribution network includes not only the world’s leading channel partners but also its own strong direct retail capabilities, enabling end to end customer service assurance.

The company has an unrivalled track record of operating the world’s most reliable global mobile satellite telecommunications networks, sustaining business and mission critical safety & operational applications for more than 40 years. It is also a major driving force behind technological innovation in mobile satellite communications, sustaining its leadership through a substantial investment and a powerful network of technology and manufacturing partners.

Inmarsat operates across a diversified portfolio of sectors with the financial resources to fund its business strategy and holds leading positions in the Maritime, Government, Aviation and Enterprise satcoms markets, operating consistently as a trusted, responsive and high-quality partner to its customers across the globe.

For further information, follow us on LinkedIn or on Twitter @InmarsatGlobal.

About Inmarsat Enterprise

Inmarsat Enterprise is focused on the provision of satellite connectivity and IIoT solutions for land-based businesses, Inmarsat Enterprise operates globally across a diverse set of sectors including agriculture, aid and NGO, energy, media, mining and transport.

About Knight Piésold

Knight Piésold UK specialises in geotechnics, particularly related to mine waste management and open pit or underground rock mechanics and has undertaken over 50 assignments in more than 30 countries in the past seven years. Knight Piésold UK is part of the Knight Piésold Group, which is an employee-owned global consulting firm that provides specialised services to the mining, power, water resources, infrastructure, and oil and gas industries.

We work closely with our clients, understanding unique project characteristics within the context of today’s global business environment. With a commitment to quality, safety, and technical excellence, Knight Piésold specialises in creating tailored solutions at every stage of a project life cycle while delivering sustainable, bottom-line results. We have led numerous award-winning projects to completion and have fostered many long-term client relationships that hold strong today.

Further Information

Enterprise Inmarsat                                              
Purvai Dua / Christian Stevens
Spreckley 
+44 (0)20 7388 9988
inmarsat@spreckley.co.uk 

James Grisbrook
Director of Marketing & Communications – Enterprise
+44 (0)7872 158548
james.grisbrook@inmarsat.com

Inmarsat
Matthew Knowles
Corporate Communications
 +44 (0)20 7728 1355
matthew.knowles@inmarsat.com