mining communications
Two Way Radios & Communication Systems for Mining Operations
Mines need highly durable communication technologies to withstand the toughest conditions, whether that’s intense heat, cold, rain, dust or grime. At Digicom, we provide equipment to suit a range of mining conditions, including Intrinsically Safe and FM standard products, which ensure safety in high-risk areas. We understand that mines have varying requirements, resources and conditions, which is why we customise a specialised communications solution to meet each client’s unique needs.
Mining & Resources
Radio coverage that reaches the pit floor and the decline.
Digicom Wireless designs and supplies mine site communication systems across Australia: open pit repeater networks, underground leaky feeder coverage, intrinsically safe handhelds for classified areas, and cellular boosting for processing plants and FIFO camps.
The Problem
A mine is several coverage problems stacked on one lease
The pit is a moving RF environment. Benches change shape every month, high walls block line of sight, and the crusher and workshop sit behind steel. Underground, none of it propagates at all without infrastructure in the drive. Camp is usually kilometres away on a carrier signal that drops at shift change.
Buying a box of handhelds solves none of that. What fixes it is a coverage design that treats surface, underground and processing as three linked networks that share one talkgroup plan.
Why It Matters
Coverage is what makes an evacuation call actually arrive
Under WHS obligations the duty holder has to be able to raise and clear an alarm across the whole workforce, including operators in isolated positions and crews working alone. That depends on professional grade repeaters placed where they hold the whole lease, not on a handheld spec sheet.
We plan the network, run RF coverage and PIM testing to prove it, and manage ACMA licensing. Where classified areas are involved we supply certified hardware and explain the requirement on our intrinsically safe radio page.
- Motorola Solutions Platinum Channel Partner
- ARCIA & ACMA accredited
- ACMA type-approved equipment only
Coverage Planning
Where mine site coverage usually falls over.
Almost every coverage complaint we are called out to on a mine traces back to one of these three. Fixing them is infrastructure work, not a hardware upgrade.
Open pit: the high wall eats your talk path
A repeater sited for last year's pit shape will not hold this year's. As benches drop and the wall grows, operators on the pit floor fall into shadow. We survey the current shape, model where the site needs elevation, and specify masts or additional repeater sites to close the gap.
Underground: nothing propagates without a feeder
Radio does not turn corners in a decline. Underground coal and hard rock operations need leaky feeder cable run through the drives, with line amplifiers and head-end equipment sized to the length of the network. Surface talkgroups then patch through so the control room hears the same traffic.
Camp and plant: carrier signal that drops at shift change
Donga rows and steel-clad process buildings kill mobile signal, and the load spikes when a whole crew comes off shift. Cel-Fi QUATRA and Cel-Fi boosters put carrier-approved coverage inside camp accommodation, the crib room and the plant, without touching your radio licence.
Get Expert AdviceRecommended for Mining
Handhelds rated for the shift, not the showroom.
Most mining fleets end up mixed: certified units for the classified areas, standard digital portables everywhere else, all on the same talkgroup plan. These three cover that split. Short-term crews and shutdowns can run on the digital hire fleet instead.
MOTOTRBO R7Ex Non-Display
Certified for hazardous areas and stripped back to a channel knob. The unit we put in gloved hands underground and around gas-affected workings, where nobody wants to read a screen.
Motorola MOTOTRBO R5
The volume unit for haul crews, workshops, ROM pads and surface maintenance. Sealed against dust and washdown, and cheap enough to issue widely without wearing certified stock.
MOTOTRBO R7Ex Display
Same certified platform with a screen and keypad. Suits shift supervisors and emergency response officers who need talkgroup selection, text job detail and caller ID on a large fleet.
Motorola WAVE PTX
Dispatch that spans the whole lease and the camp.
Licensed radio infrastructure covers the operating footprint. It does not follow a light vehicle down the access road, out to an exploration grid, or back to a camp two hundred kilometres away. Motorola WAVE PTX carries push-to-talk over the 4G and 5G network and patches straight into the site radio system, so a driver on cellular and an operator on the pit channel sit in the same talkgroup.
On top of that, a dispatch console pulls the whole operation onto one screen. Motorola TRBOnet gives the control room live GPS positions, emergency alarm management with priority override, and an all-call broadcast that reaches every unit on site at once when an evacuation is declared.
- Patches cellular users into the licensed site radio fleet
- Covers haul routes, exploration grids and FIFO camps
- Emergency all-call broadcast with priority channel override
- Lone worker timers and man-down alerts routed to the control room
- Positions logged for shift handover and incident review
- Supplied as a Motorola Solutions Platinum Channel Partner
Coverage Index
Three coverage layers on one operating lease.
Surface, underground and processing each need their own build, then need to be stitched together so the control room hears all of it. Here is what we deliver in each layer.
Layer 01
Surface: pit, ROM pad and haul roads
Wide-area talk paths across a shape that changes every quarter, with elevation planned around the current high wall and dump design.
Layer 02
Underground: declines, drives and development headings
Leaky feeder through the workings, certified handhelds where the atmosphere is classified, and alarms that surface without delay.
Layer 03
Processing plant, workshops and FIFO camp
Steel and concrete block both radio and carrier signal. This layer is mostly in-building work, and it is where crews spend their off-shift hours.
Questions
What mine operations ask us before they buy.
Straight answers on certification, underground coverage, camp cellular and licensing. If your question is not here, ask us directly.
Do we need intrinsically safe radios everywhere on a mine site? Where the certification requirement actually applies, and how mixed fleets are built.
No. The requirement follows your site hazardous area classification, not the fence line. Underground coal workings and some gas-affected surface areas are classified, while a workshop, a ROM pad or an administration block usually is not.
Most operations run a mixed fleet: certified handhelds issued to crews entering classified areas, standard digital portables everywhere else, all programmed to the same talkgroup plan. The certification detail is set out in full on our intrinsically safe radios page.
How do we get radio coverage down a decline? Leaky feeder, line amplifiers and how the underground network ties back to surface.
Radio does not bend around corners underground. Coverage in a decline comes from leaky feeder cable run through the drives, with line amplifiers spaced along it and head-end equipment sized to the total cable length.
As development advances the feeder has to advance with it, so we plan the network with extension points built in. The underground system is then patched to the surface talkgroups so the control room hears both, and alarms from below surface without delay.
Can we get mobile phone coverage at a FIFO camp with no carrier signal? What a donor signal is, and when boosting works instead of a carrier build.
Often yes, provided there is a usable signal somewhere on the lease to work from. A Cel-Fi QUATRA system takes that donor signal and redistributes it inside accommodation blocks, the mess and the crib rooms.
Where the donor signal is too weak to work with, the answer moves to a carrier-engaged build instead. We will tell you which case you are in after a site assessment rather than guessing from a published coverage map.
What does adding a repeater change on an open pit? Why siting matters more than wattage when the high wall keeps growing.
A repeater at elevation receives a handheld transmission and re-transmits it at height and power. That is what carries a signal from the pit floor over the high wall and out across the lease.
Siting is the whole job. We survey the current pit shape, model where elevation buys the most coverage, and handle ACMA frequency coordination so the channel is genuinely yours. See our professional grade repeaters page for the hardware side.
How do lone worker and man-down alarms actually reach someone? The alarm path from the handheld to a staffed position, with GPS attached.
A lone worker timer prompts the carrier at a set interval and raises an alarm if it is not acknowledged. Man-down triggers on tilt or on lack of movement. Both transmit an alert carrying the radio identity, and a position where the unit has GPS tracking enabled.
The alarm has to land somewhere staffed to be worth anything. We route alerts into a dispatch console so the control room sees the position on a map, and configure priority override so the alarm cuts through whatever traffic is on the channel.
Can we hire radios for a shutdown or an exploration campaign? Short-term fleets, pre-programmed, with a path to purchase if it continues.
Yes. Shutdowns, exploration campaigns and contractor mobilisations are the usual reasons operations hire two way radios rather than buy. Units arrive pre-programmed to your channel plan with chargers and spare batteries.
If the campaign turns into an ongoing requirement, leasing or outright purchase can be arranged from the same fleet. Tell us the expected duration before you commit either way and we will price both.
Do mine site radios need an ACMA licence? Apparatus licensing, frequency coordination and who handles the paperwork.
A commercial radio system operating on private licensed spectrum needs an apparatus licence from the ACMA. That covers the repeaters and the channels your fleet transmits on.
We manage the application and the frequency coordination as part of the system design, and we supply ACMA type-approved equipment only. It is worth doing properly, because an uncoordinated channel in a busy resources region will pick up interference from a neighbouring operation.
Operations
Who we equip across a mining operation.
Six groups on the same lease, each with a different coverage problem and a different fleet requirement. We build them to share one channel plan.
Open Pit Production
Haul truck operators, dig crews, dozer and grader operators, and pit supervisors. Repeater-backed wide-area channels with GPS positions fed to the control room, plus in-cab mobiles for the heavy fleet.
Underground Coal and Hard Rock
Development and production crews working past the point where surface coverage stops. Leaky feeder through the drives, certified handhelds where the atmosphere is classified, and an alarm path that surfaces immediately.
Processing Plant and Workshops
Crusher, mill, conveyor runs and the heavy workshop. Noise-rated audio accessories matter as much as coverage here, and steel structures usually need dedicated in-building work rather than more transmit power.
Exploration and Drilling Teams
Crews working grids well outside the licensed footprint, often two or three vehicles with no fixed base. Radio between vehicles plus WAVE PTX for the leg back to the control room.
FIFO Camps and Village Services
Accommodation, catering, cleaning and camp security. Handhelds for the service teams and in-building cellular so crews coming off shift can actually call home from their room.
Emergency Response and Mines Rescue
ERT members carry a dedicated talkgroup with priority override, so an all-call for evacuation reaches every unit on site regardless of what else is on the channel. Drills and incidents can be logged for review.
Start With the Coverage
Get the network designed before you order handsets
Tell us the pit shape, the underground extent and where the camp sits. We will come back with a coverage design, a licensing path and a realistic figure. Start with a free system evaluation if you are early in the process.