Challenge

Modern mines rely on accurate subsurface data such as temperature, pressure and pore‑water conditions to manage geotechnical risk and operate safely. At sites like the Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea, operated by Newcrest (now Newmont), collecting this data presents a major challenge. The mine is located on a geothermal island with borehole temperatures exceeding 150 °C and ongoing blasting regularly damaging traditional wired instruments such as vibrating‑wire piezometers. As a result, critical sensors fail early or cannot be deployed at all, leaving operators without reliable, continuous, below‑ground measurements just when they are most needed.  

Solution

To overcome this challenge, Mining3 developed the Remote Borehole Sensor (RBS), a world‑first, fully wireless underground sensor system designed specifically for harsh mining environments. RBS enables pressure and temperature data to be transmitted wirelessly through solid rock (and even seawater), eliminating the need for vulnerable cables. The system operates autonomously within sealed, grouted boreholes, and continues to function beneath active mining benches, even in high‑temperature, high‑disturbance conditions. Field trials at Lihir successfully demonstrated reliable long‑range data transmission, autonomous operation and robustness in geothermal conditions where conventional sensors fail.  

Following successful trials, the RBS technology is now being commercialised through Ideon Technologies, bringing this breakthrough capability to a wider range of mining and geotechnical applications, such as open pits, underground caves and tailings facilities. 

Link: https://ideon.ai/post/2025/08/04/ideon-raises-the-bar-with-smarter-subsurface-beacon/