Australian miners are hitting a data wall, forcing a rapid shift from distant cloud processing to local edge computing to drive autonomy, safety and improved environmental outcomes.

Modern mine sites are densely instrumented, with sensors and wearables generating vast data streams every minute. However, without robust connectivity, this information remains trapped in devices, unable to influence decisions on the ground in real time with the support of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models.

A Tier 1 underground gold mine in Western Australia illustrates the operational gap between generating data and using it.

Traditional two-way radio tech struggled in the kilometres of subterranean tunnels, with blackspots throughout the mine and limited communication. The solution was a private LTE (4G) mobile network engineered by digital infrastructure specialist Vocus for the underground conditions.

This infrastructure offers predictable and consistent performance. It enables real-time tracking of vehicles and personnel, which has successfully cut hours of lost productivity associated with locating equipment as each new shift starts, and provided increased safety initiatives and management. It has improved above-ground operational visibility of what’s happening deep below the surface.

The benefits extend to sustainability; granular visibility of where personnel are (and are not) has allowed the mine’s operators to power down ventilation in unused areas, reducing energy use and emissions without compromising safety.

These sorts of solutions also help to drive improved safety controls above ground like tailings dam environmental monitoring.

The millisecond margin

The benefits are also significant to better communications on the surface.

Another Tier 1 miner is deploying 330-tonne autonomous road trains on a 150km private haul road in the Pilbara from inland pit to port. These vehicles use constant, low-latency data paths to operate safely at speed, demanding modern network architecture.

The haul road uses a private fibre connection linked to a 4G mobile network that keeps the trucks in constant contact with their control centre, with ultra-fast network response times. Sending data more than 1000km to Perth or the east coast for processing would have introduced unacceptable delay in response time.

As an industry-wide trend, computing infrastructure is moving closer to the pit.

Edge computing places processing power within a stone’s throw of where data is being generated – the mine itself.

Data centre operator NEXTDC has built new edge data centres in Port Hedland and Newman, interconnecting with a new 2000km high-capacity fibre network, Vocus’ Horizon cable. This keeps processing local, supporting AI that can react to site conditions in real-time.

“AI thrives on clean, high-quality data flows,” Vocus head of digital solutions and innovation Greg Phillips said. “Without reliable connectivity, even the most advanced algorithms can’t deliver value on the ground.”

Beyond the established mining hubs, exploration teams face a different connectivity deficit. Remote camps deep in desert regions have historically relied on slow, expensive geostationary satellite links that limit their ability to process survey data on site.

Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services like Vocus Satellite – Starlink have upended this model, providing metro-like bandwidth and low latency to sites far beyond the power grid. This shift enables geologists to use cloud AI tools and collaborate in real-time. The satellite terminals are now small enough to be carried in a backpack.

Industrial AI is even moving into space with processors integrated into LEO satellites for tasks like environmental monitoring analysis and alerting in near real-time.

LEO is also evolving from a standalone service to an integrated part of the industrial network. New landing stations now connect satellite constellations directly into Australian fibre backbones, adding more stable performance than previous satellite networks.

Driving efficiency in a challenging economy

High-speed networks are also reshaping safety protocols.

Wearable fatigue systems, such as electroencephalography (EEG)-based caps, can now predict microsleeps and alert supervisors before a risk escalates. Real-time fatigue monitoring is designed to prevent incidents and provide for smoother shifts.

However, digitising safety creates new vulnerabilities. The convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) has eliminated the ‘air gap’ that once kept industrial control systems away from the internet entirely.

With everything from conveyor belts to dewatering pumps now online, cyber resilience is an essential operational baseline. Where a breach in the corporate office might have once been a headache for IT staff for an afternoon, a breach in the pit controller could stop production instantly and cost millions of dollars.

“When your haul fleet, your safety systems and your processing plant are all connected, you can’t afford a single point of vulnerability,” Phillips said.

“Digital safety is now part of physical safety. Protecting networks is protecting people.”

The current economic backdrop reinforces the need for greater efficiency. Resource export earnings are softening as coal and gas prices ease from recent highs. While critical minerals offer growth, pressure to improve profit margins is demanding higher productivity per tonne, making digital efficiency a necessity rather than a luxury.

Connectivity is also becoming the baseline for sustainability. As global markets demand proof of carbon intensity per tonne, miners require an unbroken digital chain of custody from the pit to the port.

High-capacity networks allow this reporting to move from retrospective estimates to real-time dashboards. This turns compliance data into a tool for immediate operational adjustment.

Operators who govern data effectively can gain a competitive edge.

“Data has become a strategic asset, probably as valuable as the orebody itself,” Phillips said. “The miners who can govern, store and harness their data effectively have the potential to outperform the market in the next decade.”

The industry is moving toward a hybrid model that combines edge computing for immediate decision-making, private LTE (4G) networks for reliable site-wide coverage, high-capacity fibre for regional data transport, and LEO satellites for remote reach. This digital backbone allows mines to run AI at the speed of operations.

This infrastructure is also the prerequisite for the use of digital twins, software-based replicas of all the physical assets of the mine. These allow miners to test production optimisations before affecting actual production, and to simulate scenarios like equipment failure before they occur. However, a simulation is only as useful as the live data feeding it.

According to Phillips, now is the time for mining leaders to assess their network resilience to support the new AI workflow patterns that are developing.

He advises prioritising the design of infrastructure that handles failure without halting production, ensuring data flows continuously from the face to the control room, and taking advantage of these same architectures for improving safety and environmental outcomes. 

This feature appeared in the February issue of Australian Mining magazine.