SmartMine® is a tracking solution developed for the Mining Industry, which employs RFID technology providing "Smart" Tracers with Read/Write capabilities for automatic real time data capture of Raw Materials and Asset whereabouts.

This provides a remote database that travels with the product and can interface to any existing mining management system providing the ideal tool for Quality and Selective Mining.

Smartmine ®, a division of EMS.SA has emerged as the global leader in providing RFID technology within the mining industry. Making it all happen is our dominance in providing RFID based tracking solutions to just about every application imaginable, form tracking of automobiles to postal.

What is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)?

  • RFID uses radio waves to exchanges Data between a portable memory device and a host computer or PLC.
  • A system typically consists of a "Tracer, Tag, Label" containing Data storage, an Antenna to communicate with the Tag, and a Controller to manage the communications between the antenna and PC.
  • Importantly, the Tag is attached to the product carrier or even within the product itself, providing a remote database that travels with the product.
Features

  • Internationally recognised frequency
  • Multiple Tag Read
  • Real Time Data
  • Withstand harsh conditions
  • Guarantees 100% data reads
  • Line of site not required
  • Customised size, shape, density
Products

The system is made up of four basic products;

  • Tags/ Tracers that store and carry the data.
  • Antenna that automatically reads and writes data to and from the tag/tracer.
  • Read / Write Controller that communicates with the antenna and transfers data to the PLC or PC.
  • Windows based Software
Tracers and tags are read/write with erasable memory, that allows data storage within the "chip", which is placed or attached to the raw materials, asset and personnel, creating "Smart" products and assets.

Tracers

    • Ore Tracer
    • Density Tracer

    Tracers are custom made (Size, Shape, Density) to suite the raw material characteristics, therefore having the same flow behaviour as the product, and can be read at any strategic position along conveyors, through rubberised piping and on screen decks.

    Smart Tracers and Tags are small and durable making them the most cost effective tracking product to date, and are well suited for a wide range of applications.

    Product Tracking

    • Ore Tracking / Management
    • Blast Block Mapping
    • On Line Sampling
    • Mixing and Blending

    Process Efficiency Testing

    • Dense Medium Separation
    • Screen Efficiency Testing

Tags

    Smart Tags create smart products that communicate with their surroundings therefore ideal for asset and people tracking and management. Active tags have a range of 50 meters plus. Tags are either attached to or moulded within an item to allow a broad range of uses for;

    Mining Operations

    • Operational Equipment
    • Carrier Position
    • Tyre Management
    • Sample "Track and Trace"
    • Resources

    Safety

    • Miner Position
    • Cap Lamps
    • Collision Prevention

    Security

    • Access Control
    • Asset Tracking
Antenna

    Standard shape and size antenna have been developed for most applications for use on;

    • Conveyors
    • Rubberised Pipe
    • Screen Deck
    • Gate
    • Zone /Area
    • Portable Hand Held

    Antenna are easily customised to suite most applications.

    Note: For more detail on read range etc, refer data sheets.

Controllers

    Industrial strength controllers manage the communications from the antenna to the host system and can be configured to interface to any standard network or PC/PLC. The main features are that they can read/write to many tags simultaneously (multiple tag in field) and have industrial inputs and outputs that can be used for local control and indication.

    System Configuration

    In addition to providing the complete spectrum of innovative Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solutions, SmartMine proudly provides Network Interface Modules for all of the world's industrial networks and PLC's.

    A variety of systems can be built depending on the system size and the kind of upper layer controller.

    There are three basic types of communications available with both the short range and long range Systems;

    RS-232

    Used for control and interface to stand alone equipment (Laptop , Weigh Scale, Sampler, Turnstile) Data communication between one Controller and PC or PLC.

    RS-485 Interface Type

    Used to network all the Readers throughout a plant.
    Data communications between multiple Controllers , up to 32 read/write points.

    PLC Controller Interface

    This system integrates both ID controller and communications interface to PLC's into a single-slot module that fits on the PLC's rack. All communication and operation programming is done with standard ladder logic.

Software

    Smartmine offers users a real time automatic graphical, intuitive interface to manage, view all read data as well as control the reader network.

    It also provides users with comprehensive reporting functionality, powered by Crystal Reports, which gives the user informative reports on live and historical data, reads per controller, summary reports, average statistics etc.

    ODBC connections allows exports to:

    MS Excel
    MS Access
    MS Word
    Oracle
    SQL
    Etc

    Features

    Reader Status Function
    Continuous Multiple Read
    Single Read
    Write
    Continuous Write
    Software Configuration Functions
    Export Function
    Reporting Functions

    Services

    Our experienced engineers provide the following professional services to assist companies with successful Smartmine implementation;

    • Educational RFID Presentation and Demonstration
    • Site Survey
    • Project Requirement Analysis
    • System Integration (Turnkey Projects)
    • On site Efficiency Tests
    • Pilot Projects
    • Training
    • Support