As the mining sector races to eliminate costly downtime, MST Global is driving the shift toward proactive, data-driven fleet management.
In the relentless environment of modern mining, waiting for a machine to breakdown before fixing it is a cost that operational teams can no longer afford.
As the industry races to eliminate unexpected downtime, mine sites all over the world are rapidly shifting from reactive processes to proactive, data-driven operations.
To support this transition, MST Global developed the HELIX enterprise software platform, which provides an interactive geospatial digital twin of underground mining operations.
The HELIX Telemetry module is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)-agnostic asset-health solution designed to increase a fleet’s average time between interruptions.
It achieves this by shifting operations from rigid schedule-based servicing to proactive, condition-based maintenance.
MST Global product manager Nick Rebeiro said the technology fundamentally changes how mine control and operation teams operate.
“HELIX Telemetry enables preventive maintenance by continuously collecting real-time sensor and alarm data from equipment interfaces such as engines, transmission and vehicle control units,” Rebeiro said.
“This data enables teams to spot potential issues before they lead to breakdowns. Maintenance can then be scheduled at the most optimal time, minimising downtime and extending the equipment lifespan.”
The system uses the SENSA hub smart device to collect data from multiple on-board interfaces at once. This continuous monitoring occurs without direct physical inspections, ensuring early detection of potential issues.
Alarm events are geotagged and visualised in real-time within the HELIX 3D space, providing immediate
operational context for root cause analysis.
Equipment health is only one side of the productivity equation. HELIX Dispatch works with the Telemetry module to optimise daily mining activities. The system flags deviations and delays early, allowing mine operations to take quick corrective actions if, for example, drilling takes longer than expected.
“Dispatch captures crucial production data throughout each mining cycle stage, along with operational context, enabling a deep dive into where the inefficiencies lie and can do this for multiple mining cycle definitions at a single site,” Rebeiro said.
By monitoring the operational status of all vehicles, control rooms can ensure machines are used efficiently across the site.
“It provides real-time visibility into vehicle location and status, helping operators ensure machines are used efficiently,” Rebeiro said.
“This proactive approach reduces idle periods and ensures that equipment is always in the right place at the right time.”
The platform is designed to adapt to various mining cycles to maximise output while minimising waste.
“Ultimately, it streamlines the load-and-haul process,” he said. “It tracks material movements automatically, without requiring operator input, and integrates OEM data to maintain real-time material inventories.”
In addition to tracking waste and ore, the technology captures the consumables used across various mining processes. Rebeiro said this monitoring is linked to specific activities performed by mining vehicles, helping operators with cost calculations, resource planning, and anticipating parts needed for operation.
For mining operations that rely on homegrown spreadsheet solutions or paper forms, adopting a comprehensive digital fleet management system can seem daunting, but MST Global offers Dispatch Lite to help ease this transition and eliminate data latency. This foundational, server-only solution requires no vehicle hardware, significantly lowering the barrier to entry.
Dispatch Lite offers a fast and accessible entry point that can be installed within a few weeks, according to Rebeiro. And the fact it requires no vehicle kits or location tags means operations avoid field hardware costs and installation downtime.
Equipment operators face zero change management, allowing them to continue using voice calls to dispatch for manual entry.
Despite the streamlined set-up, the system immediately introduces comprehensive tracking for production, tasks and time usage.
This is designed to help operations identify cycle inefficiencies, increase equipment utilisation, and maximise material extraction.
Companies gain immediate transparency into their production and auxiliary machines from day one.
“Supervisors and dispatchers can monitor and manage the execution of a shift plan with pre-built historical reports and real-time dashboards,” Rebeiro said.
The platform allows teams to monitor progress toward production targets, manage task lists for the entire fleet, and view real-time location and equipment availability.
For those who then want to upgrade to Dispatch Pro and the full HELIX platform, a key feature of Dispatch Lite is that it continues to operate and provide data updates while larger integrations are rolled out.
Once the tracking infrastructure is available and the HELIX 3D tracking engine is running, the system is ready to receive live data from the field.
This transition introduces in-cab operator touchscreens for pre-start and safety checklists, automated load and haul capture, and OEM integration for payload and fuel levels.
It also enables automated location time usage data capture, bringing live operational status directly to mine control.
Bringing these data streams together eliminates operational silos and gives supervisors complete visibility over their fleet.
“By integrating equipment operational status, mining activities and asset health, HELIX generates detailed reports that support management in making informed decisions,” Rebeiro said.
“These insights improve day-to-day operations and contribute to more effective mine planning.
“HELIX is the ultimate tool to support overall mining efficiency.”
This feature appears in the March edition of the Mining magazine.
