--- title: "Private 5G in an open-pit mine | Nexus Observatory" description: "A private network for haul trucks, drills and slope radar: a mast on the rim, a cell in the pit, the core at the plant, and coverage computed over…" url: https://observatory.global/environments/networks/private5g-mine/ publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc. updated: 2026-10-29 --- Private 5G in an open-pit mine. An open-pit mine with a private network: a site on the rim, a cell in the pit, the core at the plant. Layers Scenario An open-pit mine with a private network: a site on the rim, a cell in the pit, the core at the plant. 01/06 500 MHz 1 GHz 2 GHz 5 GHz 10 GHz 20 GHz 40 GHz n78 3.5 GHz: 3.30–3.80 GHz · λ 84.4 mm · Main 5G capacity layer, massive MIMO · 3GPP TS 38.101-1 Network scenes # Private 5G in an open-pit mine A private network for haul trucks, drills and slope radar: a mast on the rim, a cell in the pit, the core at the plant, and coverage computed over the benches themselves. [Radio access in a city centre](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/ran-city/) [Open RAN in a suburb](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/oran-suburb/) [AI-RAN at a stadium](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/ai-ran-stadium/) [Private 5G in an open-pit mine](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/private5g-mine/) [Private 5G at a container port](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/private5g-port/) [LoRaWAN across a farm and village](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/iot-farm/) [IoT in the city: a street-light mesh and LoRaWAN](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/iot-city/) [Industrial IoT in a process plant](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/iot-plant/) [Satellite direct to device in a mountain valley](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/ntn-d2d/) [Microwave backhaul across a river valley](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/backhaul-fresnel/) The place: [Open-pit mine complex](https://observatory.global/environments/mine-complex/) ## In this scene **Rim site, three sectors**: A lattice tower on high ground by the north rim: two sectors look into the pit, one along the haul road. (3GPP TS 38.104, 3GPP TS 23.501 (non-public network)) Scene input: 70 dBm EIRP per n78 sector **Cell on a skid on the pit floor**: A solar skid with a short mast that moves with the mining face: it fills the shadow the rim site cannot see into. (3GPP TS 38.104 (medium range BS)) **Private core and edge at the plant**: User plane and control plane on site, so truck dispatch, autonomy and slope radar data stay local and keep working if the wide-area link drops. (3GPP TS 23.501 §5.30 (SNPN), 3GPP TS 22.104) **Slope stability radar**: Scans the opposite wall for millimetre movement and streams its images over the private network. (3GPP TS 22.104) ## Links and interfaces **Fibre to the plant**: A buried fibre along the access road from the rim site to the plant. (ITU-T G.652) **Microwave to the rim**: The pit cell has no fibre: a short microwave hop to the rim site carries its traffic. (ITU-R F.595) ## Computed for this scenario **Outdoor area at SINR ≥ 10 dB**: 72 % **Median SINR**: 16.7 dB **Shannon bound at median, 100 MHz**: 558 Mbit/s **Cell edge (5th percentile)**: 1.6 dB · 128 Mbit/s **SSB beams per burst (TS 38.213)**: 8 **User beams steered**: 4 **Array gain, 64 elements**: 18.1 dB **Beamwidth, azimuth**: 12.8° **Fibre to the plant**: 1.0 km · 4.9 µs one way ## Scenarios **Rim site only**: From the rim the near wall and the deep benches are in shadow. **Add the pit cell**: A cell on the pit floor fills the shadow below the north wall. **700 MHz**: At 700 MHz the losses are lower and the benches shadow less, at a fraction of the bandwidth. **Pit sector fails**: The sector that looks into the pit fails; trucks on the ramp fall back to the pit cell. ## Tour transcript 1. An open-pit mine with a private network: a site on the rim, a cell in the pit, the core at the plant. 2. The rim site: its sectors look down the benches and along the haul road. 3. From the rim alone, the near wall and the deep benches fall into shadow. 4. A cell on the pit floor fills the shadow; a microwave hop takes its traffic to the rim. 5. Beams follow the haul trucks down the ramp. 6. Fibre to the plant, where the private core keeps dispatch and autonomy local. ## How the numbers are computed Coverage follows 3GPP TR 38.901 UMa path loss, with line of sight tested against the benched terrain itself: a cell below the rim is NLOS. Sector patterns are the TR 38.901 element at the stated downtilts; SINR sums all co-channel sectors and noise. © 2026 Nexus Observatory Inc. **Legal** [Privacy notice](https://observatory.global/legal/privacy/) · [Terms of use](https://observatory.global/legal/terms/) · [Cookie policy](https://observatory.global/legal/cookies/) · [Accessibility](https://observatory.global/legal/accessibility/) · [Official languages](https://observatory.global/official-languages/) · [Trademarks](https://observatory.global/trademarks/) · [Notices](https://observatory.global/notices/) **Company** [About](https://observatory.global/about/) · [Stewardship](https://observatory.global/consortium/) · [Contact](https://observatory.global/contact/)