Huawei Build Southeast Asia’s First Smart Potash Mine in Laos

Accoridng to the latest information a miner at a potash mine in Laos made a video call on a wireless network from 300 meters underground using his smartphone. The milestone, a first for Southeast Asia, took place at the Asia-Potash International Investment mine in Khammouane province, 350 km from Laos’ capital Vientiane. During the call, the worker was able to chat with colleagues located 3,500 away in Beijing.

Asia-Potash International Investment is one of the largest potassium fertilizer producers in Asia, with one million tons of output expected in 2022. Huawei’s Smart Mining Solution is Asia-Potash’s first smart mine in southeast Asia.

It took only two months to deploy Huawei’s Smart Mining Solution at the site, consisting of both wired and wireless (4G) networks. Wireless networks can provide coverage in parts of the mine where it’s too difficult to deploy fiber.

According to Li Shaokui, deputy manager of the mining department of Asia-Potash International Investment, features of smart mining like remote control and autonomous driving depend on technologies like cloud-edge collaboration and ultra-large bandwidth. Smart mining also requires full network coverage with either fiber or 5G. The company plans to implement to fully deploy smart mining at the site in the future, creating a solid foundation for people-centric smart mines.