Central management platform and 5G LTE for Minera Chinalco’s truck fleet
Teldat provides its Teldat CNM management platform for centralized management and full network visibility applied to Minera Chinalco’s truck fleet with H5-Rail onboard firewalls featuring 5G connectivity via eSIM and VXLAN.
Client Summary
Minera Chinalco Perú is the Peruvian subsidiary of Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco), one of the world’s largest aluminum and non-ferrous metals groups. In Peru, it is engaged in the exploration, mining and production of copper and molybdenum. Its flagship operation is the Toromocho mine, one of the country’s largest copper producers. This open-pit copper mine is located at an altitude of approximately 4,500 meters in the JunÃn region, 142 km east of Lima.
With an estimated mine life of 36 years and annual production of more than 290,000 metric tons of fine copper, Chinalco has established itself as a key player in the Peruvian mining industry.
Summary
Challenge
- Migrate to a private 5G/4G network to control and monitor all mining operations from a single point.
- Connect and monitor the mine trucks over the private 5G network, a critical requirement still to be addressed.
- eSIM support and VXLAN management to standardize the network environment.
- Onboard firewalls for 450-ton trucks, able to withstand vibration, high temperatures, and dust.
Solution
- Centralized management platform with Teldat CNM and corporate Wi-Fi in each vehicle.
- VXLAN over 5G, with VLANs to segment each truck’s internal services.
- H5-Rail onboard firewalls for the truck fleet, designed to withstand harsh mining conditions.
- 5G connectivity via eSIM over Claro’s private APN.
Results
- Teldat CNM was deployed for centralized management and full control of the onboard Teldat firewalls.
- Teldat’s R&D team developed VXLAN support for the H5-Rail firewalls in record time.
- The H5-Rail firewalls met all requirements and passed on-site testing.
- Migration to H5-Rail firewalls without disrupting critical communications.
Why Teldat?
Teldat was selected as supplier of the management platform for the firewalls of Chinalco’s mining trucks because it was the only manufacturer able to meet all the requirements specified by Chinalco and the telecommunications operator Claro. The H5-Rail firewalls, specifically designed for mining trucks, provide 5G connectivity, VXLAN support and eSIM functionality. No other supplier could provide a firewall combining these three capabilities with all the other requirements for mining trucks outlined in the Challenge section of this case study.
Teldat’s R&D team also customized the H5-Rail operating system to support VXLAN in line with the customer’s requirements. The local presence of the Sales Engineering team, combined with technical support from Teldat’s headquarters, provided a comprehensive support package that strengthened both Claro’s and Chinalco’s confidence in Teldat. This was a key differentiator in Teldat’s favor.
Challenge
Chinalco introduced a new central monitoring center as part of its migration to a private 5G network implemented by telecommunications operator Claro. With this technological upgrade to a private 5G/4G network, Chinalco aimed to manage and monitor all aspects of its mining operations from a single point, while eliminating potential points of failure.
Several critical systems within the mining operation were already running over the private 5G network, but the mine trucks, also critical to operation, had not yet been connected. Connecting and monitoring the trucks over the private 5G network meant meeting several key requirements.
Firstly, the installed onboard firewalls on the trucks had to manage VXLAN so as to be standardized with the rest of Chinalco’s Minera network connectivity. Moreover, these onboard firewalls had to be suitable for mining trucks carrying heavy mineral loads. With loads of up to 450 metric tons, the firewalls had to withstand high levels of vibration, high temperatures, and large amounts of dust.
Solution
The project involved deploying Minera Chinalco with Teldat’s management platform, Teldat Cloud Net Manager (CNM) to be able to supervise all infrastructure. This is installed on-premise in the client’s datacenter. Supplying centralized visibility, device management, real-time monitoring and remote configuration, ensuring continuous and efficient operation in the field.
Communication between trucks uses a VXLAN network over 5G, providing a private, scalable and secure connection that integrates with Chinalco’s other networks. VLANs are also used to segment each vehicle’s internal services (Minestar, Guarvant, NVR, management, etc.), prioritizing critical traffic while maintaining network security. Installing Teldat H5-Rail onboard firewalls in Chinalco’s truck fleet, providing a robust, high-performance network infrastructure designed for the mining sector.
The firewalls operate on trucks carrying loads of up to 450 metric tons and can withstand intense vibration, high temperatures and the dusty conditions typical of mining operations. Each truck connects via 5G using an eSIM, eliminating the need for a physical SIM card and facilitating remote management of mobile connectivity over Claro’s private APN.
The frewalls also provide enterprise Wi-Fi connectivity, ensuring secure and stable wireless coverage in remote environments. A Wi-Fi network is enabled on each device, with a separate segment using the cellular connection’s IP address via NAT to access the data centers.
Results
Teldat provided a firewall suitable for Chinalco’s mining trucks that met all the required specifications:
- Teldat CNM was installed as the management platform, providing full control of the onboard H5-Rail firewalls on the trucks.
- Teldat’s R&D team developed VXLAN support for the H5-Rail firewalls in record time.
- The H5-Rail firewalls met all the requirements specified by Chinalco.
- Chinalco migrated to H5-Rail firewalls without disrupting any critical part of the mine’s communications system.
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