Regulatory News:

Digital mine technology from Orange Business Services is helping mining companies expand into remote regions, automate operations and improve safety protocols. Several of the top gold mining companies in the world, including Zapadnaya Gold Mining, use fully integrated terrestrial and satellite network services from Orange Business Services to connect their digital mines.

The Orange Business Services integrated network allows Russian gold mining company Zapadnaya to enjoy reliable unified communications and video conferencing services between its headquarters and hard-to-reach mining sites in Siberia and the Far East of Russia. This includes six sites that Orange engineers connected entirely via satellite because of their remote location.

With the Orange network solution, Zapadnaya has radically improved collaboration and increased employee productivity over its eight locations. The company uses the video conferencing and unified communications solution for corporate training, business meetings and remote resolution of business and technical issues. This has helped Zapadnaya reduce costs while improving safety and productivity in its gold mines.

Building the digital mine

Orange defines “digital mines” as state-of-the-art mining sites that integrate network technology with smart, connected devices to provide real-time collaboration. Video surveillance, IP sensors, Wi-Fi connectivity and unified communications all contribute to increased production, reduced safety-related issues and reduced operation costs.

For example, remote video technology can explore suspect shafts that are too dangerous or unreachable by manned exploratory teams. Another example includes remote sensors embedded in mining equipment for tracking productivity and maintenance. This data can be shared over the network to better guide the deployment of people and resources and improve the effectiveness of mining operations.

“For many companies, unified communications improves employee collaboration and efficiency, in addition to serving as a vital substitute for expensive and lengthy business travel. Demand is growing not only in Russia, but worldwide, and we have the expertise to help empower companies with borderless collaboration solutions around the world,” says Anne-Sophie Lotgering, senior vice president, Europe, Russia and CIS, Orange Business Services.

"We use video conferencing via satellite communication as a reliable and effective alternative to business trips and in-person visits. It helps us control costs and improve safety across the organization. Through video conferencing, our experts can take part in meetings and analyze activities at our mines across Russia – for example in the Sakha Republic and the Trans-Baikal region in the same day,” says Yuri Shabanov, IT manager at Zapadnaya.

About Zapadnaya
Zapadnaya is an established, producing gold mining group focused on exploration, development and production of gold deposits in North-East of Russia and Eastern Siberia, Russia. Its business comprises a balanced portfolio including two high quality producing assets, Badran and Kedrovka, an open cut project, Alexandrovskoye, and 5 geological exploration stage projects. The Group’s operational assets at Badran and Kedrovka are well developed and have a strong track record of gold production.

Badran (the oldest asset of the Group), Kedrovka, a high grade underground mine, and Alexandrovskoye, an open pit mine (ore mining commenced in H2 2013), have considerable exploration upside. Also, Zapadnaya group of companies has a range of licenses for gold deposits with big geological potential being at the stage of exploration and evaluation.

The Group has over 35 years of operational experience of gold mining in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where one of its producing assets is located. The management team comprises a blend of technical know-how, operational expertise, local knowledge and corporate experience.

About Orange Business Services
Orange Business Services, the Orange branch dedicated to B2B services, is not only a telecom operator, but also an IT solutions integrator and applications developer in France and around the world. Its 20,000 employees support companies in all areas of their digital transformation: mobile and collaborative workspaces; IT/cloud infrastructure; fixed and mobile connectivity; private and hybrid networks; applications for Internet of Things, 360° customer experience and Big Data analytics; and cybersecurity thanks to dedicated experts and infrastructure to protect information systems. More than 3,000 multinational organizations and 2 million SOHOs, enterprises and local authorities in France rely on Orange Business Services as their trusted partner.

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Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with annual sales of 40 billion euros in 2015 and has 154,000 employees worldwide at 30 June 2016. Orange is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).

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