Next-Gen Protection: AI Video Analytics for Secure Mining Operations

AI video analytics can substantially enhance the security and safety of mining operations, particularly in the extraction of precious metals, where the high value of resources can attract unlawful activities. By integrating advanced surveillance systems equipped with AI, mining firms are able to monitor extensive and remote areas continuously and in real time. This technology enables the detection of unauthorised access and potentially hazardous behaviours, triggering instant alerts to prevent theft and ensure rapid response to security breaches. Moreover, AI-driven video analytics can improve the safety of miners by identifying unsafe practices or environmental hazards, such as equipment malfunctions or structural weaknesses, before they lead to accidents.

IntelexVision’s iSentry, an AI-powered platform for detecting unusual behaviour, has been successfully deployed in mining industry industry across multiple countries worldwide. This system is designed to protect people, property, and assets in the challenging environment that mines present. This proactive approach not only protects valuable assets but also safeguards the lives of miners by reducing the risk of injuries and fatalities, thereby fostering a safer working environment.

The mining industry stands at the intersection of promise and peril, constantly navigating a landscape fraught with security and safety challenges that impact its operations and sustainability. One of the foremost concerns is ensuring operational safety in an environment inherently filled with hazards. The risk of accidents, whether due to machinery malfunctions, cave-ins, or exposure to toxic substances, is everpresent. To protect its workforce, the industry must implement rigorous safety protocols and provide continuous training to its miners. Furthermore, keeping up with evolving regulations is complex and costly, but non-compliance can result in severe penalties, legal battles, and operational shutdowns, all of which threaten the safety and security of the workforce and operations.

Security threats in mining operations, especially those involving precious metals, are a growing concern. These high-value resources can attract illicit activities, necessitating robust surveillance and security measures. Integrating advanced surveillance systems equipped with AI allows for continuous, real-time monitoring of extensive and remote areas. This technology is crucial in detecting unauthorised access and potentially hazardous behaviours, triggering instant alerts to prevent theft and ensure rapid response to security breaches. As easily accessible mineral deposits dwindle, mining companies are forced to operate in more remote and challenging environments, increasing security and safety risks. The integration of advanced technologies like AI, automation, and data analytics promises enhanced efficiency and safety but also introduces new challenges.

iSentry, with its advanced AI video analytics capabilities, can address several critical security use cases in the mining industry, enhancing both operational security and miner safety. Here are some ways it can be utilised:

Perimeter Security: iSentry can monitor the vast perimeters of mining sites continuously, detecting and alerting security personnel to any unauthorised access attempts. This proactive surveillance helps prevent theft, vandalism, and unauthorised entry, which are common risks in mining operations, especially those involving precious metals.
Unusual Behaviour: By analysing video feeds, iSentry can distinguish between routine movements and unusual behaviour, such as individuals loitering or attempting to bypass security measures, ensuring prompt intervention.
Equipment and Asset Protection: iSentry can monitor critical equipment and valuable assets within the mining site. It can detect unauthorised usage, potential sabotage, or accidental damage to expensive machinery, allowing for immediate response to protect these vital resources.
Worker Safety Monitoring: iSentry can enhance worker safety by continuously monitoring mining operations for hazardous conditions. It can detect improper use of equipment or failure to wear protective gear.
Environmental Hazard Detection: The AI system can monitor for environmental hazards like smoke, fires, or structural instabilities. By identifying these threats early, iSentry helps in preventing accidents and ensuring timely evacuations, thereby protecting the lives of miners.

iSentry is an Artificial Intelligence-powered video analysis platform. It can be installed on new systems as well as the vast majority of existing CCTV systems.

Equipped with the latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Neural Networks based Machine Learning algorithms, iSentry quickly learns what is normal from an individual CCTV camera feed, so that it can then detect the abnormal. It can be deployed in systems from just a few cameras up to thousands of cameras.

After a norm is established for a particular scene, the system will then create alerts based on exceptions or ‘events of interest.’ iSentry then classifies each event upon detection using Deep Learning tools and a logic engine. This provides instant situational context to control room operators so that they can better understand what they are being shown, allowing them to respond appropriately.

iSentry can, for example, recognise that five or six men huddled around a valve for a prolonged period may be an event of interest, and it can differentiate and understand that staff are performing necessary maintenance.

iSentry detects loitering, directional violation, unusual objects entering a scene, running, violence, tailgating, smoke and fire, major leakages, removed or introduced static objects, people climbing walls, entering a perimeter or

area, or graffiti/signs painting. iSentry can also carry out pose analysis, (whether someone is standing, sitting, lying on the ground or has fallen) and many other abnormal situations.

Its Deep Learning engine recognises multiple classes of objects even at difficult angles. Additional capabilities have recently been added such as the ability to monitor for Health & Safety compliance, for example, the wearing of hard hats, high visibility jackets, eye protection glasses, face shields or facemasks for COVID compliance.

iSentry´s powerful Logic Engine can largely and autonomously fulfil the function of a video surveillance operator. More than 80% of the time it will be capable of reaching a correct decision regarding an event of interest, based on the number and combination of object types that trigger an alert, the time of day and object size, or even the likelihood of accurate classification.

Any incident that iSentry cannot confidently classify automatically or determine through the rules engine whether to dismiss or alarm is then transferred to a human operator for further investigation and decision-making. iSentry empowers control room operators to solely focus on those decisions at which humans excel. iSentry also enables control rooms to function effectively with far fewer operators, as massive quantities of video can be meaningfully and accurately monitored, and processed by the platform.

To reduce the number of false alarms many Video or Alarm Monitoring Centres use Video Verification Platforms to determine if there are people or vehicles in specific snapshots of alerts, typically generated by on-camera motion detection analytics. This can lead to a reduction in overall alarms by as much as 50-70%.

While this sounds impressive, control room operators are still left with an insurmountable quantity of false alarms to deal with on every shift.

The iSentry platform uses AI to first detect and then intelligently classify alerts. As a result, the number of alerts control room operators receive is 90-95% lower than standard video verification systems. With iSentry, fewer operators can perform more, and to a much higher standard, freeing personnel to work on other higher value-added tasks.

We tested iSentry’s Unusual Behaviour on a 25-camera system against traditional video verification software platforms. iSentry escalated 2,086 alerts to operators, against 32,616 alerts from standard video verification software. iSentry also reduced escalated operator alerts by 94% greatly increasing efficiency and lowering alert-related operational costs.

In a major city, iSentry monitors many thousands of cameras in real-time. Our system’s AI and Deep Learning powered alert detection has become so precise that our system now only presents 1% of total recorded video to a control room operator for review.

The accuracy of their recall of events of interest flagged by iSentry is 90%+. Prior to our system being installed, this was between just 5% and 10%.

Prior to iSentry’s installation, one control room operator was responsible for managing up to 80 cameras with very poor incident detection performance. With iSentry, the same operator can monitor a daily average of 350 cameras and up to 800 cameras at off-peak times.

iSentry was installed by a major bank across hundreds of branches with an average of 30 CCTV cameras per branch. As a result the total amount of video to be reviewed was reduced to less than 1% of the previous quantity, without missing any event of interest.

This significant reduction in video footage and the efficient hardware and software architecture of iSentry has led to very low bandwidth demands on the central Control Room together with a reduced need for operator consoles. This has led to major CAPEX savings.