Case Study: Barrick Gold achieves real-time safety and productivity gains with Webex by Cisco

Barrick Digs Deeper Into Data for Safety and Productivity

Barrick Gold Corporation, a Toronto‑based mining leader with interests in 13 mines across 10 countries and more than 11,000 employees, faced a common but critical challenge: capturing and transmitting large volumes of real‑time data from connected vehicles and underground equipment across long, changing, and harsh tunnel environments so leaders could make faster, safer operational decisions.

Partnering with Cisco, Barrick upgraded its infrastructure with long‑range Aironet wireless access points, industrial switches, collaboration tools and an enterprise analytics hub, building a network that now covers about 85% of Cortez Mine’s 13.5‑mile tunnel system. The result has been improved real‑time visibility, safer operations through remote and autonomous controls, and measurable productivity and cost gains — early UG SIC trials yielded ~33 extra productive minutes/day and a 198‑ton daily throughput gain, automated drilling added 3–13 drilled tons/day, and predictive maintenance can prevent up to 72 hours of downtime or a $500,000 engine replacement.

Barrick Gold

John L. Thornton

Executive Chairman