Mining image. Photo: Speedcast

Speedcast has won a new contract to support connectivity in Russia for gold mining. The company announced June 8, that it has a new contract with JSC Chukotka Mining and Geological Company, a Kinross subsidiary, to expand the company’s Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) network supporting the development of the Udinsk Gold open-pit mine to two new license areas in the Russian Far East. Kinross Gold Corporation is one of the world’s leading gold mining companies.

The Kayenmyvaam and Kavralyanskaya areas are early-stage gold prospecting sites that previously depended on satellite phones for connectivity. Speedcast will provide a fully Wide Area Network (WAN) connectivity service for Kinross and has installed dedicated WAN connections over VSAT at each site to establish a corporate VPN.

“Kayenmyvaam and Kavralyanskaya sites required a compact Ku-band VSAT terminal which needed to be flown in by helicopter due to their extremely remote locations. Providing this type of critical communications solution at the most challenging and remote sites is our business,” James Trevelyan, senior vice president of Enterprise and Emerging Markets at Speedcast, said in a statement.