We catch up with the executive team at Orica Digital Solutions’ trusted geohazard monitoring product division, GroundProbe, whose newly launched next-generation series radar brings together 25 years of experience, deep customer knowledge, and a clear understanding of what its mining customers need and value most.
REDEFINING GEOHAZARD INTELLIGENCE
Since we last spoke with the GroundProbe product team in August 2025, Australia’s mining landscape has continued to evolve under a mix of familiar pressures and emerging opportunities.
“We’re seeing sustained focus on productivity and safety, alongside increasing scrutiny around risk management, workforce availability, and operational efficiency, particularly in open-pit and tailings environments,” opens Ben Moke, Senior Manager – GroundProbe.
At the same time, there’s been a noticeable shift towards more proactive, data-driven decision-makers, with mining operators looking for monitoring solutions that not only detect risk but also integrate seamlessly into everyday workflows and long-term planning.
Such an environment has highlighted the importance of reliable, high-quality data and systems that can operate consistently in complex environments.
“This is why we’ve invested so heavily in our next generation of radar solutions and has reinforced why our focus has spanned safety-critical, critical, and long-term customer needs throughout their development,” Moke informs.
Having recently launched its next-generation series radar – which is built end-to-end to work as a complete system – the GroundProbe team reflects on this significant achievement.
“The launch marks the point at which many parallel development streams finally come together into a cohesive solution.
“You’re not just seeing a new radar, or new software features, or a refreshed interface in isolation – it’s a fully integrated next‑generation monitoring platform,” he prides.
CONNECTED WORKFLOW
The GroundProbe next-generation series radar represents an important milestone for the company in that it’s not just an incremental refresh.
Resisting the temptation to simply add features to its existing portfolio, the GroundProbe team stepped back and asked some fundamental questions when designing the new product.
“We asked ourselves, where do geotechs lose time? What gets in the way of confident decision-making on-site? This launch is the result of answering such questions with a clean-slate mindset,” Moke insights.
At a practical level, the launch brings a next-generation hardware platform together with MonitorIQ® next software and modern geotechnical workflows designed to feel intuitive rather than complex.
As such, the experience from deployment through to interpretation and alarms is far more connected with the next-generation radar, with components that used to live in different tools, screens, or mental checklists now part of a single, coherent workflow.
“Another reason this launch matters is the way it was shaped. It’s the product of a long‑term development programme grounded in real customer challenges, not theoretical ones.
“We spent a lot of time listening to how people actually use the solution in the field and then engineering a product around that reality,” he reveals.
This feedback loop influenced everything from physical design and power systems through to how alarms are set up, and data is visualised.
“There’s also a philosophical shift behind the launch. We’ve always been known for precision and reliability, but this generation puts just as much emphasis on making life easier for the geotechnical teams,” Moke outlines.
Faster setup, cleaner data, and fewer false alarms, for example, enable users to spend less time managing the tool and more time thinking about the slope and risk in front of them.
“This launch is a significant milestone for Orica Digital Solutions because it isn’t just new technology for GroundProbe – it’s a step change in how monitoring solutions are delivered to the market.
“We’re giving customers the confidence that they have the right tool – be it for tactical, operational needs or strategic planning – for their specific risk profile today and into the future,” he explains.
“This launch is a significant milestone for Orica Digital Solutions because it isn’t just new technology for GroundProbe – it’s a step change in how monitoring solutions are delivered to the market”
Ben Moke, Senior Manager – GroundProbe, Orica Digital Solutions
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE
The new GroundProbe solution is about delivering clean, trusted data in complex mining environments whilst also making day-to-day monitoring faster and easier.
This is delivered through polished data, quicker and lower-touch deployment, streamlined workflows, and a system that’s robust and efficient enough to run consistently without constant intervention.
One of the things that genuinely sets this platform apart is that it isn’t a one‑size‑fits‑all radar, and each model in the portfolio is physically engineered for its specific monitoring role – an important distinction.
“The capability is built into the technology itself, not achieved through software nuances. So, whether you’re dealing with safety‑critical, rapid‑failure risks or longer‑term, strategic slope monitoring, the radar is designed from the ground up to match that risk profile,” Kevin Greenwood, Senior Manager – Technology, clarifies.
Another major differentiator is the continued use of GroundProbe’s trusted real aperture radar technology in its portfolio.
In practical terms, this means data stays clean even in ‘noisy’ mining environments as the technology is not majorly affected by machinery movement or sidelobe interference, giving geotechnical teams a higher degree of confidence that collected data reflects real ground movement – not noise or artefacts.
“This represents the culmination of years of learning from real‑world monitoring environments.
“Every design decision was informed by how our customers actually use our solutions in both high‑risk and lower-risk conditions, not by what looks good on a specification sheet.
“The result is a platform that delivers cleaner data, more reliable performance, and workflows that genuinely make life easier for geotechnical teams,” Greenwood surmises.
“Every design decision was informed by how our customers actually use our solutions in both high‑risk and lower-risk conditions, not by what looks good on a specification sheet”
Kevin Greenwood, Senior Manager – Technology, Orica Digital Solutions
PROACTIVE, LONG-TERM APPROACH
For its customers in the mining industry, the biggest benefit of the new GroundProbe technology is how naturally monitoring can now fit into everyday decision-making.
The platform reduces the effort required to deploy, set up walls, and interact with the data, allowing geotechnical teams to focus more on understanding risk rather than managing technology.
“When data is easier to access and clearer to interpret, decisions tend to be faster and more confident,” Greenwood details.
The company’s next-generation radar is also responsible for a clear productivity lift, enabling teams to cover more ground with the same resources by saving time and reducing the overhead costs associated with setup, alarms, and system management.
This kind of enhanced productivity has become increasingly important as operations become more complex and geotechnical teams are asked to manage a growing portfolio of tasks.
Strategically, the next-generation platform will contribute to a more proactive, long-term approach to slope stability across the industry.
“Better data, delivered with greater confidence, supports earlier intervention and more measured responses to movement – ultimately contributing to safer operations and more informed long‑term planning.”
“From the earliest days, our focus has always been on delivering monitoring solutions that people can trust when it matters most”
David Noon, Vice President – Geosolutions, Orica Digital Solutions and Founder, Groundprobe
TRUST WHEN IT MATTERS MOST
Looking ahead, Orica Digital Solutions’ priorities remain firmly centred on safety, innovation, and creating value for its customers.
“We plan to continue investing in technological advances, software development, and energy efficiency whilst expanding our global customer support capabilities and value-added services under the Geotechnical Specialist Services banner,” Greenwood tells us.
“The foundations laid during the development of this solution will play a key role in shaping that future,” he adds.
These include modular architecture, in-house electronics, advanced diagnostic capability, and future-ready platforms intended to support faster integration of new features and sensors.
Long-term, the company’s focus is on continuing to evolve its integrated monitoring ecosystem and ensuring its solutions remain aligned with the real challenges geotechnical teams face.
Orica Digital Solutions’ latest GroundProbe launch is a clear reflection of who the company is, bringing together 25 years of industry knowledge, deep customer relationships, and a commitment to engineering solutions that work in the real world.
The new generation of technology wasn’t driven by trends or specifications alone – but by a clear understanding of what customers need and value most.
“From the earliest days, our focus has always been on delivering monitoring solutions that people can trust when it matters most,” reflects David Noon, Vice President – Geosolutions at Orica Digital Solutions and Founder of GroundProbe.
“Our next-generation solutions are a natural evolution of this philosophy, built on more than two decades of experience, shaped by customer needs, and designed to meet the increasingly complex challenges faced by the mining industry today,” he confidently concludes.
This article was produced by the editorial team at APAC Outlook and published as part of the Outlook Publishing global network of B2B industry magazines.
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