Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Radio frequency tags used underground

The technology that takes money out of your wallet on toll roads and embarrasses you when the sales assistant forgets to deactivate the book you have just purchased is in use in a mine is Sweden to locate miners.

The tags can be set to raise an alarm if someone enters a restricted area, monitor the amount of time individuals spend on the job and in the worst case, locate trapped miners.

Click here for more details. the term RFID is short for Radio Frequency Identification Device.


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Saturday, January 5, 2008

Ghana:15 trapped miners freed after 16 hours

Rescue workers have freed 15 miners who were trapped underground for 16 hours in Obuasi in central Ghana. A conveyor belt fire started when thieves attempted to steal electrical cables.

Click here for more details.

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New mine radio system

L-3 Communications, a division of Global Security and Engineering Solutions reports that recent testing has found that a frequency of 900 megahertz provided a high level of reliable, clear and audible communication throughout all areas of a mine, even around corners deep in a mine.

In tests conducted at the International Coal Group's Sentinel Mine in Philippi, W.V., it was found that the frequency "provides the best propagation distance for communication around corners and around crosscuts.

The project is part of a research and development contract for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Miners carry radios that provide them with voice and data communications and give data on the miners' location. The radio signals are transmitted through "fixed mesh nodes" that send the signal to "gateway nodes" that are outside the mine, above ground. A mine operations center, also located above ground, monitors the network and tracks the position of all personnel within the mine.

Click on the links for reports from the Deseret Morning News and the Salt Lake Tribune.

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Digital cameras monitor movement in mine roof

A research project at Doe Run’s Fletcher Mine and Mill in Viburnum, Mo. uses high resolution digital cameras to monitor for roof movement and then set off an alarm to warn miners.

The project is being trialled in a lead mine which uses room and pillar mining techniques.

Funding (of about $50,000) is jointly provided by the company and the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Click here for more details
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Using new test equipment - NSW Safety Alert

A qualified and experienced electrician was testing high voltage (10kV) with a new type of tester and suffered an electric shock.

There appear to have been problems with the colour coding of the leads, the instructions supplied with the tester and differences in practice with different types of testers.

For a report on the incident click here to see the full Safety Alert issued by the NSW Department of Primary Industries.