Mine Site Technologies is a solutions provider, specializing in the development and supply of technology, and services, to the mining industry. Our particular areas of expertise include underground communications, remote blasting systems, mine tagging & WiFi tracking systems and cap lamps; as well as high data wireless mesh systems for open pit and surface communications.

Mine Site Technologies’ PED & ICCL Receive India I.S. Certification

Mine Site Technologies, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia announced today (November 8, 2011) that their PED (Personal Emergency Device) and ICCL (Integrated Communications Cap Lamp) products have received the India Coal Mine I.S. (Intrinsically Safe) certification. This certification opens the door for India coal mines to use the PED and ICCL systems which are considered to be two of the most reliable and effective emergency and general communications systems available to the modern underground mining industry.

The PED system uses a proprietary ultra-low frequency signal to transmit text messages through solid rock – “through the earth” technology.  The transmission system can be installed on the surface to send a signal to miners who are working underground, regardless of their location. Installation on the surface means that PED is less vulnerable to the day-to-day rigors of the underground mining environment, which adds to its reliability and supports keeping maintenance costs to a minimum. Messages can be sent to individuals, select groups of
workers, or, in the case of an emergency, all employees underground.

The ICCL serves as a multi-functional receiver which displays the text messages issued through PED on an integrated screen. In addition when a message is received the wearer is alerted through both audible and visual (flashing cap lamp light) signals.

The PED/ICCL combination complements other phone and radio communications systems that may already be installed in a mine. In fact, many mines have installed PED as their primary emergency evacuation alert system and as a redundant emergency system to complement their other underground communications systems which may be damaged, and become inoperable, in an incident underground.

Mike Foletti, General Manager – International, noted, “This accomplishment has taken several years to fulfil. Our customers in India have been waiting to have the opportunity to apply the PED technology and we are now actively pursuing orders and installations.”

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About Mine Site Technologies

Mine Site Technologies (MST) is a global leader in providing communications solutions to the mining industry. We have 23 years of experience in the design, manufacture, and deployment of critical, high quality, systems for in-mine communications, equipment and personnel monitoring, and production support. We target safety in all environments where we operate and support our customers in maximizing their mine production.  Global headquarters for MST is located in Sydney, NSW, Australia with offices and service support centers strategically located on six continents.

For additional information contact Kent Henschen, VP-Global Marketing & Communications at k.henschen@minesite.us and telephone +1 720.633.3502.

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Rosebery Mine

Rosebery Mine in Tasmania, Australia, installed the PED System to provide emergency warning and general paging for all their underground operators.

Rosebery engineers studied a range of communication technologies to meet their requirements before choosing PED. The mine has an existing leaky feeder system that provides good two-way communication to the main travel roads in the mine, but with large areas of the mine out of radio range, management wanted to ensure all personnel were contactable in case of an emergency.

The combination of PED with a leaky feeder radio, and/or a telephone system, is a typical overall comms system that many mines have implemented as a solution for the general day to day management of the mine, and for emergency preparedness & warning. The PED System consists of:

  • 200 Integrated Communication Cap Lamps (ICCL) with PED Pager Receivers
  • 1 PED Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) Headend
  • 6,000 m (19,700 ft) antenna to provide coverage to all mining areas

Rosebery have been using the BlastPED Ssytem for several years, and have now iplemented PED as a core emergency warning system. We are very appreciative the support for our PED, BlastPED and ICCL technologies by Rosebery personnel.

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Baijigou Coal

Baijigou Coal Mine is the first coal mine in China to order our new ICCL cap lamp with both PED and Tagging electronics included. This will enable communication to personnel underground via the PED paging system, as well as tracking their location using the TRACKER tagging system.

Baijigou is operated by the Ning Xia Coal Group and is located in the Helan Mountains bordering Inner Mongolia. Though an extremely rugged landscape (see picture below), the engineers at Baijigou are planning to install the PED antenna on the surface by hanging it on poles, rather than the more typical method of trenching into the ground.

The PED System will use an 8 km (25,000 ft) surface antenna and start with 80 ICCL personal cap lamps. The TRACKER System will incorporate 20 Read Beacons at strategic points underground.

Baijigou Coal Mine is a very interesting mine, as it extracts all of a 20 m (66 ft) thick coal seam. This is achieved by using top coal caving longwall methods in two passes. The first pass uses the shearer to extract 3 m (10 ft) of coal above the middle of the seam, with the top 7 m (23 ft) of coal won by top coal caving. Then a second longwall pass is done in the bottom half of the seam, again by shearing 3 m and top coal caving the remaining 7 m.

Hence, it is a most impressive operation and we are very appreciative of their support for our communication technologies. We also look forward to our first installation in this Province of China.

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Newpac Coal

200 ICCL’s with PED Text receiver are used at Newpac

Newpac Coal Mine is a new mine development in the Hunter valley, NSW, Australia.

As the mine readies itself for longwall production the communication infrastructure was reviewed to ensure that an optimum overall system was implemented.

As part of this, and the mine’s responsibilities to ensure their Emergency Preparedness obligations were met, PED was selected to provide both day to day paging for general mine management, and as the primary emergency evacuation system.

The mine will install PED Personal Receivers on all 200 of its underground workers. An 8 km (25,000 ft) surface antenna will be run around and through the old open pit mine that lies above the seam to be mined.

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Barrick Meikle

ImPact Access Point underground at Meikle Gold Mine

Barrick Gold has installed PED, Digital Communications and Tracking at their two mines in Nevada, Meikle and Rodeo.As Anton Meyer, Senior Control Engineer at Barrick Goldstrike Mines, explained at his presentation at the MINExpo Educational Sessions, Barrick had developed a project to raise the mine’s emergency preparedness, as well as utilize the features of the chosen systems to integrate their communication and management systems at the mine to increase productivity.The key technologies introduced, and the benefits they have brought to the Barrick operations, are:Personal Emergency Device (PED):
The through-the-earth paging system, PED, was installed to provide more reliable emergency warning to miners underground in event of an emergency. Due to the layout of the mine, the PED transmitting antenna was installed partially on the surface and underground, to form a vertical antenna. This single antenna approximately 2 miles long provides signal to the active working areas of Meikle and Rodeo Mines. An antenna extension to cover the new South Rodeo and Betze ore body developments is being assessed for 2009.The ultra low frequency PED signal travels directly through rock state, thus ensuring personnel can be contacted quickly in event of an emergency. This mine wide signalling ability also means the PED complements the mine’s two-way leaky feeder system, in day to day operations by filling in the gaps in signal coverage and assist in the general management of the mine.Wireless LAN:
Barrick has installed MST’s ImPact Wireless Access Points (Wireless Network Switches) to extend their Ethernet LAN underground, thus creating Wi-Fi hotspots at strategic locations underground. These hot spots are set up to detect RFID Tags, carried by miner in their cap lamps or attached to mobile equipment. Additionally, these Access Points receive information from vehicle mounted diagnostic/data logger units.Cap Lamps:
The mine upgraded their cap lamps with 700 Integrated Communications Cap Lamps (ICCL’s). The ICCL’s are optioned up with internal PED Text Messenger and RFID Tag electronics, to work with the PED transmission system and AeroScout based tracking system, respectively.Vehicle Interface and Tracking:
Self Contained RFID Tags are mounted on vehicles to allow their movements to be tracked. These tags are Wi-Fi Tags, based on AeroScout’s leading Wi-Fi tagging technology.Energy Management System:
Interfaces between the tracking systems, ventilation and gas monitoring systems, and Mine Control and Data Systems, is being developed to provide Ventilation on Demand (VOD). The intention being to automate the control of underground ventilation to suit what has personnel and machinery are in any given area, and thus reduce overall energy usage. In summary, Barrick Gold has a true vision for their Nevada operations using improved communication with miners, vehicles and fixed equipment, to improved safety and productivity by integrating:
- Real time tracking of miners and vehicles
- Quicker response in the event of mine emergencies.
- Access control
- Ventilation control
- Vehicle engine performance monitoring
- Dust, DPM and temperature control
- Energy management.Mine Site Technologies is appreciative of Barrick’s support in using a number of our key technologies as part of their Total Mine Control System project, and acknowledge the broad vision of their engineers on site.

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Rodeo Gold Mine

ICCL cap lamp include RFID Tag and PED Text Receiver circuits

Barrick Gold has installed also installed PED, ImPact Digital Communications and Tracking at their Rodeo Gold Mine in Nevada for the mine’s emergency preparedness objectives, as well as utilize the features of the chosen systems to integrate with their communication and management systems at the mine to increase productivity.The key technologies introduced, and the benefits they have brought to the Barrick operations, are:Personal Emergency Device (PED):
The through-the-earth paging system, PED, was installed to provide more reliable emergency warning to miners underground in event of an emergency. Due to the layout of the mine, the PED transmitting antenna was installed partially on the surface and underground, to form a vertical antenna. This single antenna approximately 2 miles long provides signal to the active working areas of Meikle and Rodeo Mines. An antenna extension to cover the new South Rodeo and Betze ore body developments is being assessed for 2009.The ultra low frequency PED signal travels directly through rock state, thus ensuring personnel can be contacted quickly in event of an emergency. This mine wide signalling ability also means the PED complements the mine’s two-way leaky feeder system, in day to day operations by filling in the gaps in signal coverage and assist in the general management of the mine.Wireless LAN:
Barrick has installed MST’s ImPact Wireless Access Points (Wireless Network Switches) to extend their Ethernet LAN underground, thus creating Wi-Fi hotspots at strategic locations underground. These hot spots are set up to detect RFID Tags, carried by miner in their cap lamps or attached to mobile equipment. Additionally, these Access Points receive information from vehicle mounted diagnostic/data logger units.Cap Lamps:
The mine upgraded their cap lamps with 700 Integrated Communications Cap Lamps (ICCL’s). The ICCL’s are optioned up with internal PED Text Messenger and RFID Tag electronics, to work with the PED transmission system and AeroScout based tracking system, respectively.Vehicle Interface and Tracking:
Self Contained RFID Tags are mounted on vehicles to allow their movements to be tracked. These tags are Wi-Fi Tags, based on AeroScout’s leading Wi-Fi tagging technology.Energy Management System:
Interfaces between the tracking systems, ventilation and gas monitoring systems, and Mine Control and Data Systems, is being developed to provide Ventilation on Demand (VOD). The intention being to automate the control of underground ventilation to suit what has personnel and machinery are in any given area, and thus reduce overall energy usage. In summary, Barrick Gold has a true vision for their Nevada operations using improved communication with miners, vehicles and fixed equipment, to improved safety and productivity by integrating:
- Real time tracking of miners and vehicles
- Quicker response in the event of mine emergencies.
- Access control
- Ventilation control
- Vehicle engine performance monitoring
- Dust, DPM and temperature control
- Energy management.Mine Site Technologies is appreciative of Barrick’s support in using a number of our key technologies as part of their Total Mine Control System project, and acknowledge the broad vision of their engineers on site.

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Mines Seleine Upgrade

ICCL cap lamps installed at Mines Seleine. ICCL’s are one third the weight of previous lead-acid battery packs, and still contain PED Receivers

Morton Salt’s Mines Seleine Mine has upgraded their cap lamps and personal PED Receiver units to the latest ICCL version.

Mine Seleine has been using the PED System since 1995 and was one of the first mines in Canada to install BeltPED Receivers on all personnel to use the PED as the primary emergency warning system. Mines Seleine also commenced using the BlastPED System to remotely initiate their blasts underground. This was relatively simple as the PED transmission system in place for personal paging only required a software upgrade to be able to introduce the BlastPED Receiver/Exploders into use. Mines Seleine completed the upgrade earlier this year, justifying the upgrade on ergonomic and economic grounds. The light weight ICCL lamps are one third the weight of the lead-acid batteries formerly in use, plus the sealed housing ensures long term reliability and significantly lower maintenance cost for the internal PED electronics.

With the Integrated Communication Cap Lamps now is use at both mines the option to add RFID Tag electronics into the ICCL’s for implementing a general tracking system is available, if wanted in the future.

MST acknowledge the long term support from Mines Seleine and look forward to supporting their PED, BlastPED and other communication technologies well into the future.

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Vale Integra

Integra Coal has chosen Mine Site Technologies’ for site wide digital communications and tracking for both their open cut and underground mines. A description of the underground part of the installation follows.

Background
Located 8 km north of Singleton in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Brazilian mining giant Vale, operate the Integra Coal complex, with both an open cut and underground coal mine. These two mines produce a mixture of premium coking, semi-soft and thermal coals for the export market.

The Underground Requirement
The underground mine was looking for a tracking system that would monitor and record the movements and position of equipment, particularly during longwall moves. It can take several weeks to move a longwall and during this period there are a multitude of external factors and unforeseen delays which make it exceptionally difficult to keep track of stored item locations.

The mine also wanted to improve communications by introducing a two-way mobile solution to complement the one-way paging functionality of their existing PED System. This was required to streamline communications with maintenance and repair personnel whilst they are on the move underground. If there was a major equipment malfunction this would take priority and the closest maintenance staff would need to be identified and directed to remedy this immediately.

Additionally, from a safety perspective, Integra management wanted to streamline their access control procedures in ventilation zones, by limit the number of personnel to within the limits governed by available emergency breathing apparatus. Similarly, more accurate monitoring and controlling access of vehicles into ventilation zones was seen as advantageous from an Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) perspective.

The Solution
At the heart of the solution are:

  • 20 of MST’s ImPact Wireless Network Switches (WNS), each with one or two Wi-Fi radio cards and a 4 port fibre switch.
  • 17 ImPact Wireless Access Points (WAP), operating from PoE links to their nearest WNS unit.

This basic network infrastructure offers Wi-Fi access, active RFID tag reading and VoIP telephony capability. Additionally power distribution to the communication infrastructure is simplified by using composite power/fibre cable between access points. This custom designed cable contains up to four optic fibres and two power cores, allowing a single power supply to power a number of WNS units.

To allow tracking of the longwall components and development implements, each of these components has an active RFID tag attached, allowing its position to be recorded every time it passes either a WNS or a WAP. This ensures the process of location and identification for each component is greatly simplified.

To identify personnel the mine is upgrading its entire cap lamp fleet and has chosen to invest in 300 of MST’s lightweight ICCL’s (Integrated Communications Cap Lamps) with integrated RFID tag and PED text message receiver. The ICCL solves both the problem of locating and communicating with underground personnel in one integrated unit, whilst the reduced weight of the Lithium Ion battery offers OH&S improvements by reducing each miner’s belt weight. People can be located quickly and easily with the tracking system and operational dispatch messages can be sent directly to the required person via the PED one way pager, ensuring efficient communication.

This tracking and communication cycle will be enhanced further once MST’s VoIP telephone handset is approved for use in coal mines, by allowing more complex two-way communication to occur when required. The Wi-Fi network has been set up to provide seamless VoIP coverage along the travel road from the surface to the longwall, as the ImPact WNS units provide continuous Wi-Fi coverage along the underground roadways.

The Future
Apart from the introduction of the VoIP telephones following their approval, the installation will be extended into hazardous zones areas within 12 months after the Intrinsically Safe version of the Impact WNS units become available.

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Pugwash Salt

ICCL’s are one third the weight of the older NiMH batteries that were in use

Winsor Salt’s Pugwash Mine, having upgraded their cap lamps and personal PED Receiver units to the latest ICCL version.

Pugwash has been using the PED System since 2006, with BeltPED Receivers on all personnel to use the PED as the primary emergency warning system. Pugwash also use the BlastPED System to remotely initiate their blasts underground. This was relatively simple as the PED transmission system in place for personal paging only required a software upgrade to be able to introduce the BlastPED Receiver/Exploders into use. Pugwash justified the upgrade on ergonomic and economic grounds. The light weight ICCL lamps are one third the weight of the lead-acid batteries formerly in use, plus the sealed housing ensures long term reliability and significantly lower maintenance cost for the internal PED electronics.

Also, by replacing the older style NiMH cap lamp batteries at Pugwash maintenance costs have been reduced, and personnel now carry a much lighter battery and PED unit.

With the Integrated Communication Cap Lamps in use the option to add RFID Tag electronics into the ICCL’s for implementing a general tracking system is available, if wanted in the future.

BlastPED - The Pugwash engineers assessed the safety and productivity benefits of using BlastPED to initiate their blasts remotely. This provided the cost justification for the purchase of the BlastPED remote units.

The PED System now consists of:

  • 1 PED Transmission Headend powering a 2,000 m (6,600 ft) antenna for mine wide signal coverage (already in place).
  • 10 BlastPED Receiver/Exploder remote units.
  • 100 Personal Pagers interfaced to cap lamps (already in place).

We thank the Pugwash personnel for their continued support, and are pleased they are gaining even further benefits from their original investment in our PED technology.

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Narrabri North

Mine-Phone
MST’s VoIP Telephone can can used with the ImPact Network

The ICCL cap lamp contains internal RFID Tag & PED electronics

Whitehaven Coal has purchased a suite of communication and tracking products for their new Narrabri North Coal Mine.To cover safety and day to day management requirements, Narrabri North is installing two main communication infrastructures to meet those requirements:

  • The PED Emergency Mine Communication System, and
  • The ImPact Underground Digital Network for two-way voice and tracking.

ICCL Cap Lamps, which are already in use at the mine, contain PED Text Receiver and Wi-Fi RFID Tag circuits to operate from each of the above infrastructures respectively.
The PED Transmission System consists of a 11 km surface antenna that has been designed to provide mine wide signal coverage to the current and future underground developments for the next several years. The PED will enable one-way paging to personnel wherever they are in the mine, providing a very useful day to day management tool as well as a vital emergency communication system should an emergency ever arise.
An underground Wi-Fi Network is also being rolled out to complement the PED System, thus providing a total mine communications solution. An initial 25 Wireless Network Switches/Wi-Fi Access Points will provide Wi-Fi coverage on the main travel roads at strategic points underground. This underground digital network will enable a number of 802.11b/g applications, key apps include:

  • Tracking the location of personnel underground via RFID Tags within each miner’s cap lamp.
  • Tracking vehicles as they move about the mine by self contained RFID tags attached to each vehicle.
  • Two-way voice communications via VoIP Telephone handsets. The VoIP telephone system will be integrated into the mine’s general phone system at the PABX to allow a seamless connection between all phones types used on site.

Another important application is extending the use of the tracking system data to provide an automated traffic management system. This automated traffic control will operate for transport vehicles travelling in the drift (slope) into the mine. MST appreciates the support of Whitehaven for our technology suite to provide the majority of their underground communication requirements. This single sourcing for their communication and tracking systems will ensure optimal support from MST, being the vendor and OEM of all the technologies..

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Minesite Technologies: 25 27 Whiting St Artarmon NSW 2064 AUSTRALIA Phone: +61 2 9437 4399 Fax: +61 2 9437 5688 Email: mst@minesite.com.au